Ruins of the Warring States-era Mohist City

Ruins of the Warring States-era Mohist City

The Ruins of the Warring States-era Mohist City is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Mohist City is located northwest of Goulin Town in Dengzhou City, stretching 200 meters from east to west and 100 meters from north to south. Artifacts unearthed here include bronze pots, pottery shards, and two wells dating back to the Warring States period. It was a military training city built by Mozi and Lu Ban during the Warring States period and has a history of 2,458 years.

The Ming Dynasty’s "Dengzhou Annals of the Jiajing Era" states: "Mohist City, forty li south of the prefecture. Its original construction date is unknown, commonly called Black Earth City, likely a miswriting of 'Mo' (墨)." A stele from the 26th year of the Jiajing era (Ming Dynasty) still exists at the site. According to "Mozi," when Mozi learned that Lu Ban had completed a cloud ladder in the State of Chu and planned to attack the State of Song, the Song official Mozi went to debate with Lu Ban and the King of Chu, advocating his principles of "universal love" and "non-aggression." After defeating them in theory, Lu Ban wanted to test Mozi’s "defensive siege" theory through drills and thus agreed to let Mozi build a purely simulated training city on Liufeng Hill in Goulin Town, Dengzhou City, north of the Chu capital. After several drills, Mozi’s strategies prevailed, leading the King of Chu and Lu Ban to completely abandon their plan to attack Song. The city was called "Yucheng" (Defensive City), meaning a fortress built to block or defend against attacks. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, under the Liu Song and Northern Wei, a "Yuxian County" (Defensive County) was established here, which was one of the counties under the Hong (called Heng during the Northern Wei) Nong Commandery of Jingzhou (governed from Rang, now Dengzhou). The Mohist City is a concentrated embodiment of the "defensive siege" philosophy, featuring twelve types of defensive structures and countermeasures such as defense against approach, hooking, ramming, ladders, flooding, water, tunneling, breaching, cavities, scaling ladders, and chariots. Although only ruins remain today, they provide valuable physical evidence for studying Mozi’s ideas of "universal love" and "non-aggression," proactive defense, meticulous preparation, and the principle that city-building must make full use of and adapt to the terrain.

Goulin Town: Located in the southern part of Dengzhou City, Goulin Town governs the area of Goulin. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, it has been one of the four major towns in Dengzhou and serves as the political, economic, and cultural center of southern Dengzhou. It borders Xiangyang County in Hubei Province to the south, stretches 21 kilometers from north to south and 7.95 kilometers from east to west, covering a total area of 162.75 square kilometers, with cultivated land spanning 158,000 mu. The town administers 26 village committees and 305 villager groups, with a total population of 72,000, comprising Han, Hui, Mongolian, and Manchu ethnicities. The region lies within the Han River basin and is a semi-hilly area.

Goulin Town enjoys a mild climate and abundant rainfall, making it suitable for the development of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry... More detailed information about Goulin Town++