Qingdui Ruins and Qingling Terrace

Qingdui Ruins and Qingling Terrace

Qingdui Ruins and Qingling Terrace are cultural tourism attractions.

The Qingdui Ruins are a Neolithic site elevated 0.8 meters above the ground, covering an area of 21,504 square meters. Artifacts found here include stone tools, gray pottery, and fragments of figurine legs. In 1978, additional items such as clam-shell sickles, pottery jars, and pottery urns were discovered. The Qingling Terrace is an earthen mound located at the eastern end of Qingdui Village, Liuguang Township, approximately 16 kilometers northeast of Fengqiu County, known as the "Qingling Terrace." It is associated with a tale from the Warring States period, during the reign of Duke Dai Yan of Song, known as King Kang. According to the story, while riding out for leisure, he came to this area and spotted a beautiful mulberry-picking woman. Obsessed with her beauty, he ordered a terrace to be built on the east side of Qingdui Village from which he could gaze at her—this became the Qingling Terrace. He then sent people to find out who she was and learned she was the wife of his retainer Han Ping, named Lady Xi (also referred to as Lady He). The king demanded that Han Ping hand over his wife, but the couple refused. Han Ping committed suicide beneath the terrace, and Lady Xi also died by throwing herself off it. King Kang ordered their bodies buried on opposite sides of a road, forbidding them to be interred together. Later, a catalpa tree grew from each grave, with their roots intertwining underground and branches meeting above—these became known as the "Lover’s Trees." A pair of lovebirds, one male and one female, nested in the trees, their mournful cries touching many. Numerous scholars and poets have composed verses about this tale. Today, a stone stele stands in front of Lady Xi’s tomb, erected in the ninth year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty by then-county magistrate Wang Cikui.