Ancient City of Yongliang

Ancient City of Yongliang

The Ancient City of Yongliang is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Henan Province.

The Ancient City of Yongliang is located in the areas of Shizikou Village and Gucheng Village in Gucheng Town, Yuzhou City, Henan Province. Yuzhou City lies in the central part of Henan Province, on the transitional zone between the Funiu Mountain area and the southeastern Henan Plain, approximately 80 kilometers northeast of the provincial capital, Zhengzhou. The northwestern part of the city is surrounded by mountains and rolling hills, while the southeastern part consists of open plains, with the Ying River flowing from west to east across the landscape. The area borders Xuchang City and Changge City to the east, Xinzheng City and Xinmi City to the north, Dengfeng City to the northwest, Ruzhou City to the west, and Jia County and Xiangcheng County to the south. Yuzhou is one of the birthplaces of the Chinese nation. As early as between 5000 BC and 1800 BC, during the Yangshao Culture, Longshan Culture, and Xia Dynasty periods, ancient people were active here. Yu the Great was enfeoffed here for his achievements in flood control, and his son Qi established the capital here, historically known as "Xia," which is considered the earliest capital city in China. The famous Wadian Site of Xia Culture is located here. During the Shang Dynasty, it remained known as "Xiayi." In the Western Zhou Dynasty, it was the fief of the Zhou king’s brother. During the Spring and Autumn Period, it was called "Luyi" under the State of Zheng. In the Warring States Period, it came under the control of the State of Han.

Gucheng Town is located in the northeastern part of Yuzhou City, bordering Changge City to the east and situated 11 kilometers from downtown Yuzhou. The Ancient City of Yongliang is located in the eastern part of Gucheng Town, approximately 24 kilometers northeast of the contemporaneous Ancient City of Zheng and Han.

The Ancient City of Yongliang is also known as Yongshi City. Legend has it that it was the place where the Yellow Emperor ordered his minister Yongfu to make a mortar and pestle, hence the name Yongshi City. It was used for a long time, continuing even after the Han Dynasty. During the Spring and Autumn Period, there were over 40 states within Henan, and Yuzhou was then part of the State of Zheng. In the Warring States Period, in the ninth year of King Jinghou of Han (400 BC), Han was recognized as a feudal state by the Zhou court and established its capital here. In the second year of King Aihou of Han (375 BC), Han conquered Zheng and moved its capital to Zheng (now Xinzheng City, Henan Province). The Ancient City of Yongliang served as an important southern city of the State of Han at that time, strategically located at the border between the States of Han and Chu, and was frequently contested during battles between the two. The Zuo Zhuan (Commentary of Zuo), in the 18th year of Duke Xiang (555 BC), records the Chu army attacking Zheng, mentioning that Chu led “elite troops to invade Feihu, Xumo, Xianyu, and Yongliang,” where “Yong” refers to Yongshi and “Liang” refers to Liang County of Henan Commandery in the Han Dynasty. The Records of the Grand Historian · Annals of Zhou states that in the late Warring States Period, during the reign of King Nan of Zhou, “Chu besieged Yongshi, expecting to take it in three months, but by the fifth month still could not capture it, showing Chu’s difficulty.” Xu Guang’s Collected Explanations noted that Yongshi was “the Yongshi City of Yangdi,” and the Commentary on the Comprehensive Gazetteer stated: “The ancient Yongshi City is 25 li from Yangdi County in Luozhou. Elders say it was where the Yellow Emperor’s minister Yongfu made a mortar and pestle.” Similar records can also be found in the Records of the Grand Historian · Annals of Han, the Records of the Grand Historian · Annals of Tian Jingzhong Wan, and the Strategies of the Warring States. This indicates that during the chaotic wars among various states in the Warring States Period, Yongliang City was always a focal point of contention between Han and Chu. It also suggests that Yongliang City must have had tall walls and wide moats to withstand prolonged attacks by the Chu army. Regarding its location, the Book of the Later Han also records that there was a “Yongshi City” in Yingchuan Commandery, with Du Yu noting it was located northeast of the county. Yingchuan Commandery refers to the area around Yuzhou during the Western and Eastern Han Dynasties.

Today, the Ancient City of Yongliang is in relatively poor condition, with almost no visible ruins above ground. Only a small section of the eastern city wall remains, approximately 6 meters wide, 5 meters high, and 15 meters long. Within the current farmland of the site, scattered pottery shards, roof tiles, and other artifacts are often found, especially near rivers, cliffs, and low-lying areas close to the walls. In several nearby villages not far from the eastern part of the site, modern villagers have discovered tombs, bronze swords, and other items from the Spring and Autumn, Warring States, and Han Dynasties while farming or building houses.

Starting in May 2006, the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology organized personnel to conduct rescue excavations on parts of the site within the planned canal route. The excavation work continued until October 2008, lasting over two years, with a total excavated area of 8,350 square meters. In addition to discovering remnants of the southeastern corner of the city wall and the remains of an eastern gate, a number of relics and artifacts from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty to the Tang and Song Dynasties were also unearthed.

The excavated walls are located in the southeastern part of the entire site, belonging to the southern section of the eastern city wall and the eastern section of the southern city wall. Constructed with rammed earth layers, the inner side features a long rammed earth slope. Below the surface, the remaining height ranges from 2.1 to 6 meters, with a top width of 28 meters and a base width of 38 meters. The rammed layers are 5–15 centimeters thick. The ramming pits are clear, round, with both flat and rounded bottoms, measuring 6 centimeters in diameter and 0.2–0.4 centimeters in depth. The construction of the city wall likely began no later than the Spring and Autumn Period, and underwent multiple reinforcements, renovations, and expansions during the Warring States Period. Outside the eastern wall, traces of a moat have been found, 26 meters wide and up to 3.6 meters deep.

A gate remnant was discovered on the eastern city wall, consisting of a single passageway 8 meters wide, with eight layers of roads overlapping through this gate. The road surfaces are flat and hard. Based on stratigraphy and contents, the upper road dates to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, while the lower road dates to the late Warring States Period, with wheel ruts about 1.3 meters wide preserved on the latter.

In the southeastern corner of the city, a large number of iron agricultural tools from the Han Dynasty, as well as grain storage pits, stone mills, stone mortars, stone troughs, and other relics, were found. This area was likely a functional urban district primarily focused on grain storage and processing, along with livestock breeding. In the lower Warring States strata, pottery kilns, ash pits, and wells were discovered. One well yielded more than ten intact pottery dou (bean pots) that had been discarded due to firing deformation. Nearby ash pits contained unfired clay molds for pottery dou, clay, and molds, indicating the presence of a small-scale pottery and metallurgy workshop at the time.

The ruins and artifacts of the Ancient City of Yongliang are extremely rich. A total of 340 ash pits, 21 wells, 38 tombs, 9 pottery kilns, 24 hearths, 17 drainage ditches, and 10 roads have been discovered. Over 300 artifacts have been unearthed, mainly including pottery, bronze ware, porcelain, stone tools, bone tools, and jade artifacts. The most numerous are building materials, with a large number of cylindrical and flat tiles from the Warring States Period, as well as cylindrical and flat tiles, interlocking bricks, and cloud-patterned tile ends from the Han Dynasty. Pottery includes basins, jars, vats, dou, and spinning whorls. Stone tools consist of mills, mortars, weights, and grinding stones. Ironware includes plowshares, seed plowshares, shovels, hoes, spades, knives, swords, chisels, weights, hooks, nails, horse bits, rings, dou, cauldrons, and containers. Bronze items include small ornaments, rings, and hairpins. There are also large quantities of wuzhu and huoquan coins, as well as bone hairpins, celadon, white porcelain, and brown-glazed porcelain.

Several pottery shards with inscribed characters have also been found, mostly square or rectangular stamps, as well as incised texts. The inscriptions mainly include the names of workshops or artisans who made the items, such as “Lichun (Spring)” and “Han.” Notably, one shard bears the inscription “Second Year of Yongshi,” which aligns with historical records of the city name “Yongshi,” providing textual evidence confirming this site as the ancient Yongshi City.

Gucheng Village: Gucheng Village…… More details about Gucheng Village++

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Henan Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units