Ruins of the Ancient City of Canhu in Wancheng Village

Ruins of the Ancient City of Canhu in Wancheng Village

The Ruins of the Ancient City of Canhu in Wancheng Village are a cultural heritage protection unit of Langfang City.

Ruins of the Ancient City of Canhu in Wancheng Village: According to the "Commentary on the Water Classic" (Shui Jing Zhu) written by Li Daoyuan of the Northern Wei Dynasty, “Fifty li southwest of Pingshu County lies Canhu Ting, the site of an ancient county.” This refers to the ancient city ruins located about a li south of present-day Wancheng Village. Canhu County was one of the 26 subordinate counties of Bohai Commandery established in the fifth year of Emperor Gaozu of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC), but it was abolished in the early Eastern Han Dynasty, with the county seat downgraded to a ting. A ting was equivalent to today’s township-level administrative unit. Historical records indicate that although the ancient city of Canhu was downgraded to a ting, its strategically important location made it a military garrison site, hence it was also called Pinglu City or Mumen City. The Canhu site was also once a feudal principality. During Emperor Wu of Han’s reign, Liu De, the Prince of Hejian, enfeoffed his ninth son Liu Mian as the Marquis of Canhu. The Marquisate of Canhu lasted for five generations before being abolished along with the county system in the early Eastern Han Dynasty.

The ruins of the ancient Canhu city are square-shaped, measuring 600 meters in both length and width, and stand 0.6 meters above the ground surface, covering a total area of 360,000 square meters. The area known locally as “Nantai” (Southern Terrace), which spans 2,667 square meters, contains numerous pottery shards, rope-patterned cylindrical tiles, and roof tiles adorned with animal and scroll motifs. In 1956, a bronze seal measuring two centimeters square and half a centimeter thick, engraved with the characters “刑部司马” (Criminal Ministry Sima), was unearthed here. In earlier years, many bronze arrowheads would surface after heavy rains. At the “Dongcheng” (Eastern City) site in the southeast of the ruins, multiple group burials of human remains have been discovered. The southwestern corner holds remnants of ancient metallurgical activity (including copper and iron smelting slag and charcoal). On the site, villagers digging for soil have found dense clusters of ancient pottery wells, indicating the city once had a large population and a long history. The pottery artifacts from the Canhu ruins can be divided into two periods: the pre-Qin era and the Han-Jin period. Pre-Qin relics include sandy-clay pottery. Han-Jin pottery is abundant, featuring a large number of tripods, dou vessels, plates, cylindrical tiles, jars, bricks, and pottery steps. Around the Canhu ruins, other pre-Qin artifacts such as knife money, bronze horse-and-chariot fittings, and bronze items have also been excavated. Initially, the classification of the Wancheng ancient city ruins was uncertain, and it was once identified as a Eastern Han military garrison site based on a “Biebu Sima” (Separate Division Sima) military seal. In 2001, research confirmed that the Wancheng ancient city ruins were indeed the Han Canhu site mentioned in the "Commentary on the Water Classic." In 2005, the Han Canhu Ancient City was designated as a municipal-level key cultural heritage protection unit by the Langfang Municipal People’s Government.