Ancient City Site of Northern Kang

Ancient City Site of Northern Kang

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

The Ancient City Site of Northern Kang is located north of the highway in Kangbei Village, Kangdian Town, Gongyi City, on the slopes extending from the eastern part of Mangshan Mountain. It covers an area of 40,000 square meters. The city had walls on the east and west sides, and was flanked by deep ditches to the north and south. To the east lies the Luo River, to the south the ancient Heishi Pass, to the west the Mangling Ridge, and to the north the natural barrier of the Yellow River. Nestled against mountains and water, the site gently slopes from west to east down to the flat riverbanks.

During the Warring States period, in the second year of King Xian of Zhou (367 BC), Prince Hui of Western Zhou enfeoffed his younger son Ban in Gong, establishing Eastern Zhou in contrast to Western Zhou in Luoyang. In the first year of King Zhuangxiang of Qin (249 BC), Lü Buwei destroyed Eastern Zhou, marking the end of the Zhou dynasty, which had lasted for over a hundred years. After unifying the six states, the Qin dynasty established Gong County here, under the jurisdiction of Sanchuan Commandery. During the Han dynasty, it belonged to Henan Commandery, and in the Northern Wei dynasty, the county seat was moved 10 kilometers east to the old town of Gongxian. In the fifth year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing dynasty, the brick-arched fortress gate was renovated. In the first year of the Xianfeng reign, the “Gongwang Pavilion (Red Pavilion)” was built, along with a stele explaining the “Origins of the Gongwang Temple,” as well as a main hall, secondary hall, east and west corridor temples, mountain gate, and steps. Historical texts such as Strategies of the Warring States, Records of the Grand Historian, Book of Han, Collected Books, General Annals of Henan, Gongxian Annals (Ming Jiajing 34th year), Gongxian Annals (Qing Qianlong 10th and 54th years), and Gongxian Annals (Republic of China 18th year) all contain records about the Ancient City of Northern Kang.

In 1958, the halls and roads were destroyed, and most of the platform area was excavated for soil used in local production and daily life, leaving only 50 square meters. In 1966, during the early stages of the Cultural Revolution, part of the roof of the “Red Pavilion” was damaged. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, cultural heritage authorities conducted multiple surveys. In 1984, Yang Kuan, an expert on Warring States cities, visited the Ancient City of Northern Kang with several Japanese graduate students. Cultural relics experts from Zhengzhou, including Liao Yongmin, and staff from the Gongyi Cultural Relics Management Office discovered remains from the Western Zhou, Warring States, and Han dynasties during their investigation of the site. In 1990, a protection marker stele was erected. In September 1993, the “Four Haves” archival work was carried out. In 2006, the site was surveyed again during the fifth cultural relics census of Henan Province.

The entire site is roughly square-shaped, approximately 2 kilometers in both length and width. Due to the destruction of the eastern wall by the river, the original scale of the construction is unclear. Remnants of the Warring States-era city from the Ming dynasty still survive. Currently, the eastern and western city gates, the Gongwang Pavilion, and a section of the western fortress wall remain. This section of the western wall is a defensive structure built on top of the original wall in the fifth year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing dynasty, reinforced and heightened. It is 400 meters long, 15 to 30 meters high, with surviving widths of 1 to 2 meters. The rammed earth layers are distinct, each about 10 to 20 centimeters thick. At the center of the city lies the site of the city gate. During the construction of the fortress wall in the Tongzhi era, the fortress gate was also built, featuring a blue-brick arched roof. There are two gates, east and west. The western gate is inlaid with a rectangular stone tablet inscribed with “Site of Eastern Zhou,” with “Fifth Year of Tongzhi Reign” written in the lower right corner. Numerous pottery shards from the Zhou and Han periods have been found within the western city wall, along with small vertical pit tombs containing burial objects such as dou (food vessels), ding (tripod cauldrons), li (tripod cooking vessels), and hu (wine vessels). At the center of the city lies a terrace measuring 250 meters from north to south and 100 meters from east to west, where the “Gongwang Pavilion” built in the first year of the Xianfeng reign of the Qing dynasty (1851 AD) now stands.

On November 21, 1986, the People’s Government of Henan Province designated the Red Pavilion as a key cultural relics protection unit, along with the site of the Eastern Zhou ancient city.

Source: United Front Work Department of Gongyi Municipal Committee; Author: Zhao Xiangqing

Kangbei Village: Kangbei Village…… More detailed information about Kangbei Village++

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Key Cultural Relics Protection Units in Henan Province