Jijia Lake City Site

Jijia Lake City Site

The Jijia Lake City Site is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

An Eastern Zhou Dynasty ancient city site. Located on the alluvial plain at the junction of Yichang, Dangyang, Zhijiang, and Jingzhou on the western side of the Zhusi River basin in Hubei Province. Central geographical coordinates: 110°56′ east longitude, 30°41′ north latitude. Covering an area of approximately 2,200 square meters, it is an important site showcasing the development of Chu culture during the Eastern Zhou period as well as the region’s primitive culture in western Hubei.

Since 1973, a number of important bronze artifacts have been unearthed successively on the western shore of Jijia Lake. In 1979, Peking University and other institutions conducted trial excavations here. The Jijia Lake City Site centers around the ancient city walls of Jijia Lake, the Yangjiashanzi site, and the Lujiafen tomb cluster, with numerous platforms and ancient tombs distributed in the surrounding area. The city site is roughly an irregular rectangle, measuring about 1,600 meters from north to south and 1,400 meters from east to west, built atop a Late Neolithic settlement. The existing rammed earth southern wall is approximately 86 meters long, with a base width of about 13.4 meters and a remaining height of about 1.4 meters. Outside the southern wall, remnants of a moat can be found, about 9.8 meters wide and 1 meter deep, with a relatively flat bottom and four distinct layers of silt deposits. In the northern part of the city lies Platform No. 1, where a bronze bell inscribed with the text “Qin Wang Bi Ming Jing Ping Wang Zhi Ding Jiu Qin Rong,” along with large bronze components, rope-patterned cylindrical tiles, and roof tiles, were excavated. The Yangjiashanzi site, located northeast of the city, revealed a stratigraphic overlap between Late Neolithic deposits and Eastern Zhou layers. Discoveries include Eastern Zhou house foundations, pottery workshops, cellars, and tombs. The Lujiafen tomb cluster, situated in the northern part of the city site, covers an area of about 20,000 square meters and includes over 80 identified tombs densely distributed across the area. Nine small tombs have been excavated, all featuring one coffin and one outer coffin. Artifacts unearthed include pottery ding (tripods), dun (round boxes), hu (jars), and dou (stemmed bowls).

In 2001, it was designated as part of the fifth group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units by the State Council.

Source: China Jinhua Government Portal Website

Further Reading:

· Second Group of Hubei Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Fifth Group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units