Wei Family Stockade Ancient City Ruins

Wei Family Stockade Ancient City Ruins

The Wei Family Stockade Ancient City Ruins are a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Wei Family Stockade Ancient City Ruins are located in Wei Family Stockade Village, Qingshui Ping Town, Baojing County, on the southern bank of the middle and upper reaches of the You River, facing the Lijiadu Ancient City Ruins of Longshan County across the river. The ancient city was first built during the Western Han Dynasty. Over the years of archaeological excavations, 260 ancient tombs from the Western Han period have been discovered, unearthing a large number of Han Dynasty bronze ritual vessels, circulating currency, and other cultural relics totaling more than 2,700 pieces. These findings hold significant value for researching the politics, military, economy, and culture of the You River basin during the Han Dynasty.

In addition, the excavation of these tombs has filled an important gap in the study of the history of bronze smelting in the You River basin and further enriched the physical evidence for research on the Western Han-era Wei Family Stockade Ancient City. It is of great value for studying the economic and human history of the Lijiadu area and the You River basin at that time. It continues the legacy of the Liye Qin Bamboo Slips and fills the historical gap in the records of the Xiangxi region during the transition from the Qin to the Han Dynasty.

It is understood that the tomb is a rectangular earthen pit vertical-shaft tomb, with the tomb opening measuring 4 meters in length and 3 meters in width, the tomb bottom 3.8 meters in length and 2.9 meters in width, and a depth of 1.4–2.3 meters. The coffin platform remnants are about 0.3 meters wide, the four walls are relatively regular, and the tomb chamber shows no signs of having been robbed. Its structure was relatively common during the Western Han period. A total of three stone tools, three jade artifacts, two bronze items, and one iron item were unearthed from the tomb, but no epitaphs or other objects that could confirm the identity of the tomb owner were found.

In May 2013, it was designated as part of the seventh batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units by the State Council.

Qingshui Ping Town: Shuitianhe Town is located in the southern part of Baojing County, bordering - Township, Tuzha Township, Hulutown, Hangsha Township of the county, as well as Dongmakutown and Changle Township of Huayuan County. The town administers 23 administrative villages, with 5,045 households and a population of 22,300, over 90% of whom are ethnic Miao, making it a typical Miao-inhabited area with rich Miao ethnic characteristics. It covers a total area of 144.81 square kilometers, with 1,037.85 hectares of arable land. Transportation is relatively convenient, with the Qianmo Highway running through the entire territory. Village road access and telephone access rates are both 100%, and mobile phone signal coverage reaches 50%.

The economy is mainly agricultural... More detailed information about Qingshui Ping Town ++

Further reading:

· Eighth Batch of Hunan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units