Jiumen City Site

Jiumen City Site

The Jiumen City Site is a cultural relic protection unit of Hebei Province.

The ancient city site of Jiumen is located 15 kilometers northwest of Gaocheng District, bordering the Hutuo River to the south and Airport Road to the east. It is now the site of Jiumen Hui Ethnic Township. In 1982, the Jiumen ancient city site was designated as a key cultural relics protection unit of Hebei Province.

The ancient city site of Jiumen was first built during the Warring States period. According to the "Descendants of Bigan: A Three-Thousand-Year Genealogy of the Lin Family": Jiumen is the first village of Bigan’s descendants. Lin Gao, a descendant of Bigan, who was the Shao Shi (junior advisor) in the late Shang Dynasty, was also a descendant of Lin Fang—one of Confucius’ 72 disciples. He served as the prime minister of Zhao and was the first to settle in Jiumen.

The total area of the Jiumen ancient city site is 900,000 square meters. The village of Jiumen is situated on top of the ruins, with higher terrain at its center. The surrounding geography features crisscrossing gullies and uneven ground. Exposed cliff faces reveal piles of rubble, and cultural artifacts span continuously from the Warring States, Qin-Han, Northern and Southern Dynasties, Sui-Tang, to the Song Dynasty, with relics frequently unearthed. Notably, in 1999, during the construction of Airport Road, a batch of Northern Dynasties stone Buddhist statue fragments was excavated at the site of the ancient Zhuanghuotou Temple at the northern end of the city ruins. All the fragments were made of fine white marble—crystalline, smooth, pure white in color—with exquisitely carved, delicate, and beautifully shaped figures that carry deep symbolism, nobility, and elegance. Some parts were gilded or colored, with inscriptions on pedestals such as the reign titles Wuding, Tianbao, Huangjian, Heqing, Tianquan, and Wuiping of the Northern Qi Dynasty. Among them, a rectangular Buddha pedestal bears an inscription carved in intaglio: “On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the eighth year of Wuding (550 AD), Jiemen County residents Jia Baoyou’er, Baidu, A’ming, A’qian, and their brothers, sisters, and others respectfully commissioned this precious statue of the Many Treasures for the nation, seven generations of ancestors… all sentient beings… sincerely…” This artifact is the earliest among those unearthed at the Jiumen ancient city site to bear the name “Jiumen County,” making it a valuable physical resource for studying the site.

South of Jiumen Village lies an east-west elongated depression, commonly called “Fox Gully” by villagers. It lies close to the southern edge of the ancient city ruins. Villagers say that when carts pass over the gully, it makes a loud thudding noise, giving the impression of hollow space underground. The gully contains numerous skeletal remains from ancient battles, and arrowheads and weapons are occasionally found. This aligns with historical accounts of the great battle between Tang general Li Guangbi and rebel general Shi Siming at Jiumen.

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Key Cultural Relics Protection Units of Hebei Province