Ruins of the Ancient Xinzhou City

Ruins of the Ancient Xinzhou City

The ruins of the ancient Xinzhou City are a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Hunan Province.

The ruins of the ancient Xinzhou City are located in Xinzhou Town, about 5 kilometers south of downtown Jinshi City. The site borders the Lishui River to the east and faces Jiashan Mountain and Bamao Mountain to the south. Historical records indicate that Xinzhou was first established as an administrative region during the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The *Direct-Controlled Lizhou Annals* cites the *A New Account of Tales of the World*, stating: "During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang Huzhi, the governor of Nanping, fled the persecution of Sima Wuji and set up an administrative district at Linyin, which was approved even by children..." The *Lizhou Annals* note: "Linyin refers to what is now Xincheng. (Che) Yun was born in Xincheng, which was formerly under the jurisdiction of Nanping, but is now governed from Lishui." The earliest record of a city at Xinzhou dates back to the Dali era of the Tang Dynasty: "Xincheng is forty li east of the state capital, the place where Che Yin studied. During the Dali era of the Tang, Li Bi built it here." In the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, the seat of Lizhou Prefecture was temporarily moved here, but after the Ming Dynasty, the city was abandoned.

The ancient city of Xinzhou has a roughly triangular layout, covering an area of approximately 1 million square meters. The southwestern section of the city wall and the turn toward the northwest, as well as the eastern section and the turn toward the north, are relatively well preserved. The moats on the western and southern sides are also in good condition, and traces of the moat can still be identified in some parts of the northern side. The southeastern part of the site remains a small town that serves as the seat of the Xinzhou Town Government, with a population of nearly 5,000. The rest of the site consists of farmland and ponds. Residential houses occupy parts of the remaining city walls, and the area includes two communities: Wanshou Palace and Meng Jiangnu. Some late Qing and Republican-era buildings are still preserved in the town, along with a historic structure known as the Wanshou Palace. There are also numerous ancient tombs dating from the Warring States Period to the Han and Jin Dynasties, both inside and outside the city, totaling several hundred.

Archaeological findings reveal a wealth of ancient relics within the city and a dense distribution of tombs from the Warring States to the Han and Jin periods in the surrounding areas. This indicates that as early as the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the ancient city of Xinzhou had already become a political, military, economic, and cultural center in the Lishui River basin. Xinzhou is also the birthplace of one of China’s Four Great Love Stories — the legend of Meng Jiangnu — and the inspirational tale of “Studying by Firefly Light.” Therefore, the ancient city of Xinzhou holds significant importance for studying the historical and geographical evolution of the middle and lower reaches of the Lishui River and the northern region of Hunan.

Further Reading:

· Ninth Batch of Provincial-Level Cultural Heritage Protection Units in Hunan Province