Xiaotang Ancient City

Xiaotang Ancient City

Xiaotang Ancient City is a cultural relic protection unit of Hunan Province.

Chaling County is located at the border of Hunan and Jiangxi provinces, on the western foothills of the Luoxiao Mountain Range, covering a total area of 2,500 square kilometers. In ancient times, it was called “Tea Township” due to the abundance of tea plants in the valleys and hills. Later, it was named “Chaling” after Emperor Yan, the Divine Farmer (Shennong), was buried at the “end of the Tea Township.” The county was established in the fifth year of Emperor Gaozu of Han (202 BC). It was once a military prefecture during the Song Dynasty, and a state-level administrative division during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. According to relevant records and research, there were many settlements and fortified towns in the region, which gradually shifted from east to west over time: as early as the mid-to-late Warring States period, an important military fortress for defense and outward expansion in southeastern Chu — Xiaotang Ancient City — was built in Xiaotang Village, located 49 kilometers northeast of the current county seat; in the early Western Han Dynasty, Liu Yi, the Marquis of Chaling, constructed “Chawang City” in what is now Huotian Town; during the Five Dynasties period, Ma Yin declared himself king and built “Mawangcheng” in Gucheng Village, Gaolong Town (now Gaolong Town); in the Xiangfu era of the Northern Song Dynasty (1008–1016), Deng Yi built “Jinzhou City” in Daxing Village, Sicong Subdistrict Office (now Sicong Subdistrict Office); during the Shaoding era of the Southern Song Dynasty, County Magistrate Liu Zima built “Chaling Ancient City” in Qianjin Village, Yunyang Subdistrict Office (now Yunyang Subdistrict Office). This city remained in use until the early days of the People’s Republic of China but was gradually abandoned as socioeconomic development accelerated, with the county administrative center moving 3 kilometers westward. Below is a detailed introduction to Xiaotang Ancient City:

From the county seat of Chaling, drive for about 20 minutes along the Quannan Expressway or S320 Provincial Road to Gaolong Town, then take the Gaopeng Township Road for another 20 minutes to reach the Xiaotang Village Committee in Xiaotang Village, Zhiting Town. To the east, Xiaotang Village borders Jinqiawu in Tiannan Village, Lianhua County, Jiangxi Province, and lies at a key transportation junction between Hunan and Jiangxi. The site of the ancient Chu city in Xiaotang, locally known as “Guchengwei,” was identified by the second national cultural relics survey team of Chaling County on October 27, 1986. Based on local dialect clues — in eastern Chaling dialect, the noun “wei” (围) and “qiang” (墙) are synonyms for walls, with “wei” referring to circular walls and “qiang” to linear walls, together forming what is called “weiqiang” (围墙), meaning city walls — the team discovered this ancient settlement. The city is surrounded by rammed earth walls, with a perimeter of over 1,000 meters. The layout is elliptical, approximately 300 meters long from north to south and 200 meters wide from east to west, covering an area of over 50,000 square meters. Excavations yielded soft pottery shards, all made of grayish-yellow clay, including artifacts such as tube tiles, dou (豆, ritual vessels), and bowls, as well as hard pottery shards in reddish-brown clay and gray sand-tempered clay, featuring items like jars and tripod leg fragments. Additionally, two typical bronze swords of Chu style were collected from local households. Provincial and municipal cultural relics experts confirmed that these artifacts are largely consistent with those found in Chu tombs of the Warring States period in Hunan, indicating strong Chu cultural elements. The stamped hard pottery pieces, however, reflect the culture of ancient Yue people from the middle and upper reaches of the Xiang River. Thus, the Xiaotang Yue-Chu Ancient City Site exhibits coexisting cultural elements of both Yue and Chu. For this reason, it was designated as a municipal-level cultural relics protection unit by the Zhuzhou Municipal People’s Government in December 2008.

A 100-meter walk from the Xiaotang Village Committee leads to the southern gate ruins of Xiaotang Ancient City. After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the ancient city was gradually abandoned, and its layout was disrupted: over 20 modern buildings have been erected inside the city; a pond of about 4 acres lies adjacent to the southern gate ruins; an irrigation channel built in the 1950s runs east-west through the ancient city; the remaining areas are overgrown with shrubs or cultivated by villagers. However, the city’s topography, higher in the west and lower in the east, remains intact, and structures such as the southern gate, northern gate, eastern gate ruins, and a moat approximately 5–20 meters wide outside the city walls are still clearly visible. Preliminary archaeological investigations by a joint team from the Zhuzhou Cultural Relics Bureau and the Chaling Cultural Relics Bureau in 2014 revealed the structure and construction techniques of the city walls: the wall is divided into three sections — the southern part is an inner slope connected to the interior; the central section consists of rammed earth walls, 10.2 meters wide, with clearly visible ramming layers 6 cm thick, and over 5 meters of layered ramming visible from top to bottom; the northern section is an outer slope, over 10 meters wide, connecting to the moat. The construction technique combined ramming and stacking. Two wells were found in the northeastern corner of the city, and excavations showed that their contents were similar to those found in excavation trenches, mainly including yellowish-gray roof tiles with rope patterns, gray pottery pieces with grid patterns, high-legged li tripod feet with rope patterns, plain dou handles, whetstones, and iron spades, dating back to the Warring States period based on artifacts and stratigraphy.

Walking about 300 meters from the southern gate ruins leads to the northern gate ruins. On the western side of the northern gate, a section of the city wall has been cut away by villagers digging soil, offering an ideal cross-section to examine the structure and construction methods of the ancient walls. Exiting the northern gate, the moat ruins are visible. After the city was abandoned, the moat was repurposed by villagers as fishponds or rice paddies, but its original form and scale have been largely preserved.

Two Warring States period ancient tombs discovered in Huangnipo (Group 8, Xiaotang Village) and Huangtang’ao (Group 11, Xiaotang Village), both about 1 kilometer from Xiaotang Ancient City, further indicate that Xiaotang Village was a contested territory between the Wu and Chu states during the mid-to-late Warring States period:

Xiaotang Huangnipo Tomb No. 1 is located on the mountainside southeast of Xiaotang Ancient City, in Huangnipo, Group 8, Xiaotang Village. The tomb sits halfway up a hill, featuring a semi-spherical burial mound with a base diameter of 8.5 meters and a height of 3.6 meters. Beneath the mound, the burial pit is nearly square, with an east-facing tomb passage. The pit measures 7.8 meters long and 7.2 meters wide at the opening, with a depth of 9 meters. The tomb passage is 9.6 meters long and features a step near the pit entrance, measuring 1.9 meters long and 0.45 meters wide, descending 2.2 meters to the pit bottom. The pit interior features three levels of earthen steps, each covered with 10–15 cm thick yellow clay, narrowing inward with each step. Below the third step, the pit walls become steep. The burial chamber includes a coffin and an outer coffin (guo), covered by seven coffin lid boards. The guo has a shallow mortise-and-tenon structure, measuring 3.2 meters long, 2 meters wide, and 1.4 meters high. The inner chamber is 2.66 meters long, 1.4 meters wide, and 1 meter deep. The chamber shows signs of looting but still contains a lacquered ear cup, wooden stand, jade bi disc, woven material, and other items. Combined with recovered relics such as a bronze ding and hu, experts infer that Tomb No. 1 is a noble tomb from the Chu state during the Warring States period.

Excavation uncovered numerous human bones scattered in the side chambers, and despite looting, a large number of artifacts were retrieved, including bronze ding tripod legs, bronze basins, bronze belt hooks, bronze rings, lacquerware cups, wooden stands, jade bi discs, and woven materials. Together with items recovered from looters — such as bronze ding and hu — these findings confirm that Huangnipo Tomb No. 1 is a noble tomb of the Chu state from the Warring States period.

Huangtang’ao Tomb M2 is located in Huangtang’ao, Xiaotang Village. It is a typical vertical pit tomb with a rectangular layout oriented north-south. Its southern part was partially damaged when a tobacco-curing shed was built a few years ago, leaving a remaining length of 17.5 meters and width of 3.25–3.5 meters. The tomb opening is 0.95–1.5 meters below ground level, with a depth of 1.3–2.28 meters — shallower in the north and deeper in the south. There are tomb passages on both the eastern and western sides in the middle of the tomb, with the eastern passage 1.85 meters wide and the western one 1 meter wide. The fill soil is reddish sandstone weathering soil, slightly sandy, pure in texture, and mixed with small amounts of charcoal and natural soil particles. During excavation, four irregular pit-like disturbances were found on the surface, filled with damp grayish-green clay and small amounts of charcoal, but no other artifacts. These disturbances taper off downward and are believed to be later intrusions. A set of artifacts was unearthed near the western wall, 1.65 meters below the tomb opening, including bronze swords, ge halberds, dagger-axes, arrowheads, spoons, ding, lids, badges, pottery li tripods, jars, and bowls. Near the tomb bottom, a second platform of rammed earth 0.5 m wide and 0.1–0.26 m high was found. Artifacts at the tomb base include bronze swords, dagger-axes, spears, ge halberds, arrowheads, spear dagger-axes, pottery dou, and basins. Bone impressions, though fragmented and fragile, suggest at least four horizontally placed individuals (east-west orientation). Based on the artifact assemblage, vessel forms, and tomb structure, this is identified as a high-status tomb of a Yue noble from the Warring States period.

The city walls and moat of Xiaotang Ancient City have clear outlines and relatively intact structures, making it one of the best-preserved ancient cities in southern China from the Warring States period. Its strategic location at the mountain pass on the western edge of the Luoxiao Mountain Range held significant military importance. The discovery of the ancient city and surrounding large-scale tombs suggests that its role extended beyond military significance to include political functions in maintaining regional order. Analysis of tomb scale, unearthed artifacts, and the contemporaneity of the city and tombs indicates substantial historical value and high potential for integrated utilization.

In March 2019, the Xiaotang City Site was included in the tenth batch of provincial-level cultural relics protection units in Hunan Province.

Zhiting Town: A town under the jurisdiction of Chaling County (upgraded from a township to a town on December 2, 2009). Located in the central section of the Luoxiao Mountain Range in the northeastern part of Chaling County, it borders Sanbanqiao Township, Yongxin County, and Sanwan Township of Jiangxi Province to the northeast, and Yan’tang and Gaolong of Chaling County to the west and south. It is 44 kilometers from the county seat. The town government is located in Pengjia Ancestral Hall (coordinates: latitude 26°56’35.84”, longitude 113°51’33.71”). It administers 18 villages, 165 villager groups, and covers an administrative area of approximately 165 square kilometers, with over 22,700 mu of arable land. ... More details about Zhiting Town ++

Further Reading:

· Tenth Batch of Hunan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units