Ruins of Yunshan Ancient City

Ruins of Yunshan Ancient City

The Yunshan Ancient City Ruins are a cultural heritage site protected by Peng’an County.

Ruins of Yunshan Ancient City (County-level)

Yunshan, also known as "Yanshan," and referred to as "Piyi Mountain," is about 3 kilometers from the county town. At the top of the mountain is a naturally formed pool with crystal-clear springs that never dry up year-round. In ancient times, a city was built on the mountain, known as "Tiansheng City." To the northwest at the foot of the mountain lies the Peng (An)–Nan (Chong) Highway, and to the east, the Qingxi River flows westward into the Jialing River. The Yunshan Ancient City is situated on this mountain of undulating peaks, embraced by a serpentine river.

In the third year of the Chunyou era (1243) during the Southern Song Dynasty, Yu Jie, the Pacification Commissioner of Sichuan, chose strategically rugged mountains along the Yangtze and Jialing rivers to build fortified cities in order to defend against Mongol invasions. At that time, Pengzhou and Xiangru County were respectively relocated from Pengchi Dam and Lingjiang Town (now Jinping Town) to Yunshan, making it an important stronghold against the Yuan Dynasty. Unfortunately, it was destroyed in warfare in the 15th year of the Zhiyuan era (1279) of the Yuan Dynasty, and now has a history of over 700 years.

The walls, streets, temples, and palaces of the Yunshan Ancient City have long since collapsed and vanished, leaving only three sections of broken city walls and two ancient steles as historical testimonies to the city. One of the steles is the "Southern Song Relocation Stele," and the other is the "Song Baoyou Merit Stele."