Ruins of the Ancient City of Zhao Kang

Ruins of the Ancient City of Zhao Kang

The ruins of the Ancient City of Zhao Kang are a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Shanxi Province.

Ruins of the Ancient City of Zhao Kang

Ruins of the Ancient City of Zhao Kang (First Batch of Provincial-Level Protected Sites)

Era: Spring and Autumn Period

Address: Zhao Kang Town, 30 kilometers south of Xiangfen County

The ancient city site is located approximately 5 kilometers east of the Fen River and 4 kilometers west of Jiuyuan Mountain, covering an area of about 50,000 square kilometers. It is said to be the ancient capital "Jiugang" during the Spring and Autumn Period and the "Linfen City" of the Han Dynasty, locally referred to as the "Ancient Jin City."

The layout of the ancient city is roughly rectangular, wider in the southern part, with a perimeter of about 8,480 meters. The terrain inside the city is higher in the north and lower in the south, forming terraced plateaus with differences in elevation of around 10 meters. A distinct path extends from outside the north gate of the city wall southward for over a thousand meters. The city is surrounded by clear remnants of a moat, which converge into a large stream at the lower right corner of the city, now known as Taishan Gully. The city wall remains are largely well-preserved, although the western section of the southern wall is heavily damaged, while the northern wall is relatively intact. Neither the eastern nor the western walls show any signs of gates. The earthen walls are reddish-brown in color, with rammed layers about 5–6 cm thick. The rammed pits are round and flat, with a diameter of about 7 cm. The rammed earth contains pottery shards from the Eastern Zhou period, including both flat tiles and tubular tiles. The southern city wall is about 1,650 meters long, and the eastern city wall is approximately 2,600 meters long.

In the exact center of the northern part of the ancient city lies the remnant of a smaller inner city, square in shape, covering about 1 square kilometer.

Zhao Kang Town: "A town under the jurisdiction of Xiangfen County. The Zhao Kang Commune was established in 1961, and the town was built in 1984. Located in the southwestern part of the county, it covers an area of 50.8 square kilometers with a population of 22,000. The Xiang (Fen)–Xiang (Xin) Highway passes through the town. It administers 18 village committees: Zhao Kang, Jincheng, Beizhao, Zhaoxiong, Dongchai, Xuejiazhuang, Niuxi, Nanchai, Dongfenyang, Xili, Beichai, Xifenyang, Yangwei, Dazhao, Shiwei, Xiaozhao, Nanshiwei, and Nanzhao. Major agricultural products include wheat and cotton, making it one of the county’s main production areas for these crops."

".…… More detailed information about Zhao Kang Town++"

Further Reading:

· First Batch of Shanxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units