Ancient City of Menyuan

Ancient City of Menyuan

The Ancient City of Menyuan is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Era: Song Dynasty

The city wall of the Ancient City of Menyuan is rectangular in shape, approximately 360 meters long from east to west and 300 meters wide from north to south. The remaining height is 11.7 meters, with a base width of 30 meters and a top width of 5–8 meters. The rammed earth layers are 10–12 centimeters thick. The wall features battlements that are 12 meters wide, and a semicircular barbican with the city gate facing south. Near the city wall, there used to be a moat, but it has been filled in and residential buildings have been constructed on the site. Currently, there are no buildings within the city. The old houses have long since disappeared, leaving only scattered fragments of tiles everywhere.

According to the *New Annals of Xining Prefecture: Geography and Rivers* and the *Datong County Annals: Administrative History*, the Ancient City of Menyuan was built during the Song Dynasty and was named Datong City. The nearby Heimen River was also renamed Datong River after the city. The exact construction period is believed to be between 1099, when the Song army reclaimed the Hehuang region, and 1125, when the Western Xia captured Menyuan. As for the reason behind the city’s destruction, local folklore tells of a massacre carried out by camel caravan merchants. It is designated as a Provincial-Level Cultural Relics Protection Unit, and a stone protection marker erected by the People's Government of Qinghai Province stands at the northwest corner of the city wall.

In May 2013, it was officially designated by the State Council as part of the seventh group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Seventh Group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units