Jin Tu Cheng Ruins

Jin Tu Cheng Ruins

The Jin Tu Cheng Ruins are a protected cultural heritage site of Beijing.

The Jin Tu Cheng Ruins are located in the area of Fenghuangzui Village in Fengtai District. The highest point of the Jin Tu Cheng is about 3 meters, with intermittent sections stretching for approximately 100 meters. From the third to the fifth year of the Tiande era (1151–1153) during the Jin Dynasty, Emperor Hailing Wu, also known as Wanyan Liang, expanded the eastern, western, and southern walls of the old Yanjing city outward. Its northeastern corner was situated on Cuihua Street inside Xuanwumen (today’s Xuanwumen area), the northwestern corner at Donghuangtingzi east of Yangfangdian (today’s Yangfangdian area), the southeastern corner at Silutong south of Yongdingmen Railway Station, and the southwestern corner at today’s Fenghuangzui in Fengtai District. In the fifth year of Tiande (1153), the capital was moved here from Shangjing Huining Prefecture and renamed Zhongdu (Central Capital). The Zhongdu city had 13 gates: four on the north, and three each on the east, west, and south. Twelve of these gates led into the central palace city. In front were a plaza and a thousand-step corridor, flanked by government offices, with gardens and temples to the southwest, and a commercial district to the northeast. The city covered an area of about 22 square kilometers. It inherited the urban planning of both the Tang-era Youzhou and Liao-era Nanjing, while also adopting the layout of the Song-era Bianliang. The architecture was luxurious and splendid. In the third year of the Zhenyou era (1215), it was captured and burned by Mongol forces. The remaining ruins are part of the southwestern corner of Zhongdu extending eastward. A few meters of the western wall can still be found in Gaolou Village. The water channel to the south of the earthen ruins is believed to be the remnant of the Jin Dynasty’s moat.