Site of Chaganhot City

Site of Chaganhot City

The site of Chaganhot City is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The ruins of Chaganhot are located in Hansumu, Ar Horqin Banner, Inner Mongolia, and are currently under the jurisdiction of Chaganhot Gacha in Hansumu. The White City ancient site is the most well-preserved ancient earthen city site within the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. To this day, the inner city’s walls and palace foundations remain largely undamaged, which is why it has drawn the attention of scholars from China and abroad at an early stage. Currently, the academic community generally believes that the city was first built during the Liao Dynasty and was in use until the late Ming Dynasty. In June 2006, the Chaganhot ancient city site was announced by the State Council as part of the sixth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

The ancient city of Chaganhot was the capital of Ligdan Khan (Mongolian name: Ligden Khan), the last emperor of the Mongol khanate. Currently, the academic community believes that the city was first built during the Liao Dynasty and was in use until the late Ming Dynasty. During the late Ming period, the White City served as the political center of eastern Inner Mongolia, leaving behind abundant relics and artifacts within the territory of Hansumu.

According to historical records, by the time of Ligdan Khan, the Chahar tribe saw rapid expansion in both political and economic power. Its territory “stretched from Liaodong in the east to the Hetao region in the west,” and it was known as the “Ruler of Forty Thousand Mongols,” making it the most powerful among the Mongol khans. In the fifth year of the Chongzhen era of the Ming Dynasty (1632), Huang Taiji, together with the Mongol tribes that had submitted to him, launched an attack on the Chahar tribe. Three years later, they breached the capital of Ligdan Khan and captured his son, Ejei. From then on, the Chahar tribe came under the rule of the Later Jin. (After Ligdan Khan left, a fire broke out in the capital, and the palaces were burned down. Since Ejei surrendered before the Later Jin forces attacked the city, other buildings and the city walls inside the capital remained undamaged and were preserved. The city site is grand in scale, with a clear hierarchy and strict structure in the layout of its buildings. The city is divided into inner and outer sections, forming a “square within a square” layout. The city is longer from east to west and shorter from north to south. The outer city is rectangular in shape, with corner towers built at the northeast and northwest corners, and it has two city gates—one in the south and one in the north. On the eastern and western sides of the southern wall, parts of the natural barriers formed by the East and West Chessboard Mountains were utilized. Stone walls were constructed along the base or gentle slopes of the mountain ridges. Between the two peaks, where there is a gap in the mountains, rammed earth walls were used. On the sunny slopes, mountaintops’ western sides, and shaded slopes of the mountains, there are four large foundation sites of palace halls.)

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units