Site of Anzhangzi City

Site of Anzhangzi City

The Site of Anzhangzi City is a cultural relic protection unit of Liaoning Province.

The Site of Anzhangzi City is located in Anzhangzi Village, about eight li southwest of Lingyuan City. Historical research indicates that over 2,000 years ago, during the Qin Dynasty, Pinggang County was established here. According to the Lingyuan County Annals, in the 26th year of the reign of Qin Shi Huang (221 BC), when the Qin unified the six states and divided the country into 36 commanderies, Pinggang County was set up within the territory of what is now Lingyuan City. This marked the first time a county was established in the history of Lingyuan. By the Western Han period, the seat of the Youbeiping Commandery was moved to Pinggang, making this site the administrative center for both the commandery and the county.

In 1979, an excavation at the ancient city site of Anzhangzi uncovered 31 iron artifacts from the cultural deposits of the Warring States period, including iron straight spade shovels, open-head axes, adzes, arrowheads, and belt hooks. These items date to the late Warring States period. A large number of cloth coins were also unearthed at the Anzhangzi ancient city ruins, among which the Xiangping coins were the most numerous, totaling 57 pieces, available in both large and small sizes. The large ones had flat shoulders and flat feet, measuring 4.2 cm in length and 2.3 cm in width, while the smaller ones were 3.1 cm long and 1.8 cm wide. The site also yielded various types of taotie-patterned half-tile ends, such as the "Thousand Autumns and Ten Thousand Years" circular half-tile end, cloud-patterned circular half-tile end, beast-face-patterned circular half-tile end, grid-patterned circular half-tile end, and scroll-patterned circular half-tile end.

Further reading:

· Fourth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units in Liaoning Province