Han Dynasty Ritual Architecture Foundation at Mangdang Mountain

　　  In 2006, the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology excavated a large Han Dynasty architectural foundation on the main peak of Mangdang Mountain in Yongcheng City. The site is located at the center of the Western Han Dynasty Prince of Liang’s tomb complex. It is primarily built with stone and wood, and may have been an important ritual site.

　　  The structure preserves a nearly square stone platform base, measuring 33.5 meters from north to south and 31.5 meters from east to west, covering an area of 1,055 square meters, with the eastern part already damaged. The platform edges were constructed with precisely cut stone slabs forming a stone wall, with the middle consisting of the original bedrock and the top being rammed earth. When the foundation was discovered, the rammed earth on the top had been removed, exposing the bedrock, and the surrounding structures had also suffered considerable damage. The bedrock was originally enclosed by a stone wall, with the eastern and western sections better preserved, and parts of the walls still intact. This architectural foundation is situated on the main peak of Mangdang Mountain. Although no tomb of the Prince of Liang was found on the main peak itself, tombs of the Princes of Liang are buried on the eastern, western, and southern peaks. Therefore, the entire Prince of Liang tomb complex should be considered as centered around this mountain peak, with the tombs distributed around it.