Tangya Tusi City Site

　　The Tangya Tusi City Site is situated in Jianshan Township (now Tangya Town), Xianfeng County, Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hubei Province. Backed by Xuanwu Mountain and facing the Tangya River, the site mainly dates from the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty (17th–early 18th century). Covering an area of approximately 80 hectares, it served as the administrative center of the Tujia Tangya Qin clan’s Tusi governance.

　　The Tusi city ruins include the city proper, tombs, and peripheral structures. The city proper, the main part of the site, is located in the relatively flat area east of the site near the river. The western forested areas of the city and its periphery host tombs and other peripheral remains.

　　The Tangya Tusi City Site features diverse types of relics, including defensive structures (city walls, gates), transportation facilities (roads, bridges, docks), architectural ruins, tombs, gardens, and handicraft sites (quarries). Excavated artifacts mainly consist of porcelain, seals, and brick-and-stone building components, predominantly blue-and-white porcelain shards and stone architectural elements. Archaeological dating primarily points to the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, with many inscribed date markers aligning with historical records of Lady Tian concentrating on city construction during the Tianqi and Chongzhen eras (1622–1644). The well-preserved, orderly road and courtyard system within the city reflects a centralized, one-time planning and construction effort.

　　Tangya Tusi City is a typical example of the Tusi system and a precious cultural relic showcasing the cultural exchange and integration between the Tujia and Han peoples.

　　In 2006, it was designated as part of the sixth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units by the State Council.

　　In July 2015, it was successfully inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List at the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Bonn, Germany.

　　II. Major Relics

　　(I) City Walls

　　Most sections of the Tangya Tusi City were enclosed by city walls (also called outer walls) on the east, north, and south sides, with additional inner walls built on the north and northeast sides. The walls were constructed using roughly processed natural stones and are mostly still visible, standing over 1 meter in height. The riverside sections are the best preserved, reaching up to 2.5 meters in height, with surviving base widths of 3.2 meters.

　　At the original eastern gate, the foundational wall of the gate tower was significantly wider than the city wall itself, now measuring about 6 to 7 meters in remaining width, clearly indicating the base of the gate tower. The surviving eastern wall stretches 150 meters.

　　(II) Streets and Alleys

　　The streets and alleys within the city site remain clearly visible today. They consist of three main streets, eighteen alleys, and thirty-six courtyards, divided into upper, middle, and lower streets, forming irregular shapes with a total length of 880 meters. Centered around a stone memorial archway and known as Middle Street, the street surface is entirely paved with bluestone slabs—each slab 2 meters long and 0.3 meters wide, laid horizontally along the street—for a broad and neat appearance. Stretching downward from the Grand Government Office is Upper Street; ascending from the Minor Government Office is Lower Street. The 36 alleys are also paved with stone blocks, connecting to the streets along the terrain and providing access in all directions. Among them, “First Horizontal Lane,” “Second Horizontal Lane,” and “Third Horizontal Lane” run parallel between Upper Street and the southern city wall.

　　(III) Stone Memorial Archway

　　The “Jingnan Xiongzhen” (Mighty Fortress of Southern Jing) Memorial Archway was built in the fourth year of the Tianqi era (1624) during the Ming Dynasty to commend the military achievements of Tusi Qin Ding. It is the most iconic architectural relic at the Tangya Tusi City Site and marks the beginning of the government office complex. A stone staircase leads vertically to the central gate. The archway is built with sandstone in imitation of wooden structure, standing 7.15 meters tall and 8.4 meters wide, with three bays and four stone pillars. Each pillar is flanked by 2.5-meter-high drum stones and stone lions (one lion remains). The horizontal beam bears the inscriptions “Mighty Fortress of Southern Jing” and “Shield of Chu and Shu” on its two faces. Inscriptions on both sides record the reasons and date of the archway’s construction. The central panel is carved with scenes such as “The Tusi’s Procession” and “Nezha’s Sea Trouble,” while the side panels depict “Fishing, Woodcutting, Farming, and Studying,” “Scholar Beneath the Scholar Tree,” and motifs like qilin, dragons, and phoenixes. While many themes are adapted from Han Chinese art, others directly reflect Tusi life, such as “The Tusi’s Procession,” blending Han and Tujia artistic elements.

　　(IV) Zhangwang Temple

　　The Zhangwang Temple ruins are located on an artificially built platform northeast of the Tangya Tusi City Site, named after the temple’s primary deity, the Three Kingdoms general Zhang Fei. The temple consists of three courtyards: the front mountain gate, the middle horse hall, and the rear worship hall. The stone walls remain, but the temple’s architectural ruins have not been excavated. Scattered among the ruins are a pair of stone figures and horses, poised as if ready to march, guarded by two stone figures holding reins, dressed as warriors. The horses, carved from single blocks of sandstone, are majestic and lifelike. The left horse stands 2.38 meters tall, 0.7 meters wide at the back, and 2.8 meters long, with carvings of a saddle, stirrups, reins, and bridle clearly visible. Inscribed on the bridle in small characters: “On the fourth day of the fourth month of the summer season in the year Xinhai of the Wanli era (1611), Lady Tian, wife of the official Qin, commissioned this.” The left horse is 2.08 meters tall and 2.8 meters long, with the bridle inscribed: “On the twenty-fourth day of the fourth month of the summer season in the year Xinhai of the Wanli era, Chief Qin Jie and his son Qin Wenzhong commissioned this.” One stone figure is headless, standing 1.6 meters tall in armor and guarding the horse. The horses are spaced 4.8 meters apart. Their build resembles that of southern horses—sturdy rather than tall.

　　(V) Tusi Tombs

　　On the high slope in the northeast corner of the site lie two parallel Ming Dynasty tombs: one for the Tusi king and one for Lady Tian, covering a total area of 400 square meters. The Tusi king’s tomb mound is well-preserved, featuring a grand and ornate stone chamber. The coffin chamber was built from drilled sandstone. The front resembles a double-eaved wooden structure with a one-dou-three-lift design, stretching 7 meters. The roof is adorned with tubular tiles, and the ridge is decorated with dragon head carvings. Bracket arms are distinctly visible under the eaves, with five corridor pillars forming four tomb chambers. The pillars are rectangular, 0.45 meters wide and 0.6 meters thick, spaced 1 to 1.1 meters apart. The corridors are 1.85 meters apart and 2 meters high, with circular caisson ceilings carved overhead. Further inside are four tomb chambers, each with eight stone doors (each 1.65 meters tall, 0.1 meters thick, and about 0.67 meters wide) adorned with lattice patterns. The chambers are made of whole sandstone blocks, measuring 3 meters long, 1.5 meters high, with middle chambers 1.3 meters wide and side chambers 1.25 meters wide. Each has a stone coffin bed, 2.7 meters long and 0.9 meters wide. At the rear is a niche, 0.5 meters above the coffin bed, 0.5 meters tall, 0.4 meters wide, and 0.15 meters deep. The chambers are separated by whole stone slabs, about 0.15 meters thick, each carved with small lattice windows (0.58 meters wide and 0.9 meters high). The window panes feature coin-pattern designs, allowing views between chambers. The ceiling is carved with floral-patterned caisson designs. In front of the tomb is an octagonal altar, with small stone beasts at the front and intricately carved qilin on both sides, about 1 meter tall. The entire royal tomb is exquisitely built from stone, representing a masterpiece of Tusi culture and reflecting the pinnacle of stone carving craftsmanship of the period.

　　Lady Tian’s tomb lies to the left of the Tusi tomb, with its mound well-preserved. In front are a stone stele and a stone memorial archway. The stele is 0.97 meters wide, 1.9 meters tall, and stands on a 0.45-meter-high base with table-pattern engravings. The central inscription reads: “Tomb of the Exemplary Late Mother, Martial General Lady Tian, Honored Consort of Qin, Tusi.” The front notes: “Recorded by her filial son, Official Yin Zongyao,” and the back is dated: “Erected on a propitious dawn in the fourth month of the summer season, the year Gengwu of the Chongzhen era of the Great Ming (1630).” In front of the tomb is a simpler, undecorated stone memorial archway, 3.5 meters tall with side heights of 2.5 meters, a central gate 2.05 meters wide, and side gates 1.4 meters wide. The archway is flanked by drum-shaped stone pillars, connected by carved tenons.

　　Further up lies the tomb of Martial General Qin Ding. Nearby are five similarly styled and ranked general tombs from the same period, most lacking inscriptions. In the forests of Xuanwu Mountain behind the Tusi city, numerous tombs of varying layouts can be found, confirming this area as the family cemetery of the Qin clan.

　　(VI) Cultural Artifacts

　　Cultural artifacts found at the Tusi city mainly include goldware, porcelain, seals, and brick-and-stone building components, predominantly blue-and-white porcelain shards and stone architectural elements.

　　The first category is porcelain shards, unearthed in the street and government office areas, spanning from the Ming Dynasty to the Republican era (with Ming Dynasty reign marks such as Chenghua, Xuande, Wanli, and Jingdezhen imprints). The shards in the government office area are of higher quality.

　　The second category is brick-and-tile architectural components, found in the government office area, featuring Han-style drip tiles, eave tiles, and tubular tiles adorned with lotus and fish-scale patterns.

　　The third category is Tusi seals, including two Tusi seals and one military officer seal from Sichuan’s Yongning region. All are bronze: the Tusi seals come in large and small versions, both inscribed with “Tangya Tusi Seal.” The larger weighs 1,100 grams and lacks a date; the smaller weighs 650 grams and is inscribed as being made in 1674, when the Tangya Tusi aligned with the anti-imperial Wu Sangui regime in the southwest during the early Kangxi era. The Yongning officer seal was acquired by the Tangya Tusi for participating in imperial suppression efforts. Additionally, a “Tangya Tusi Qin Guan Ke Seal” was unearthed in Huolongping Town within the Tangya Tusi jurisdiction.

　　Address: Xianfeng County, Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture

　　Type: Historical Site

　　Recommended visiting time: 1 hour

　　Opening hours:

　　Open all day

　　Source: Hubei Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau