Salt Lake Prohibited Wall and Yuban Ancient Salt Road

　　Salt Lake Prohibited Wall and Yuban Ancient Salt Road (4th batch of provincial-level protected sites)

　　　　Era: Neolithic Age to Qing Dynasty

　　　　Address: Northern foothills of the Zhongtiao Mountains, from Mohetown in Dongguo Town, Yanhu District to the southern boundary of Pingtoupu in Zhangdian Town, Pinglu County

　　　　Yuncheng Salt Lake is one of the oldest salt lakes in China. According to the Commentary on the Water Classic: “The lake stretches 70 li from east to west and 17 li from north to south.” To prevent salt theft and protect tax revenues, a prohibited wall (also called the restricted enclosure) was built around the 120-li perimeter of the salt lake during the Tang Dynasty. It was repaired during the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, with most of the existing walls dating back to the Qing Dynasty. Today, most of the main wall structure has been destroyed, but remnants of the wall still rise and fall along the terrain. The section from the Salt God Temple to the Second Salt Chemical Plant, as well as the section from the Second Plant to Jiezhou, are relatively well-preserved.

　　　　The Yuban Ancient Salt Road was first carved out in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. In the eighth year of the Zhengde era in the Ming Dynasty, imperial censor Zhang Shilong expanded the bluestone trough section. It fell into disuse in the early 1950s. This salt road descends from Pingtoupu in Zhangdian Town and exits at the southern foot of the mountain in Mohetown, Dongguo Town, Yanhu District. Along the way, the terrain is rugged, the slopes winding, and the road surface uneven. The current road width ranges from 2 to 4 meters, with a total length of about 8 kilometers.

The Salt Lake Prohibited Wall and Yuban Ancient Salt Road are national key cultural relics protection units.

Salt Lake Prohibited Wall and Yuban Ancient Salt Road