Dongming Ancient City

　　In the second year of the Xingding era of the Jin Dynasty (1218), to avoid flooding from the Yellow River (the Yellow River), the county seat of Dongming was moved from the old city (Donghun Town) to the former site of Yuanju County (present-day Dongmingji Town) and the county was established there. This lasted for over 150 years. After the relocation, the city walls were rebuilt and four gates were installed. The east gate was named “Chaoyang” (Facing the Sun), the west gate “Yingshuang” (Welcoming the Breeze), the south gate “Huyou” (Doorway), and the north gate “Donghun” (Eastern Darkness). In the third year of the Ming Dynasty (1490), the county was re-established at the former site of Dongming, with the county seat located at Dasanji (now the current county town), which has been in place for over 500 years. A seven-li-forty-step-long (approximate) city wall, two zhang and five chi (approximately) high, with four gates, was constructed. The east gate plaque read “Dongzuo” (Eastern Works), the south gate “Nanyi” (Southern Changes), the west gate “Xicheng” (Western Harvest), and the north gate “Ying’en” (Welcoming Grace). The moat was one zhang and five chi (approximately) deep and over six zhang wide. Through subsequent dynasties, the walls were repaired—sometimes heightened, sometimes with additional gates, or equipped with watchtowers, crenellations, and expanded moats to reinforce the fortress. During the Anti-Japanese War and the Liberation War, Dongming City was liberated four times, and the city walls gradually deteriorated. Today, only traces of the original site and the moat remain.