(Reporter Hu Jian) On the 2nd, the Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology released new archaeological research results. Local archaeologists found a stone epitaph in a Tang Dynasty brick tomb in Pingyao, Shanxi. The content of the epitaph proves that the Ming and Qing Pingyao Ancient City was built on the basis of the Tang Dynasty Pingyao City, providing important physical data for the construction history of the world cultural heritage site Pingyao Ancient City. Li Aike's tomb is located in Yanliang Village, Yuebi Township, Pingyao County, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province. The tomb was discovered during the infrastructure construction process. In April 2022, a joint archaeological team was formed by the Shanxi Provincial Archaeological Research Institute and the Pingyao County Cultural Relics Institute to conduct rescue excavations of the tomb. According to the unearthed epitaph, the owner of the tomb was Li Aike, Zuo Guoyi from the Four Gates Mansions of the Tang Dynasty. He was born in the first year of Dazu in the Wu Zhou Dynasty (701 AD) and passed away in the eleventh year of the Dali Dynasty (776 AD). The epitaph stone of Li Aike's tomb located in Pingyao County, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province. (Courtesy of Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology) Although the tomb was a couple's relocation tomb, its construction date should not be far away and belongs to the Middle Tang Dynasty. The discovery of this tomb provides a chronological benchmark for the staging and dating of Tang tombs in the Jinzhong region. Based on the historical text "Moving to Pingyao/Three Mile New Tombs in the East of the City", the straight-line distance from the east wall of Pingyao Ancient City to the tomb of Li Aike is about 2.3 kilometers. It can be inferred that the location of Pingyao City in the Tang Dynasty overlaps with the current location of Pingyao Ancient City, and historical records are basically consistent with cultural relic surveys and archaeological discoveries. Empirical evidence shows that Pingyao Ancient City in the Ming and Qing dynasties was built on the basis of Pingyao City in the Tang Dynasty, providing important physical data for the construction history of the world cultural heritage site Pingyao Ancient City, It has high historical research value. According to historical records, the tomb was owned by Li Aike and his wife Fufeng Ma. Aike, also known as Rang, has an ancestral home in Boling and has no historical record. Born in the first year of Dazu in the Wu Zhou Dynasty and died in the eleventh year of the Dali reign of Emperor Daizong. Grandfather Li Heng, Governor of Dingzhou; Father Li Xuan, go to the Party Office to compromise. An Shi's chaos arose, and the tomb owner was awarded the title of Left Guoyi Duwei of the Four Gates Mansion for his meritorious efforts in guarding Feihu Xing. The wife's birth and death year is unknown, but she passed away later than the tomb owner. Li Tingjun, a descendant of the Zuowuwei General, and Li Guangqing, the second son, moved their parents to a new tomb three miles east of Pingyao County on the 14th of the first lunar month of a certain year (the epitaph is no longer distinguishable). According to Chen Haibo, the person in charge of the excavation project, according to the epitaph, the family mainly started as a member of the Menyin family and started with military achievements. The Zhiwen mentioned information such as the Boling, Dingzhou, Shangdang Prefecture, Zuo Guoyi, Yuyang, and An Shi Rebellion in the Four Men Prefecture, providing important basis for understanding the local administrative divisions and military system at that time. (New News Agency)