Discovery of Ancient Canal City Ruins in Hengshui Section of Yongji Canal

2024-03-15

Recently, it was learned from the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology that after a year of survey work, archaeologists have discovered a total of 85 cultural relics of the Sui and Sui dynasties in the Hengshui section of the Yongji Canal of the Grand Canal, including the Tang and Song Dynasty Wucheng City Site in Gucheng County, the Tang Dynasty Jingzhou City Gonggao City Site in Fucheng County, and the Tang and Song Dynasty Anling City Site in Jingxian County, which are ancient regional central city sites or clues surrounding the canal channel. The Hebei section of the Grand Canal has a total length of 537.1 kilometers, consisting of the North Canal, South Canal, Wei Canal, Wei River, and Yongji Canal ruins. It flows through 17 counties (cities, districts) in Langfang, Cangzhou, Hengshui, Xingtai, and Handan, and is an indispensable cultural heritage in China's Grand Canal system, with significant geographical and cultural characteristics. The cultural heritage along the Hebei section of the Grand Canal is diverse in types, widely distributed, and of high cultural value, with characteristics of diversity and complexity. In order to focus on protecting the main body of the Grand Canal cultural relics, coastal ground cultural relics, and important cultural relics, Hebei has been making efforts to promote archaeological research and the implementation of cultural relics protection projects on the Grand Canal. Among them, Yongji Canal originated in the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period, was built in the Sui Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, took its route straight from the Yuan Dynasty, and opened up in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is an indispensable and important section in history that connects the north and south. "Since June 2022, we have conducted surveys on the cultural relics and archaeological resources related to the section of the Grand Canal and the Yongji Canal passing through Hengshui City, mainly in Gucheng County, Jing County, and Fucheng County." Hu Qiang, Deputy Researcher of the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, told reporters that this archaeological survey project focuses on the Sui and Tang Yongji Canal, important coastal city sites, and related settlements. ", This is the first specialized archaeological work on the Hengshui section of the Grand Canal and the old Yongji Canal. The joint archaeological team is composed of Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Hengshui City Institute of Cultural Relics Protection, Gucheng County Cultural Preservation Institute, Jing County Cultural Preservation Institute, and Fucheng County Cultural Preservation Institute. The survey covers an area of 350 square kilometers, with an exploration area of 85000 square meters and a surveying area of 20 square kilometers, with a focus on exploring the relevant coastal sites after the opening of the Yongji Canal in the Sui Dynasty. The joint archaeological team discovered 85 cultural relics, including city sites, villages and towns, individual buildings, tombs, handicraft sites, and shipping sites. "We have preliminarily determined the specific direction of the Hengshui section of the Yongji Canal in the Sui and Tang dynasties, and have also discovered multiple ancient regional central city ruins or clues surrounding the canal channel within the survey scope, providing basic data for future archaeological work on the Hengshui section of the Grand Canal and the Yongji Canal ancient route." Hu Qiang introduced that the Tang and Song Wucheng city site discovered this time is located in Juntun Town and Jianguo Town of Gucheng County. The county seat of Wucheng was moved to the north of Yongji Canal in the first year of Tang Dynasty's Diaolu era (679 AD), and was moved to the east of Yongji Canal due to natural disasters in the late Northern Song Dynasty. It was not until 1964 that it was further relocated, and the city had integrated with the canal. The investigation of the Wucheng city site revealed a relatively rich collection of ancient ceramic relics, ranging from kilns in Jiangxi, Hunan, Zhejiang, and Shaanxi, to kilns in Henan, and to kilns in Hebei and Shandong. The collection of North South porcelain kiln products here is an important discovery in the ceramic archaeology of the Hebei Canal type city site. "As a transportation channel on the Yongji Canal route, Wucheng during the Tang and Song dynasties had important significance in both trade and military affairs. In addition, the Gonggao City site discovered by the joint archaeological team in Fucheng County was once built as the cities of Guanzhou and Jingzhou during the Tang dynasty. It is known for its significance in both trade and military affairs."

Edit:Liangyongqing    Responsible editor:Liyi

Source:GuangmingOnline

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