Xiapi Ancient City Ruins of the Eastern Han Dynasty

     Recently, a demonstration meeting of the archaeological achievements of the Xiapi Ancient City Site, co-sponsored by the Nanjing Museum, Xuzhou Museum, and Suining Museum, was held in Suining County, Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province. After three years of investigation and exploration, the archaeological team of the Xiapi Ancient City Site identified the location of the Xiapi Ancient City in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and it was clear that the site of the Xiapi Ancient City in the Weijin period was superimposed.

     The site of Xiapi Ancient City is located in Gulin Town, Suining County, Jiangsu Province. Xiapi City is located at the intersection of Yishui and Surabaya. The history of Xiapi experienced the turmoil between the Chu and Han, the Three Kingdoms competition, and the Song and Jin battles. The historical and cultural heritage is profound. However, for a long time, people can only look for the shadow of the ancient city of Xiapi from local chronicles or other records.

     In 2014, the Nanjing Museum and the Suining County Museum began a large-scale archaeological survey and exploration work. According to Ma Yongqiang, the head of the archaeological project of the Xiapi Ancient City and the Nanjing Institute of Archaeology, during the three-year visit and investigation, the Xiapi Ancient City site archeological team found that the Ming and Qing dynasties of the Xiaoji Ancient City site were overlaid with Wei Jin. During the cultural accumulation of the Song and Song dynasties, excavations revealed a house in the Wei and Jin dynasties and the Song dynasty. From this, it was determined that the site of the ancient city of Xiaqi was superimposed under the Weijin-Song dynasty during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

     In addition, the archeological team found a cemetery of high-ranking noble families of the Western Jin Dynasty about 15 kilometers away from the ancient city of Xiajia, and found 9 tombs, and unearthed more than 300 kinds of funerary items such as nautilus cups, glass bowls, and gold clams. It shows that the cemetery should be a noble family cemetery in Xiabang Kingdom in the Western Jin Dynasty and an important part of the Xiabang ancient city ruins in the Wei and Jin Dynasty.

     In May of this year, in the archaeological survey of the settlements centered on the following ancient city, the rammed earth wall was found more than 1,000 meters east of the ancient city of Xiaqi during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. After exploration, it was identified as a city site, with an earlier era. The site of the site is rectangular. The site is 1,500 meters long from east to west and 1350 meters wide from north to south. The residual height of the city wall is about 5.5 meters, the top width is about 16 meters, and the bottom width is about 32 meters. Anatomy confirmed the ruins of Xiaoji Ancient City in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

     "Although the archeological excavation area is small, we have a clearer understanding of the ancient city of Xiabei." Ma Yongqiang said that the archeological team found at least four stacks of city sites in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Western Jin Dynasty, Song Jin, and Ming and Qing Dynasties, indicating that Xiabei The ancient city "has a city above and below it." Archeological work has greatly enriched the cultural connotation of Xiapi, and provided important information for studying the history and culture of Xiapi in different periods.

     The excavation of Xiapi has made important gains, and the site has important excavation significance. Not many ancient cities continued to be used from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and Xiayu is well documented, and the archaeological excavations in the Huangfan District, an important geographical location in the eastern part of the Central Plains, have revealed few ancient cities. Therefore, Xiapi is of typical significance in the study of Chinese ancient city history. (Reporter Zheng Jinming, correspondent Xu Xiaoyang) (Originally published in: "Guangming Daily" December 12, 2017, 12th edition)