Here is the Travel and Historical Institute of the Walker Lao Zhang.
I have walked a lot of places and seen many ancient cities, some of which are modern restorations, some of which are repaired on the basis of ancient cities, and some of which are real monuments, such as this one, which is the "real" ancient city.
Shouchun Ancient City, located in Shou County, Anhui, is also called Shou County Ancient City. Shouxian used to be called Shouchun, Shouyang, Suiyang, Shouzhou and other names in ancient times, and Shouchun has been used since the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, and is the oldest name. The Yuanzhi Republic of China was called Shouzhou and was the seat of the state capital.
Most of the ancient cities preserved in China are built in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the ancient city of Shouxian was built in the Song Dynasty, the construction time continued from the Northern Song Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty, about 1028-1220 AD, although in the Ming and Qing dynasties have also been repaired many times, but the basic part of the ancient city retains the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty different specifications of the city bricks and stones, these are clearly visible, 800 years ago, the country is rare, very precious.
The ancient city has four city gates, the east gate is called Binyang Gate, the south gate is called TongmiMen, the west gate is called Dinghu Gate, and the north gate is called Jinghuai Gate, all of which have built urns. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the north gate and the east gate were damaged, partially restored in the 1980s, the other two gates are real monuments, the weathered city bricks are historical witnesses, the most obvious is the bluestone slab paved in the city gate cave, which is very smoothly ground, and the middle has left a deep rut mark, which is the trace of time.
Compared with the ancient city of Shouxian, the history of Shouxian is more brilliant, and it is one of the first three historical and cultural cities in China. At the end of the Warring States period, the State of Chu was beaten by the State of Qin to move the capital many times, and finally moved to Shouchun, calling Shouchun "Ying" (the capital of the State of Chu was called "Yin"), more than ten years later, Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms of the army invincible, attacked Shouchun, the Chu State fell, the establishment of Jiujiang County, Shouchun as the seat of Jiujiang County, extended to the Han and Three Kingdoms, The Jin and Tang Dynasties Shouchun was still "Yangzhou", Yuzhou's administrative center, the ancient county, state equivalent to the current province, that is to say, Shouchun was the "provincial capital" at that time.
Among them, Shouchun was the most brilliant in the early Western Han Dynasty, once the capital of the princely state of Huainan, after three generations of Huainan kings, the first generation was the founding hero of the Western Han Dynasty, one of Liu Bang's generals Yingbu, and the next two generations of Huainan kings were Liu Bang's son Liu Chang and grandson Liu An. Liu An, the king of Huainan, has a high influence in history, and "Huainan Zi" was written under the auspices of Liu An, which is a famous philosophical work in ancient times. This is from this book.
In addition, Liu An is also a gastronomic inventor, China's long-established gourmet tofu has been circulated for more than 2,000 years, it is rumored that this Huainan king Liu An invented. The Bagongshan area outside the ancient city of Shouxian is identified as the birthplace of tofu, and the tomb of Liu An, the king of Huainan, is at the foot of BagongShan. However, Liu An, the king of Huainan, had a bad ending, and was killed by Emperor Wu of Han due to rebellion, and finally Emperor Wu of Han revoked the state of Huainan and established Jiujiang Commandery.
The rise and fall of Shou County stems from its special geographical location, the ancient city is close to the Huai River, the ancient city moat we see is a natural river, called the Mi River, the Mi River is a tributary of the Huai River, Shou County is exactly at the confluence of two rivers. In 383 AD, the 80,000 horses of the Eastern Jin Dynasty fought against Former Qin's 200,000 (known as 800,000) troops, and sima Yao, the emperor of the Jin Dynasty, consolidated the throne.
The strategic value of Shouchun in ancient transportation conditions dominated by waterways cannot be ignored, and more than a thousand years later, as land replaced waterways, Shouchun was gradually left out in the cold, leaving only an ancient city. Now Shouchun is almost forgotten, becoming an unknown small county town, also renamed Shou County, belonging to Huainan City, Anhui Province. Even before 2019, it was still a poverty-stricken county in the country, with rare ancient city ruins in the country and a splendid history and culture, but the development of tourism has not kept up with the pace of the times, and it is expected that Shouchun will return to glory as soon as possible.
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【Author's Profile】:Walker Lao Zhang, motorcycle travel enthusiast, contemporary Xu Xiake, measuring the earth with his feet, sharing travel insights at any time. Welcome to follow, like, comment, do not hesitate to teach!