Fengyang Mingzhong Imperial Ancient City National Archaeological Site Park is the first officially listed national archaeological site park in our province. The National Archaeological Site Park, as a model and achievement of the protection and utilization of large ruins in line with the national conditions of the mainland, is actively integrating into the local economic and social development with diversified protection and utilization results. The former city of the emperor in the Ming Dynasty and the current Fengyang City, which are linked to each other across time and space, this "city" is a well-known Chinese story and a warm fireworks in the world.
9 meters, 12 meters, 24 meters!
This is a city's "height limit" indicator for new buildings around it based on the distance and proximity of a national archaeological park. This carefully protected imperial hometown of the Ming Dynasty and today's Fengyang City have an "echo" across time and space.
Sunset in the middle capital. Photo by Zhu Weilin
Numbers also have "temperature"
In April, in the National Archaeological Site Park of the Imperial Ancient City of the Ming Dynasty, visitors walk under the ancient city wall in twos and threes, and come to a CityWalk, which is a good place to go. The beautification and greening project of the entire heritage park includes several areas such as citizen leisure area, flower viewing area, and grass plant garden. Looking up at the blue sky and white clouds, leaning over is the green grass, the stretching city wall, and the empty vision seem to lead people to the tunnel of time. This sense of historical depth and temperature, to a certain extent, is brought about by the series of numbers "9 meters, 12 meters, and 24 meters".
The precise planning reflects the scientific nature of the National Archaeological Site Park as a model for the protection and utilization of large ruins in line with the national conditions of the mainland.
In order to highlight the core status of the city, when promoting the construction of the city, Fengyang County strictly follows the requirements of the cultural relics protection planning, and stipulates that the volume, height, appearance and use nature of all new buildings and structures should be harmoniously integrated with the central capital. To a certain extent, this reduces the plot ratio and restricts the development of urban real estate projects, but enhances the cultural core value of Zhongdu City in the construction of Fengyang City. With the ancient city of the emperor in the Ming Dynasty as the center, the four districts of Mentai, Linhuai Pass, Fengyang Old Town and New Town have been integrated.
Guo Ruliang, director of the National Archaeological Site Park Management Office of the Imperial Ancient City of Fengyang Ming, introduced that the central capital city has become an important factor in a series of plans such as the conceptual planning of 50 square kilometers of Fengyang City, the zoning plan of 10 square kilometers of the new urban area, the control planning of 5.5 square kilometers and urban design. In addition, the county has also included the ruins of the mound, the ruins of the square mound, the ruins of the stargazing platform, and the ruins of Tushanmen outside the ruins of the capital city of the Ming Dynasty into the protection, so that the urban construction and the protection of cultural relics can develop in harmony.
"Mingzhong should understand, grasp, protect and utilize from the long river of history and the macrocosm of the site. Historical geographer Wang Jianying described it in "The Examination of the Capital City in the Ming Dynasty". "A central capital city, the soul of Fengyang city". In recent years, Fengyang County has integrated the concept of "phoenix title and integration of mountains and rivers" into urban planning and design, established two axes of east and west, north and south, led the overall design of the "Chinese" shaped city, and a series of characteristic urban cultural belts, which have gradually become a tourist check-in place recognized by local residents and tourists.
Children run in the archaeological site park of the ancient city of the emperor in the Ming Dynasty. Photo by Wang Xinguo
The remains are told silently
Why should this contemporary city be "accommodated" into an "old city"? It stems from the respect and protection of cultural heritage, and the importance and support of archaeological achievements.
The archaeological site park is naturally based on archaeological results. When it came into the spotlight again as one of the top ten new archaeological discoveries in the country in 2021, the ruins of the ancient city of the emperor in the Ming Dynasty have gone through a history of more than 600 years. It has been the focus of generations of historical giants.
The capital city of the Ming Dynasty is located on the high ground on the south bank of the Huai River in the northwest of Fengyang County, between the new and old urban areas of Fengyang, it is the capital city of Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty after ascending the throne, carefully built in his hometown, and it is the culmination of the construction of the Chinese capital city for more than 2,000 years, covering an area of more than 50 square kilometers. According to records, its planning followed the royal city system of "Zhou Li and Examination of Gongji", inherited from the Tang and Song dynasties, and became the blueprint of the Nanjing Forbidden City and the Beijing Forbidden City in the Ming Dynasty, and occupied an extremely important position in the history of the construction of the ancient Chinese capital. In 1982, the Imperial Ancient City of the Ming Dynasty was announced by the State Council as a national key cultural relics protection unit.
With the continuous efforts of archaeologists, the scale and layout of that year are more and more clearly presented to the world. When it was awarded the top ten new archaeological discoveries in the country in 2021, the site excavated an area of more than 10,000 square meters, which clarified the layout of the main hall and ancillary buildings in the former dynasties of the Ming and Chinese dynasties for the first time, and physically confirmed the historical role of the Ming and Chinese capitals in the planning of the ancient Chinese capital, inheriting the Song and Yuan dynasties and the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The remains of the palace courtyards and water systems of the Ming and Zhongdu dynasties are important results of archaeological excavations in 2022-2023, which provide important link information for the study of the evolution of the ancient capital system from the Tang and Song dynasties to the near future. According to Wang Zhi, the person in charge of the archaeological excavation project of the Ming Dynasty, the discovery of the main hall next to the palace in the former dynasty district has completed the layout of the main palace site of the former court palace in the palace city of the Ming Dynasty and its connection with the adjacent corridor. The revelation of the combination of the southern corridor confirms the existence of the corridor between the former court courtyard and the noon gate, and corrects and enriches the configuration of the middle road building in the palace. The excavation of key nodes of the water system has enhanced the understanding of the location of the Jinshui River and the bridge site, scale and shape in Miyagi.
A bird's-eye view of the excavation site in front of the palace area in front of the middle capital.
Cities come with their own "filters"
"Comes with a layer of golden 'filter'!" In the eyes of local photographers, at dusk, the afterglow of the sunset is sprinkled on the city wall of the Ming Zhongdu ruins like a raging fire, and the background of the ancient buildings and the afterglow of the sunset reflect each other, presenting the unique texture of the old city. Therefore, the locals will also visit this place, which is called "golden" tourism. This touch of gold is the beauty of nature, but also the beauty of humanity.
Nearly 500,000 people have entered the park, which is data since 2023. As a national archaeological site park, while deeply exploring the potential of archaeological research at the site, the site is also actively integrated into the lives of the people and launched a cultural tourism brand.
In 2012, the Ming Dynasty Imperial City Wall and Nanjing City Wall and other 8 ancient city walls were "packaged" by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage as "China Ming and Qing Dynasty City Walls", included in the tentative list of China's world cultural heritage, and embarked on the road of "World Heritage Application"; in 2013, the Ming Dynasty Imperial Ancient City Archaeological Site Park was approved by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, with a total planning area of 382.3 hectares, a total investment of about 1.27 billion yuan, and a construction period from 2013 to 2030. In 2017, the National Archaeological Site Park was selected into the third batch of national archaeological site parks.
It is after this that the protection of the central capital city and the construction of archaeological site parks are more and more closely related to the protection of excellent cultural heritage, highlighting the city's personality, improving the city's taste, optimizing the living environment, improving the urban and rural ecology, promoting tourism development, and promoting economic construction.
How to promote the protection and revitalization of cultural heritage with the focus on the Ming and Central Capitals, and promote the "livening" and "fire" of major national ruins? Guo Ruliang said that the local government has actively carried out value research, promoted the construction of cultural preservation exhibition projects, accelerated the creation of scenic spots, and held various activities. In recent years, the Zhongdu Lecture Hall has been opened on a regular basis, and "Ming Zhongdu City Examination" and "Ming Zhongdu Data Hook and Sinking" have been republished. Mingzhongdu won the "2021 National Top 100 Cultural Heritage Tourism Cases", "Top 10 Excellent Cases of Cultural Relics Activation and Utilization in the Province", the Yangtze River Theme National Tourism Route (Yangtze River Civilization Traceability Tour), the 2020-2022 National Archaeological Site Park Alliance "Public Welfare Huimin Recommendation" honorary title, and was selected into the national "14th Five-Year Plan for the Protection and Utilization of Large Ruins" and "14th Five-Year Plan for Cultural Relics Protection and Scientific and Technological Innovation".
Today, Mingzhongdu has been awarded the 2023 Yangtze River Theme National Tourism Route (Yangtze River Civilization Tracing Tour) and the honorary title of "Public Welfare Huimin Recommendation" of the National Archaeological Site Park Alliance from 2020 to 2022. The local area is focusing on the protection and utilization of cultural heritage in the Ming and Zhongdu ruins, promoting the in-depth integration and development of culture and tourism, and striving to build a cultural tourism scenic spot with international influence.
(Source: "Anhui Daily" April 12, 2024 4th edition, reporter: Jin Wenjing)