CCTV didn’t lie to me! The ancient city of Shangqiu has six capitals stacked up underground!
Qiu Ancient City is the only prefecture-level city site from the Ming and Qing dynasties preserved in the Central Plains. It is also the only large ancient city site in the world that integrates the Eight Diagrams City, the Water City, and the City on Top of the City. It has a history of more than 3,000 years. Six capital cities were stacked on this land at the same time.
1Guidefu City built during the Yuan Dynasty before the 16th year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty
2 Nanjing City, the Secondary Capital of Yingtian Prefecture during the Northern Song Dynasty
3 Songcheng, the seat of Songzhou during the Sui and Tang dynasties
4 Juyang City, the capital of Liang State during the Qin and Han Dynasties
5. The capital of Song during the Zhou Dynasty, etc.
The ancient city is round outside and square inside, like a huge coin with a square hole, symbolizing the roundness of the sky and the squareness of the earth, and the interdependence of heaven and earth. There are many courtyard houses in the ancient city, and 93 streets divide the city into many small blocks of 200 meters square.
√ Yingtian Academy, which is ranked first among the four major academies in the Northern Song Dynasty
It has the largest Confucius Temple in Henan Province.
Chen Family Courtyard and Zhuanghui Hall, which contain stories of Ming and Qing dynasties
There is the Zhang Xun Temple, which commemorates Zhang Xun, the loyal and brave marquis of Tang Dynasty who defended the world by defending a city during the An-Shi Rebellion, and the Eight-Guan Fast, which commemorates Yan Zhenqing. Each of them is worth noting.
City Walk Route: North Gate of the Ancient City → Zhongshan Street → Former Residence of Hou Fangyu → Guidefu Confucian Temple → Chen Family Courtyard → Mu Family Courtyard → South City Wall → South Lake → Zhangxun Temple → Baguanzhai → Yingtian Academy
Must-see in the ancient city
①Yingtian Academy: The first of the four major academies in the Northern Song Dynasty, it was also promoted to the Imperial College and became the highest institution of learning in the Northern Song Dynasty. Fan Zhongyan studied hard, passed the imperial examination, took charge of the school, and became a famous writer and politician in history.
2 Hou Fangyu's Former Residence: Hou Fangyu, a talented scholar in the late Ming Dynasty, wrote the "Zhuanghuitang Collection" here; the east and west buildings are Xueyuanshe and Feicui Building (the residence of Hou Fangyu's beloved wife, Li Xiangjun, one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai)
③Guidefu Confucian Temple: It is the largest Confucian temple in Henan Province. There is also a thousand-year-old soapberry tree in the courtyard.
④Baguanzhai: There are Yan Zhenqing's stone tablet and the Thousand Old Men Banquet tablet, which record the grand occasion of Emperor Qianlong's last "Thousand Old Men Banquet".
⑤ Chen Family Courtyard: The first of the seven major families in Shangqiu, it is mainly composed of quadrangle courtyards, which are connected and distributed regularly. It is a model of quadrangle courtyard architecture in the Central Plains
⑥Mu's Siheyuan: one of the "Eight Great Families and Seven Large Families" in Guide Prefecture, one of the Siheyuans in the Ming and Qing Dynasties
7 Zhang Xun Temple: Built to commemorate the hero Zhang Xun who died defending Suiyang during the An-Shi Rebellion
⑧ Shangqiu Huoshen Terrace, the oldest surviving astronomical observatory in China, Quebo Terrace
9Shangqiu Museum, China's first museum that showcases Shang culture and civilization
⑩Hanliang Cultural Park, which restores the architectural style of the Han and Liang periods, allows you to travel back to the Liang Kingdom of the Han Dynasty in a second