Historians and archaeologists have different opinions about the origin and owner of Yancheng, and there is no conclusion yet. According to legend, Yancheng was the capital of the late Shang Dynasty and the early Zhou Dynasty, and it was the monarch east of Qufu, Shandong Province at that time. According to legend, when Zhou Chengwang was defeated by Zhou Chengwang, he colluded with Wu Geng, a descendant of Shang Dynasty, and led the remnants to flee from Lu to the south of the Yangtze River, digging rivers for ravines and heaping soil for cities. It is still called "Yan". Because the ancient word "Yan" is not the same as the word "Yan", it has been passed down to this day, hence the name "Yancheng". On the other hand, at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Ji Zha, the son of Wu, was dissatisfied with He Lv's assassination of Liao Wang to seize the throne and was determined to break away from He Lv's violent politics. He "never entered Wu" and built a city in Yanling to dig a river and seal land to show his determination to stay for a long time. According to historical records, the ancient city wall of Yancheng is 20 meters high and 25-30 meters wide, all of which are rammed with mud.
After 3000 years of ups and downs, the rest are masterpieces of nature. There are plenty of clear water, geometric monuments left by Woye for thousands of years, and many splendid cultures of the Chinese nation are hidden underground. Being in it is like entering a paradise, giving people an ancient, quiet and profound feeling. People here have a saying: "Beijing in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Xi 'an in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Yancheng in the Spring and Autumn Period". It can be seen that "Yancheng is an extraordinary attraction in people's minds. The central government and relevant departments of provinces and cities decided to speed up the development of Yancheng and make it one of the famous scenic spots in Taihu Lake Scenic Area.
Since 1958, a large number of geometrically imprinted pottery pots, jars, urns, bowls and bronzes (such as bronze bells and bronze dings) have been unearthed in Yancheng. The single wooden boat excavated in the inner city caused a sensation in the archaeological circles of China. The largest one is carved with a whole nanmu fire axe, with a length of 1 1 m and a width of 0.9 m.
Yancheng site: the architectural form is unparalleled in the world.
Yancheng Site is located in Daba Administrative Village, Tanghu Town, Wujin District, Changzhou City, with Taihu Lake in the southeast and Gehu Lake in the west, 7 kilometers away from Changzhou City. This is a beautiful, simple and quiet paradise.
Yancheng, built at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, is the best preserved ancient city site in China. From the inside out, it consists of Zicheng, Zicheng River, Inner City, Inner City River, Outer City and Outer City River. This architectural form is unparalleled in the pool remains of the ancient city of China. Because most of the cities at that time had only one city and one river, a few were two cities and one river or two cities and two rivers, and "three cities and three rivers" was the only one in China. Zicheng, commonly known as "King City", also known as Ziluocheng, is square with a circumference of 500 meters; The inner city, also known as "Luoli City", is square with a circumference of1500m. The outer city, also called "Outer Los Angeles", is an irregular oval with a circumference of 2500 meters. In addition, there is an outer wall with a circumference of 3500 meters. Yancheng site is 850 meters long from east to west and 750 meters wide from north to south, with a total area of about 650,000 square meters. The extent of flooding coincides with the record in Mencius that "the city of three miles, the outline of seven miles". The city wall of Yancheng is made up of mud excavated from the moat. The method is to build on the flat ground. Because the soil in Yancheng is sticky, the Yancheng city wall is built without digging the foundation trench or tamping, and the soil is piled up layer by layer. In some places, a layer of dry soil and a layer of wet soil are paved in the same order, and the walls of the old city are wider. The three walls of Yancheng are all trapezoidal, 3-5 meters high and 30-40 meters wide. The average depth of the three moats is about 4 meters, the width is 30-50 meters, and the widest point is more than 60 meters.
There is an earth dam between the three walls of Yancheng, but all three earth dams were built in the 1950s. In the Spring and Autumn Period, there was no land route in and out of Yancheng, but only boating (canoeing) in and out of the waterway. Its trend is: enter from the west side of the north side of the external wall, go south along the west side of the foot pier, abdomen pier and head pier, and reach the south foot of the external wall. Two places bend eastward into the inner city river along the north and south sides of Toudun, and enter the Zicheng River along the current entrance and exit of the inner wall. The outer city gates of Hanoi are all watergates, and the auxiliary city gate is located in the middle of the south side of the auxiliary city wall, about 2 meters wide. Yancheng is called "the first city in southern China" by archaeologists. Its architectural form not only reflects the wisdom and creation of ancient people, but also provides an extremely valuable basis for the study of ancient architecture in China.