Ancient City Site of the State of Cai

The Ancient City Site of the State of Cai is a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level, located in Shangcai County, Henan Province中国日报网.... The city is roughly rectangular, shorter from east to west and longer from north to south. The surviving earthen city wall stands 4 to 11 metres high and 15 to 25 metres wide, with a total length of approximately 10,490 metres. The wall was rammed layer upon layer; each rammed stratum is 8 to 14 centimetres thick with round-bottom rammer pits. There are many gaps along the wall, presumably the ruins of ancient city gates. Three openings remain on the southern wall and one on the western wall, which are well-preserved. In the centre of the city stands an earthen platform known as Erlang Platform, covering an area of 1.2 million square metres. It is believed to have been the palace compound of the Marquises of Cai. Numerous ancient wells and pottery drainage pipes were unearthed here, together with a great quantity of Spring and Autumn Period pottery shards, cylindrical tiles and flat tiles, proving that large-scale buildings once occupied this site. Bronze wares dating back to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods have been excavated around Zhai Village in the southwestern part of the city. Nine earthen mounds lie in the northwest of the ancient city, traditionally regarded as the tombs of the Marquises of Cai.

The site served as the capital of the State of Cai during the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period for as long as 500 years. It is the best-preserved Western Zhou city wall surviving in China. In 1996, it was designated a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level by the State Council. Also known as the Postal Station of Shangcai, the alternative name derives from the postal relay station built in later ages. The site sits in the southwest of present-day Shangcai County seat.

The State of Cai was founded in the 11th century BC. In 1046 BC, Ji Fa, King Wu of Zhou, conquered the Shang Dynasty and founded the Western Zhou Dynasty. He enfeoffed his younger brother Shu Du with the fief of Cai, establishing the State of Cai. Shu Du began building the capital on the eastern slope of Lugang Hill yet passed away before the project was finished. In the third year of King Cheng of Zhou, his son Ji Hu continued the construction and completed the city.

In the twelfth year of Marquis Ling of Cai (531 BC) during the Spring and Autumn Period, King Ling of Chu lured Marquis Ling to his death and conquered Cai for the first time. Prince Qiji of Chu was appointed ruler of Cai. When Qiji ascended the throne as King Ping of Chu in 530 BC, Marquis Ping of Cai restored the state and soon moved the capital to Lü, which was named Xincai (New Cai). Later, Marquis Zhao relocated the capital to Zhoulai, called Xiacai (Lower Cai). Hence the former capital became known as Shangcai (Upper Cai). The State of Cai made Shangcai its capital for more than 500 years.

The city is rectangular, longer north-south and shorter east-west, with a perimeter of 10,490 metres. The wall measures 4–11 m in height and 15–25 m in width, and the widest gate stretches more than 100 metres. The total area reaches 8.86 square kilometres. According to the Chronicle of Shangcai County compiled in the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty: "The ancient city of Cai rises one or two zhang above the ground, with a circumference of more than twenty li, shaped like a hill."

The city had nine gates: three on the southern wall and two each on the eastern, western and northern sides, equipped with barbicans and gatekeeper barracks. Inside the city were palace districts, handicraft workshops and residential quarters, while outside lay moats, marquis tombs and aristocratic burial grounds.

The western and southern sections of the city wall remain in good condition. Built of yellow rammed clay, the wall bears round rammer imprints, with each layer 8–14 cm thick. Three distinct construction layers can be seen, evidence of later reinforcement and heightening. On the high platform along the western city wall once stood the Marquis of Cai’s River-Watching Tower, and a beacon tower was erected on the northern rampart.

Handicraft workshops spread both inside and outside the city. The bone-working quarter was northeast of the palace compound, where bone artefacts such as needles, awls, hairpins and sickles were excavated. Pottery kilns were found in the southern part of the city, filled with burnt earth and Spring and Autumn pottery shards. Two bronze foundry sites were also discovered, yielding furnaces and copper slag.

More than 3,000 years ago, immediately after founding the Zhou Dynasty, King Wu granted fiefs to meritorious ministers and his royal kinsmen. He enfeoffed his blood brother Shu Du as Marquis of Cai in present-day Shangcai County. Later known as Duke Shu of Cai, he became the founder of the State of Cai.

Shortly after arriving at his fief, Duke Shu of Cai started building the capital. However, less than three years into the project, political turmoil in the royal court forced construction to halt.