Ancient Historical Sites of Kelan County

Kelan boasts a long history. Human settlements emerged here as early as the Stone Age. Starting from the Shang and Yin dynasties, various ethnic regimes set up administrative seats to govern this territory. Over thousands of years, working people created splendid and brilliant cultures, and a small number of rich and diverse historical relics have been preserved to this day. Multiple cultural sites of the Longshan Culture and the Spring and Autumn Period have been unearthed within the county, alongside ruins of ancient castles dating back to the Han, Jin, Northern Qi and Tang dynasties. Among Kelan’s numerous cultural relics and historic sites, the Song Dynasty Great Wall and Kelan County Seat stand out as the most famous and valuable for tourism development.

As a natural barrier and strategic stronghold shielding Taiyuan, Kelan has always been a contested military stronghold. To fend off foreign invasions, King Wuling of Zhao built sections of the Great Wall during the Warring States Period. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty reconstructed the Great Wall utilizing remnants left by the Northern Qi. Later, in the fifth year of the Taipingxingguo reign of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty (980 AD), new Great Wall segments were erected in present-day Kelan based on the Northern Qi and Sui foundations.

In October 1998 and May 1999, Mr. Cheng Dalin, Vice Chairman of the China Great Wall Society, visited Kelan twice. Together with cultural heritage specialists from the provincial and county authorities, he surveyed the ancient Great Wall within the county and confirmed that the 30-kilometer stretch running from the eastern hills of the county seat to Wangjiacha Township belongs to the Song Dynasty Great Wall. Most of this wall section remains well-preserved; its highest points exceed 3 meters, with a top width of several meters, and some stretches still retain a 30-centimeter earthen parapet on the wall crest. Abundant fragments of Song porcelain scatter across the surrounding land, and artillery emplacements have been discovered in certain sections — relics from an era when gunpowder weapons were first deployed in China, bearing distinct characteristics of their time.

For a long time, academic circles held the belief that the Song Dynasty never constructed any Great Wall. This discovery fills a blank in the history of China’s Great Wall, ranking as a globally unique major archaeological find of immense academic significance.

Kelan’s city wall dates back more than 2,200 years to its founding in the Han Dynasty. The existing county seat of Kelan was built as a military fortress by Liu Zhiyuan of the Later Han Dynasty. The original city spanned a perimeter of five li, featuring magnificent momentum and a complete defensive system with a style comparable to the ancient city of Xi’an, making it the landmark architecture of ancient Kelan.

Ouyang Xiu, a renowned litterateur and historian of the Northern Song Dynasty, paid several inspection and assessment visits to Kelan while serving as Vice Commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs, and authored the Memorial on Renovating Kelan City Wall. In the eighth year of the Yuanfeng reign of Emperor Shenzong (1084 AD), He Shaoqing, the prefectural magistrate, extended the city wall two li eastward. In the seventh year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty (1374 AD), Zhang Xing, Commander of the Western Garrison, faced the entire city wall with bricks. The wall then stretched seven li around, standing 3 zhang and 8 chi tall, shaped like a boat. Twelve city towers were erected, equipped with flagpoles and battlements.

The city gates were exceptionally grand, each protected by an outer barbican. Outside the wall ran a moat five zhang wide and two zhang deep. Drawbridges were installed outside the East, West and North Gates, with four outer passes and two forts built beyond the city perimeter. Today, the barbicans of the North, East and South Gates, together with most sections of the ruined wall, still survive. Such towering ancient city gates are rarely seen across China