Ancient city in text books-2

Series Two: City wall built in Song Dynasty---a hero for fighting against flood

“Shouxian Ancient City was built during the Xining period of the Northern Song dynasty, and was rebuilt almost 900 years ago during the reign of Emperor Jiading in the Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1220) , when Xu Jun, the governor of Jiankang City(now Nanjing City), rebuilt the wall for resisting Jin Army (a northern minority troop).” Li Fengxin, an adviser to Shouzhou Ancient City Preservation Committee, told reporters that the foundation of the ancient city is strong and its walls are well preserved. In 2013, Ministry of Education Of China approved the compulsory education art textbook published by People's Fine Arts Publishing House, which is suitable for the fifth grade spring semester. When you turn the page from 52 to 53,  you will see the Shouxian Ancient Wall with pictures and its accompanying introduction.

Ancient city wall goes through vicissitude  of  millennium

Walking into Shouzhou Ancient City,  you will see the 7-meter-high ancient city wall, tall and martial, experiencing the ups and downs. There are four big stone lions sitting at the south gate of the ancient city. They are as natural as though they were alive, telling people stories about the city’s long history. The square-shaped city with a circumference of 7,147 meters has four gates, making it one of the most well-preserved ancient city walls in China. In June 2001, it was approved by the State Council as the fifth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units. On November 17,2012, in the name of city walls in Ming and Qing Dynasties, eight ancient city walls including Shouxian Ancient Wall, Xingcheng City Wall, Nanjing City Wall and Taizhou City Wall, were ranked in The Preparatory List for World Cultural Heritage in China. Our Shouxian Ancient City Wall is comparable to several other ancient city walls both in history and in the whole system. Moreover, its high constructional technology has more advantages over other city walls. Under the guidance of Li Fengxin, the reporter saw a circle of stone embankments at the foot of the outer walls. The inner and outer gates of barbican are placed at the intersection, and some Yueba (or called Lunar Dykes) are built on the city culverts (used for opening or closing water flows) , often attracting tourists to take photos here.

Shouzhou Ancient City and traditional elbow-carrier dances

“Yueba was built in the first year of  emperor Wanli reign of  Ming dynasty (AD.1573) . It is unique in China in that it is centered on the top of the corner of the inner part of the city and has a brick-and-stone cylindrical dam wall,” Li told reporters, the dyke not only protects the culvert gate as a whole to avoid the inundation of the inland river, but also can open and close the dyke gate at any time to control the flow freely. Due to its capacity to compare inner and outer water level, the dyke can eliminate the hidden danger of water-flow backwards. “During the reign of emperor Guangxu in Qing dynasty, the East and West Yueba were rebuilt which has been awarded the honorary titles of  Flow Barrier around City Wall and Impregnable Water-control Project  and they are still playing a role today.” Listening to the guide's introduction, the visitors could not help but marvel at the wisdom of the ancients.