Xinhua News Agency, Shijiazhuang, April 19 (Reporter Wang Min) Recently, when the cultural relics department of Gucheng County, Hebei Province was conducting a survey of cultural relics of the Grand Canal, an ancient well of the Tang Dynasty was discovered in the middle of the river course of the East Grand Canal in Zhoulou Village, Wuguanzhai Town.
The reporter saw that the walls of the ancient well were intact, with 8 layers of well bricks coming out of the water, and the well heads showed signs of several layers being lifted off. Some complete and incomplete well bricks were scattered around the well head.
After measurement, the diameter of the ancient well is about 1.5 meters.
The upper edge of the side of the well wall, which often lifts water, has been strangled slightly outward by the well rope over the years.
According to Jiang Yuling, director of the Cultural Protection Institute of Gucheng County, the gray well bricks are narrow in width and have a slight arc shape. They are specially fired well bricks and are built to form a regular circular well wall.
Judging from the thickness, density, and size of the bricks, the ancient well belongs to the early Tang Dynasty, and one side of the well wall is slightly outward, indicating that ancient people lived around this well for a long time.
Jiang Yuling said that some large city wall bricks and broken pottery pieces were found around the ancient well, indicating that there were villages or towns here.
After the village or town was abandoned, the Grand Canal diverted to flow through this place, flooding the ancient well.
The magic is that this section of the canal has been dry all year round, and there are still water, small fish, and loach in the ancient well.
The ancient well is located in the center of the Grand Canal. The canal has been flowing for hundreds of years, but the ancient well has not been filled with sediment.
Jiang Yuling believes that the discovery of ancient wells in the canal confirms the history of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal's change of route after the Sui and Tang Dynasties. It also provides accurate geographic information and physical data for studying the historical changes of ancient villages or towns in this area.