China News Service, Beijing, November 4 (Xu Jing) The reporter learned from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics on the 4th that Beijing's archaeological excavations at the Danbo Tranquility Site of the Yuanmingyuan have achieved important results, revealing the "Tianzifang" and the royal rice field ruins.

This discovery provides new materials for the study of imperial garden architecture in the Qing Dynasty, and plays an important role in discussing the cultivation, planting and farming techniques of imperial rice in the Qing Dynasty.

　　Danbo Tranquility Site is located in the northwest of Yuanmingyuan. It is one of the forty scenic spots in Yuanmingyuan. It was completed in the fifth year of Yongzheng (1727).

According to historical records, the main building of Danbo Tranquility is a "Tian"-shaped hall, commonly known as "Tian-style room".

There used to be a large area of ​​royal paddy fields around Tanbo Ningjing. The emperors of the Qing Dynasty not only held pro-cultivation ceremonies in the paddy fields north of Tianzifang every year, but also observed the farming time in Guanjiaxuan.

　　Starting from 2020, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics has organized the Beijing Institute of Archaeology, the Yuanmingyuan Management Office, the School of Archaeology and Museology of Peking University and other units to carry out three phases of archaeological excavations on the Danbo Ningjing site.

Zhang Zhonghua, deputy research librarian of the Beijing Institute of Archaeology, said that through three consecutive years of excavations, the foundation site of the quiet main building "Tianzifang" in Danbo has been fully revealed, and its layout, shape and engineering practices have been clarified.

　　There are 33 "Tianzifang", each of which is 4.48 meters square and 1.28 meters deep.

The foundation site of the building is well preserved. The height of the platform foundation is about 0.55 meters. There are some remnants of tiger skin stone slabs and stepped stones. On the platform foundation surface, there can be seen the pillar top stone, laying bricks, and drainage ditch; , Pebble Scattered Water and Road.

　　During the excavation, it can be seen that the surface of the "Tianzifang" platform, patio, and roads have been burned in many places, the ground is red, and the bricks and slate are cracked.

It is speculated that this was caused by the prolonged and violent fire that destroyed the Yuanmingyuan in 1860.

The picture shows the remains of rice fields in the tranquil site of Danbo.

Photo by Yi Haifei of China News Agency

　　"Some of these 33 rooms are used for paintings, some are used for reading, and some are used to display handicrafts." Zhang Zhonghua introduced that each of the 33 "Tianzi rooms" played a different role at that time.

The remnants of the rice fields excavated on the north side of the paddy field found the ridges on the north and south sides, and the ridges on the south side showed traces of two trimmings. Rice phytoliths were previously found in the paddy fields by means of plant archaeology.

Teachers and students from the archaeology major are sampling the soil, which will be analyzed in the laboratory for composition and microstructure.

　　At present, the archaeological excavation of the Danbo Tranquility site has come to an end.

From the excavation situation, the site shows a strong rural garden scene.

The excavation work clarified the shape and engineering practices of the "Tianzifang", and provided new materials for the study of imperial garden architecture in the Qing Dynasty.

The excavation of the relics of paddy fields plays an important role in discussing the cultivation, planting and farming techniques of imperial rice in the Qing Dynasty.

　　This archaeological excavation work is open to the public throughout the archaeological site, and the archaeological results are shared with the society in a timely manner.

At the archaeological excavation site, from time to time, tourists stop in front of the presentation board to learn about the excavation process of this site since 2020.

In the future, Zhang Zhonghua hopes that this land can reproduce the scene of the rice fields in the past, realize the reuse of the site, and make the site "live".

(Finish)