Beijing, 9 Sep (ZXS) -- This reporter learned from the press conference of the "Archaeological China" major project held by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China in Beijing on 28 September that the discovery of large-scale architectural sites of the Jin Dynasty in You'anmen Gate in Beijing's Xicheng District is the first time that a large-scale official-style building complex has been discovered by Jinzhongdu archaeology, and it is initially inferred to be a royal monastery of the Jin Dynasty.
According to reports, the Jinzhongdu site is located in the Xicheng District and Fengtai District of Beijing. Since 2020, with the approval of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Beijing Institute of Archaeology has cooperated with Beijing urban construction to conduct archaeological exploration and excavation in the Kaiyangfang area of the outer city of Jinzhongdu, located in You'anmen Square, Xicheng District, and found a large-scale building foundation site.
Large-scale architectural ruins of the Jin Dynasty were found within the Second Ring Road of Beijing. Photo courtesy of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China
The building site can be divided into two phases. In the early days, it was a courtyard surrounded by cloisters on all sides, and its south hall was relatively well preserved, with five wide and two deep, 26 meters wide and 13 meters deep, with a platform in front. The late building consists of two large temple sites in the north and south on the same axis and symmetrical corridors from east to west, with a complete structure and clear layout, with a length of about 60 meters from north to south and a residual width of about 43 meters from east to west. The base site of the south hall sits north facing south, with a "convex" plan, and is a nearly square building with a platform in front; The base of the north nave sits north facing south and has a rectangular plan. The east and west sides of the central axis of the courtyard are symmetrically distributed corridor-style buildings, with a length of 26 meters from north to south and five wide rooms.
Cultural relics such as jade books, official seals, imitation copper porcelain ceremonial vessels, glazed components, and "ku" porcelain unearthed at the site are speculated to be related to royal sacrifices. According to documents, there was a Yijing Jingshe outside the Kaiyang Gate in Nanjing, Liaoning, and the "Dajue Temple" was given during the Jin Dading period, which contained the imperial hall and had the function of storing royal archives and sacrificial supplies, and it is speculated that the late building may be part of the Dajue Temple, a royal temple in the Jin Dynasty.
Wang Jihong, a research librarian at the Beijing Institute of Archaeology, said that the newly discovered large-scale building foundations and cultural relics are important materials for the urban planning, architectural layout and royal ceremonial system of the Jin Dynasty in Jinzhongdu, and are also vivid witnesses of the history of multi-ethnic exchanges and blending in ancient China. (End)