Which mysterious ruin stands in Xiangxi, Hunan, which was once a prosperous royal city?
Xiangxi, Hunan is a place full of legends. The long cultural history and unique ethnic customs always attract tourists from all over the world to come and explore.
I can’t finish the story about Xiangxi in three days and three nights. This time I want to talk about a ruin. It is located in Lingxi, more than 20 kilometers east of Yongshun County, Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in western Hunan. The town, originally called Fushi City, is now called Laosicheng. It is a national 4A-level scenic spot and is also part of the World Cultural Heritage List.
Yongshun Laosicheng is extremely secretive. In the past, it was inconvenient to reach it by land, and the river became the main transportation channel.
Laosicheng is built on the mountain. The terrain is dangerous and easy to defend but difficult to attack. The defense needs were fully considered when the city was built.
From the pier to Laosicheng, the scenery along the way is green mountains and green waters, and the scenery is breathtaking.
The hills on both sides of the strait are karst landforms, somewhat like the Guilin landscape.
As the boat moved forward, the scenery kept changing. Fortunately, we were lucky. When we arrived, the sky was blue and the clouds were white, making the scenery even more beautiful.
During the Later Liang Dynasty of the Five Dynasties, that is, in 910 AD, Peng Yao served as the governor of Xizhou and became a hereditary chieftain because he was loved by the people. What is toast? It is an ancient official position, equivalent to the tribal leader of a minority group.
More than two hundred years later, in the fifth year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty, Peng Fu Shichong, who served as chieftain, felt that the chieftain's office was constrained by the forces of Chenzhou, so he made up his mind to move the office to Fushi County, Lingxi, and based it on They live in a city surrounded by mountains and rivers. During the Ming Dynasty, Laosicheng underwent reconstruction, and the ruins seen today are basically works from that time.
Today’s Yongshun Laosicheng has completely lost sight of its former prosperity, leaving only ditches, ruined walls and rubble.
At its most prosperous time, Laosicheng was known as "three thousand households in the city and eight hundred outside the city". It was a famous chieftain king's city in western Hunan and was divided into several cities, including Inner City and Outer City. This part has a criss-cross pattern of eight streets and ten lanes, and the city's commerce is prosperous.
Laosicheng occupies a favorable position, and you can look into the distance from a high place. If you encounter danger, you can easily defend against the enemy. If you are really unable to defeat it, you can escape through the waterway, or escape into the vast mountains and forests, making the enemy unable to find it. .
Although Laosicheng is just a large ruin today, the context of the royal city is still clear. What tourists praise most is the drainage system. In the distant Southern Song Dynasty, it is really commendable to be able to design a complex and easy-to-use drainage system.
Although the buildings are no longer in their original form, through the strong city walls and narrow doorways, one can still feel Peng’s sense of urgency and Feng Shui considerations when building the city.
Yongshun Laosicheng is divided into government office area, palace area, street area, garden villa area, tomb area and other parts. Among them, the palace area is built in the north of the city. It is high in the northeast and low in the southwest. The thickness of the city wall reaches One meter. The government office area covers an area of 8762.4 square meters. It is located in the middle of the central city and is connected to the living area. Its functions are a bit like the county government office in the Han Cultural District. The street area is where ordinary people live. There are still several streets and alleys that are well preserved.