Remains of city gate found at former Jin capital site

Chinese archaeologists in Beijing have discovered the remains of a city gate from the city's Zhongdu era for the first time, according to the Beijing Municipal Cultural Heritage Bureau on Saturday.

Zhongdu served as the capital city of the Jin era (1115-1234) for more than six decades during the period's heyday, but was later abandoned around the end of the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368). It was located near what is Beijing's Lize financial and business zone today.

"We have discovered the Duanli Gate, the southwest gate of the outer city of Jin's capital," Ding Lina, a research fellow at the Beijing Archaeological Research Institute, told the Global Times on Sunday, adding that this is the first city gate excavated from the Jin capital.

It is also a rare well-preserved large-scale architectural structure, providing new reference points for the study of the city's layout, Ding said.

In addition to the city gate, archaeologists have uncovered a wealth of related remains from the outer city of Zhongdu, including city walls, gates, moats, protective rivers, streets, main roads, drainage ditches with over 13 sites yielding pottery, porcelain, and architectural components such as bricks and tiles.

New gains have also been made in the archaeological research of the Jiankou section of the Great Wall in Beijing.

The archaeological work in 2024 mainly focused on two watch towers, numbered 120 and 121 in the eastern section of the Great Wall, as well as three sections of the wall between towers 119 and 122.

The team has clarified the layout, architectural structures, materials, and construction techniques and practices used in the construction of these sections. More than 300 artifacts, including weapons, architectural components and articles of daily use, have been discovered.

Among the findings, a stele from the reign of Emperor Longqing of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) was unearthed at watch tower 120 of the Great Wall, which explicitly dates the construction of the tower and provided a "benchmark" for understanding the relationship between architecture and history.

"This is the oldest stele found in the Jiankou section of the Great Wall to date, providing material for studying the construction and changes along the Great Wall," Shang Heng, an associate research fellow at Beijing Archaeological Research Institute, told the Global Times.

Relying on multidisciplinary archaeological methods, the lives of ancient border soldiers have been revealed.

"This year, we obtained 2,397 plant remains from the work at the Jiankou section of the Great Wall… We discovered grape fruits, various types of small beans, and medicinal plants for the first time," Shang said, adding that a large number of non-crop plants revealed the outdoor lives of the soldiers guarding the border and provided further insight into what they ate.

Red coloring on the arrow slits of the Great Wall was also discovered in 2024, which is highly consistent with the red arrow slits depicted on Ming Dynasty Great Wall maps.

This indicates that the Great Wall's colors were not just gray but also included vibrant "Chinese red," Shang noted.

Shang explained that "being tall and magnificent" was the standard followed in the construction of the Great Wall during the Ming Dynasty.

The defensive function of the Great Wall is reflected in its "tall and strong" characteristics, while the red arrow slits reflect its "magnificent" features. The red arrow slits have both functional and aesthetic purposes.

The other significant discovery was a Ming Dynasty imperial tomb on Xiangshan Hill in what is today Beijing's Haidian district.

"There are three tomb gardens within the cemetery, arranged in an east-west row, with a clear layout and complete structure," said Zhang ­Lifang, an associate research fellow at the institute.

According to the unearthed epitaphs and tomb structure, one of the tombs belonged to Princess ­Yunmeng, the fourth daughter of Emperor Wanli in the Ming Dynasty.

"The three tomb gardens are ­second only to the imperial tombs of Ming in terms of the class of burial and have significant archaeological and artistic value," Zhang said, adding that the construction of this imperial tomb represents the highest level of craftsmanship at the time and provides physical specimens for architectural archaeology research.

The three tomb gardens have yielded five discoveries, including stone tables, thrones, plum bottles, and wooden figurines, all of which are of great value for studying the Ming Dynasty's tomb system, construction system, funeral system, and imperial sacrificial porcelain.