Taicheng, the center of Jinling (Nanjing), was once the political center of the Six Dynasties (222-589) with their capitals located in Nanjing. Writers and poets of the Song and Tang Dynasties left many lines of poetry that is still very popular today. After forty five days of archeological excavations, the Nanjing Museum unearthed the western moat of "Taicheng" along Dengfu Lane in downtown Nanjing.
Wang Zhigao, director of the Archeological Institute of the Nanjing Museum, told the
Oriental Morning Post that they had discovered the remains of a water passage dating back to the Six Dynasties. The passage is about 58 meters long and 4 meters wide and 4 meters deep. Several wooden pegs, about every 20 meters, were found along this water passage. Historical documents from the
Records of Jingding Jiankang state: "Taicheng moat is five zhang wide and seven chi deep." This description basically matches with the ancient water passage discovered today. A Nanjing expert of Six Dynasties believes that this passage is very likely the Taicheng moat.
Jiankang has in total three layers of walls. They are called the Outer City, the Capital City and the Palace City and run from outside to inside. Taicheng is located at the innermost center, inside the Palace City. The Capital City is outside Taicheng. This area was where the state organs were located and where the aristocrats and nobles lived. Ordinary folk residences and commercial areas were situated along both sides of the Qinhuai River outside the Capital City. The outermost layer of wall of Jiankang Capital City protected these residents.
A Song manuscript recorded: "Taicheng, once called Yuancheng, is the Palace City of ancient Jiankang."
From the Cultural and Historic Places in Jiangsu the reporter learned much about Taicheng: Taicheng was situated north of Jiming (Rooster's Crow) Temple Street. The Taicheng Wall is 253.15 meters long, 20.16 meters tall, 9.8 meters thick on the west and 10.3 meters thick on the east.
However, an expert researched the matter using the Cultural and Historic Places in Jiangsu and raised doubts. He said this book's introduction to Taicheng indicated that "Taicheng" was not the same "Taicheng" built during the Six Dynasties. "Taicheng was built by the Emperor Jinyuan during the Eastern Jin period. Later it witnessed the Song, the Qi, the Liang and the Chen Dynasties. It was destroyed during the Sui Dynasty," the expert said.
"The moat that was recently discovered around the city is much smaller than the remains of the Six Dynasties that were found previously in the Daxinggong area. We found advanced streets, city walls, a moat around the city, residences and drains in the Daxinggong area. They should be the eastern and western ends of the Palace City of the Six Dynasties. Therefore, it is more likely that the remains discovered today represent the moat of the Capital City," said the expert.
(China.org.cn by Zhang Ming'ai, November 7, 2007)
