History
The territory of Yuanqu County had been a center of Chinese civilization since at least the Shang,who had their capital Bo in nearby Cao County. Sima Qian records that,under the Han,there was even a legend that the Yellow Emperor had obtained a valuable sacrificial tripod at Yuanqu. [12] [lower-alpha 2] The area was part of the state of Liang during the Zhou Dynasty. [1]
The historical county was probably established under the Qin, [10] although some sources place its creation under the Han. [1] [14] Under the Qin,it is said to have formed part of the Eastern Commandery ( t 東郡 , s 东郡 ,Dōng Jùn) of the Henan Area ( t 河南 地區 , s 河南 地区 ,Hénán Dìqū). [10] Under the Han,it formed part of Jiyin Commandery ( t 濟陰 郡 , s 济阴 郡 ,Jìyīn Jùn) [15] [2] and was also sometimes considered part of the princely realm of Liang. [10] Under Wang Mang's short-lived Xin Dynasty,its name was changed to Jiping and it was given the status of a commune,rather than a county seat. [10]
In Kaihuang 3 (AD 583),the Sui emperor Yang Jian (posthumously known as the "Wen" or "Literary Emperor") abolished Jiyin and organized Yuanqu as part of Cao Prefecture. [1]
In the 860s and early 870s,the area suffered droughts but its people met with indifference or malice from Tang officials. [16] Huang Chao,the son of a wealthy local salt merchant,tried to become one of these mandarins but failed the imperial exams and took up salt smuggling instead. [17] When the salt smuggler Wang Xianzhi rose against the empire in nearby Changyuan County in 874, [18] he was able to overrun several towns and even defeated the local forces under Xue Chong ( 薛 崇 ,XuēChóng),the governor of the area's Tianping Circuit ( 天平 道 ,Tiānpíng Dào). The next year, [18] Huang Chao raised several thousand men of his own from Yuanqu and joined Wang, [2] eventually overrunning much of the country and proclaiming the Qi Dynasty before being defeated and driven to suicide in 884. [16] [19] (Yuanqu was the place where the Shato Turk leader Li Keyong ceased pursuing the fleeing Chao, [20] although the would-be emperor met his end soon afterwards beside Mount Tai.)
In Yuanyou 1 (1086),the Song emperor Zhao Xu (posthumously known as "Emperor Zhezong" or the "Wise Ancestor") changed the name of the county to Wanting. [1] Under the Jin,the county seat at Yuanqu was destroyed by the flood of the Yellow River [1] in Dading 8 (1168). [10] The county was subsequently abolished, [1] with its territory added to Jiyin. [10]
Chinese archeologists from Mudan District excavated the ruins at Longwangmiao Village in June 2007 under the direction of Pan Jianrong ( t 潘 建 榮 , s 潘 建 荣 ,Pān Jiànróng). [10] They established their identity as Yuanqu and examined the eastern city wall,which runs for 347 meters (1,138 ft). [10] The walls originally stood about 9.3 meters (31 ft) high,although presently about two-thirds of the structure is underground, [10] the soil of surrounding countryside having built up over the years.
