Winter in the City of Archways CITYWALK | Searching for the lost stories of Yanzhou

Located at the confluence of the Xin'an River, Fuchun River, and Lanjiang River, the ancient town of Meicheng in Jiande is the historic thousand-year-old city of Yanzhou Prefecture. From 225 AD (the fourth year of Huangwu in the Three Kingdoms period) to 1960, it was the county seat of Jiande for 1736 years; from 697 AD (the first year of Shengong in the Wu Zhou Dynasty) to 1911 AD (the third year of Xuantong in the Qing Dynasty), it was the prefectural seat of Muzhou and Yanzhou, where well-known Chinese poets like Fan Zhongyan and Lu You served as prefects. From 1922 to 1959, it was still the location of a government institution equivalent to a prefecture, serving as a prefectural seat for a total of 1263 years. Although the geographical name of Yanzhou or Yanling is often heard in various film and television, literature, and historical works, most people don't know where it is, because today's Yanzhou ancient city has been downgraded to a town, and even the name of this town is called Meicheng. Some people say that Yanzhou is the most aggrieved ancient city in Zhejiang, which is not wrong, because it is the only state that has disappeared in the administrative structure of Zhejiang that has been basically established since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. I stayed in the ancient city for one night and walked around the ancient city several times. The most impressive thing is undoubtedly the tall stone archways that can be seen almost everywhere. These archways are like solemn monuments, witnessing the history and vicissitudes of this ancient city, telling the prosperity and decline of the ancient city. The archway is a traditional cultural symbol of China, integrating architecture, painting, sculpture, literature, calligraphy and other traditional arts, and incorporating historical, literary, philosophical, aesthetic, ethical, sociological and other cultural backgrounds. Yanzhou is a city of archways. According to historical records, at its peak, the ancient city of Yanzhou had 199 archways, but after a thousand years of historical storms, the archways of Yanzhou city all disappeared in the garbage heap of history. After the reform and opening up, local people began to excavate those lost ancient archways and the historical stories behind them. In 2018, the relevant departments excavated and sorted out the stone archways buried underground in Meicheng Cinema for more than half a century, unearthed more than 3100 old components of various stone archways, and started the restoration of Yanzhou ancient city and ancient archways. Today, the ancient city of Yanzhou has restored and rebuilt more than a dozen ancient archways, including the Sifan Archway erected to commemorate Fan Zhongyan of the Northern Song Dynasty; the Jiande Marquis Archway erected to commemorate Sun Shao, the Yangwei General of the Eastern Wu of the Three Kingdoms and the Marquis of Jiande; the Founding Marquis Archway erected to commemorate Song Xing, the founding marquis of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and Song Jing, a famous minister of the Tang Dynasty; the Three Yuan Archway erected by the prefect of Yanzhou in the 13th year of Zhengtong in the Ming Dynasty for Shang Lu, who passed the county, provincial, and palace examinations; the Champion Archway erected to commemorate Fang Fengchen, a famous educator and Neo-Confucianist of the Southern Song Dynasty; the Ancestor and Son Kejia Archway, Liren Archway, Duxian Archway, Qing Dynasty Earmuff Archway and other archways erected by those who passed the imperial examination and made meritorious deeds in the history of Jiande; the newly designed and built Confucianism Famous State Archway and Longshan Academy Archway based on historical materials; and the Zimin Archway, Jimu Archway, Fushou Archway and other archways with the theme of people's livelihood and welfare. Every archway in the ancient city of Yanzhou has a rich story and profound history behind it, rich connotations, and endless artistic charm. They record the history and changes of the thousand-year-old city, reflecting the brilliant culture and infinite charm of this ancient city.