The Paper has learned that Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, has discovered the remains of the Nanhaiwei City Wall from the Ming Dynasty during archaeological excavations, proving Dongguan's important role in the ancient Guangdong coastal defense system and the Maritime Silk Road. On February 25, the Dongguan Municipal Government of Guangdong Province held a press conference to announce the results of the archaeological excavation of the Nanhaiwei City Wall and the construction plan of the Nanhaiwei City Wall Archaeological Site Park.

The Nanhaiwei City Wall Site is located at the intersection of Yundong 2nd Road and Xizheng Road in Guancheng Street, the historical city of Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, adjacent to the Ying'en Gate, a cultural relic protection site in Guangdong Province. In the second half of 2023, in accordance with the "Cultural Relics Protection Law of the People's Republic of China" and in accordance with the requirements of "archaeology before construction", the Guangdong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology was invited to conduct a cultural relic archaeological survey and exploration of the project site. The city wall sites and ancient architectural relics and relics in the city from the Ming and Qing Dynasties were discovered. They are important physical materials for investigating and studying the military coastal defense system of Guangdong in the Ming Dynasty and the evolution of the establishment of Dongguan County, and have important historical, artistic, scientific and cultural values. The Dongguan Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government attached great importance to it and resolutely and decisively cancelled the construction plan of the Ying'en Gate Memory Wall and suspended the construction of Fenglai Road. It was decided to protect the original site and conduct archaeological excavations, and plan to build a city wall site park in the old city. After approval by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, from May to December 2024, the Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology excavated the site, with an excavation area of 3,000 square meters. This is the largest single excavation area in Guangdong Province in recent years.

Plan of the Nanhaiwei city wall ruins

Panoramic view of the excavation of the Nanhaiwei city wall ruins

Archaeological excavations yield rich results

The site is rich in cultural relics. The relics that have been cleared mainly include the foundation of the city wall and auxiliary facilities such as roads and drainage channels, as well as living facilities such as house foundations and wells in the city. Building components such as city wall bricks, column bases, tubular tiles, tiles, drips, and floor tiles from the early Ming Dynasty to the Republic of China were unearthed, as well as pottery, porcelain, stone, bone tools, bronze statues, copper coins and other daily utensils. After preliminary sorting, 360 relatively complete and valuable small items of various types were found, and a large number of pottery and porcelain fragments were collected and unearthed. The identifiable types of utensils mainly include plates, bowls, cups, jars, and cups.

The foundation of the Nanhaiwei city wall and its ancillary facilities in the Ming Dynasty

The excavated parts are the northern section of the west city wall and the western section of the north city wall. The foundation of the city wall is well preserved as a whole. The plane is L-shaped and the length of the cleaned wall is about 100 meters. The wall is about 7.6 meters wide, with red sandstone strips on both sides, and rammed earth in the middle. The remaining height of the rammed earth is about 2 meters, and the layer thickness is 0.08 to 0.12 meters. There are many layers of shells or broken bricks and tiles between the rammed earth layers.

A bird's-eye view of the northern wall of the Nanhaiwei site

A bird's-eye view of the Nanhaiwei city wall foundation

A bird's-eye view of the northern half of the western wall of the Nanhaiwei city wall site

Rammed earth and outer wall stone of Nanhaiwei city wall foundation

Red sandstone wall stones at the foundation of Nanhaiwei city wall

A road L2 parallel to the city wall was cleared on the outside of this section of the city wall. The road surface was built with broken bricks, rubble, sand and clay and other materials, and the shoulders on both sides were paved with red sandstone slabs. The remaining length is about 20 meters.

Road outside the city wall

A group of drainage system remains with spatial hierarchy were revealed on the inner side of the city wall, with a three-level design: the first-level drainage channel was perpendicular to the inner wall of the city wall and built with blue bricks; the second-level drainage channel extended along the city wall and was constructed with red sandstone strips; the third-level drainage channel was the main flood discharge channel that passed through the bottom of the city wall.

A bird's-eye view of the city's three-level drainage system

Drainage Main

Building foundations in the city

Many houses and living facilities such as wells were also cleared in the city, including 6 house foundations, some of which were built with red sandstone strips as the wall foundation and blue bricks on the strips.

The house foundation excavated from TN14E5 is estimated to be from the Song Dynasty

The foundations of houses F2 and F4 and wells J2 and J3 in the city are estimated to be from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China period.

There are 8 wells, most of which have walls built with blue bricks in circular or polygonal shapes. Some wells still have well platforms built with red sandstone.

Ming Dynasty water well J6, the well wall is built of blue bricks in a hexagonal shape

Well J3 from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, the well platform is made of two pieces of red sandstone.

Cultural stratigraphic deposits and important unearthed objects

The discovered cultural layer accumulation lasted from the Song Dynasty to the Republic of China period, and the deepest point is about 3 meters from the current surface.

Cultural deposit section of the Republic of China-Song Dynasty on the east wall of exploration square TN14E5

Building materials and components: blue bricks, column bases, tubular tiles, ridge tiles, drip tiles, floor tiles, etc. were unearthed.

Ming Dynasty blue bricks, with specifications of 40 cm long, 20 cm wide and 10 cm thick

Ming Dynasty style red sandstone column base

Pottery water drop with floral pattern, Qing Dynasty

Other artifacts: The main types of artifacts are plates, bowls, cups, jars, cups, etc. The materials of the artifacts include pottery, porcelain, stone, bone, copper, etc. Particularly precious are the fragments of sauce-glazed jars produced in the Nanhai Qishi Kiln found in the Song Dynasty cultural layer. Many of these sauce-glazed jars were found in the "Nanhai I" shipwreck; there are also important relics such as celadon ware produced in Huizhou Baima Kiln that imitates Longquan Kiln.

Fragments of a Song Dynasty Qishiyao "Kou Zhai" and "Chen Kou"-marked brown-glazed jar

Song Dynasty Black Glaze Cup

Song Dynasty Green Glaze Bowl with Lotus Petal Pattern

Ming Dynasty Baima Kiln Green Glaze Bowl

The site has great historical, cultural and academic value.

Demonstrating the important position of Dongguan as the "first gateway to Guangdong Sea" in the military coastal defense system of Guangdong in the Ming Dynasty

The most important discovery of this archaeological excavation is the "No. 1 City Wall Foundation" found in the west and north of the site. The excavated parts are the northern section of the west city wall and the western section of the north city wall. Combined with the stratigraphic relationship and building materials, this section of the city wall should have been built in the Ming Dynasty. According to the "Dongguan County Chronicles" of successive dynasties, the Nanhaiwei City Wall was built by Chang Yi, the commander of the Nanhaiwei in the 17th year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty (1384), and was repaired and rebuilt many times in the Ming and Qing dynasties. This section of the city wall is adjacent to the Ying'en Gate, and its location is basically consistent with the Nanhaiwei City recorded in the literature. Comprehensively judging that this section of the city wall should be the Nanhaiwei City Wall of the Ming Dynasty.

Nanhaiwei was a military organization established in Dongguan County after the Ming Dynasty implemented the military organization of the Weisuo system. It coexisted with Dongguan County under the administrative system. As the core city in the three-level defense system of "Wei-Suo-Zhai" of Guangdong's coastal defense system in the Ming Dynasty, Nanhaiwei assumed the dual functions of the military command center and coastal defense outpost in the Guangdong Central Coastal Defense System. It also reflects the important role of Dongguan in defending Guangzhou, guarding the southern border of the motherland, and maintaining national rule and coastal order. The scientific disclosure of its city defense remains reveals the spatial pattern and construction regulations of the Ming Dynasty coastal defense city. It is an important achievement in the archaeological research of Ming and Qing coastal defense, and is of great significance to the study of Ming and Qing coastal defense history, architectural history, and social history.

Proof that Dongguan is an important node of the "Maritime Silk Road"

Porcelains from kilns such as Qishi Kiln, Longquan Kiln, Jingdezhen Kiln, Jian Kiln and Baima Kiln unearthed in the site reflect that Dongguan was an important transit station and distribution center for domestic and foreign trade in China's southern coastal areas from the Song Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is physical evidence of Dongguan as an important node of the "Maritime Silk Road" and further enriches the research materials on the history of ancient sea and land transportation and trade.

Show the history of Dongguan's city construction and urban development

This archaeological excavation was large-scale and rich in harvest, filling the gap in the archaeology of Dongguan ancient city ruins and being an important achievement of urban archaeology in Lingnan region. The discovered cultural accumulation layer (not to the bottom), house foundations, wells and other various relics and unearthed cultural relics, especially the discovery of house foundations in different periods from the Song Dynasty to the Republic of China, illustrate the continuous urban development history of Dongguan since the Song Dynasty. It is a precious material for investigating and studying the evolution of Dongguan's urban construction and residents' lifestyle, and the building materials and craftsmanship level of the Ming Dynasty. It plays an important role in continuing Dongguan's historical context and enhancing regional cultural identity.

Planning and construction of Nanhaiwei City Wall Archaeological Site Park

Next, Dongguan will increase the protection of the Nanhaiwei City Wall Site, follow the relevant requirements of the national and provincial archaeological site park construction and identification, adhere to the principle of giving priority to the safety of the cultural relics and the value of the cultural relics, and plan and build the Nanhaiwei City Wall Archaeological Site Park at a high level. Relying on the archaeological site park, Dongguan will also closely contact the Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology to formulate a long-term archaeological research plan, apply to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage to carry out archaeological excavations in places where underground cultural relics may exist, promote public archaeological work, and enhance the public's understanding of Dongguan's history and culture, and participation in cultural relics protection and archaeological work, so as to gather a sense of identity and pride in China's excellent traditional culture and local history and culture.

(This article is based on relevant reports from China Cultural Relics News, and is provided by Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports (Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics))