Huangcheng Xiangfu: Two Compounds in One
The inner fortress begun in 1632 and the outer mansion finished in 1703 belong to one family; the article walks up from the valley and asks what the walls were for.
Jincheng.
Jincheng is a prefecture-level city in the south-east corner of Shanxi, on the southern edge of the Loess Plateau, held between the Taihang, Wangwu and Zhongtiao ranges and the Danzhu ridge, with the Jincheng basin in the middle. It covers 9,490 square kilometres, about six per cent of the province, and holds one district, four counties and one county-level city: Gaoping. Its name comes from the Warring States period, when the state of Jin was partitioned and its lord was enfeoffed here. The old names of the territory were Jianzao, Jianzhou and Zezhou, and the present divisions follow the old Zezhou prefecture closely. Coal and iron earned it the name of the land of coal and iron.
Jincheng
Diji City: A Fortress Beside the Qin River
An oval town of 1638 built on a spur inside a bend of the Qin, with a water gate towards the river, a land gate towards the village and crucibles pressed into the ramparts.
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Qinglian Temple on a Hill above Jincheng
Two courts in Zezhou county hold six Tang figures, a Song hall of 1089 and a Ming reliquary pagoda; the article follows the layers and marks where the record stops.
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Jue Mountain: Two Peaks Side by Side
Thirteen kilometres from Jincheng, two summits above the Dan River carry a name built from paired jade and a local sight described as the moon being released between them.
ReadThe Yan Emperor Mausoleum at Gaoping
A legendary burial, several claimants and one municipal-level site: the article sets out what the Gaoping mausoleum claims, what the state records show and what a ritual landscape is for.
ReadPlaces
Huangcheng Xiangfu
A walled estate on a hill above the Changhe valley in Yangcheng county, built by the Chen family over two centuries, with an inner fortress town and an outer mansion of 640 rooms.
Diji City
An oval walled town of 1638 on a spur inside a bend of the Qin River in Yangcheng county, its ramparts built with discarded iron-smelting crucibles and pierced by a land gate and a water gate.
Qinglian Temple
Two courts on a slope in Zezhou county, one of them holding six Tang clay figures and the other a Song hall of 1089, with a Ming reliquary pagoda that is said to cast no shadow at midsummer.
Mount Jue
A pair of peaks on the south bank of the Dan River in Zezhou county, thirteen kilometres from Jincheng, known for the evening when the rising moon appears to be released from between them.
Mausoleum of the Yan Emperor
One of several Chinese sites claiming the burial of the Yan Emperor, at Gaoping in Jincheng, protected at municipal level while the tomb recognised by imperial governments stands in Hunan.
Photo credits and rights
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Rooftops and the tall tower of Huangcheng Xiangfu from the upper terrace.Underbar dk / CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
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Qinglian Temple's pagoda and gate among the trees.Windmemories / CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
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The twin peaks of Jue Mountain above green slopes.Windmemories / CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
