When did Qingnian Square first appear in the urban area? What was Wenzhou like in the Southern Song Dynasty? On the morning of the 9th of this month, the 371st issue of the Public Welfare Moral Forum of Wenzhou Evening News was held in Qingnianfang Community. Hu Nianwang, lecturer of Xuejun Theory Propaganda Studio, preached the spirit of the 15th Party Congress of the province with the title of “Wenzhou Song Yunou Wind in Archaeological Sites”.
“Qingnian Square first appeared in Shaosheng Year 2 (1095) of the Northern Song Dynasty. Yang Pan, who was appointed as the magistrate of Wenzhou at that time, designated Qingnian Square in Wenzhou City as one of them. Others such as Kangle Square, Bailifang, Wumafang, Zhumafang, etc. have a history of 927 years.” Hu Nianwang is the director of the office of the Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Television Tourism (Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau), the director of the Cultural Relics Division, the consultant of the municipal government’s industrial fund, the off-campus tutor of the distinguished postgraduate students of Zhejiang A&F University, and the top ten outstanding youths of the 10th Wenzhou City. His fascinating opening remarks instantly took the residents of Qingnianfang community “through” to Qingnianfang 927 years ago.
“Looking through the report of the 15th Party Congress of the province, the’ Wenzhou elements’ shine frequently: comprehensively upgrading the energy level of Jinyi IV metropolitan area in Ningbo, Hangzhou, supporting Wenzhou to upgrade the function of’ roof of the world in the whole province’, supporting the construction of Wenzhou regional talent highland, iteratively building Wenzhou-Taiwan coastal industrial belt, promoting’ two health’, deepening the reform of’ Trinity’ agricultural union, and protecting the site of Song-Yuan wharf in Wenzhou …” Hu Nianwang suddenly changed his temper.
Hu Nianwang told everyone that in 2021, the municipal party committee and the municipal government started the Wangjiang Road underpass project in order to solve the traffic congestion problem of Wangjiang Road in the central city, realize the integration of Shuomen historical and cultural block and Oujiang River. Subsequently, Zhejiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology jointly formed a team to settle in the construction site for excavation.
With the continuous expansion of the archaeological face, an ancient port site of Song and Yuan Dynasties, buried deep underground and sleeping for thousands of years, was born, which shocked all sectors of society who came to observe it with its large scale, complete system and rich connotation. Since October, 2021, the excavation area has been more than 4,000 square meters, and the ruins of the base site of Wengcheng and the road out of the city have been found. There are 6 docks, 1 sunken ship, 5 ruins of plank roads and dry columns outside the north gate, 2 workshops, and a large number of porcelain specimens, and significant archaeological achievements have been made. In February of this year, the Municipal Party Committee proposed to build the Song Yun Ou Feng Culture Handing-down Project and speed up the construction of a more dynamic “Millennium Commercial Port, Happy Wenzhou”. In June, the protection of Wenzhou Songyuan Wharf site was written into the report of the 15th Party Congress of Zhejiang Province.
In the late 13th century, the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, a great empire spanning Europe and Asia, greatly promoted the trade and cultural exchanges between the East and the West. Wenzhou Port, as an important coastal port, has attracted more and more attention from the world. During the Song Dynasty, the shipbuilding industry in Zhejiang (eastern Zhejiang and western Zhejiang) was mainly concentrated in Lin ‘an (Hangzhou), Mingzhou (Ningbo) and Wenzhou.
The developed shipbuilding industry provides convenient conditions for the prosperity and development of Wenzhou Port. Wenzhou’s commodity economy has developed rapidly, and maritime trade has become increasingly prosperous and active. It has become the hub port of the Maritime Silk Road by connecting with Ningbo, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, Dengzhou and other important ports. In the first year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty (1131) or earlier, Wenzhou, after Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Quanzhou and other cities, set up a foreign maritime trade management institution-Municipal Shipping Service. At this point, Wenzhou became an important port for China’s foreign trade, and various cultural exchanges became active. At the same time, Rongcheng Post Office, Laiyuan Post Office and Daixian Post Office were set up to receive foreign businessmen. A large number of Wenzhou lacquerware, Longquan celadon and other items are transported from Wenzhou Port to overseas countries. Local historical data also show that the area outside Shuomen has always been the most prosperous business district of Wenzhou ancient city.
Hu Nianwang introduced that the dock of the Song Dynasty, the sunken ship of the Song Dynasty and the accumulation of a large number of Song and Yuan porcelain pieces from various kilns have become the core elements of the Millennium commercial port. In addition, the official plank road outside the north gate, tall houses along the river, workshops (shops) and warehouses, as well as the barbican in the north gate of the ancient city and the steep gate outside the Watergate successfully reproduce the “prosperous” scene of Wenzhou’s “Beibu” port area in Song and Yuan Dynasties, which is a great achievement in China’s marine archaeology and urban archaeology in recent years. Some experts suggest that it can be built into an archaeological site park with a site museum. When the country starts Haisi’s application for World Heritage in the future, the ancient port site in Wenzhou is expected to become the fist product of the main push.
During the lecture, the research group of China Academy of Social Sciences visited Qingnianfang Community Cultural Home and Xuejun Theory Presentation Studio. They stopped and listened for a while, and all praised Hu Nianwang’s good speech, which not only had theoretical height, academic depth and cultural thickness, but also was grounded!
□ Evening News reporter Zheng Xuejun Lin Bangyan