There are six ancient cities piled up in an area 3-12 meters under the Kaifeng City, an ancient capital of central China's Henan Province, including three state capitals, two provincial capitals and a big town in the Central Plains, archaeologists announced lately after 20 years' excavation and study.
Except from the deepest buried Daliang City, capital of the Wei State, one of the Warring States in which China was severed up during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 B.C.), has not been discovered due to technical limits, the other five cities have all been made known. By now the mysterious saying that "one city piled upon another under Kaifeng" has been finally proved.
Archaeological data show that the five cities are basically located in the same area, with Kaifeng City of the Qing times (1644-1911) at the top and the Bianzhou Town at the bottom, a strategic post during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The biggest and the most splendid one among them is the Eastern Capital City, capital of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), which claimed a population of over million a thousand years ago.
In 364 B.C., the Daliang City was built as the new capital of Wei State, expert says. And then, during a period of over 2200 years afterwards, rulers of different generations in this area set up Bianzhou City during the Tang Dynasty, Eastern Capital City during the Northern Song Dynasty, Bianjing City in the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234), Kaifeng City in Ming(1368-1644) and Qing periods respectively. These ancient cities were buried one upon another in war and floods, and new ones were built up on the same area, hence the rare piled-up cities under Kaifeng City as seen today.
( People's Daily February 8, 2002)
