Summary: Shanghai Qinglong Town Confirmed By Archaeological Excavation As Important Port of Maritime Silk Road During Tang And Song Dynasties Located in the Baihe town of Qingpu District, Qinglong Town site was the first trading port of Shanghai. The Archaeologi

Shanghai Qinglong Town Confirmed By Archaeological Excavation As Important Port of Maritime Silk Road During Tang And Song Dynasties

 

Located in the Baihe town of Qingpu District, Qinglong Town site was the first trading port of Shanghai. The Archaeological Department of Shanghai Museum conducted a long-term investigation and excavation on the site in 2011 -2016 and made important gains. On December 2, Shanghai Museum invited experts to hold the argumentation meeting on the status and role of Qinglong Town site in the history of Shanghai towns, the development of Jiangnan towns and the Maritime Silk Road. The experts believed that Qinglong Town site was an important discovery in the history of the development of Shanghai towns. A large number of unearthed traded further confirmed that Qinglong Town was one of the important ports of the Maritime Silk Road during Tang and Song dynasties,consistent with the literature.

Qinglong Town in the literature,the first town in Shanghai district, was an important town of Tang and Song dynasties and the first trading port of Shanghai district. Towns were the important grass-roots unit of the social structure at that time. Chen Jie, director of the Archaeological Department of Shanghai Museum  introduced that the archaeological work of the Qinglong Town site used archaeological approach on the settlements, included the archaeological exploration and excavation of the heritage sites into the long-term plan of  archaeological work of the Shanghai, gradually resolved the layout of Qinglong Town site, and provided the evidence for the protection plan of the heritage site. At the same time, it also researched the status and function of the port of Qinglong Town in the development of the Maritime Silk Road during North and South Song dynasties.

In 2014-2015, the Archaeological Research Department of Shanghai Museum conducted a large-scale exploration to the Qinglong Town site. They initially found out the scope and key burial area of the site. They had achieved significant results by discovering the housing base of Tang and Song dynasties, wells, stoves, foundry workshops, river quays, tombs and other relics,and unearthing 2000 pieces of cultural relics including copper, iron, wood, ceramics. Among the large amount of traded porcelains, there were Yue Kiln, Xing Kiln, Changsha Kiln, Longquan Kiln and Fujian Kiln, which was not only the true portrayal of prosperity of Qinglong Town in Tang dynasty but also the evidence of the prosperity of Qinglong Town as the important trading port of Maritime Silk Road.

The base of Longping Temple Tower which was newly discovered provided the key landmark for discovering the layout of Qinglong Town. Its underground special structure and the exquisite cultural relics unearthed from the underground palace were the important information to understand the life and religious beliefs of people at that time. 

Liu Qingzhu, researcher from the Institute of Archaeology of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, indicated that the Yangtze River Delta was the key point for the Maritime Silk Road towards the Northeast Asia. Shanghai Qinglong Town was one of the important ports of the Maritime Silk Road during Tang and Song dynasties. Excavating this town played an important role in understanding the history of the city development of Shanghai and the economic status of the Maritime Silk Road trade.“Qinglong Town site was the important discovery in the history of the development of Shanghai towns and the valuable evidence for the development of Shanghai towns for thousands of years. It also provided the new materials for the archaeology of Maritime Silk Road,”said Wang Wei, the head of the Institute of Archaeology of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

During the archaeological excavation process of Qinglong Town, the cultural relics were protected at the scene of the archaeological excavation site, and the protection plans were made. Relying on the Shanghai Museum of Cultural Relics Research Center, they used the X-ray CT, video microscopy and other equipment to detect, protect and research the unearthed cultural relics.

The experts spoke highly of the advanced concepts and rigorous and meticulous work. They believed that the archaeology in the past focused more on the excavation and research of the capital city. In the future, applying the approach of the settlement archaeology and researching the basic administrative units of the town were the important and urgent research direction for the archaeology of the large heritage sites. The archaeology of the Qinglong Town site was a model for the archaeological work of the first class heritage site of towns and also a successful example of archaeological excavation and cultural relics protection.

In terms of the base of Longping Temple Tower, experts believed that it was the civil temple with clear age and special structures,serving as the Buddhist temple and the navigation tower. It had close link with the trade of Maritime Silk Road. Its unique construction way was of great reference for the research of the foundation construction technology of the soft soil geological structure in South China. The burying method of Buddhist relics in the underground palace provided important materials for the study of Buddhism history.

　

 Qinglong Town was a rare preserved heritage site in Shanghai. The World Heritage Site application of the Maritime Silk Road also lacked the town sites. Experts suggested that efforts should be continued to strengthen and we should solve the plane shape of the temple on the discovery of the Longping Temple. From the perspective of settlement archaeology, we should further clarify the layout of the Qinglong Town and the key construction facilities; should pay attention to the relationship between people and land, the heritage site and the social economic development. We would seek to include Qinglong Town site into the national protection plan of large heritage sites and consider the the display and use of the site.