Linzhang County 临漳县

History

The Han set up Ye County here as the seat of Wei commandery. Cao Cao (曹操) took Ye from Yuan Shao (袁绍) in 204 and made it his base, and the city then served as capital of Cao Wei, Later Zhao, Ran Wei, Former Yan, Eastern Wei and Northern Qi for about four centuries. It was the centre of Jian'an literature (建安文学), the circle around Cao Cao, his sons and the Seven Masters of Jian'an. In 314 the county was renamed Linzhang, "facing the Zhang", to avoid the personal name of Emperor Min of Jin (晋愍帝), Sima Ye (司马邺). After the Zhang River destroyed the county town in 1385, the seat moved in 1394 to Liwang village (理王村), today's county town.

Earlier figures are remembered here too: in the Warring States period Ximen Bao (西门豹), magistrate of Ye, ended the practice of "marrying a bride to the River God" and dug twelve canals to water fields from the Zhang.

What to see

The Ye city site (邺城遗址), at Ye town (邺镇) on the north bank of the Zhang some 20 kilometres southwest of the county town, has been a national key monument since 1988. In its northwest corner, the Three Terraces site park (铜雀三台遗址公园), a 3A scenic area, keeps the rammed-earth Golden Phoenix Terrace (金凤台), built by Cao Cao in 213 and still 122 metres long and 12 metres high, and the site of the Bronze Sparrow Terrace (铜雀台), where Cao Cao feasted with poets. The Ice Well Terrace (冰井台) has left no trace above ground.

Two museums hold the finds. The Yecheng Museum (邺城博物馆), modelled on Ye's southern gate, shows pottery, porcelain and Buddhist statues. The Yecheng Archaeological Museum (邺城考古博物馆) in the county town mainly displays Buddhist statues from a hoard pit found at Beiwuzhuang (北吴庄) in 2012, with a reliquary casket from the Hetaoyuan (核桃园) temple site.

Food and local products

Big-pot mutton soup (临漳羊汤) started in the early 1990s on North Street in the county town, which is why shops still hang "North Street" signs. It is a soup of mixed offal such as liver, tripe and heart, eaten with flatbread and seasoned with chilli powder, salt, vinegar and cumin, and the broth can be topped up as often as diners like. The soup and dinggai shaobing (顶盖烧饼), a flatbread round as a full moon, crisp outside and tender inside, are both among the county's six famous dishes, along with braised rabbit (临漳扒兔) and Huangxinzhuang block pork (黄辛庄块肉).

Highlights

• Ye city site 邺城遗址: Capital of six dynasties from Cao Wei to Northern Qi; national key monument since 1988.
• Three Terraces site park 铜雀三台遗址公园: Holds the rammed-earth Golden Phoenix Terrace of 213 and the Bronze Sparrow Terrace remains.
• Yecheng Archaeological Museum 邺城考古博物馆: Buddhist statues from the 2012 Beiwuzhuang hoard pit.
• Big-pot mutton soup 临漳羊汤: Offal soup from the county town's North Street, eaten with flatbread and chilli powder.