Neihuang County 内黄县

History

The county was first set up in 198 BC, under the Han founder Gaozu, and belonged to Wei commandery (魏郡). It was called Inner Huang (内黄) to tell it apart from Waihuang (外黄), 'Outer Huang', in Chenliu commandery (陈留郡). Chinese Wikipedia names it as the capital of the legendary rulers Zhuanxu (颛顼) and Diku (帝喾) and of the Shang king Taiwu (太戊), and as the birthplace of the Legalist statesman Shang Yang (商鞅).

What to see

The Sanyangzhuang Han site (三杨庄汉代遗址) at Liangzhuang (梁庄镇) is a large village of the late Western Han and a national key protected site. The Anyang city government describes it as the first large Han village of clearly identified character found by archaeologists in China: fourteen courtyards have been located, with roads, ponds and fields, and four of the courtyards have been excavated over 9,000 square metres. It has its own site museum and is compared to Pompeii.

West of Sanyangzhuang village stands the mausoleum of Zhuanxu and Diku (颛顼帝喾陵), a provincial protected site and 3A scenic area built for the second and third of the legendary Five Emperors. It faces south, with a bridge, gate, sacrificial hall and burial mounds along its axis. Tradition gives the eighteenth day of the third lunar month as Zhuanxu's birthday, when the Gaowang temple fair (高王庙会) is held, and since 2002 the county has held an ancestral festival.

Food and local products

The Neihuang county gazetteer, quoted by Anyang Daily, records jujube orchards of more than ten thousand mu here in the Tang and Song, taxed in silver. 'Neihuang jujubes' (内黄大枣) became a national geographical-indication product in 2009. The Thousand-Year Jujube Garden (千年古枣园), south of Qiankou village (千口村) in Liucun (六村乡), has 1,268 old trees in a 102-mu core area, the oldest numbered trees reckoned at 1,000 to 1,300 years, and was listed as a county protected site in 2005. Chinese Wikipedia also names hot peppers and dried tofu skin (腐竹) among local products.

Getting oriented

National Roads 230 and 341 cross the county.

Highlights

• Sanyangzhuang Han site 三杨庄汉代遗址: Late Western Han village site at Liangzhuang with fourteen courtyards found and four excavated; national key protected site with a site museum.
• Mausoleum of Zhuanxu and Diku 颛顼帝喾陵: Provincial protected site and 3A scenic area west of Sanyangzhuang village, the traditional tomb of two of the legendary Five Emperors.
• Thousand-Year Jujube Garden 千年古枣园: Orchard of 1,268 old jujube trees south of Qiankou village, the oldest reckoned at 1,000 to 1,300 years; county protected site since 2005.