Weishi County 尉氏县

Setting and landscape

The land falls from north-west to south-east, between 59.8 and 133 metres above sea level. The east is flat plain laid down by Yellow River floods, while the west rises into low ridges that mostly run north to south. The county drains to the Huai: the Jialu River (贾鲁河) runs 44 kilometres through it and the Shuangji River (双洎河) 32 kilometres.

History

The name goes back to the Spring and Autumn period, when the area was the fief of a State of Zheng (郑国) official called Weishi. A county was set up here under the Qin, more than 2,200 years ago. The county government groups three famous figures as the "Three Worthies of Weishi" (尉氏三贤): the Warring States strategist Wei Liao (尉缭), the Eastern Han writer Cai Yong (蔡邕) and the poet Ruan Ji (阮籍), one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. Liu Qingxia (刘青霞), a woman activist of the 1911 Revolution, married into a wealthy Weishi family at 18, and Jiao Yulu (焦裕禄), held up as the model county Party secretary, lived and worked in Weishi for six years.

What to see

Xingguo Temple Pagoda (尉氏兴国寺塔), locally called Dongguan Pagoda (东关塔) because it stood outside the county town's Great East Gate, was first built in the Taiping Xingguo reign of the Northern Song as the relic pagoda of a temple that no longer exists. It is a hexagonal, eight-storey brick pagoda about 30 metres tall, with 410 Buddha niches and a spiral stair around a central pillar; its top three storeys were rebuilt in 1546. Yellow River floods have silted up its base, so the arched entrance on the west side sits slightly below ground. It became a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit in 2006.

The former residence of Liu Qingxia (刘青霞故居), the Liu family compound on West Street (西大街), was listed nationally in the same year. Henan's provincial list adds Ruan Ji's Whistling Terrace and tomb (阮籍啸台与阮籍墓), south of the county town's Small East Gate, and the Qing-dynasty City God Temple of Weichuan (洧川城隍庙) with its south city gate.

Getting oriented

Three expressways cross the county: the Beijing–Wuhan, Lankao–Xuchang and Shangqiu–Dengfeng. Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport is about 15 kilometres from the county town, and the nearest passenger station, Zhengzhou Airport Station, about 10 kilometres. Since July 2022 Weichuan (洧川镇) and Daying (大营镇) towns have been managed by the Zhengzhou airport zone while remaining part of Weishi.

Highlights

• Xingguo Temple Pagoda 尉氏兴国寺塔: Hexagonal eight-storey Northern Song brick pagoda with 410 Buddha niches; national protection since 2006.
• Former residence of Liu Qingxia 刘青霞故居: Liu family compound on West Street, home of a 1911 Revolution activist; national protection since 2006.
• Ruan Ji's Whistling Terrace and tomb 阮籍啸台与阮籍墓: Provincial protected site south of the Small East Gate, linked to the Bamboo Grove poet Ruan Ji.
• Weichuan City God Temple 洧川城隍庙: Qing temple with the south city gate of Weichuan, a provincial protected site.