Nanzhao Taihe City Ruins Tourism Guide

Scenic spot introduction:

Nanzhao Taihe City is a city on a hillside. Its ruins are located at the foot of Heding Peak in the west of Taihe Village, Qiliqiao Township, Dali City. There is now the King Kong City on the top of Cangshan Mountain and two city walls in the south and north. Most of the city walls were built with rammed earth according to the mountain topography. The remaining northern section of the city wall is about 3 meters above the ground and about 5 meters thick. Taihe City is surrounded by Cangshan Mountain to the west and Erhai Lake to the east, which serves as a natural barrier. The terrain is dangerous, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack. The south and north city walls are about 500 meters apart. Taihe City was once the capital of the ancient Nanzhao Kingdom. The capital was moved here in 739 AD. After the construction of several dynasties in Nanzhao, it gradually formed a large city. It was not until 779 AD that Yimouxun moved the capital to Yangjumei City and Taihe City. Then it gradually fell into disuse. As the capital of Nanzhao at that time, it was the political, economic and cultural center of Nanzhao in the early period.

Attractions distribution:

The Taihe City ruins are quite large, in the shape of an irregular triangle. Currently, there are only two rammed earth city walls left in the ruins. The north city wall extends from the foothills of the Five Fingers Peak of Cangshan Mountain in the west to the northeast to the shore of Erhai Lake, and is 3225m long; It extends to Erbin Village in the east and is 3350m long. The foundation of the rammed residual wall is 4-5m wide and 2-4m high, and the whole city area is about 3km2. Foding Temple is located on the top of Foding Peak. The surrounding ground is 0.3m higher than the ground inside the temple. The foundation is nearly 4m thick. It is an earthen platform with an area of ​​nearly 3600m2. It is said that the summer palace and King Kong City of Nanzhao Kingdom were built here. There is a Nanzhao Dehua stele in the Taihe City ruins. The text on the stele originally had more than 3,800 words, but now only 256 words remain. The inscription mainly records a series of important historical facts in the early days of the establishment of the Nanzhao regime. It is said that the inscription was written by Zheng Hui, a Qingping official in Nanzhao, and written by Du Guangting, the imperial censor of the Tang Dynasty. The article is tactful and moving, the rhetoric is gorgeous, and the writing style is powerful and elegant. In the first year of Dali of the Tang Dynasty (766), Prince Luofeng of Nanzhao erected this monument outside the gate of Taihe City Palace. In the fifty-third year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1788), Wang Chang of the Jinshi family visited and acquired it. In the third year of Jiaqing (1798), Li Hunter built a pavilion on the spot to protect it. This stele is a precious material for studying the history of Nanzhao and its relationship with the Tang Dynasty. It has high historical and cultural value.

Scenic spot features:

Photography, historical and cultural tours, historic sites