# Wentehebu City Site and Peiyou City Site
**Wentehebu City Site and Peiyou City Site** are two adjoining ancient city ruins, called "sister cities", in Gucheng village, Sanjiazi township, Hunchun, Yanbian, Jilin, on the alluvial plain of the lower Hunchun River about 10 km southwest of the urban district.[1](https://ishare.ifeng.com/c/s/7wVLathRDVf) Wentehebu's north wall is Peiyou's south wall, a shared wall 468 m long, with the two cities standing side by side.[2](https://culture.cnjiwang.com/gxt/202507/3960582.html) Wentehebu measured a perimeter of 2,269 m in the 1983 survey,[2](https://culture.cnjiwang.com/gxt/202507/3960582.html) while Peiyou is an irregular square with a perimeter of 2,023 m, rammed-earth walls 3.6 m high, barbicans, corner towers, 14 mamien, and a moat 8 m outside the walls.[2](https://culture.cnjiwang.com/gxt/202507/3960582.html) • [1](https://ishare.ifeng.com/c/s/7wVLathRDVf) The sites were listed as ancient sites in the seventh batch of national protection units under number 7-0131-1-131.[3](https://www.iwenbo.fun/heritage/2611.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Location | Gucheng village, Sanjiazi township, Hunchun, Yanbian, Jilin; on the alluvial plain of the lower Hunchun River, about 10 km southwest of the urban district[1](https://ishare.ifeng.com/c/s/7wVLathRDVf) |
| Shared wall | Wentehebu's north wall is Peiyou's south wall, 468 m long; the two cities stand side by side and are called "sister cities"[2](https://culture.cnjiwang.com/gxt/202507/3960582.html) |
| Wentehebu dimensions | Perimeter 2,269 m; east and west walls 710 m each; south wall 381 m; highest point 5 m (1983 survey)[2](https://culture.cnjiwang.com/gxt/202507/3960582.html) |
| Peiyou dimensions | Irregular square, perimeter 2,023 m; walls 520, 521, 468, and 522 m; rammed-earth walls 3.6 m high, 9 m at the base, 1.5 m at the top (1983 survey)[2](https://culture.cnjiwang.com/gxt/202507/3960582.html) |
| Peiyou defenses | Gates with barbicans on the south and west walls, corner towers at four angles, 14 mamien (platform towers), and a moat 8 m outside the walls[1](https://ishare.ifeng.com/c/s/7wVLathRDVf) |
| National site number | 7-0131-1-131, ancient sites, seventh batch[3](https://www.iwenbo.fun/heritage/2611.html) |
## Location and setting
The two ruins lie on the alluvial plain of the lower Hunchun River, in what is now the village of Gucheng ("ancient city"), a settlement that grew up on top of the old walls and is today a mainly Manchu village[2](https://culture.cnjiwang.com/gxt/202507/3960582.html). The Tumen River flows past about 1 km west of the site, and the Hunchun River is about 2.5 km to the southeast[1](https://ishare.ifeng.com/c/s/7wVLathRDVf). The plain at the lower Tumen was a strategic location for the peoples of the region from the Sushen and Mohe ancestors of the Manchus onward[4](https://whhlyt.jl.gov.cn/dfwhxx/202508/t20250814_9303500.html).
## Wentehebu city
**Name and origin.** The name comes from a Jurchen tribal name recorded in the *History of Jin* as the "Wendihan tribe of the Tunmen River" (the Tumen River); the words "Wendihan" and "Wentehe" are Jurchen and translate as "shrine" or "spirit tablet", that is, "temple", with the sense of a place for ancestral sacrifice[5](https://whhlyt.jl.gov.cn/dfwhxx/202111/t20211129_8303381.html). A [Qing dynasty](https://www.edgepedia.org/qing-dynasty) temple, the Donghua Palace, was built in the southeast part of the city in the 13th year of the Jiaqing reign, and the Manchu name Wentehe continued in use for it[5](https://whhlyt.jl.gov.cn/dfwhxx/202111/t20211129_8303381.html).
**Dating.** Archaeologists regard Wentehebu as a city reused across many periods: in the [Han dynasty](https://www.edgepedia.org/han-dynasty) it was possibly the seat of Longyuan County of Goguryeo's Qingzhou, in the Balhae period (698 to 926) the seat of Qingzhou under the Eastern Capital Longyuan Prefecture, and in the [Liao dynasty](https://www.edgepedia.org/liao-dynasty) it was occupied by the Jurchen Wendihan tribe[5](https://whhlyt.jl.gov.cn/dfwhxx/202111/t20211129_8303381.html). Some researchers hold that the city was first built in the Goguryeo period and extended under Balhae, while others date it to the Balhae period with continued use in the Liao and Jin; the exact span of use remains disputed[6](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%B8%A9%E7%89%B9%E8%B5%AB%E9%83%A8%E5%9F%8E/6975486?fromModule=lemma_inlink).
**Walls.** The 1983 county survey measured a perimeter of 2,269 m, with east and west walls of 710 m each, a south wall of 381 m, and a highest point of 5 m; the north wall is the shared wall with Peiyou[2](https://culture.cnjiwang.com/gxt/202507/3960582.html). Parts of the walls are covered by wind-blown sand, the northern end has been leveled, and the east wall has gaps in several places[2](https://culture.cnjiwang.com/gxt/202507/3960582.html). A 1993 excavation cut through the south and west walls and found a false wall above a true wall about 3 m high and 3 m wide, with a steep outer slope and a step-like ledge on the inner slope, a military feature; two foundation trenches 0.5 m deep and 0.5 m wide ran along the wall base as reinforcement, and the wall had been shifted 6 to 7 m southward. Under the west wall base lay the remains of a house, showing the city was built over an older settlement[6](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%B8%A9%E7%89%B9%E8%B5%AB%E9%83%A8%E5%9F%8E/6975486?fromModule=lemma_inlink).
## Peiyou city
Its plan is an irregular square oriented slightly southwest of true north, with a perimeter of 2,023 m: east wall 520 m, west wall 521 m, north wall 522 m, and a south wall given as 468 m in the 1983 re-measurement and 460 m in another account[2](https://culture.cnjiwang.com/gxt/202507/3960582.html) • [1](https://ishare.ifeng.com/c/s/7wVLathRDVf). The walls are of yellow earth compacted in layers, about 3.6 m high, 9 m wide at the base, and 1.5 m at the top, matching written records closely[2](https://culture.cnjiwang.com/gxt/202507/3960582.html).
The defenses are those typical of a Liao-Jin era city: gate sites with barbican enclosures on the south and west walls, door-post foundation stones at the south gate, corner towers at the four angles, 14 mamien along the walls, and a moat 8 m outside the walls[1](https://ishare.ifeng.com/c/s/7wVLathRDVf). The slightly raised center of the city was the main building area; the interior is now farmland and village housing[1](https://ishare.ifeng.com/c/s/7wVLathRDVf).
**Eastern Xia and earlier.** Seals unearthed in and around the city anchor its chronology. One reads "Office Clerk, Wei number," with a [Chongqing](https://www.edgepedia.org/chongqing) 2nd year (1213) date, a late-Jin object connected with the Wugulun tribe, whose recorded territory at the confluence of the Tumen and Hunchun rivers matches the site; this shows the city was founded no later than the Jin dynasty[1](https://ishare.ifeng.com/c/s/7wVLathRDVf). Other seals carry the Tiantai era name of [Puxian Wannu](https://www.edgepedia.org/puxian-wannu), who proclaimed the state of Dazhen (later Eastern Xia) in the tenth month of 1215, and the Datong era name used by Eastern Xia from 1224 until the state fell in 1233 when Puxian Wannu was captured by the Mongols[1](https://ishare.ifeng.com/c/s/7wVLathRDVf). Judging by the city's size and the number of Eastern Xia official seals, Peiyou was a prefecture-level seat under Eastern Xia[1](https://ishare.ifeng.com/c/s/7wVLathRDVf).
**Yuan and Ming.** The *Veritable Records of Ming Taizu* record a Xiguan Chief Military Command in the [Yuan dynasty](https://www.edgepedia.org/yuan-dynasty), and historical texts place Xiguan city seven li east of the Xunchun River (the Hunchun River) and five li west of the Duman (Tumen) River, which fits Peiyou's position; the city may therefore have been the seat of the Yuan Xiguan Chief Military Command[1](https://ishare.ifeng.com/c/s/7wVLathRDVf). In the Ming the city housed the Warka tribe of the Yeren Jurchens. In 1607, unable to endure oppression by Bujantai, beile of the Ula tribe, the Warka asked to join Nurhaci's Jianzhou Jurchens; Nurhaci sent his brother Surhaci with troops, a fierce battle by the Tumen River ended in victory, and after the Warka migrated west the city was abandoned[1](https://ishare.ifeng.com/c/s/7wVLathRDVf).
## Archaeological finds and protection
Two finds in Wentehebu city brought the site to official attention: an iron crucible with a spout, a handle, and three nipple-shaped feet, used for melting metal, found by chance in 1972, and a complete lotus-petal eave tile found in 1979. Both entered the collection of the Jilin Provincial Museum, and on 28 July 1981 the Hunchun county government renewed the definition of protection scope for its relics and sites[2](https://culture.cnjiwang.com/gxt/202507/3960582.html). On 20 April 1981 the Jilin provincial government listed Peiyou city in the second batch of provincial key protection units[2](https://culture.cnjiwang.com/gxt/202507/3960582.html).
In December 1982 the county compiled the *Gazetteer of Cultural Relics of Hunchun County* and carried out a full survey from April to June 1983, which produced the wall measurements cited above[2](https://culture.cnjiwang.com/gxt/202507/3960582.html). On 19 December 2014 the National Cultural Heritage Administration approved the preparation of a conservation plan for the two sites, directing that systematic survey and drilling establish their nature, extent, layout, and content[7](https://www.lvga.com/fagui/jjl/yxbx/914762.shtml). Hunchun has since installed security monitoring at the site and carried out excavation work that recovered large quantities of artifacts[4](https://whhlyt.jl.gov.cn/dfwhxx/202508/t20250814_9303500.html), and the 2025 budget of the Jilin Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and [Archaeology](https://www.edgepedia.org/archaeology) funds a further excavation project at the Wentehebu city site[8](https://whhlyt.jl.gov.cn/zwgk/cwxx/ys/202502/W020250221545050852996.pdf).
## References
1. [东夏国的古城——裴优城和温特赫部城, 凤凰网/满族文化网](https://ishare.ifeng.com/c/s/7wVLathRDVf)
2. [双城记：温特赫部城与裴优城的千年故事, 中国吉林网](https://culture.cnjiwang.com/gxt/202507/3960582.html)
3. [温特赫部城址与裴优城址旅游指南, 忆起追迹](https://www.iwenbo.fun/heritage/2611.html)
4. [珲春市：多措并举推动文物保护利用, 吉林省文化和旅游厅](https://whhlyt.jl.gov.cn/dfwhxx/202508/t20250814_9303500.html)
5. [珲春市积极推进国家级古遗址博物馆建设, 吉林省文化和旅游厅](https://whhlyt.jl.gov.cn/dfwhxx/202111/t20211129_8303381.html)
6. [温特赫部城, 百度百科](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%B8%A9%E7%89%B9%E8%B5%AB%E9%83%A8%E5%9F%8E/6975486?fromModule=lemma_inlink)
7. [关于温特赫部城址与裴优城址保护规划编制立项的批复, 国家文物局 (2014)](https://www.lvga.com/fagui/jjl/yxbx/914762.shtml)
8. [吉林省文物考古研究所2025年部门预算, 吉林省文化和旅游厅](https://whhlyt.jl.gov.cn/zwgk/cwxx/ys/202502/W020250221545050852996.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Ancient and historical places › Vanished cities, towns, and settlements › Vanished settlements of East and Southeast Asia › Northeast Chinese and Jurchen-era sites*
*Initially written Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license