Yuanzhou Ancient City, located in Yichun City, Jiangxi Province, is one of the best-preserved Ming- and Qing-era walled cities in western Jiangxi. Cobblestone paths wind through lanes lined with whitewashed walls and dark-tiled roofs, while the distant sound of laundry being pounded echoes from deep within ancient alleys, evoking the bustling urban life of a thousand years ago. As night falls, warm yellow lights outline the mottled brick walls, and the lantern-lit streets recreate the grandeur of “Wenxing Night Banquet,” one of the famed “Eight Scenes of Yuanzhou.”
At the heart of the ancient city stand the remains of the Ming-era city wall, a drum and bell tower, and twelve well-preserved Ming- and Qing-dynasty buildings. Among them, the former site of the Yuanzhou Prefectural Office is designated as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit. Strolling through the historic “Three Streets and Six Alleys,” visitors encounter the cobblestone “Zhuangyuan Street” (Street of the Top Imperial Scholar), the exquisitely carved “Confucian Temple,” and the intact “Nan’an Archway.” The Wenxing Pagoda stands out as the premier vantage point: ascending its heights offers panoramic views of the Gan River winding like a jade belt around the city, with rooftops and towers stretching as far as the eye can see.
Since its establishment as a commandery during the Han Dynasty, Yuanzhou has long been a hub of cultural brilliance. The renowned Southern Song statesman Wen Tianxiang once served here as a magistrate, and his original manuscript of the “Song of Righteousness” is housed in the former Yuanzhou Prefectural School. The late Qing official Zeng Guofan also lectured here, leaving behind the historic “Kezi Platform” (Teaching Platform for His Son). The Northern Song literary giant Ouyang Xiu once visited Yuanzhou and famously praised its landscape as “the finest in Jiangnan.”
Steeped in over a millennium of Confucian heritage, the ancient city continues to celebrate vibrant traditions such as the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month and the Dragon Boat Races on the Duanwu Festival—festivals that seamlessly weave past and present into a luminous tapestry of living history.
