The stone plaque of the North city gate in the Ming dynasty with the words of Xuandong Gate

A stone plaque dating back to the Ming Dynasty has been found in Datong, Shanxi province, providing precious data for the research of the ancient Datong city.

It was found during the road construction of Wuding North Road in the city in front of the Shangri-la Hotel by Beijing Municipal Construction Group Co., Ltd; and is a plaque of the North city gate during the Ming dynasty. It is a basaltic rectangle with the length of 1.98 meters, width of 0.83 meter and thickness of 0.16 meter. Three characters “Xuan Dong Men” are inscribed on the plaque in regular script. According to archeologists, the plaque was buried when the North city gate collapsed.

As well as that, a 30-meter-long wall foundation of the North city gate in the Ming dynasty was discovered. The wall foundation is piled up with bricks, with a narrower base and wider top. It shows that the foundation was mended during the Qing dynasty.

Beijing Municipal Construction Group Co., Ltd, the construction unit of Wuding North Road, didn’t report to the government after digging out the plaque but instead backfilled it. The inspection team members of Datong city cultural relics who were patrolling there stopped the construction, protected the site and informed archeologists.

According to a related official of Datong’s municipal administration of cultural heritage, Beijing municipal construction group Co., Ltd will be punished according to the law.