The Origin of the Capital: Liangshui River and the Jin Zhongdu Water Gate

1153年，金朝皇帝完颜亮迁都至燕京，北京自此开启了其作为都城的历史篇章。历经八百余年风云，宫阙与城垣已化作历史中的尘埃，但水脉依然流淌，潺潺不息。金中都水关遗址静静地矗立，成了那段历史的鲜活见证。

back in 1153, the Jin emperor moved his capital here to what we now call Beijing. That’s how the city’s story as a capital really began. Fast-forward more than 800 years: palaces are gone, walls have crumbled, but the water still flows. The Jin Zhongdu Water Gate ruins quietly remain as living proof of that first chapter.

金中都水关遗址是金代中都南城墙下的一处大型木石结构水利设施。1990年考古发现后，被评为当年全国十大考古新发现之一。现在，它是全国重点文物保护单位。它相当于古代城池的“水门”，承担城内水系穿城而出的通道功能。这个遗址的发现，首次明确了金中都城内一条重要水系的走向。

The Jin Zhongdu Water Gate ruins are a large-scale hydraulic structure of timber and stone built beneath the southern city wall of Zhongdu during the Jin dynasty. Unearthed in 1990, it was recognized as one of China’s top ten new archaeological discoveries of that year. Today, it is listed as a National Priority Cultural Relic Protection Site. Serving as the “water gate” of an ancient city, it functioned as the outlet channel through which the city’s internal waterways flowed outward. The discovery of this site marked the first time that the course of a Zhongdu’s major water system was clearly identified.

水关是指河流或运河穿过城墙时的通水通道，它由城市最早的排水管道或沟渠逐渐演变而来。

A sluice gate, or shuiguan, is the water passage where rivers or canals flow through a city wall. It evolved from the city’s earliest drainage pipes or ditches.

金中都水关一直全长约44米，工程规模宏大，使用了木、石、砖、铁、砂石等大量建材，使用的榫卯构件达2500个。遗址建筑基础层为密布地钉并以碎石、砂土夯实，其上铺衬石枋、过水地面石，结构严谨坚固。工艺与宋代《营造法式》中的规范高度一致，是目前考古发掘出的中国古代都城水关中体量最大的一处。

The Water Gate measures about 44 meters in length and was constructed on a grand scale, using large quantities of timber, stone, brick, iron, and gravel. It incorporated some 2,500 mortise-and-tenon joints. The foundation consists of densely arranged ground nails reinforced with rubble and rammed earth, over which stone beams and paving slabs for water flow were laid, creating a structure that is both rigorous and solid. Its craftsmanship closely follows the standards recorded in the Yingzao Fashi (Treatise on Architectural Methods) of the Song dynasty, making it the largest ancient metropolitan water gate ever excavated in China.

金中都水关遗址的发现，确定了金中都城外“西湖”的一条水系的走向和出南城垣的位置，为研究金中都遗址以及水源的变迁提供了重要证据。

它不仅展示了金代都城雄厚的建筑与水利技术，也为研究北京建都初期的城市格局、水系演变提供了重要实物证据，是理解古代城市工程智慧的珍贵窗口。

The discovery of the Jin Zhongdu Water Gate site has identified the precise course of a water system originating from the “Western Lake” outside the Jin Zhongdu city walls and its outlet through the southern rampart, providing important evidence for studying the Jin Zhongdu ruins and the historical changes of its water sources.

It not only demonstrates the advanced architectural and hydraulic techniques of the Jin capital, but also offers significant material evidence for understanding the city’s layout and water system evolution in the early period of Beijing as a capital. It stands as a precious window into the engineering wisdom of ancient urban construction.

在博物馆中还举办了《融合之美》展览，展出辽金文物是游牧传统与中原文化交汇交融的实证。

This museum is also hosting the exhibition “The Beauty of Integration”, which showcases Liao and Jin artifacts. It highlights the fusion of nomadic traditions with Central Plains culture.

例如展出的金代铜坐龙，是运用中华龙文化的形象，塑造具有金代宫廷特点的龙。其设计反映了金文化汇入中华文明历史长流的过程。

The bronze seated dragon of the Jin dynasty embodies the imagery of Chinese dragon culture while shaping a form with distinct characteristics of the Jin court. Its design reflects how Jin culture integrated into the broader historical current of Chinese civilization.

“这里的凉水河，曾经是金代都城南护城河的一部分，如今已重生为居民垂钓、骑行、散步的绿色廊道。沿着河岸行走，我能感受到水曾怎样深刻地塑造这座城市。它不仅是一条河，更是一段记忆。”

“This is Liangshui River, once part of the southern moat of the Jin dynasty’s capital, it is now reborn as a green corridor where residents enjoy fishing, cycling, and walking. Walking along it, I can feel how deeply water shaped this city. The river is not only water but memory.”

北京自古因水而生，因河渠而成。自金中都水关建成后，凉水河在八百余年时光中奔流至今。1215年中都陷落，1267年，元朝在中都东北方向建大都，凉水河水系不再是京城的主要水源，但河水仍在延续。如今，凉水河静静流淌于北京南部，不再是护城河，却成为水塑造都城诞生与成长的鲜活见证。

Beijing was always a city of water, shaped by its rivers and canals. From the Water Gate of Jin Zhongdu to today’s Liangshui River, more than eight centuries of history have flowed on. Zhongdu fell in 1215; in 1267 the Yuan dynasty built its new capital, Dadu, to the northeast, and the Liangshui River system ceased to be the city’s main water source. Yet the river itself endured. Today, the Liangshui River winds quietly through southern Beijing, no longer a defensive moat but a living reminder of how water shaped the birth and growth of the capital.

出品人：王晓辉

Executive Producer: Wang Xiaohui

总监制：薛立胜

Chief Supervisor: Xue Lisheng

总策划：蔚力

Chief Planner: Yu Li

制片：张芃芃

Producer: Zhang Pengpeng

策划：张芃芃 丁素云 曹川川 李颖

Creative Planning: Zhang Pengpeng, Ding Suyun, Cao Chuanchuan, Li Ying

导演：龚小磊

Director: Gong Xiaolei

撰稿：张芃芃

Screenwriter: Zhang Pengpeng

主持人：荣希玛 (Chaima El Moujradi) 劳拉 (Laura Ugalde) 德密柰 (Marina Dech)

Hosts: Chaima El Moujradi, Laura Ugalde, Marina Dech

摄像：李春浩 王恺琦

Cinematography: Li Chunhao, Wang Kaiqi

跟机：王俊胜

Camera Assistant: Wang Junsheng

剪辑：王恺琦 顾钧予 刘泽敖

Editing: Wang Kaiqi, Gu Junyu, Liu Zeao

调色：康凯

Color Grading: Kang Kai

混音：康凯

Sound Mixing: Kang Kai

推广：孟超 李昭 姜壹平 苏向东 丁素云 王雁青 葛蕾 秦金月 张静

Promotion: Meng Chao, Li Zhao, Jiang Yiping, Su Xiangdong, Ding Suyun, Wang Yanqing, Ge Lei, Qin Jinyue, Zhang Jing

节目承制：大音

Produced by: NEWSAYING (Shanghai) Consulting and Planning Co., Ltd.