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China's oldest fortification, a 30-km-long earthen wall, was partially destroyed by a construction company's bulldozers, which has caused archeologists to warn that ancient structures remain at risk due to the lack of strong measures to ensure their protection and preservation.The remains of the wall can be found in the hills of Pingdingshan, Nanyang, Zhumadian and Xinyang cities of Henan Province.
Qin Wensheng, head of the Cultural Relics Division of the Henan Provincial Cultural Heritage Department, says that an emergency excavation will be launched to collect data and rescue cultural relics buried along the ancient wall in Yexian County of central Henan Province that was built 2,600 years ago during the jurisdiction of the King of Chu State.
The excavation plan, however, is yet to be decided on, according to Qin.
Henan Zhongtou Yingke Wind Power Generation Company, the owner of the bulldozers that damaged the wall, has agreed to revise its wind power plant construction plan to avoid causing further damage to the relics and will cover all the expenses for the emergency excavation and repairs, according to Qin.
Yet nearly two months after the Matoushan Wind Power Plant project was halted by the Yexian County government on April 19, no revision plans have been submitted.
Huang Minmin, who oversees the construction, said the company will do its best to cooperate with the archeological department to fulfill the remedial work.
But Qin said that the degree of damage to the fortification is so severe that it can't be restored.
Officially announced by the Henan Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau last March as the oldest existing fortification in China, the ancient wall is recognizable only to archeologists' trained eyes.
It zigzags along Mate Mountain of Bao'an Township and, according to historical records, the Chu State built it to defend its northern border in 770-476 B.C. At one point, it stretched 137 kilometers through the mountainous areas of central China.
Yet it was never connected to the Great Wall that was built in the country's north by the order of China's first emperor Qinshihuang.
Li Shujin, chief of the Cultural Heritage Department of Yexian County, said that the wind-power company had been informed of the necessity to secure the approval of the heritage protection authority to open construction earlier last year when the company planned to build its wind power plant on Matou Mountain.
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