History stirs beneath modern streets

Four postholes found on the eastern wall align with the Sima Gate, a structure recorded in Han Dynasty texts such as Yue Jue Shu, a compendium of essays on various facets of the Wu and Yue vassal states, and Wuyue Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue), providing rare confirmation of the capital's layout.

Together, the Jizhong and Tashan Hechangfang sites reveal a cohesive picture of the Yue capital's layout, Li says, describing the area as the Yue capital's "central business district".

The ceremonial area at Tashan Hechangfang includes an artificially constructed altar platform and a trench.

Beneath the platform, excavators found 32 sacrificial pits arranged in two rows, east to west. The trench, measuring 42 meters east-west and 8 meters north-south, contained several hundred stamped hard pottery jars and urns holding sacrificial animal bones — deer, cattle, duck, fish, and turtle — along with tin ge daggers (a type of ritual weapon) and stone chimes.

These artifacts date to approximately the mid-to-late Spring and Autumn Period, coinciding with the era of Goujian's activities.

The presence of cattle bones provides material evidence for the Yue state's sacrificial animal practices, revealing a dimension of the vassal state's ritual life previously known only from texts.

Together, these finds offer the first archaeological window into Yue royal ceremonies.

Beneath the Yue layers, archaeologists uncovered even earlier remains associated with the Majiabang culture, dating back approximately 6,000 years. These include sand-tempered pottery cauldrons, red clay jars, jade pendants, and earrings.

This discovery extends the documented history of human activity in Shaoxing by around 3,500 years, and marks the first identification of Neolithic Majiabang cultural remains within Shaoxing's ancient city, according to archaeologists.

After conquering Yue, the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) established the Kuaiji Commandery. Historical records indicate its headquarters were initially in Wu county (modern Suzhou in Jiangsu). In 129, during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220),Wu county was established as the Wu Commandery, and the Kuaiji Commandery was moved to Shanyin county (modern Shaoxing).

The Jizhong site confirms this through artifacts inscribed with "Kuaiji" (the commandery) and "Shanyin" (the ancient name for Shaoxing), including a brick stamped "Wall of Kuaiji Commandery" — reserved for official buildings — as well as a clay seal of the "Shanyin Assistant Magistrate", and a wooden visiting card bearing both place names, the earliest such text from the region.