Excavation Research of the Helv City (Part 2)

The ruins of Helv City , the capital of the Wu Kingdom, are an extremely precious historical and cultural heritage site in Wuxi. It was the capital of the Wu Kingdom, one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period. The city was first built in the first year of Helu's reign (the sixth year of King Jing of Zhou, 514 BC), and has a history of over 2500 years.

The ruins of Helv City were designated a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit by the Jiangsu Provincial Government as early as 1956. At the national expert appraisal meeting held in 2008, the site was identified as the capital of King Helu of Wu and was rated as one of the "Top 10 Archaeological Discoveries in China in 2008." In 2011, it was announced as a "Major Archaeological Site in Jiangsu." In March 2013, it was named a seventh batch of nationally key cultural relic protection units by the State Council and included in the list of 150 key major archaeological site protection projects during China's 12th Five-Year Plan. In December, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage announced the Helv City ruins as a candidate for a national archaeological site park.