Thousands of coins -- a symbol of a prosperous economy -- were also found in the area, left over mainly from the Northern Song Dynasty. There were 32 kinds of currency issued in the Northern Song Dynasty - 27 of which were discovered at the Badong site.

 The Eclipsed Badong County

There is no evidence of a large-scale official building at the site after the Northern Song Dynasty. The county seat moved to the foot of the Jinzi hill on the southern bank of the Yangtze River. A recent archeological study shows that the county official site was hit by floods and mud-rock flow during the Northern Song Dynasty. After that, the site was moved out of Badong. The exact time of this transition is unclear, although it occurred no earlier than the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).

Nevertheless, Badong enjoyed its most prosperous period during the Northern Song Dynasty. Lu You, a poet from the Southern Song Dynasty, describes Badong County in his Travel Notes to Sichuan: "The county is depressed: Only some 100 families live there. The houses are all made of thatched grass, with not a single tile."

Li Qingrong explained that the governors of all dynasties did not support the development of the ethnic economy in the area south of the Yangtze River. It was remote to the Central Plains, sealed off by the mountains and without convenient traffic facilities. The dwellers were conservative and regarded business as a base activity. Coupled with the floods, landslides and mud-rock flow, productivity and culture in the area were inferior to those of the developed Central Plains.

 Background to Badong County

Badong County began its prosperity in the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties, and enjoyed its heyday in the Northern Song Dynasty. County sites in the early Northern and Southern dynasties (386-589) were called Xinling County and were later renamed Lexiang County. The county was named Badong in 598 in the Sui Dynasty .

The principal part of the Badong site is the whole county area. The official site area was located in the middle of the county, including the government office, temples and storehouses. There were business areas in the south of the official government site near a brook where archeologists found a brewhouse and other shop sites. The east and west part of the site were residential areas, where more than 80 homes were unearthed. Experts say that at least 3,000 people lived in the county.

The Baiyun and Qiufeng pavilions, which were constructed by Kou Zhun, according to historical records, have all disappeared. A Qiufeng Pavilion still stands at the Badong site, but it was constructed during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Kou wrote 120 poems over his three years in the county, accounting for one-half of all his works. Lu You, Su Shi, Su Sun and other poets also wrote articles to commemorate Kou when they passed through, leaving many previous works behind.