23 Feet Beneath Modern Beijing: Why Three 1,800-Year-Old Boats Were Stamped 10 Times With "Government"
Today, the Fengtai district of Beijing is a dense urban landscape of subways, highways, and high-rises. Yet 1,800 years ago during the Han and Jin dynasties, a wide, navigable channel of the ancient Yongding River wound directly through Wanquansi Village, linking northern China to the agricultural heartland of the Central Plains. On November 2, 2026, researchers from the Beijing Municipal Institute of Archaeology (led by Ding Lina) announced a landmark discovery: buried 7 meters (23 feet) underground at a former river bend sat three flat-bottomed wooden cargo boats—designated Yongding River 1, 2, and 3—parked side-by-side with all three bows pointing southwest.
Structural analysis revealed sophisticated ancient Chinese naval carpentry combining interlocking hardwood mortise-and-tenon pegs (treenails) with wrought-iron staple fasteners selected for durability under heavy cargo loads. Most exciting of all, close inspection of the planks on Yongding River No. 2 revealed ten deeply carved Chinese characters reading "官" (guān)—meaning "official" or "government". These ten state registry brands prove the vessels were part of an official imperial logistics fleet that transported grain, passengers, and strategic supplies along Beijing's lost inland waterway.