Place · city

Tongwan

Also known as Tongwancheng

Tongwan was the capital of the Xia state of the Sixteen Kingdoms, built by Helian Bobo between 413 and 418 in the Ordos region, in today's Jingbian County in northern Shaanxi. Its walls of rammed earth mixed with lime were famous for their hardness. Northern Wei captured it in 427, and its white ruins survive at the edge of the Mu Us Desert.

Tongwan
Image: Cong · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Helian Xia

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Tongwan. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/tongwan
MLA
“Tongwan.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/tongwan. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Tongwan.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/tongwan.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Tongwan’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/tongwan (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻