45 Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand

Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand

BOTANIC GARDENS.
The beautiful Botanic gardens, set in the middle of Christchurch, was originally the site of a Chinese City, probably their administrative centre for South Island.
The Chinese occupancy covered from c. 19 AD to approximately 1700 AD. – a period of over 1600 years of civilization. This was ended by the Maori invasion of New Zealand. The evidence of the Chinese occupation, buildings, roads, quarrrying, iron smelting and river navigation can still be seen in New Zealand. Even the wrecked remains of some of the 1421 Chinese Fleet”s Junks have been located on the shores of South Island. These findings have greatly contributed to our knowledge of the construction of large junks. Carbon dating of iron smelting, iron, timber and plaster have confirmed the periods of occupation.

CHRISTCHURCH`S BOTANIC GARDENS.
What evidence of Chinese occupation can be seen and where?

The remains of the fort that guarded the Chinese City of Christchurch (43d, 31`,39South. 172d, 37`,06East) can be seen by the banks of the River Avon, alongside a children`s playground area, (north of the information centre). A 50m length of the Chinese Fort”s ramparts are still visible. The original stone wall that topped the ramparts was 1.8m wide. The fort covered an area c150m x 100m. Magnetic anomaly surveys within the fort”s walls have shown the existence of the stone foundations of the barrack blocks. Similar surveys
along the banks of the River Avon alongside the site of the fort have revealed the existence of a row of c1.8m wide aqueducts which carried the drainage from the fort into the river. The survey also identified a small harbour, c. 38m x 20m between the northern ramparts of the fort and the River Avon. It is possible that the river has been realigned to enable the fort to be constructed within a river loop.

MAIN HARBOUR.
The Botanic Garden’s water garden area was originally the site of the main Chinese harbour, accessed by canal from the River Avon. It is probable that the harbour was excavated leaving the quays as free standing earth, then the whole harbour sides botom and quays were covered with puddled clay to seal and stiffen them. Identical construction methods were used by both Roman and British canal constructors. The authorss excavations over a c2,000 year old Roman harbour in the Lake District of Britain, showed that the puddled clay was similar to plasticine and still capable of being worked by hand.

CHINESE CITY OF CHRISTCHURCH.
The riverside ramparts of the originally walled city c 400m x 90m, are best viewed from the side of magnificent eucalyptus on the northern side of the  River Avon, opposite the bandstand. A flight of modern steps are set into the rampart. The southern rampart, originally c400 long and capped with a 1.8m wide wall, is still visible paralleling the river, although much is obscured by the bushes planted over them. The 90m long eastern end of the city walls runs from the Canterbury Museum to near the river.

A magnetic anomaly survey within the boundaries of the city”s walls indicated two types of building foundation. One c30m x 4m with three rooms, the end rooms, but not the centre rooms, were paved. The other type of building appeared to be standard Chinese barrack block buildings, consisting of eight rooms unpaved and one paved. Each room was c 4m square. The similarity to Roman barrack bocks is interesting – first century Roman barrack blocks had ten rooms, each unpaved, and c 4m square. The eleventh, the Centurion’s room, was slightly larger and paved. Each of the rooms housed eight men. Using the Roman figures of occupation, the buildings within the Chinese City would be capable of accommodating several thousand people.

A magnetic anomaly survey parrallel to the river over the length of the city”s ramparts indicated a line of aqueducts, each 1.8m wide. These were designed to both carry away surface water from the city into the river and to provide make up water to aid navigation of the river by shallow draft junks.

The design and construction of the aqueducts used to drain the fort and city are identical to the Roman aqueducts excavated by the author in the UK. The cross-section is rectangular, c 1.8m wide by 0.330 deep, with a stone-lined duct c 0.200mm diameter. The covers were normally formed with corbelled stonework. The stonework was normally jointed and sealed with puddled clay. The remainder of the construction would be either puddled clay, or waste stone,
forming a section similar to a giant ”Mars” bar with a stone-lined hole.  The puddled clay or waste stone on either side of the actual duct, forms a water-tight backing. This form of construction has been found on every Chinese site in South Island. One wonders at the origin of the design – could it be Chinese or Roman?

T.C.Bell 7/2003.

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