As the head of the Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons and one of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, the State of Qi has experienced a vast history of more than 800 years since the establishment of the State of Taigongwang.
The territory of the State of Qi was originally only in the area of present-day northern Shandong, and when Zhou Gongdan was regent, the Three Prisons rebelled, Huaiyi rebelled against Zhou, and the Duke of Zhou ordered Jiang Taigong to "east to the sea, west to the river, south to Muling, north to Wudi, the fifth marquis and nine uncles, and Shide Zhengzhi." The State of Qi thus had the right to conquest, such as the Destruction of the Tang Dynasty by the Duke of Qi Ding, and the efforts of the State of Qi to rule through four generations of kings, the State of Qi became the eastern power of the Zhou Dynasty at that time.
However, after the Duke of Qi, there were many years of civil unrest, the most important reason for which was that the Duke of Qi was cooked by King Yi of Zhou.
According to the "Records of History Volume IV Zhou Benji", "The prince of filial piety collapsed, and the princes restored the prince of Yi, Xie, for the king of Yi. ”
Yi Wang Ji Xie, Prince Yi of Zhou, nephew of King Xiao. When The first filial piety was established, it was a nephew who died and was succeeded by his uncle, as the Western Zhou of the "primogeniture inheritance system", Sima Qian did not say anything specifically in the "Records of History", but when he arrived at the Yi King, he said "restoration", so it was analyzed that the Yi King should have been established at that time.
However, at the enthronement ceremony, King Yi of Zhou unexpectedly "went down to the temple to see the princes and was deposed." This move is considered to be a sign that the Western Zhou Dynasty has begun to decline, because at that time, many princely states, including the State of Qi, were already very powerful.
Although the King of Zhou Yi went down to the hall to see the princes, which damaged the face of the Zhou Dynasty, the King of Zhou Yi also did a shocking event that is still a mystery, that is, to cook and kill the Duke of Qi. According to the "History of the Qi Taigong Family": "The Duke of Qi, the Son mourns the Duke of Qi. During the reign of The Duke of Lai, Ji Houzhi Zhou, Zhou Cooked the Duke of Lai and established his brother Jing as the Duke of Hu. ”
The Bamboo Book Chronicle also contains: Three Years of King Yi of Zhou, "The King to the Princes, the Duke of Qi, Yu Ding." This means that King Yi of Zhou summoned the princes to Hojing and, in front of the princes, threw the Duke of Qi'ai into the boiling ding and boiled it. This bloody and horrific method of execution is unprecedented in the history of Chinese emperors.
What exactly did King Ji Guojun say to King Yi of Zhou? What made King Zhou Yi, who already had no dignity on the throne, so determined? There are no direct answers in the history books.
In this regard, some people think that King Zhou Yi is "killing chickens and making monkeys". Because the Zhou Dynasty was already "a weakened royal family after King Mu of Zhou, the princes or not the dynasty", some princely states with different surnames, taking advantage of the decline of the country, did not come to pay tribute, and even had an arrogant attitude, and xiongqu, the king of the Chu state, was one of the representatives. Xiongqu trespassed the system and imitated Zhou Tianzi, sealing his three sons as kings. In order to restore the majesty of the royal family, King Yi of Zhou chose to kill chickens and monkeys from among the princely states.
Some historians speculate that the main reason is that "the mourning of the duke is absurd and obscene, and the history of the country is also a poem to stab it." "At that time, there were many barbarians near the State of Qi, and the State of Qi had the right to conquest, and the space for expansion was large. This expansion of the territory made the Zhou royal family feel the strength and threat of the State of Qi. The situation was similar for other princes of the same period, and king Yi of Zhou deterred the princes by killing the Duke of Qi and curbed the territorial expansion of the princes.
The archaeological site of the ChenZhuang site
In 2004, the Shandong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology began a large-scale archaeological survey of various places along the eastern route of the South-north Water Diversion Project. In October 2008, before the excavation of the Chenzhuang site in Gaoqing County, Zibo City, the archaeological team was preparing to drill the predetermined excavation area, but unexpectedly, with the expansion of the excavation area, the archaeologists found a pocket ancient city that was only one-eighth the size of the bird's nest.
CCTV's "Exploration and Discovery" column has used three programs to report on the archaeological content of the Chenzhuang site under the title of "Wasteland Labyrinth".
With continuous exploration, archaeologists believe that this is a city site from the early Western Zhou Dynasty. The city sites of the Western Zhou Dynasty are very rare, and many scholars cannot find the ancient city at this time, and even speculate that there is no city at all in the Western Zhou, or that there is no large city defense facility such as city walls and trenches.
In the southeast corner of the ancient city, archaeologists found nine tombs. Among them, 2 are large "A" shaped tombs, and 7 medium-sized tombs are all one coffin and one rafter, and the burial items include bronzes, pottery and a small number of jade and sea shell charms. There are bronzes with the words "Feng Qi Zuo Zu Jia Qi Gong Bao Zun Yi" and "Feng Qi Composition Zu Qi Gong Zun Yi" written on them. This archaeological excavation filled the gap in zhou dynasty archaeology in many ways, and is a breakthrough in the historical archaeology of the State of Qi in Shandong Province for half a century. It was rated as one of the "Six New Discoveries of Chinese Archaeology in 2009" by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Through research, archaeologists have studied that the bronzes cast by the owner of the tomb were for the sacrifice of Jiang Ziya, and the inscriptions on the bronzes record "Duke Jia Qi of Qi" and "Duke of Wenzu Qi" refer to Jiang Ziya, the first monarch of the State of Qi. The object of a whole set of bronze ceremonial vessels is Jiang Ziya, so who is Feng Qi who cast this batch of utensils?
It is understood that during the Republic of China period, a bronze ding named "Zhou Gongdong Expedition Fangding" was unearthed in Baoji, Shaanxi, but it was quickly lost overseas. According to the inscription on this large bronze statue, during the Zhou Gong's Eastern Expedition, he destroyed a boguo named "Feng" and divided the land among the descendants of Jiang Ziya.
Since the ancients often took the fief as their surname, Feng Qi was likely to be the nobleman of the State of Qi who was enfeoffed at that time, and was the grandson of Jiang Ziya.
Next, thirty or forty meters away from the Fengqi Family Cemetery, the archaeologists once again found two large tombs of the rank of princes with tombs.
There are 6 carriage and horse pits buried next to the tomb road of the Zigzag Tomb, of which the highest level of vehicles has 4 horses, these details correspond to the rank of the princes, so which early monarch of the State of Qi will the owner of the tomb be?
An inscription on a bronze grate shows that the name of the owner of the tomb is Yin, who is not only not a prince, but also most likely not a Qi person. So, why was Ying buried in the territory of the State of Qi, and was able to enjoy the funeral rites of the princely rank?
According to the many clues on the citation, some scholars believe that the citation guard was the Qi Hu Gong, who once moved the capital to Bogu, and that the incident occurred during the important historical period when the Qi Aigong was cooked, and Chen Zhuang was Bogu.
Of course, these are all speculations, and the specific exact situation still needs to be studied in depth by archaeologists, but in the later stages of excavations, another rare relic phenomenon appeared.
An altar has quietly appeared again, but its object of worship has caused controversy. Some scholars believe that the altar is a very common altar in later generations, and the sacrifice is to the earth god. However, it has also been suggested that the nine-story altar is a celestial model with a shape very close to the mound in the Temple of Heaven.
However, in ancient times, the sacrifice of heaven was the highest ceremony of the Chinese nation, and presiding over the ceremony was the privilege of the Son of Heaven. If the altar is really Huanqiu, then not only will the significance of this small city be more important, but the mystery of the cooking of the Duke of Qi Ai will also be explained.
According to the provisions of the Zhou Dynasty ritual system, only Zhou Tianzi had the right to sacrifice to heaven. The princes could only worship their ancestors, and the State of Qi built the Temple of Heaven, which was undoubtedly a serious act of ultra vires. As for why the State of Qi wanted to sacrifice to heaven, the reasons were worth exploring.
Today, the Chenzhuang site is no longer excavated due to archaeological protection, but these materials have been enough for historians and archaeologists to study and discuss. The historical mystery of Qi Aigong being cooked in Ding is believed to be solved sooner or later. Perhaps The rumor of The King of Ji to King Jin of Zhou Yi was to report the act of sacrificing heaven in the State of Qi, so that it can be understood why King Zhou Yi must have killed Lü Buchen, and it was in such an extremely cruel way as cooking.
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