How the Zen platform was built
Text: Wei Zengrui
In the winter of the first year of the Eastern Han Dynasty (220), Cao Pi, the king of Wei, accepted the Zen concession of Emperor Xian of Han and officially became emperor, staging a farce in Chinese history. Time is like a rolling water, washing away the cold and warm of human feelings more than 1,000 years ago, only the Zen platform has been crouching there silently, reading the vicissitudes of the world.
According to the Linying County Chronicle, the Zen Platform is 18 meters high and covers an area of 5,880 square meters. After more than 1,000 years of wind and rain, the zen platform is now only 10 meters high and covers an area of about 2,170 square meters. The author's hometown is Chen Ce Village in Daguo Town, about 5 kilometers away from the Zen Platform. When I was a child, I played in the north of the village, and the high zen platform was clearly visible. Every year to Fancheng Hui Town to catch the September 13th temple fair, just pass by the Zen Platform.
The amount of soil used for the tall Zen platform is considerable, so where does the soil for the platform come from?
In order to ensure the safety of Emperor Wen of Wei, Sima Yi garrisoned about two kilometers southeast of Fancheng from Zhichantai (now Simazhuang Village, a Hui town of Fancheng) and about six kilometers southwest of Fancheng (now Simaying Village, Daguo Town), forming a semi-encirclement of Fancheng to ensure the safety of Fancheng. At the same time, these troops were also the main force in building the Zen platform.
According to the article "The Story of Cao Pi's Zen" in the twelfth issue of the Linying Literature and History Materials, it is said that the Zen Platform was "built in the twelve miles southwest of the city of Zhaofan". So what is the "Twelve Miles Southwest of Fancheng"? That is the author's hometown of Chen Ce Village, as well as the area around Kongzhuang, Zizhang, Weizhuang village and Simaying village. Sunzhai Village and Bian Dan Yang Village to the north of Chen Ce Village are about 1,000 meters apart, and there is a large pit in the west of the two villages. By chance, I heard Teacher Sun, a retired old teacher in Sun zhai village, say that he had heard word of mouth from the old people in the village, and this big pit was the place where the Zen platform was taken.
In my impression, the steep walls of this large pit indicate that the soil is relatively hard and not easy to weather, and it meets the soil requirements required to build a Zen platform. From the perspective of location, it is exactly in the middle of Simaying Village and the Zen Platform, and it is extremely convenient for the local garrison to take soil and build a platform.
Although this pit is very large, it cannot meet the amount of soil used for the entire Zen platform. There may be more than one mining site for the Zen platform. Over the years, these mining sites have been flushed or filled in by water for farming. In Sima Zhuang Village, southeast of the Zen Platform, there used to be a drinking horse ditch. According to word of mouth among the villagers, Sima Yi's army once drank horses here. This drinking horse ditch is most likely a ditch left by the soil taken from the Zen platform.
So how was the Zen platform built? In the twelfth issue of the Linying Literature and History Materials, the article "The Story of Cao Pi's Zen" describes it as follows: "Cao Pi sent an army of 100,000 troops, led by General Sima Yi, to build a platform with earth twelve miles southwest of The City of Fancheng, and in one night he built two high platforms in the north and south, namely the Zen Platform and the Panlong Village. "One night effort" is a bit of an exaggeration, but it should be true that the Zen platform was built in a relatively short period of time.
So how did the soldiers build the Zen Platform? When the author visited the Zen platform in the early 1980s, from the cut of the villagers' excavation at that time, he found that there were lump-like traces in the soil layer of the Zen platform, which was 50 to 60 centimeters long, about 20 centimeters wide, and more than 10 centimeters thick. In other words, the Zen platform is built up of adobe piece by piece. According to the article "Visiting the Zen Platform" of the Dahe Network "Thick henan" on November 15, 2004: "The local staff in charge of cultural relics protection introduced that the Zen platform was much larger, divided into 3 floors, each floor had 27 steps, and a total of 81 steps led to the top. This shows that the height of the zen platform at that time was calculated as a "layer". From this we can imagine that Sima Yi's soldiers took soil and mud, then made adobe out of wooden molds, dried them within a few days, and built a zen platform. Of course, the possibility of combining rammed and adobe construction is not ruled out.
According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Chronicle of Emperor Wen, in the winter of the first year (220) of the Eastern Han Dynasty, "it was for the altar of Fanyang." At noon, Wang Shengtan was the emperor, and a hundred officials accompanied him. The matter is cursed, the altar is lowered, and the fire is regarded as a ceremony and the opposite is reversed. Changed Yankang to Huang Chu, amnesty".
After a while of hilarity, people were gone, leaving the Zen platform behind, lonely for a thousand years.
Source: Small town Linying