China is a country with an ancient civilization, and the splendid Chinese civilization has made the number of cultural relics unearthed in China large. Of course, it is impossible for every artifact to be excavated by archaeologists. Some of the cultural relics we are familiar with today have been irreparable damage because people "don't know the goods": some have been thrown into chicken coops, some have been thrown into mangers, and some have even been used as containers for pickles, which makes people cry and laugh.
The cultural relics to be talked about today have a similar experience, its name is Yu Jizi White Plate, cast in the Western Zhou Xuanwang period, 137.2 cm long, 9.5 cm high, 86.2 cm wide, weighing 240.5 kg, and there are eight lines of inscriptions on the bottom of the plate with a total of 111 characters. Because it looks too much like a manger, it was once used as a manger for horses.
The owner of this plate is called Ji Zibai, who was the monarch of the State of Yu during the Spring and Autumn Period. At that time, Zhou Tianzi ordered him to lead his troops to conquest the otter (玁音 xiǎn, the name of the ancient clan), and Ji Zibai defeated the enemy in this battle, beheading a total of 500 enemy troops, capturing 50 people, and also cutting off the ears of the enemy and offering them to Zhou Tianzi, who was very happy and rewarded him with a bow and arrow. After the victorious Ji Zibai returned to his fiefdom, he asked someone to make this big market and recorded his victory in the battle. After Ji Zibai's death, this bronze vessel full of honor was buried underground with his first owner.
The second appearance of the White Disk of The Dragon Season came during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty. A farmer who lives in Baoji County accidentally found this bronze artifact while cultivating the land. It turned out that a group of tomb robbers took away all the treasures they had dug up after excavating the ancient tomb of the country of Yu, and Du Du threw this national treasure in the field. Due to its own limited cultural level, the white plate of Yu Jizi was also used as a sink for feeding horses by this fellow who picked up him, and because the white plate of Yu Jizi itself is a water tool, it is quite suitable to be used as a sink for feeding horses.
It was not until the Daoguang years that Xu Xiejun, a jinshi of Changzhou, was appointed as the Zhi County of Mei County, Shaanxi Province, and when he passed by the door of the hometown where he took in the white plate of Yu Jizi, he accidentally saw this good "manger" and was immediately shocked. Xu Xiejun took out all the silver and bought the copper plate back from his hometown, until Xu Xiejun told the old man to return to his hometown, and the copper plate was also brought back to his hometown of Changzhou.
However, before Xu Xiejun could study the value of the copper plate, he encountered the mighty Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement. After the rebel army captured the city of Changzhou, Xu Xiejun's family property was looted, and the white plate of Yu Jizi also fell into the hands of the rebel army. Due to the reckless origin of the rebel army and the lack of knowledge of bronze artifacts, this precious cultural relic was moved to the palace of the protector Chen Kunshu and once again used as a manger.
Chen Kunshu didn't possess this treasure for too long. Soon after, Chen Kunshu was defeated by the Huai army, and he himself died on the battlefield, and this valuable manger was taken over by Liu Mingchuan, the direct subordinate governor who invaded Chen Kunshu's mansion.
At first, Liu Mingchuan did not know that he had picked up the big treasure. Until one night, when Liu Mingchuan was resting, he suddenly heard a strange clanging sound. At first, he thought that the soldiers of the Taiping Army were firing cold guns, so he quickly led people up to inspect. However, looking left and right did not find the enemy, and the strange sound never stopped. After constantly searching, Liu Mingchuan finally realized the source of the sound, which came from the stables. When I walked to the stables and looked at it, I found that it was the iron ring that tied the horse that kept hitting the manger, making a clanging sound. The mangers are all made of wood, how can this sound be made? Liu Mingchuan, who was full of doubts, reached out and touched it and found that this manger was actually made of metal. After washing it, I found that the manger in front of me turned out to be a bronze vessel.
Liu Mingchuan brought the white plate of Yu Jizi back to his hometown of Anhui and invited an old gentleman named Huang Congmo to palm his eyes, which made this valuable treasure reappear in front of the world. After learning that the Liu family had obtained a treasure, Liu Mingchuan and his descendants were "visited" by many people, including Weng Tonggong, the teacher of the Guangxu Emperor. After Weng Tonggong came to the door, he said that he was willing to buy the white plate of Yu Jizi for a lot of money, but Liu Mingchuan chose to refuse. Teacher Weng was not reconciled, and said that he was willing to form a family with Liu Mingchuan and marry his daughter to Liu Mingchuan's son, and Liu Mingchuan was not moved. An angry Weng Tonggong turned around and went to liu mingchuan in front of the emperor, and Liu Mingchuan was relegated to a commoner, but even so, Liu Mingchuan did not compromise.
Decades later, this treasure has been left in the Liu family, and after Liu Mingchuan's death, his descendants, faced with the threat of the Japanese, risked their lives to bury it in the ground, hoping that one day it would be handed over to the state. It was not until after the liberation of the country that Liu Mingchuan's descendants dug up the white disk of Yu Jizi again and handed it over to the state. The treasure is now on display at the National Museum and is on the list of artifacts that are prohibited from being exhibited abroad.
Yu Jizi White Disk is lucky, because it was lucky to meet its Bole, which gave it the opportunity to appear in front of the world. Other cultural relics are lost because of people's ignorance and the rampant tomb robbers, and even disappear forever in the long river of history, and the specific whereabouts cannot be verified. But it also makes people fully aware of how important it is to protect cultural relics.