This article was first published in the Beijing Evening News on January 14, 2022, original title: "Liulihe Re-proves the History of Beijing's 3,000-Year Founding"
On October 18, 2021, the 3rd Chinese Archaeological Congress announced the "Top 100 Archaeological Discoveries in a Hundred Years" at the opening ceremony. Among them, in the Beijing area, there are the Ruins of Zhoukoudian in the Paleolithic Age, the Ruins of Liulihe in the Western Zhou, the Dabaotai Han Tombs of the Western Han Dynasty, and the Ming Ding Mausoleum in the Ming Dynasty. Among them, the liulihe site is the capital of the Western Zhou Yan state, dating back about 3,000 years, which is the beginning of the founding of Beijing.
At the end of 2021, archaeologists released an important piece of written evidence about the founding of Beijing. What is this literal evidence?
The ruins of the Liulihe River are rediscovered: the body and cover that have been misplaced for three thousand years
In 2021, in order to build the Liulihe National Archaeological Site Park in Fangshan District, Beijing, archaeologists re-excavated two early Western Zhou tombs in Liulihe. Why is it said to be rediscovered?
Because as early as 1974, archaeologists have excavated these two tombs M1901 (formerly IIM253) and M1903 (formerly IIM251), of which a bronze vessel was excavated from the M1901 tomb, which is the largest and heaviest bronze excavated in Beijing so far.
The inscription on this bronze vessel records that The Marquis of Zi sent Yan to Zong Zhou to give food to Taibao, who gave him a reward for the shell. In order to commemorate this event, the bronze ding was cast, so this bronze ware is also called "yan ding". The Marquis here is the monarch of the State of Yan; taibao is the famous minister of the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Prince of Taibao, and the monarch of the state of Yan is his son.
In the past, in this M1901 tomb, a "圉簋" was also found. This piece of cloth is divided into two parts, the body and the cover, and the inscription at the bottom of the body says that Boyu made this bronze; the inscription on the inner wall of the cover says that the king of Zhou gave the shell to the sword at the ceremony of the Zhou Dynasty, and the bronze was made to commemorate this event.
This time, in this M1901 tomb, another piece of gui was found. Interestingly, the inscription on this piece is exactly the opposite of 圉簋: the bottom of the gui body says that the king of Zhou gave the shell to Yuan, and Yu made this bronze vessel; and the inner wall of the gui cover says that BoYu made this bronze!
Why is this happening? It is obvious that the two bronze seals and the cover were mistaken when they were buried. The body discovered in 2021 and the cover discovered in 1974 are a pair, which is the real "圉簋"; and the gui cover found in 2021 is a pair with the body found in 1974, which should be renamed "Boyu Gui".
Of course, the inscriptions of "Boyu Gui" and "BoYu Gui" are basically the same, and it can be considered that "Bo Yu" and "Bo Yu" are the same person. Experts believe that it is possible that the name of the master of the instrument is "圉", and the word "Boyu"; of course, it is also possible that "圉" and "fish" are actually tongkan characters.
In addition, archaeologists excavated M1902 between M1901 and M1903, as well as M1904 and M1905. Among them, a bronze tiliang 卣 (yǒu, wine vessel) was excavated in M1902.
According to the interpretation of experts, the gist of this piece is that the Taibao (Zhao Gongyi) built a city in the land of The Emperor, and then held a sacrifice at the Palace of the Marquis of He, after which the Taibao gave the bei to the album. The album is the official in charge of the booklet and carries out the commandments of the monarch, and the book is his name. In honor of his father Xin, this bronze tablet was cast.
The greatest value of this bronze is that it indicates the matter of summoning Gong Yi to come and build a city. Although the Liulihe site was the capital city established by the Yan state in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, it has long been recognized; there are also many bronze artifacts related to zhao gongyi, such as the above-mentioned weiding.
Although there were previous records of summoning Gongyi to arrive in the Yan Kingdom, the record of him personally directing the construction of the capital of the Yan Kingdom was discovered for the first time. It can be seen that this "album" is not only the earliest written evidence of the founding of the yan state, but also the earliest written evidence of the founding of Beijing, and the historical value is self-evident.
As early as 1962, archaeologists discovered the ruins of Liulihe and conducted small-scale trial excavations. Until 1974, archaeologists officially excavated here, and by the end of the first phase of archaeological work in 1977, it was basically confirmed that the Liulihe site was the first fiefdom of the Yan State in the early Western Zhou Dynasty.
A second excavation of the Liulihe site began in 1981, and by 1986 a tomb of M1193 had been excavated. The tomb unearthed a "Ke Lu" and a "Ke Lu", and the inscription is basically the same: the King of Zhou sealed taibao in The Land of The King of Zhou and appointed Ke as the Marquis of Ke. In order to commemorate this event, Ke cast these two bronzes.
This newly discovered album can be linked to Kelu and Kelu to jointly reflect the historical facts of the division of the Yan kingdom. At that time, Zhou Tianzi divided the summons gongyi into the Yan kingdom. However, Zhao Gongyi was to remain as taibao in the Zhou Room, so he was replaced by his son Ke. Although Zhao Gongyi did not become the monarch of the country, he still personally went to the Yan kingdom and presided over the construction of the capital.
In the "History of the Dukes of Yan Zhao", it is said that the Zhao Gong Yi was divided into the Yan Kingdom, but it seems contradictory that he ruled the West, but the excavation of bronze inscriptions solves this problem. It can be confirmed that the "History of the Lu Zhou Gong Family" says that Zhou Gongdan divided the Lu kingdom, and the eldest son also replaced him.
The ancestor of the Yan kingdom, Zhao Gongyi: A saint with the same name as Lü Shang and Zhou Gong
So, what other stories does this ancestor of the Yan Kingdom have? In addition to the bronzes unearthed in The Liulihe River, heirloom documents and other bronzes also record some of the deeds of Zhao Gongyi.
In the Shang Dynasty Jin Wen and Oracle Bone, there was a force hostile to the Shang Dynasty - "Zhao Fang". The "Zhao Fang" defected to the Zhou people because of the oppression of the Shang Dynasty, and the Zhao Gong Yi was the leader of the "Zhao Fang", who was the same clan as King Wen of Zhou. Later, King Wen of Zhou died and King Wu of Zhou ascended the throne.
King Wu of Zhou appointed his father-in-law Lü Shang, his younger brother Zhou Gongdan, and Zhao Gongyi as "Three Dukes", similar to the chancellors of later generations. Among them, Lü Shang was taishi, representing the forces of in-laws; Zhou Gongdan was taifu, representing the power of the Wen clan; zhao gongyi was made taibao, representing the forces of the old Ji surname, and became the right and left arm of the king of Wu.
Later, King Wu invaded the shang capital city of Chaoge, and the Duke of Zhou and Zhao Gong entered the Shang Palace with King Wu. Later, King Wu sacrificed to the shang dynasty god, and Zhao Gong also followed him and helped king Wu hold coins and other sacrifices. King Shang imprisoned his loyal servant Jizi during his lifetime, and King Wu also sent Zhao Gong to release him.
King Wu was seriously ill two years after keshang, and both the Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Zhao were extremely concerned and wanted to divinate the king of Wu. Later, King Wu of Zhou died and King Cheng of Zhou took the throne. At that time, King Cheng was young and the world was undecided, and Zhou Gongdan came out to serve as regent. His three brothers, Uncle Guan, Uncle Cai, and Uncle Huo, took the opportunity to spread rumors that the Duke of Zhou would be unfavorable to becoming king, and The Duke of Zhao also expressed suspicion of the Duke of Zhou for a time.
Later, Zhou Gongdan sincerely explained to Zhao Gong and Lü Shang, and Zhao Gong's misunderstanding of Zhou Gong was also cleared. Later, the Duke of Zhou presided over the Eastern Crusade, attacking the rebellious "Three Prisons" (i.e., Guan Shu, Cai Shu, and Huo Shu), the father of Wu Genglu, the crown prince of Sui, and the Eastern Yi clan, and Zhao Gong also actively participated.
The participation of the summoning of the Duke in the Crusade is not only recorded in the literature of the world, but also in many bronzes. For example, the "Taibao Gui" inscription says that the king attacked Luzi (i.e., Wu Genglu's father) and sent Taibao to conquest, and Taibao scrupulously fulfilled his duties and did not neglect his duties. The "Bao Ji" inscription also says that Wang ordered Bao to attack the "Five Marquises of the State of Yin". The "Luding" inscription also says that Gong Taibao attacked Yiren. The "Taibao Yuge" inscription also says that the king ordered Taibao to conquer the southern kingdom.
These "Bao", "Tai Bao" and "Gong Tai Bao" are obviously all summoning gong yi, and the "wang" is naturally the king of Zhou. In unity with Duke Zhao and Duke Zhou and Lü Shang, the Rebellion between the Three Prisons and Wu Geng was put down, but Dongyi was still very powerful.
In order to continue the war against Dongyi and consolidate the borders of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Duke of Zhou presided over a major division of fiefs, in which the Duke of Zhou was enfeoffed in the State of Lu, Lü Shang was enfeoffed in the State of Qi, and the Duke of Zhao was enfeoffed in the State of Yan. Of course, because the Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Zhao were both important vassals of the dynasty, they were respectively enfeoffed by their eldest sons instead of themselves. The Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Zhao had another fief near the capital, that is, the Zhou Land and the Zhao Land.
Later, Duke Zhao's eldest son, Yan Houke, died, and Yan Houke's younger brother Yi inherited Yan Hou, while Zhao Gong's other sons remained in Zong Zhou, hereditary zhao state monarch, and always assisted Zhou Tianzi. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, there was a Summoning Gonghu, that is, the descendants of the Summoning Gongyi who remained in the Summoning Land.
When the princely states of Yan, Lu, and Qi were divided, they summoned the duke to the State of Yan to preside over the construction. Later, the Duke of Zhou built the Eastern Capital Luoyi for King Cheng, based on the will of King Wu. King Cheng sent Zhao Gong to investigate in advance, and later Zhao Gong also went to the construction, which is also recorded in the Western Zhou oracle bones excavated in Qishan, Shaanxi.
Interestingly, a piece of Western Zhou oracle bone unearthed in Xingtai, Hebei Province, also recorded the divination of Zhao Gong, saying that he would give four beautiful mares to the envoys of the King of Zhou. Xingtai was the land of Xing Guo, the son of the Duke of Zhou, so why did the divination of the Summoning Duke appear? Scholars believe that it may be related to the summoning of the public to choose a site for the Xing state. From this point of view, Zhao Gong is also very good at engineering construction.
After the eastern capital was built, the Duke of Zhou also returned to the throne. Later, the Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Zhao carried out the "division of Shaanxi and rule", with Shaanxi (present-day Sanmenxia, Henan) as the boundary, the capital city of Hojing (present-day Xi'an, Shaanxi) under the responsibility of the Duke of Zhao, and the area around the eastern capital Luoyi (present-day Luoyang, Henan) was responsible for the Duke of Zhou. Zhao Gong governed in the West and was very popular with the people.
It is said that he traveled the countryside and adjudicated political affairs under a sweet begonia tree at a time. From nobles to commoners, everyone took their places and did not neglect their duties. Later, King Cheng of Zhou died, King Kang of Zhou ascended the throne, and Zhao Gong became the elder of the Four Dynasties and the head of the group of subjects. After the death of Zhao Gong, everyone sang a poem "Gantang" for him in praise of his virtues.
As one of the "Three Dukes" in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, although he was overshadowed by the light of the Duke of Zhou and Lü Shang in later generations, his reign was the longest of the three. As the elder of the Four Dynasties, he went through the critical moment from the "fight against the world" of King Keshang of Wu to the "sitting on the world" of the rule of Cheng Kang, and its importance was completely comparable to that of Zhou Gong and Lü Shang. Moreover, the number of oracle bones and bronzes related to him has also surpassed that of Zhou Gong and Lü Shang. Today, in Sanmenxia, Henan, and Qishan, Shaanxi, there are ancestral halls for summoning the public, which commemorates his honest administration and diligence for the people.
bibliography:
Peng Hua: Eight Hundred Years of the Yan Kingdom, Beijing: Zhonghua Bookstore, 2018.
Liulihe West Zhou Yanguo Ruins Museum, ed., Collected Papers on The Liulihe Ruins and Yan Culture, Science Press, 2015.
Beijing Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics, ed., Liulihe West Zhou Yanguo Cemetery, Chengdu: Bashu Book Society, 1995.
The author, Lin Wu Gongzi, a writer of literature and history, knows that 130,000 fans answered the Lord, focusing on the history of the pre-Qin, Qin, and Han dynasties, mythological monsters. Published monographs such as "Pre-Qin Ancient Guozhi", "Wu Yue Chunqiu of pre-Qin Ancient Guozhi", "Complete Painting Collection of Mountains and Sea Classics", "Phantom: Ancient Chinese Deities and Spirits Zhizhi Illustrated Book", "Chinese Classics Complete Annotated Full Translation Series Liexian Biography", "Chinese War History You Must Love to Read: Spring and Autumn", "Comics ancient Chinese Emperors and Pre-Qin And Han Volumes", "Early China in Cultural Relics", etc., the articles are scattered in more than 30 kinds of newspaper media and portals such as learning a strong country, "National Humanistic History", "Beijing Evening News", and The Paper, and publish audio courses The Pre-Qin Code in Cultural Relics: Learn History Like a Detective" Thanks for reading, welcome to pay attention!
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