In April 1957, Li Yiwen, a farmer in Shou County, Anhui Province, was taking earth to build a dam in the east of the city, and a piece of copper with golden light suddenly appeared in the mud!
At this time, he did not know that he had discovered the earliest spring and autumn Warring States tax-free "passport" on the mainland!
01、 Strange "copper sheet"
The place where Li Yiwen took the soil is located in Jiuli Township, Shou County. Because of the construction of the embankment, he was arranged to carry out soil extraction here.
With a sudden crunching sound from the hoe, Li Yiwen found a half-cut piece of metal copper exposed from the mud. He picked up the copper sheet and looked at it carefully, and found that there seemed to be golden writing on it, but he couldn't understand it.
Digging out such a strange thing, Li Yiwen's curiosity increased greatly, and he dug hard for a while, and sure enough, he dug out a small hammer and a few gold nuggets at the same place!
I can actually dig up gold! Li Yiwen was ecstatic and quickly returned home carrying these things...
Not long after, the cultural relics department of Anhui Province opened a collection of folk cultural relics, and some experts also visited the Area of Shou County. On this day, a middle-aged man found them and took out the copper piece.
When the cultural relics experts saw this object, they were shocked, and their excited mood could not be calmed for a long time, and they would not let go of Li Yiwen's hand! Constantly ask him what the origin of this thing is...
Li Yiwen was frightened by the over-enthusiasm of the experts, and it took him half a day to stutter.
It turned out that after he brought home a few gold nuggets and copper pieces and iron hammers, it did not take long to wait for the money, so he took the gold nuggets to the Shouxian People's Bank for money, and the hammer could not be found now because it was thrown away at will.
He only had this piece of copper with gold characters left in his hand, or under the enthusiastic persuasion of a neighbor, he decided to hand it in to see if it was a cultural relic...
02、National Treasure "Golden Festival"
After listening to the inhalation of a cool breath, the expert speculated that the gold nugget that was sold was probably the unique gold coin of the Chu Kingdom, Yin Yan [yuán], and this piece of copper that was fortunately preserved was even more valuable!
After identification, this piece of copper actually comes from a bronze piece from the Spring and Autumn And Warring States period, also known as the "Golden Festival".
In ancient times, the "knot" was a kind of keepsake. The ancients took a section of knotted bamboo, cut it into two pieces, and each held one piece as a letter. It later developed into a pass for land and water passes, very similar to the passports seen today.
Li Yiwen's golden festival, from the Chu state more than 2,000 years ago, is more interpreted by the inscription on the golden festival, and it is named "Ejun Qijin Festival".
Originally, this golden festival was issued by King Huai of Chu in 323 BC specifically for his younger brother "Qi" who was sealed in the "Eguo", which is the earliest known form of "passport" in China.
Based on Li Yiwen's identification, archaeologists excavated another 3 bronze gold knots from the burial site. It is really exciting to find an unintentional discovery and actually find five rare national treasures.
03, the inscription has "mysterious"
All 4 golden knots are inscribed with inscriptions, totaling 312 characters. Through the interpretation of the whole text and physical observation, the experts distinguished that 2 of the 4 golden festivals were "car festivals", that is, land passes; and 1 was "boat festivals", that is, waterway passes.
The State of Chu was a superpower at that time, with a prosperous economy and frequent commercial activities. As long as you hold such a "Golden Festival", you can enjoy the preferential policy of "specific tax exemption" when entering and leaving the traffic fortress!
In this way, is it that King Huai of Chu and his younger brother "Qi" have a deep brotherly affection, so much so that they have to specially cast a tax-free pass for him?
Experts said, not as warm as everyone thinks!
In the inscription of the Golden Festival, there is such a rule: Ejun's caravan ships cannot exceed 150 ships, vehicles cannot exceed 50, the time of cargo trafficking is limited to one year, and it is strictly forbidden to transport weapons, bronze, leather and other strategic items.
The "Ejun Qijin Festival" is actually a unique customs clearance certificate tailored by King Huai of Chu for the "Caravan of Ejun", which is an act that both the two sides have agreements and constraints!
The State strictly regulates the scope of land and water transport, the number of ships, the carriage of cattle and horses and the relevant conversion methods for caravans, as well as specific provisions prohibiting the transport of copper and leather and other materials.
This meant that the rulers and the merchants reached a consensus, that the rulers lost taxes while consolidating the royal power and the political situation, and the merchants, while enjoying the "privileges", saved taxes and were subject to a certain contract.
The Warring States Ejun Qijin Festival is a precious historical material for the study of the Chu state's rune system, waterway transportation, economic and trade, historical geography, and the relationship between the king of Chu and the feudal lord!
It is not only a fine bronze, but also a customs clearance voucher full of many historical information, which is of considerable research value and belongs to the national treasure level cultural relics!
Four years later, in 1961, another "boat festival" of the "Ejun Qijin Festival" was found in Mengcheng, Anhui Province. Therefore, the number of this national first-class cultural relic is currently a total of five!
As for whether there was an ancient tomb in the place where the Golden Festival was originally dug? Who buried the "pass" belonging to the ancient Eguo in Anhui?
Unfortunately, excavations were indeed carried out at the site that year, but nothing was found. Therefore, there are currently two speculations:
One way, it is believed that the place where the golden festival was unearthed may have ancient architectural sites.
Second, the place where the golden festival was unearthed may have once had an ancient tomb.
However, due to the fact that more than two thousand years ago, coupled with the large-scale soil extraction operations in that area for decades, the damage was so serious that there was no trace to trace...