Recently, after five years of archaeological excavations, the archaeological project of "Looking for Jixia Xuegong" has made a major breakthrough, and after expert certification, the building base site group outside the west gate of Qi Gucheng Xiaocheng, Linzi District, Zibo City, Shandong Province, has been officially confirmed as the ruins of Jixia Xuegong.
Dong Wenbin, deputy research librarian of shandong provincial institute of cultural relics and archaeology and leader of the archaeological project of Jixia Xuegong, introduced that the building base site group is connected to the small city of Qi Gucheng in the east, the south width and north are narrow and slightly right angle trapezoidal, about 210 meters in the east and west, about 190 meters in the north and south, with a total area of nearly 40,000 square meters, and now 2,000 square meters have been excavated, and a total of four rows of building sites have been found, and the building base site group is similar to the layout of the later ancient Taixue. Carbon fourteen dating of the soil layer under the base site showed that it was between 400 BC and 390 BC, which was slightly earlier than the Qi Huangong period, which is also consistent with the time recorded in the literature.
Opened in 374 BC during the reign of Duke Huan of Qi, the Jixia Xuegong was named after its location under the Linzi Ji Gate, which lasted for more than 150 years, and was the world's first officially organized and privately hosted institution of higher learning, and was an institution with a variety of properties such as research institutes, university halls, and administrative consulting.
According to historical records, at that time, various schools of thought exchanged and gathered here, and the famous "Hundred Schools of Thought" began. At its peak, there were influential scholars from various schools such as Confucianism, Taoism, Law, Agriculture, Ming, and Bing, and famous scholars such as Mencius, Xunzi, Zouzi, Shenzi, and Shenzi gathered here to give lectures on speculation and ideological collision, laying a profound and long-term ideological and cultural foundation for the brilliant splendor of Chinese civilization in later generations.
During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, the Southern Yan Kingdom Linzi man Yan Mo wrote the "Record of Qi Di": "On the west side of the west gate of Qi City, there are lecture rooms on the left and right of the water, and the toes are often stored" "Outside the west gate of Linzi City, there is an ancient lecture hall, the foundation pillar still exists, and the Qi Xuanwang Xiu Literature Office also exists." The Northern Wei geographer Li Daoyuan's "Water Jing Zhui Zi Shui" also mentioned: "The water flows north of the city, west of the Yang Gate, and the water has a place of old sealing, the so-called Qi Zhi Ji Xia ye." ”
The archaeological exploration of the building base site group outside the west gate of the small city of Qi gucheng has been carried out since 2017, and the Shandong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology has carried out large-scale detailed exploration of the big city of the ancient city and the west side of the small city, and through five years of archaeological exploration and excavation work, it can be seen that the base site group of the building outside the west gate of the small city of Qi is the only high-grade courtyard-type building complex in the Warring States period on the outside of the western wall and the south wall of the entire Qi ancient city. "In the history of Kaozhi, all the official schools were attached to the political center, often on the west side of the national center, so the Jixia Xuegong palace would not be built under the jishan mountain in the deserted suburbs, but only near the ancient city of Qi." Zheng Tongxiu, director of the Shandong Museum, said.
In addition, the remains of the Qi coinage at the end of the Warring States period, the ash pits superimposed under the base site in the middle of the Warring States period, and the dating results of the excavated animal bones all confirm the coincidence of the times; the architectural layout, the base site shape system, and the pattern on the excavated city wall cultural relics can confirm that it is the architectural regulation of the Minoru Xuegong; the preservation of the minting tools shows that this place is a closed area and controlled by the state, which also makes circumstantial evidence. From the analysis of geographical location, age, architectural pattern, specifications and other aspects, the base site group of the building outside the west gate of the small city of Qi is consistent with the Jixia Xuegong recorded in the literature, so the Shandong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology has determined that it is the location of the Jixia Xuegong.
The "gate" of the Minoru Gakuen Palace has been slowly opened, but there are still many unsolved mysteries waiting to be explored more deeply. "Our current excavation work can only be used as the beginning of the Minoru Gakugu Archaeological Project, and it is expected that it will take some time to complete all archaeological excavations, followed by more in-depth and detailed exploration and excavation." Sun Bo, president of the Shandong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, said that in 2022, we will continue to fully expose the south gate, and look for the western and north wall walls, and will also excavate the building base sites in the site to further explore the specific use of these buildings.
Zheng Tongxiu said that archaeology is a long-term work, the archaeology of the State of Qi has a history of 80 years, excavation is not the purpose, more importantly, do a good job in the protection and display and utilization of archaeological sites and cultural relics, so that archaeological excavations can be used for the present. With the essence of "reform, openness, pragmatism and tolerance", Qi culture has influenced so far, as an important part of Qilu culture and an important source of Chinese culture, Qi culture also provides the most valuable cultural nourishment and spiritual motivation for modern social development. The determination of the ruins of the Minoru Gakuen Palace is of great significance to the study of the spirit of Chinese culture, the promotion of China's excellent traditional culture, and the enhancement of cultural self-confidence and national pride.
The emergence of the Minoru Gakuen Palace, together with the Plato Academy in the West, showed the wisdom of early human civilization, and Guo Moruo also highly praised it as "epoch-making significance in the history of Chinese culture". Spanning thousands of years, we have touched history again, let's feel the oldest context in China!
(Guangming Daily all-media reporter Zhao Qiuli Feng Fan correspondent Liu Yujie)
Source: Guangming Daily all-media reporter Zhao Qiuli Feng Fan Correspondent Liu Yujie
Editor-in-charge: Zhang Yongqun
Editors: Xing Yanyan Wu Yaqi