In Chinese history, the Yellow River is called the "Mother River", as an important river that gave birth to Chinese civilization, the Ganqing Civilization, the Central Plains Civilization and the Haidai Civilization were born in the area through which it flowed, and the Yangshao Culture, Longshan Culture and Dawenkou Culture as a representative archaeological culture are well known.
However, the Chinese civilization developed thanks to the water conditions and soil conditions provided by the Yellow River of the Mother River has been accompanied by population growth and environmental destruction in the long historical cycle and contradictions with the Yellow River of the Mother River. The Yellow River is becoming more and more untamed.
As a result, the management of the river has also become an important measure for successive dynasties to reassure the people and care for the people.
Among the many strategies for harnessing the Yellow River, there are xu Youzhen's dredging combination, Pan Jitao's absorption of the achievements of his predecessors, and the invention of practical engineering skills such as the "beam water flushing method", and naturally there will be no lack of the ancients' "prayer" and "suppression" behaviors such as using sacrifices and five elements on the basis of respecting the heavens.
Thirteen years after the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the casting of the Yellow River iron bull is an example. There are two theories about its role, one is to stabilize the Pujin Pontoon Bridge that maintains communication between Qin and Jin, and the other is the application of the Five Elements Theory. For the water of the Yellow River, in the "I Ching", there is "Niu Xiangkun, Kun is soil, soil wins water", so that iron cattle placed on both sides of the Yellow River can deter the flooding of the Yellow River.
However, whether it is effective or not is unknown. In the last year of the Yuan Dynasty, the Pujin Pontoon Bridge was destroyed, and then the Yellow River flooded, and the four iron bulls were also submerged, because of the disappearance of the role, they gradually fell into the long river of history.
With the founding of New China, the state attached great importance to the management of the Yellow River, a series of hydropower stations were built one after another, and the flooding of the Yellow River was gradually treated. However, the construction of hydropower stations is bound to lead to the deepening of the water level of the Yellow River, and when the water level of the Yellow River is exhausted, the iron bull that people vaguely see under the river is also in an embarrassing situation.
For the protection of historical relics and the study of historical facts, the excavation of the four Yellow River iron bulls is naturally also put on the agenda. In 1988, with the strong support of the Yongji County Party Committee and the government, the excavation work was carried out, and after more than a year of investigation and positioning, the four Yellow River iron bulls reappeared with honor.
However, the subsequent disposal of the four Yellow River iron bulls quickly caused criticism. Originally, after excavating the four iron bulls, the Yongji County Cultural Relics Bureau, as the competent department for cultural relics, chose an incredible disposal method to place the four cultural relics with a history of more than 1200 years in the open air.
Such a historical relic, but placed in the open air? How are security issues solved? How should cultural relics be protected? These doubts are constantly being raised. At this time, the experts finally stood up and explained the reason: for the 70-ton iron bull, the material is iron, not because they don't want to manage it, but because they don't dare to move.
Originally, iron cultural relics, because of the material problem, there is a crux of protection difficulties, not to mention the iron bull weighing 70 tons, once a little careless, is bound to cause irreparable damage.
But since it has been unearthed, it is natural to be conscientious and responsible, and we cannot let it go. In the end, after careful consideration, the experts decided to still implement the open placement of the iron bull, but it was supplemented by "local promotion" means. The four iron bulls are lifted in situ, so that the movement can avoid damage to the iron bull, and the cultural relics can be better used to protect and maintain the cultural relics.
Today's four iron bulls, standing motionless on the yellow river beach, they can not speak, but still show us the ancients' ability to govern the Yellow River and reflect people's subjective initiative. We don't have to be determined to win the day, but we must have the indomitable spirit of arrogance and cloudiness.