In China's earliest prison, there was only one person in prison! This sounds quite unbelievable.
When we think of prisons, the first thing that comes to our minds must be the scene of high walls and tight guards. However, in Tangyin County, Anyang City, Henan Province, there is such a unique ancient prison - Yuli City.
It is the first state prison with a clear written record in the history of the mainland, covering an area of about 10,000 square meters.
What is even more surprising is that this huge prison has only held one prisoner in its long years of existence.
So, who is this man, and what kind of legend does he have in him?
All of the information stated in this article is based on reliable sources of information and is detailed at the end of the article.
The Prisoner of the Mountains
In the 11th century BC, the Central Plains region entered the late Shang Dynasty. The ruler of this period, the Emperor of the Emperor, had become corrupt to the extreme, and he was indulged in extravagance, indulging in wine, and even boiling people into soup.
Under his tyrannical rule, the people mourned and the society was in turmoil.
In contrast, the state of Zhou, located in the western part of the Shang Dynasty, was quite peaceful. King Wen of Zhou ruled the country well and won the hearts of the people. The princes came to King Wen of Zhou, hoping to get his protection.
Seeing the gradual rise of the Zhou Kingdom, the king of Shang was very jealous.
First, he found a reason to kill Ji Li, the father of King Wen of Zhou, and later in 1066 BC under the pretext of crusading against Xirong, he imprisoned Ji Chang in the city of Yili for 7 years.
At that time, Ji Chang was 82 years old and an old man. Others may be in a trance in this environment, but Ji Chang's wisdom and perseverance are brought into full play here.
King Wen detained and played Zhou Yi
According to legend, during his imprisonment in the city of Yili, Ji Chang observed the changes of yarrow in the courtyard every day to divination, and on this basis, he thought about the innate gossip for a long time.
Innate gossip is a method for the ancient Chinese to summarize the laws of nature and understand the world, created by Fuxi, and developed by Ji Chang's ancestor Yellow Emperor.
Ji Chang believes that with the development of society, people's understanding of the world also needs to be further deepened. On the basis of the original Bagua, he absorbed the ideas of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, and integrated the concepts of heaven, earth and humanity to create the acquired Bagua.
The acquired gossip absorbed the essence of the innate gossip, and at the same time paid attention to people's ethics and morality, and adapted to the changes in the social form at that time.
Focusing on this framework, Ji Chang further deduced the 64 hexagrams and 384 hexagrams, expounding the principles and evolution laws of each hexagram.
Seven years later, Ji Chang compiled his experience of gossip into a book, which was the first book in China to explain the laws of nature in the binary system - "Zhou Yi".
The allusion of "King Wen detains and plays Zhou Yi" comes from this.
Change the world
During King Wen of Zhou's captivity, Ji Fa and others were also trying to rescue him.
The minister of Zhou, San Yisheng, had repeatedly paid tribute to the king of Shang and rare treasures, asking for the release of Ji Chang. In addition, Ji Chang also showed loyalty to the king of Shang in prison.
In 1059 BC, in the seventh year of Ji Chang's imprisonment, the Shang king finally changed his mind and agreed to release him.
However, King Wen of Zhou was very old, and he died not long after returning to Zhou. After his son Ji Fa succeeded to the throne, he recaptured the world from the Shang king and established the Zhou dynasty.
In order to commemorate his father, Ji Fa posthumously honored King Wen of Zhou as "King Wen of Zhou", and built the Temple of King Wen on the ruins of Yili City to show his reverence for the previous king.
The Zhou Yi was incorporated into the Five Classics, becoming the first book in Chinese history to be established as a classic.
It laid the foundation for more than 2,000 years of China's thought of respecting the king and revering the king, and has also become an important tool book for divination and analogy, and its influence continues to this day.
It can be said that it was the spirit of King Wen of Zhou's tenacious struggle and proud creation in prison that made him the first emperor of China to write a book and speak up.
Today, a large number of tourists come every year to visit this unique historical site, the city of Yuli.
Cultural charm
Located in the north section of Wenwang Road, Hanzhuang Town, Tangyin County, Anyang City, Henan Province, only 4 kilometers away from Tangyin County, Yili City is the first national prison with clear written records in the history of the mainland.
"羑" is a polyphonic word in ancient Chinese, meaning "captivity", and "li" was a unit of distance in ancient times, one li is about 500 meters today. The name of the city is taken from its function of imprisonment.
Archaeological discoveries show that there were human activities in the Neolithic Age, when it was a site of the Longshan culture. After it was introduced to the Shang and Zhou dynasties, it gradually became a place for imprisoning important political prisoners due to its location in a fortress.
Legend has it that the city was built during the Shang Dynasty as a place of execution and a prison to punish the princes, and was used until the Zhou Dynasty.
Covering an area of more than 10,000 square meters, it was equivalent to two standard football fields, which was a large-scale building at the time. There are no high walls around the prison, just an earthen platform made of loess, about 5 meters above the ground.
Around the pedestal, the ruins of the ancient city gate can also be clearly seen. This shows that it is not a place for ordinary criminals, but a place for important political prisoners to be held in preparation for regular executions.
The main buildings of the city are the city gate, the open hall, etc., in addition to the Wenwang Temple, which was newly built on the ancient city site by the descendants. The Wenwang Temple was built in an unknown year and was rebuilt several times in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Most of the buildings preserved now are in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The statue of King Wen of Zhou is enshrined in the hall, and the plaque of "King Wen is detained and performed by Zhou Yi" is hung in the middle. The whole building is solemn and ancient, full of historical atmosphere.
epilogue
It can be said that the city is a precious memory in Chinese history. It is the starting point of ancient Chinese judicial history and the birthplace of traditional Chinese culture.
Today, a large number of tourists come every year to visit this unique historical site. If you have the opportunity to come to Henan, Yili City can be said to be one of our unmissable destinations.
bibliography
[1] Yili City: China's Earliest Surviving National Prison.xinhuanet [Citation date:2022-08-15]
[2] Historical Records, Volume 4, Zhou Benji IV: "Chonghou Hu told Xibo Yu Yin Xuan: "Xibo accumulates good and tired virtues, and the princes are all hometowns, which will be unfavorable to the emperor." The emperor imprisoned Siber in the myrium. ”
[3] Xing Wen. Philosophical Research,2011(03):47-56.