Source: CNKI
In the ancient temple in the northwest outside the city of Dali, Yunnan Province, there stands an iron pillar that was built in the 8th century A.D. during the Nanzhao period.
The iron pillar weighing 5,000 pounds has been stainless for thousands of years, what is the magic in it?
Dali iron pillar, the source is a mystery
Out of the city from Midu County in Dali, to the northwest, there is an ancient temple imitating the Tang architectural style. When you walk inside, you can see an upright iron pillar.
With a diameter of about 33 centimeters and a height of 330 centimeters, the iron pillar has stood since it was built without any protective measures. Although Dali has experienced many large and small earthquakes, none of them caused any damage to this iron pillar.
This also leads people to wonder, why has the iron pillar not fallen to this day?
In order to solve this mystery, many archaeologists came to the iron pillar to investigate.
From the pillar, they found a line of text, which told that the iron pillar was built in the thirteenth year of Jianji.
Jianji, the name of the Nanzhao Dynasty, was a minority regime active in Yunnan, China in the 8th century, corresponding to the Central Plains Dynasty at this time was Tang.
Seeing this, a conjecture suddenly appeared in the minds of archaeologists, could this iron pillar be the "Tang Biao Iron Pillar" in ancient records?
The rulers of the Central Plains regime usually set up an "iron pillar" here to flaunt their cultural and martial arts after recovering and pacifying the frontier areas.
Since the Han Dynasty, the deeds of the emperors of the Central Plains in Yunnan have been included in the "first long link in the world" in Dianchi, most of which have been confirmed, and only the "Tang Biao Iron Pillar" has not yet been determined.
According to the Book of the Old Tang Dynasty, in 621 AD, the Tang Dynasty set up Yaozhou in Yunnan and sent Beijing officials to take office to implement "feudal rule" over this area, that is, to unite with local ethnic minority leaders to manage this place.
In 680 A.D., Tubo grew stronger and invaded Erhai Lake in Yunnan, corresponding to the historical event described in the history book "All the barbarians of Xi'er surrendered to Tubo". After conquering the tribes of western Yunnan, Tibet prepared to continue southward.
After learning that parts of Yunnan had fallen, the Tang Dynasty sent the Tang army to fight against Tibet. As a result, the Tang army and the Tubo met at the Xi'er River, and a fierce battle broke out. From the records of Tang history, it can be known that the Tang Dynasty won this battle.
In order to commemorate this achievement and deter Tibet, the Tang Dynasty erected an iron pillar in Yunnan.
Therefore, when many archaeologists saw the iron pillar outside Dali, they identified it as the "Tang Standard Iron Pillar" in the ancient book, that is, the Ji Gong Pillar of the Tang Dynasty.
However, when this theory was proposed, it was also opposed by some archaeologists, who believed that it was the iron pillar of the Nanzhao Kingdom and had nothing to do with the Tang Dynasty.
If it is an iron pillar built by a minority group, then "it" is not a monument used to sing praises of virtue, but a sacrificial pillar used to worship the gods.
Nanzhao Dynasty, built this iron pillar
In order to prove their point, these archaeologists also went through ancient paintings. Finally, let them find a "Nanzhao Picture Biography".
The nine people depicted in the picture are holding a ceremony to worship the heavens under an iron pillar.
From the inscription, it can be seen that they were all officials in Yunnan, and one of them was Zhang Lejinqiu, the leader of the Baizi State of Yunnan in Tang Feng.
The iron pillar on the picture is built on a three-story platform, and the iron cover at the top is connected to the three wooden branches on the pillar, and there is a bird standing on the iron cover.
Although there are some differences in the design between this picture and the real Yunnan iron pillar, it is still generally similar, because the iron pillar is also decorated with three tree branches and a goldfinch bird above it.
The top of the iron pillar will be in the shape of a tree, which is derived from the belief and worship of the Yi people in Yunnan.
In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, the main ethnic groups in Dali City, Yunnan Province were the Bai and Yi peoples, who were all descendants of the Gu Di and Qiang peoples.
This ethnic minority believes that the mountain is the pillar that holds the heavens, so they often climb the mountain to burn firewood to worship the gods. In addition, they also believed that the plants and trees in the mountains were governed by gods. This gave rise to their belief in the creatures of the mountains.
And among these beings, they believe that the tree is particularly important, as a passage to the heavens. Therefore, there will be a large number of "trees" as totem worship in Dali City.
Seeing this, some people may also ask, the iron pillar in reality obviously does not have an iron cover, and there is no three-layer altar, why do archaeologists still say that it is the iron pillar in the "Nanzhao Tubiography"?
In fact, the iron cover symbolizes the sky that envelops the earth, and the three-story platform represents the earth, which is taken from the meaning of "the sky is round and the place is round".
This is also similar to the ancient people's view of the universe in the Central Plains, when scientific theories were not yet perfect, people thought that the sky was round and the earth was square.
The reason why there are three layers is also a fusion of the Taoist doctrine of the Central Plains. In Taoist sacrifices, three layers of altars are used, the first layer represents the sky, the middle layer is people, and the lowest layer is the earth.
Therefore, the iron pillar outside Dali City is not the Tang Standard Iron Pillar, but the Nanzhao Iron Pillar.
Judging from the time when the pillar was built, it was in 872 AD, only 30 years after the fall of the Nanzhao regime. It is not difficult to guess that the Nanzhao royal family at that time must have had a ruling crisis, so they thought of using the pillar to sacrifice and ask for help from the gods.
Therefore, the main purpose of this Nanzhao Iron Pillar is to pray for the gods to protect the sustainability of the Nanzhao Dynasty, and at the same time, it also has the political intention of propagating to the subjects that the Nanzhao regime is a godsend.
Millennium Indestructibility,依旧成谜
After solving the origin of this iron pillar, archaeologists encountered a thorny problem, why did this iron pillar not fall for thousands of years?
Archaeologists know from past experience that iron reacts chemically with oxygen and moisture in the air to form "rust". If the rust is not cleaned up in time, the decay of the iron will be accelerated.
Generally speaking, iron relics left over from ancient times can be shattered into dregs with just a light touch.
But the Nanzhao Iron Pillar is different, because it is regarded by the locals as a sacred object to worship the heavens. Therefore, when they come here to make incense offerings, they always touch an iron pillar with their hands.
This makes archaeologists have to wonder if this may not be made of iron at all!
So, standing in the wind and rain for thousands of years, or can it maintain its original appearance, what kind of mystery is hidden in it? Could it be that this pillar is protected by the gods, as is the local folklore?
This also reminds archaeologists of a local folk legend that the golden princess of King Baizi in ancient times fell in love with a poor long-term worker.
After the princess confessed her heart to the king, she was opposed.
Under the king's deliberate obstruction, the princess was forced to cut off contact with Changgong. Just when the two felt that they would never see each other again in this life, the king suddenly changed his mind.
This is because one day the king heard a goldfinch bird shouting the names of the princess and the chief worker in the treetops. When the king saw this, he realized that the marriage between the princess and the long-term worker was predestined. So, the king married the princess to Changgong and passed the throne to Changgong.
After ascending the throne, Changgong ordered the construction of an iron pillar symbolizing a large tree to commemorate the winged bird.
But legends are just legends, and gods are only products that exist in stories, and it is impossible to convince everyone with "divine power" as an explanation.
In order to find the real answer, the archaeologists invited scholars from the metallurgical industry to conduct a survey.
After testing by professional instruments, it was found that the iron pillar was not made of iron, but composed of an unknown metallurgy.
But what kind of metallurgy it is, experts can't be sure, which may be the reason why the iron pillars don't rust.
Although the iron pillars are stainless steel, the three wooden branches at the top of the pillars rotted in 2004. To this end, the conservators made three gold-plated iron dragons to replace the branches.
Although the dragon is an auspicious beast in traditional Chinese culture, the dragon is actually incompatible with the culture of the Yi people. The reason why the Yi ancestors placed three branches on the top of the pillar was because they felt that the branches could play a role in driving away evil spirits and avoiding evil, and were a magic weapon for the gods to repel filth.
The use of golden dragons is a beautiful and generous decoration, but it also changes the original appearance of history and culture to a certain extent. The Nanzhao Iron Pillar is a sacrificial utensil, representing the beliefs of a nation, or should its original design be respected.
After more careful observation, archaeologists guessed that the iron pillar should still have a column body underground. From the height and diameter of the iron pillar exposed to the ground, experts calculated that its weight should have reached 5,000 catties.
But when a huge iron pillar is deep in the ground, perhaps this is the reason why it has not fallen for thousands of years.
Otherwise, this would not explain why Dali was suffering from the earthquake, and the houses and watchtowers collapsed as a result, and this Nanzhao iron pillar would be safe and sound.
It can be known from the historical documents that in the 17th century, there was a magnitude 7 earthquake outside the city of Dali, when the official residence and the city wall collapsed and the ground collapsed, the Nanzhao Iron Pillar was still towering and unmoving.
At the beginning of the 20th century, another magnitude 6 earthquake struck here, and the iron pillars were still not damaged in the slightest. Therefore, the local people will feel that this pillar is really a sacred object.
In addition, it can be seen from the record that the iron pillar was 9 feet 9 feet high, and it did not settle for a thousand years. This also makes experts more curious about what is stabilizing this iron pillar.
But curiosity is curiosity, and with the clues they have learned so far, they still can't solve the reason why the iron pillar has not fallen for thousands of years.
To this day, no one can really explain the mystery of the iron pillar, and it may be necessary to wait until the technology is a little more mature in the future to unlock the secret of the iron pillar.
From the Nanzhao Iron Pillar magically standing for thousands of years, we can also see the extraordinary wisdom of the ancient Chinese, in the era when the level of technology and construction was not very developed, they were able to build an iron pillar that modern people could not decipher the mystery.
In 1988, the Nanzhao Iron Pillar was included in the State Council's protection list.
Under the deliberate protection of the state, it can continue to stand upright in this heaven and earth for a long time, witnessing the vicissitudes of the world.
Reference: CNKI "Research on the Historical Rheology of Nanzhao Iron Pillar Sacrifice Culture" - Li Xiaoling