Although the State of Qi has been an important vassal state of the Zhou Dynasty since the beginning of the Western Zhou Dynasty, there are few records of the history of the State of Qi in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Considering the historical records, the relatively more ink is the dispute between the Duke of Qi Hu and the Duke of Qi Xian in the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty. After Jiang Shang was enthroned, he passed on the fourth generation to the Duke of Lai. Zhou Tianzi cooked and killed the Duke of Ai because of Ji Hou's rumors, and established the brother of the Duke of Lai as Duke Hu. The Duke of Qi Hu moved the capital from Yingqiu to Bogu. In the end, The Duke of Ai's younger brother "Shan" (山), "with his party led the Camp Hill people to attack and kill Hu Gong", and established himself as a dedicated duke. Due to the brief description of the "Records of History" and other documents, the details of this historical event are not known. From 2008 to 2010, archaeologists excavated the city sites and tombs of the Western Zhou Dynasty in the southeast of Chenzhuang Village, Huagou Town, Gaoqing County, Zibo City, Shandong Province, providing clues for exploring the details of the above historical events.
Zhou Fu supported Hu Gong's ascension to the throne
According to scholars, it may have taken decades from the time the Duke of Lai was cooked to the time of self-reliance, and the four Zhou kings of Yi, Xiao, Yi, and Li were experienced before and after. Regarding this major historical event that has a far-reaching influence in the history of Qi, although the "History of the Family of Taigong Qi" is more detailed, it only outlines the outline of the front and back in a few words, but the specific process is not a word. A pair of bronze guises excavated from M35 (tomb) at the Site of Gaoqing Chenzhuang provides ideas for exploring the details of this period of history.
There are 2 pieces of "citations" with the same inscription. The content of the inscription states that Zhou Tianzi personally ordered "Ying" to take charge of the Qi Division, rewarded him with "Tong Bow One, Tong Ya Hundred, and Four Horses", and ordered his commander Qi Shi to go out on the expedition. In the end, the "introduction" did not live up to the king's order, returned victoriously, and cast this gui as a memorial.
Li Xueqin believes that the inscription is similar to the five-year master who was judged to have been cast in the life of King Xiao of Zhou, in terms of shape, ornamentation, and inscription content. In particular, the latter inscription also records that the King of Zhou ordered the division to go to Qi to fight. Based on this, Li Xueqin deduced that the casting background of the yingui and the five-year master was the same, and "should belong to the same current affairs."
According to the above research, we seem to be able to speculate as follows about the historical events in the historical materials that were handed down from the time when Duke Ai was killed to the time when Hu Gong ascended the throne.
First, during this period, there was serious political or military turmoil in the State of Qi, so that Zhou Tianzi needed to use troops to suppress it.
Secondly, considering the historical records, the factor that is most likely to cause turmoil in the State of Qi during this period is the change of power between the Duke of Ai and the Duke of Hu. If it is said that the killing of the Duke of Lai was "confused" by the rumors of The Marquis of Ji, then the establishment of the Duke of Hu was the direct intervention of the King of Zhou in the highest power ownership of the State of Qi. As Li Xueqin said, "It is reasonable for King Yi to kill the Duke of Sorrow and interfere in qi's internal affairs, and for King Xiao to continue his affairs." The two bronze inscriptions are likely to be one of the acts of intervention. Judging from the result of Hu Gong's eventual murder, Hu Gong should have met with strong opposition from domestic political forces before and after he ascended the throne, but the political position of the Zhou royal family was extremely clear - to support Hu Gong. We can speculate that the Zhou royal family supported Hu Gong, which encountered internal opposition from the State of Qi; in order to consolidate hu Gong's rule, Zhou Tianzi ordered "Lead" to lead the "Qi Division" to suppress the opposition forces.
Third, the object of the "Qi Division" conquest led by the "Ying" is likely to be the internal forces of the State of Qi that opposed the succession of Hu Gong, because compared with other military inscriptions of the same period, the most special thing about the Inscription is that it does not give the object of the conquest. The greatest possibility of this situation is that the target of the "introduction" is the members of the Qi state office who share the same ancestors as themselves, although they are not proud. Therefore, although the instrument is used as an inscription, it deliberately omits the object of the battle.
Hu Gongqian sought military asylum
The first major event after Duke Qihu succeeded to the throne was to move the capital to Bogu. In the past, scholars believed that Hu Gongqian was nothing more than to evade the pursuit of opposition forces at home and abroad. However, according to scholars, from the time he moved the capital to the time he was killed, Hu Gong went through a long period of stability, and Li Zero believed that Hu Gong went through filial piety, Yi, and Li III. In other words, Hu Gongqiandu seems to be more than just a negative act of refuge.
According to Li Xueqin, Li Zero, and others, the "Qi Division" was directly controlled by the King of Zhou and was "a military force stationed in the east of Tuntun that cannot be ignored." Although "Yin" was a nobleman of the State of Qi, as a royal subject, he was ordered by the king to take charge of the "Qi Division". According to archaeological data, the site of ChenZhuang City, which was excavated and introduced, has a strong military fortress characteristic. First of all, there is only one gate in the middle of the southern wall to enter and exit, and no gaps have been found in the other three walls; there are 2-4 meters of trenches on the outside of the wall, which can be described as easy to defend and difficult to attack. Secondly, archaeologists identified the remains of carbonized plants in the site and found that among the non-crops in the city, the number of subfamily and legumes accounted for 40% each, and species such as wild soybeans, quinoa, and amaranth were all warhorse feed. Finally, weapons such as ge and spear were found in many tombs at the city site, and 5 horse pits and 1 carriage and horse pit were also found, which further reflected the presence of soldiers in the city. Combined with the tombs and excavated relics, it seems that the site of Chen Zhuang City should be the seat of the fiefdom of the "Qi Shi" supreme commander "Ying" (or his family). The "Introduction" and the "Qi Division" led by him were stationed near the city of Chen Zhuang in Gaoqing for a long time.
According to the "Left Biography" Zhao Gong Ninth Year Du Prescript, "Later Han Shu Junguo Zhi" and "Water Jing Zhuan Ji Shui Notes" Bogu Diwang, Bogu City is located in ancient Bochang County, that is, in present-day Boxing County, Binzhou City, Shandong Province, adjacent to the site of Gaoqing Chenzhuang; both places are in the northwest of Yingqiu (present-day Linzi District, Zibo City), farther than the Ji Kingdom in eastern Qi. It can be seen from this that Hu Gong moved the capital to Bogu, which was not only convenient for contact with the "Qi Shi", but also could be directly protected by him.
In summary, based on the analysis of the excavated materials and combined with the documents handed down from generation to generation, we seem to be able to make reasonable inferences about the historical events between the murder of the Duke of Wai and the period during the period when gong Gong was martyred and the self-reliance of the Gong Gong. After Zhou Tianzi cooked and killed the Duke of Qi, for some purpose, he supported one of the brothers of the Duke of Ai, "Jing", to ascend the throne (i.e., the Duke of Hu), thus triggering a struggle and division among the members of the Jiang clan in the Duke of Qi. In order to ensure the stability of Hu Gong's throne, the Zhou royal family ordered the "introduction" of the Qi army who was a nobleman of the State of Qi but was ordered by the king to lead the "Qi Division" to vigorously support Hu Gong. After Duke Qi Hu ascended the throne, in order to stay away from the city of Yingqiu occupied by the opposition forces, and in order to obtain military wing protection, he moved closer to the "Qi Division" garrison and moved the capital to Bogu. The strong support of the Zhou royal family and the full assistance of the "Qi Shi" enabled Hu Gong to enjoy the country for a long time. This seems to be somewhat confirmed by the nickname "Hu", which symbolizes the longevity of the shou examination. Until a certain delicate historical moment came, the long-awaited mourning father and mother's younger brother "Shan" took the opportunity to lead his henchmen to attack and kill Hu Gong and establish himself as a king.
(This paper is a phased result of the "13th Five-Year Plan" project of the Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education on "Research on the Inheritance and Innovation of Qilu Culture and Chinese Civilization")
(Author Affilications:Qilu Cultural Research Institute, Shandong Normal University)
Original title: Li Xiuliang: Gaoqing Chenzhuang Ruins and the History of Qi hu gong
Source: China Social Science Network - China Social Science Daily
Author: Li Xiuliang
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