In the summer of 2018, Chengdu continued to rain heavily, and serious waterlogging occurred in the urban area. At this time, many citizens suddenly proposed: Quickly put Chengdu's "Zhenshui Divine Beast" back to its original place! This proposal seems nonsensical, but it has aroused the resonance and heated discussion of many Chengdu citizens. So, what exactly is the "Town Water God Beast of Chengdu" that enthusiastic citizens call it?
In fact, the "Town Water God Beast of Chengdu" mentioned by enthusiastic citizens really exists, and it is in the Chengdu History Museum. This "Zhenshui Divine Beast" is a stone rhinoceros, which is the "treasure of the Zhenguan" of the Chengdu Museum, which is the "Divine Beast" ordered by Li Bing during the control of the water in Dujiangyan more than 2,000 years ago, and its role is indeed used to "zhenshui".
Speaking of the origin of this stone rhinoceros, there is also a twisting story: in 1973, when the telecommunications building was built in Chengdu, workers found a stone rhinoceros in the process of piling, and experts from the Cultural Relics Bureau went to the scene to check the situation and ordered the workers to bury the stone rhinoceros on the spot, and continued to build the telecommunications building on it. 40 years later, the Chengdu Telecom Building was demolished and rebuilt, and the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology officially dug up the stone rhinoceros and sent it to the Chengdu Museum.
So why did it take 40 years to dig up this stone rhinoceros? What is so special about this stone rhinoceros?
In 1973, Chengdu built a telecommunications building, and in the process of piling operations, workers could not beat them anyway when they hit more than 10 meters below the ground. The person in charge of the construction site called a bulldozer to dig a large pit in the ground and found a huge stone rhinoceros in the ground. Seeing this behemoth, the person in charge of the construction site realized that the cultural relics may have been dug up, so he immediately reported the situation to the Chengdu Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau.
Experts from the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics went to the scene to make an investigation and judged that this stone rhinoceros may be the legendary "Zhenshui God Beast" of Chengdu. As we all know, the early 1970s was a special era, people's awareness of protecting cultural relics was not strong, in order to better preserve cultural relics, but also considering that this stone rhinoceros has the role of "disaster relief and refuge", the experts of the Cultural Relics Bureau ordered workers to bury it on the spot, and the construction of the telecommunications building continued. Therefore, the construction team buried the stone rhinoceros in situ and built the Chengdu Telecom Building on it.
Forty years in a flash. At the end of 2012, because the Chengdu Telecom Building had become a dangerous building, after approval, it was decided to demolish the Telecom Building and rebuild it on the original site. After the demolition of the telecommunications building, the question of how to handle the stone rhino buried under the telecommunications building was put on the agenda. Some people think that the tranquility of this sacred beast should not be disturbed and let it continue to sleep in the place, and some people propose that this stone rhinoceros be dug up, which is more conducive to the protection of cultural relics. In the end, the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology decided to dig out this stone rhinoceros. So, a stone rhinoceros that had been sleeping for more than 2,000 years saw the light of day again.
Let's take a look at this 2,000-year-old stone rhinoceros. It is carved from the coarse sandstone unique to Chengdu, and the stone rhinoceros is made of the prototype size of the rhinoceros, with a length of 3.3 meters, a height of 1.7 meters, a width of 1.2 meters, and a weight of 8.5 tons, which is a veritable "big man". Although this stone rhino looks very rugged, its exquisite carving, simple lines, and the whole rhinoceros is vivid and unforgettable. The body of this stone rhinoceros exudes the heroic spirit of the ancient Shu ancestors, and is the oldest large-scale stone sculpture found in China so far.
More than 2,000 years ago, the Chengdu area was still the territory of the ancient Shu State. At that time, the upper reaches of the Min River had abundant rainfall, and every summer and autumn, the main stream and tributaries of the Min River met, forming a flood peak, making the chengdu plain downstream into a swamp country. In 316 BC, the State of Qin annexed the ancient State of Shu, and in order to make the Chengdu Plain an important strategic base and granary for the State of Qin, King Xiang of Qin planned to control the flooding of the Chengdu Plain. In 277 BC, Li Bing was appointed as the sheriff of Shudi County. After arriving in the Shu Kingdom, Li Bing and his son made a detailed survey of the Min River, and after drawing on the lessons learned by his predecessors in water management, Li Bing formulated a new plan for harnessing the Min River, that is, the Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project that was later built. After the completion of the construction of Dujiangyan, the people of Chengdu Plain completely got rid of the problem of flooding, and the Chengdu Plain became a "country of heaven" where "water and drought follow people and do not know famine".
More than 2,000 years ago, people's ability to withstand natural disasters such as floods was relatively weak, so people at that time were in awe of nature. According to local documents in Chengdu, such as the Benji of the King of Shu and the Chronicle of the State of Huayang, after Li Bing completed the flooding of the Du Plain, in order to suppress the monsters in the water, he ordered the production of five huge stone rhinos, two of which were placed in the Min River, the other was buried under the dam of Dujiangyan, and the remaining two were placed in front of his county government. Since then, the legend that the stone rhinoceros is the "zhenshui god beast" of Chengdu has been handed down, and generations of Chengdu people know that the stone rhinoceros is the "zhenshui god beast of Chengdu", blessing Chengdu with smooth wind and rain.
So the question arises again, is this stone rhino under the Chengdu Telecom Building really one of the five stone rhinos that Li Bing ordered to be built that year?
After the demolition of the Chengdu Telecom Building, archaeologists conducted meticulous archaeological excavations of the site below the building. There, archaeologists discovered a massive rammed earth platform, as well as a large number of tiles and floor tiles with inscriptions. Combined with the local history of Chengdu and historical documents, experts deduce that this site under the Chengdu Telecom Building is very much the location of Li Bing's Mansion, and this stone rhino is one of the two stone rhinos recorded in the literature at the entrance of Li Bing's mansion.
With the passage of time, Li Bingqi has long disappeared into the long river of history. However, the stone rhinoceros he ordered to be made guarded the land of Bashu, as he hoped when he made it. As for whether it is "Chengdu's Zhenshui Divine Beast", then the benevolent see the benevolent, the wise see the wise! What do you think?