I have only heard of primitive man ruins in Zhoukoudian before. A few days ago, I participated in a trip to Fangshan District to visit the ancients and trace the origin. Surprisingly, I found out that the Liuli River in Fangshan has the ruins of Yandu in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Eye-opening after the visit.

The Yandu site is located in the area of ​​Dongjialin Village, Liulihe Town, Fangshan District, Beijing. The museum is located in the east of Dongjialin Village, Liulihe Town, Fangshan District, Beijing. The construction area of ​​the pavilion is 3000 square meters. Preparations began in 1990, and it was officially opened to the public on August 21, 1995. It has been more than 24 years now. But due to lack of publicity, it has been little known.

The museum is a square building with a symmetrical quadrangle layout. The center is based on the characteristics of Zhou's "Ming Tang" recorded in the literature. It is covered with five groups (one high and four low) with four corners and pointed roofs. The roof is brownish red. The shape is "five rooms", "heavy house", "four sides", etc. The surrounding exhibition rooms are single-storey, with flat roofs and tile eaves, so that the shape has the effect of corridors and walls to set off the central body.

According to the system of the Zhou Dynasty, a screen-style screen wall was set up opposite the gate of the preface hall, inlaid with marble stone, and the name of the museum "Western Zhou Yandu Site Museum" inscribed by Mr. Su Bingqi was carved on it; The embossed ornaments, such as Taotie and Kuilong, seem to have the function of "symbols".

Walking into the courtyard, there are 8 big characters inscribed on the back of the wall of the name of the museum: "The Dingtian conquers the earth, ordered by the northern Xinjiang" and looks at the main entrance of the preface hall. A big tripod is located in the middle of the courtyard. It was later learned that this was copied from the Jin Ding unearthed at the Yandu site.

Entering the exhibition hall, various texts, pictures and unearthed cultural relics opened up the history of the founding of Yan State in the Western Zhou Dynasty more than 3,000 years ago.

It is said that after the Battle of Muye, King Wu of Zhou established the Zhou Dynasty after destroying the Shang Dynasty. After the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty, it is said that hundreds of vassal states were enfeoffed. At that time, today's Beijing area was not the capital of the motherland, but a border area infested by Rong and Di, and Shan Rong often violated the border. King Zhou's own capital, Haojing, was in Xi'an, Shaanxi. Thousands of kilometers away from today's Beijing, but careful management is beyond reach. For the convenience of management, King Wu of Zhou subdivided the tribes of the survivors of the Shang Dynasty (it is said to be descendants of the Yellow Emperor) into a country called Ji State, thinking that the Great Zhou Dynasty guarded the border, and Ji State was located in the center of Guang'anmen in Beijing today.

But Ji State is a survivor of the Shang Dynasty after all. King Zhou was worried about 120 of them. After much deliberation, he enfeoffed his half-brother, Zhao Gongji, to the area of ​​Liuli River in Fangshan District, Beijing today, to establish a Yan State that is stronger than Ji State to monitor Ji State.

However, Zhaogong Jixi did not come to Yan to take office, but stayed in Haojing, the seat of the central government, to assist King Zhou Cheng, the young son of King Wu. So King Cheng of Zhou appointed Zhao Gong's eldest son, Ji Ke, to be the king of Yan. So Ji Ke was the first monarch of the Yan Kingdom.

Keyu Keyu unearthed from the Yandu site. It is an item used by the first generation Yan Wang Ji Ke during his lifetime. The inscription on the artifact records this event.

The meaning of the inscription is: Zhou Wang said: Taibao (Zhao Gong), you have offered oaths and sake to your king, I am very satisfied with your offering, and ordered your son Ke to be the prince of Yandi, manage and Use Qiang, Yu, Wei and other six families. Ke arrived in Yandi, took over the land and management institutions, and cast this treasure to commemorate this event.

Liuli River is located in the northern part of the Great Plains of North China, next to the Dafang Mountains, that is, Yanshan Mountains. Going out of the Gubei Pass in the direction, you can pass through Yanshan Mountain and connect with the vast area in the Northeast. Going in the northwest direction, go out to the South Pass and enter the Mongolian Grassland. From here, go south, along the eastern foot of Taihang Mountain, and reach the rear of the Central Plains. This should be the most suitable location for Yandu.

The capital of the Yan Kingdom has a strong military flavor. Its location must be close to the old forces of the Rongdi and Shang dynasties in the north, and it must have a large geographical space as a strategic depth to facilitate the troops to fight.

To the northwest of Liuli River is Yanshan Mountain, and to the east is Huxun. Among them, the open land is small, shaped like a tiger's mouth, and the terrain is very desirable. In the small Beijing plain, as long as the south entrance and Gubei entrance leading to the Mongolian Plateau and Songliao Plain are well guarded, it will be difficult for northern nomads to invade.

Even if you break through the mountain pass and enter the Beijing Plain, the State of Ji will defend as the first line of defense, and the State of Yan will support you as a backup. It is easy to break through, and the country of Yan is backed by the hinterland of the Central Plains, strategic materials and reinforcements can replenish the front line at any time.

In this way, relying on the two strategic defense lines of Ji and Yan and the strategic depth formed by the Ji surname in the rear, the northern frontier of the Western Zhou Dynasty was stabilized for a hundred years.

The Liuli River Yandu is located at the southern end of the Beijing Plain, with rich vegetation resources, most of which are covered by forests. The Yongding River, Chaobai River, Juma River and other water systems have sufficient water sources and suitable temperatures.

More than 3,000 years ago, when this high platform was chosen as the capital, people had already started to use bronze tools to cut down trees. In addition to building houses, making utensils and weapons and equipment, the forest also provided people with sufficient energy; The Dashi River in the capital not only provides sufficient domestic water for urban residents, but also provides favorable conditions for farmland irrigation.

The farming technology brought by the Zhou people has rapidly improved the production efficiency of local agriculture and met the growing demand for food. The forests, rivers, lakes and water networks have also provided people with wildlife and fishery resources as supplements. It is conceivable that the ancient city of Yandu was quite superior in terms of geographical environment and natural resources.

Many remains of palaces and houses from the Shang and Zhou dynasties were unearthed in the Yindu ruins, traces of rammed city walls, and water pipes were found in the ruins. It can be seen that the level of urban planning and architecture at that time has reached a considerable level.

In the southwest of the palace area, tortoise shells and animal bones for divination, large pottery pots for ceremonies, imitation copper pottery urns, and whole cows and horses used for sacrifices were found. It can be inferred from this that this should be the place where large-scale sacrifices and divination activities are often held, that is, the sacrificial area.
Up to now, dozens of oracle bones used for divination have been found in the sacrificial area, three of which are tortoise shells with the word "Tortoise", and even one with the word "Cheng Zhou" engraved on it.

Why did the oracle bones of "Chengzhou" and the eastern capital of Luoyi (now Luoyang, Henan) appear in the Yandu of Liulihe? Whether it confirms the historical records about Zhaogong's divination for "Chengzhou" remains to be further proved by archaeology. In addition, these oracle bones were drilled and carved in the same way as Zhenren (officials in charge of divination) in the Shang Dynasty. It can be seen that technicians in the Shang Dynasty were able to directly participate in important divination activities in Yandu.

There are also four tombs on display at the site, which reflect the funeral customs of the nobles of the Yan Kingdom.

This is a tomb of a middle-class nobleman at that time. The owner of the tomb is named You, with one coffin and two coffins. The bone fossils of this tomb are relatively complete. The owner of the tomb is 1.83 meters tall, and there are two martyred children beside him. There are obvious marks of blunt instrument beatings on the child's skull, indicating that he was buried after being hit on the head to death.

This is the burial utensil Yougui unearthed from You's tomb. Gui was the rice bowl of the ancients, similar to today's hot pot, with three legs underneath to heat it. There is a "Gui Street" in Dongzhimen, Beijing, which should be called a hot pot street in translation!

The owner of this tomb is called Fu, who is You's father or uncle. It can be seen from the tomb that the owner of the tomb is richer than You. In Yau's tomb, two people and a dog were buried with him, while in this tomb, a cow and a person were buried with him. At that time, a cow could be exchanged for 6 slaves. Although he is richer than Yau, there is no body left today.

Experts analyzed the reason probably as follows: the bones can be preserved today because the limbs of the coffin came into contact with the soil after decay, and a replacement reaction occurred to form fossils, which were preserved. Because Fu was rich, he used a very good coffin. As a result, the corpse had rotted but the coffin had not yet rotted, so it could not touch the soil. In the end, no fossils could be formed and no bones remained. The slave who was buried with him had no coffin, so he left a complete remains. This incident tells us that if you have money, don't be frightened, but if you don't have bones.

This big tripod is called Jin Ding. Jin is the first generation of Yan Wangke's close minister. The inscription inside the tripod records that Jin went to Xi'an, the capital of the Zhou Dynasty, to deliver delicious food to Yan Wangke's father, Zhaogong, and was summoned. The matter of public rewards. After receiving the reward, Jin didn't dare to spend it recklessly, but used all of it to cast this big tripod, and engraved this event on the tripod to show off to others. So it was named Jin Ding. The Jinding Ding is simple, vigorous, graceful and majestic. It is the largest and heaviest bronze ritual vessel unearthed in Beijing. The big tripod in the courtyard of the Yandu Museum is a copy of the Jin tripod.

The heavyweight cultural relics in the museum also include Bo Juju, Chariot and Horse Pit, and oracle bones for divination. Due to the limited space, I will not describe them one by one here. Those who are interested can visit the Yandu Museum of the Western Zhou Dynasty to find out.

The Story of Yan Kingdom

Many people don't know much about the Yan Kingdom, and there is not much about it when looking at the entire history of the Spring and Autumn Period. It's just that it is said in the history books that it is one of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period. How could Yan, which was unknown in the era of disputes, become the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period?

During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the princes of each family kept their duties, but after Zhou Youwang Fenghuo played with the princes, the princes found that the King of Zhou was not serious,
Then began to be disobedient. After King Ping moved eastward and entered the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the princes looked down on Zhou Tianzi even more after Zheng Zhuanggong shot the king's shoulder. From then on, the princes began to fight for the boss in a lawless manner. But throughout the Spring and Autumn Period, Yan State has been unknown, because it is located on the border, often invaded by ethnic minorities such as Donghu Shanrong, and is often in a state of war readiness, unable to develop its national power with peace of mind. The capital has been moved five times. Live on the help of others.

Even the well-known Duke Huan of Qi once helped the country of Yan drive away the enemies and restore the capital with armed forces. In order to express his gratitude, the King of Yan sent Duke Huan of Qi back to his country, all the way to the territory of Qi State. According to Zhou etiquette, princes are not allowed to go abroad when they send each other off. Duke Huan of Qi realized that he had surpassed the ritual system. As a model leader who respected the king and fought against the barbarians, how could he make such a mistake? For this reason, all the land of Qi State to the north of where it was located at that time was assigned to Yan State. Yan State not only drove away the enemy and restored the capital, but also took advantage of Qi State and expanded its land without any effort. Duke Huan of Qi acted as an overlord with a high character, and he would regret it even after returning home!

It may be widely circulated that Su Qin gave Duke Wen of Yan a green hat. Su Qin slept with the wife of Duke Wen of Yan Queen, and took the route of a woman to take the position. With the help of Yan Guo, he persuaded He Zong to wear the Prime Minister of the Six Kingdoms, and played with the world at that time with his classmate Zhang Yi. To leave a name in history.

Later, there came out a strange king Yan Wangkuai, who felt that his country's prime minister was more virtuous than himself, so he took the initiative to abdicate, causing Yan to be in chaos and almost perish. With the help of Han, Qin, Chu and other countries, he established the sonship as the King of Yan. This is the King Yan Zhao who made Yan State prestige among the princes once in history.

The talented and generous King Yanzhao made great efforts to govern and recruit talented people. Building golden platforms, buying horse bones with thousands of dollars, and famous people such as Guo Wei, Le Yi, Zou Yan, and Ju Xin all achieved success in Yan State at that time.

With talents, it is possible to develop national strength, expand territory, send troops to Donghu in the northeast, and occupy a large piece of land. At that time, the Northeast was a foreign state outside the jurisdiction of the Zhou royal family, and the Yan State occupied those places without affecting the land of other princes in the Central Plains. So the princes don't care. This made Yan Guo, who was on the border, a lot of money. The Great Wall has been repaired until today's Seoul in South Korea! The increase of the country and the increase of national power made Yan finally become one of the seven heroes of the Warring States Period. He was able to organize the coalition forces to beat Qi to the point where only two cities were left to resist, almost destroying Qi. Really showed his face on the stage of the Warring States Period.

However, after the death of King Yan Zhao, the descendants still failed to live up to it, and eventually lost to Qin Guosheng. In desperation, after the tragic historical drama of Jing Ke's assassination of the King of Qin was staged, the country was destroyed by the Qin State. Enjoy the country in 822 years.

After destroying Yan State, Qin established Yuyang County, Youbeiping County, Liaoxi County and Liaodong County on the land of Yan State.

postscript:
Seventeen years later, a group of subjugated Chu people were ordered to go to Yuyang (Beijing) to join the army and guard the border. The trip was delayed due to heavy rain on the way, and they were all executed according to the law. So one of the buddies named Chen Sheng shouted: "Wait for death, is it possible to die the country?"

Two years later, Prince Ying of Qin surrendered to Liu Bang, and was exterminated by Xiang Yu after the Hongmen Banquet, and Qin State perished. Yan State once again took revenge from outside forces and restored the country. Later Han credited Li Zuoche's plan to conquer Yandi, and after the Chu and Han fought, they all returned to Liu Bang.
Let's not talk about the future!

Heizi Zhai Jianfeng
Panorama Photo Library, Hetu Creative Photo Library, China Gallery contracted photographers, and provided photography training for Shanghai Stock Exchange Group, China Water Affairs Group, Lenovo Group, Capital Development Group, State Forestry Administration, Central Asia Pipeline and many other large enterprises. He has won many awards in national photography competitions. Inspiration writer of Lotto Travel Network, super traveler, member of Beijing Travel Photographers Association.

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