Zhang Huatai

Zhang Huatai

Zhanghuatai, also known as Zhanghua palace, was built in the sixth year of King Ling of Chu (535 BC), which was destroyed by the war. The grand building, which was "built by the whole nation and completed in a few years", was known as the "first building in the world" at that time. It is located near Longwan, Qianjiang, Hubei Province.

According to historical records, zhanghuatai has a height of 10 Zhang and a base of 15 Zhang, and its bars rise up to the top level. It has to rest three times to reach the top, so it is also known as "sanxiutai". The king of Chu Ling especially likes women with thin waists to sing and dance in the palace. Many maids in the palace, in order to flatter the king, eat less and endure hunger, so they want to have a thin waist, so they are also known as "thin waisted Palace". This is recorded in Zuozhuan, Guoyu, Hanfeizi, Shiji, Hanshu, Houhanshu and shuijingzhu.

Historical allusions

"The king of Chu is good at slender waist" is recorded in many ancient books. Among them, ZhanGuoCe and Mozi are described in detail, which are more like a primitive story.

Mozi: "in the past, the king Ling of Chu had a thin waist. Therefore, the ministers of the king of the spirit all took a meal as their festival. They took a rest and then took it with them. They supported the wall and then rose. Compared with the period, the dynasty has the color of Li Hei.

Warring States policy: it records a dialogue between King Wei of Chu and Minister Mo Ao Zihua. After listening to Mo Ao Zihua's introduction of the glorious deeds of the past five famous ministers of the state of Chu, the king of Wei was envious and sighed, "where can we find such an outstanding person in today's talent gap?". So Mo Ao told the following story:

The original text: "in the past, the first king was good at small things, and the Chu scholars asked for food. Feng was able to stand, and Shi was able to rise. If you want to eat, you can't bear it; if you want to die, you can't avoid it. ".

Once upon a time, King Ling of Chu liked people with slim waists. In order to slim their waists, the scholar bureaucrats of Chu went on a diet to lose weight. They were so hungry that they couldn't stand up. If a person sitting on the mat wants to stand up, he must support the wall. If a person sitting on the carriage wants to stand up, he must rely on Che Shi. Everyone wants to eat good food, but people resist it. Even if they starve to death, they are willing to be slim. Mo aozihua continued to show that the ministers always wanted to be favored by the king. If the king really liked the sage and guided everyone to strive to be a sage, it would not be difficult for Chu to become a capable minister like the five sages

Archaeological disputes

In 1986, an underground site was excavated in Longwan, Qianjiang, Hubei Province. Famous scholars researched its site, namely the Chu zhanghuatai site. As a result, Cihai, published in 1999, determined the geographical location of ancient Huarong County to the southwest of Qianjiang. At present, there are Hubei and Hunan theories about where zhanghuatai was built.

During the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, the seven heroes fought for hegemony. The opponent is the northern Qin Dynasty and the southern Chu Dynasty. In 535 BC, King Ling of Chu built a grand palace with a radius of 40 Li in Guyun Mengze, which boasted of its luxury and magnificence. Zhanghuatai, with a height of 10 Zhang and a base of 15 Zhang, was known as "the first one in the world" at that time. The king Ling of Chu held a banquet on the stage at night. The sound of the orchestra continued day and night. Zhang Huatai is also known as "slender waist Palace" and "three rest platform".

Zhanghuatai was destroyed by the war of Qin army to unify China, and its site has become an eternal mystery. In 1984, zhanghuatai site was found in Longwan town, Qianjiang City. Due to many reasons, the archaeological and protection work of zhanghuatai was intermittent. In July 2006, the protection project of zhanghuatai site was approved by the State Administration of cultural relics.

Hubei

Qianjiang theory

Located in Longwan town, Qianjiang, Hubei Province. The site is rectangular in plane, 1000 meters wide from north to South and 2000 meters long from east to west. More than ten palace sites were found in the southeast. Among them, fangyingtai is the largest, about 300 meters long and 100 meters wide. It is about 5 meters high and consists of four rammed earth abutments. Among them, the No.1 platform is a double-layer platform, the lower one is rammed earth, and the upper one is brick. The upper part of the foundation site is distributed with east-west gate, shell Road, brick wall and other relics, including tile, slab tile, copper door ring and other relics. After textual research, Tan Qixiang thinks that it is the zhanghuatai site. Longwan site is the most complete and earliest site community of Li Gong BIE yuan in Chu state discovered so far in China. In 2000, Chu zhanghuatai was listed as one of the "ten new archaeological discoveries in China". It is a national key cultural relic protection unit. In addition, the "huangluogang site" found less than 5 kilometers away from zhanghuatai site was recently confirmed as the first spring and autumn city in Chu City by historical authority. Experts initially determined that this is a Chu city with double walls and double moats. The wall is parallelogram, with the length of 1250 meters to 1335 meters in the East, South, West and North, covering a total area of about 1.7 square kilometers. Zou Heng believed that huangluogang was the palace of Zhanghua, and that both Zhanghua palace and zhanghuatai were in Huarong City, and they formed earlier than Jinzhou jinancheng. He thinks that the "Shashi theory" and "Jianli theory" of Huarong city are not established, and they should be in Qianjiang.

In 1987, with the approval of the State Administration of cultural relics, a group of archaeologists gathered in Qianjiang to carry out a partial exploratory excavation of the zhanghuatai site.

In this excavation, an amazing discovery was made: in the zhanghuatai site, a track about 2.4 meters wide and 10 meters long, built with purple shells, passed through the gate and crossed to the base of the palace column.

Qu Yuan wrote in "Nine Songs" that "fish scale house, dragon hall, purple shell que, Zhu Palace". The appearance of shell road in zhanghuatai site once again proves that it is an extraordinary architectural site of Chu palace.

Luo Zhongquan recalled that on May 23 of that year, Professor Zou Heng, an archeological authority of Peking University, came to the construction site. Facing some exposed large-scale Chu palace sites, he excitedly said: This is the Chu Palace site, which is the best preserved Palace site of the spring and autumn and Warring States period in China so far. Shell road is the first discovery in China

From June 26 to 28, 1987, "Chu zhanghuatai academic seminar" was held in Qianjiang City. Domestic experts in archaeology, history and historical geography of ancient buildings spoke highly of the palace base site, believing that it was a major discovery in China's archaeological history. Some experts believed that the base site of fangyingtai I was the zhanghuatai built by Chu Lingwang in the spring and Autumn period.

Unfortunately, due to many reasons, the protection and development of zhanghuatai site has been stagnant in the next 10 years.

In 1997, the State Administration of cultural relics incorporated the Longwan site where zhanghuatai is located into the national plan for the protection of large sites.

Liu Gang, director of Qianjiang Municipal Administration of cultural relics, recalls the situation when he applied for the large-scale ruins project in Beijing. He still lamented that everyone came to Beijing with money borrowed from relatives and friends and lived in the cheapest basement

On December 26, 1999, the 15th year after Zhang Huatai's death, he finally ushered in the highest level of argumentation.

Professor Zou Heng, the authority of Shang and Zhou Archaeology in the Department of Archaeology of Peking University, Professor Gao Chongwen, the director of the Department of Archaeology of Peking University, Professor Yu Weichao, the former authority of Qin and Han Archaeology in the Department of Archaeology of Peking University, the former director of the Museum of Chinese history, the president of the Chu cultural relics research association of Hunan, Hubei, Henan and Anhui provinces, and Mr. Yang Hongxun, a researcher of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and a paleoarchitect, all agree that the site of the Chu palace is located in Longwan The large building area, the high specification, the unique architectural form and the good preservation of the group are all the best in the history of pre Qin architecture in China.

Experts believe that the site group of Chu palace in Longwan should be named "Chu zhanghuatai palace community".

From 1999 to 2001, archaeologists conducted three large-scale investigations and excavations on the site, covering an area of 3500 square meters. 22 rammed earth platforms, an ancient river and hundreds of thousands of cultural relics were discovered. The overall layout of the site community covering an area of more than 100 square kilometers was determined.

Luo Zhongquan said that during the investigation, the general picture of zhanghuatai site was gradually clear. Zhanghuatai is actually the palace of King Ling of Chu. It is a Garden Palace with platform as the main body. The main project of zhanghuatai is 23 meters high and 35 meters wide, which is equivalent to a nearly 10 storey high building.

According to the information, zhanghuatai, as a palace, has a terrace, a palace, a dormitory, a treasury, a weapons depot, a workshop, a wharf, etc. it is surrounded by more than 1000 houses and 10000 people. It has built an artificial river course to travel here, and its prosperity can be imagined.

The protection of Longwan site has entered the acceleration stage: in 2001, it was approved by the State Council as the "fifth batch of national key cultural relics units"; in December 2005, it was included in the national "Eleventh Five Year Plan" period major site protection key projects; in July 2006, the site body protection project was approved by the State Administration of cultural relics.

Jingzhou theory

Located in taishiyuan, the northeast corner of Shashi District, Jingzhou City, Zhanghua temple is a key cultural relic protection unit in Hubei Province. It is said that Zhanghua temple was built on the site of zhanghuatai. Zhanghuatai, also known as Zhanghua palace, was built in the sixth year of King Ling of Chu (535 BC). On the site of zhanghuatai, Zhanghua temple was built in Yuan Dynasty and rebuilt in Qing Dynasty. The temple seat faces east and West, covering an area of 8790 square meters. The temple building is magnificent, the decoration is elegant, the hall is in order, and the Buddha statue is lifelike. As soon as you enter the mountain gate and bypass the lotus pool, you can see the main buildings, such as Tianwang hall, Weituo hall, Daxiong hall, sutra collection building, abbot hall, etc. Diaolianghuadong, Jinbi

Chinese PinYin : Zhang Hua Tai