Kaibo terrace

Kaibo terrace

Kaibo platform, known as Shangqiu in ancient times, Mars platform and Huoshen platform in folk, is located 3 li southwest of Shangqiu ancient city, Suiyang District, Shangqiu City, Henan Province. It is a site of observation platform more than 4500 years ago. It is more than 2200 years earlier than Lingtai built by astronomer Zhang Heng in Luoyang in Eastern Han Dynasty. It is the earliest observation platform in China. It is rare material for studying the history of Chinese astronomy, It has high scientific research value.

Kuobotai is a star watching platform built by kuobo, the son of emperor Kuo

Kaibo, the ancestor of the Shang nationality, devoted his whole life to the benefit of the common people. People admire him very much and compare him to the "God of fire", so this stage is also called the "God of fire stage". After his death, people buried him under the stage according to his will. Because of his title of "Shang", this stage is also known as "Shangqiu".

On September 25, 2000, kaibotai was announced by the people's Government of Henan Province as the third batch of key cultural relics protection units in Henan Province.

Historical evolution

It was built more than 4500 years ago.

In the Jin Dynasty, the Kaibo temple on the stage was destroyed.

During the Dade period of the Yuan Dynasty (1297-1307), the main hall, worship hall, bell and Drum Tower, East and West Chan gate were built on the stage, and the mountain gate and theater tower were built in front of the stage. The temple with flying eaves and beasts, red walls and golden roofs, is a typical national architectural style.

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, kaibotai was repaired several times.

In 1981, kaibotai was repaired again. In 1996, at the invitation of the people's Government of Shangqiu County at that time, archaeologists from Beijing, Nanjing Observatory and the whole country confirmed that this site is the earliest existing observatory site in China through discussion and argumentation. It is inferred from archaeological exploration that a large and high platform had been built here at the latest in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.

On September 25, 2000, kaibotai was announced by the people's Government of Henan Province as the third batch of key cultural relics protection units in Henan Province.

Source of construction

In the primitive society, after Zhuanxu, DIHE was the chief of the tribal alliance in the commercial land. When he saw that there was no fire in the people of Shangdi, he let his son kuobo serve as "huozheng" here. One is to manage the fire, the other is to sacrifice to Mars and observe its movement. In order to observe the movement of the sun, moon, gold, wood, water, fire, earth and other stars, people in ancient times divided the sky into 28 small areas of different sizes, called 28 constellations. As a sign of observation, it was used to describe the position of the sun, moon and five stars. Among them, there is a constellation facing Shangqiu in the eastern Canglong seven constellations, which is Xinsu, also known as Mars and Shangxing. 4200 years ago, this star had the same rule of operation every year. When it came out in the East, when it came out in the south, and when it went down in the west, it reappeared at a very accurate time every year. At that time, kuobo used this simplest method to observe the sky with the naked eye to determine the farming hours and seasons, and to tell people when to start harvesting and farming, so as to guide the production of agriculture and animal husbandry. It is said that the observation of farming time guided by the change of Mars lasted until the 11th century BC.

Shang Zuqi is known as Kuiper because Taisui star appears in Maoshi, which is called "Shan Kuo", and it appears in jianian, which is called "Kuo Feng". As time goes by, the observation of Mars and Taisui star's huozheng is called Kuiper, and the observation place of Mars is called Kuiper station and Mars station. Because he worked hard all his life to benefit the people, people admire him very much and compare him to "Fire God", so this stage is also called "fire god stage". After his death, people buried him under the stage according to his will.

architectural composition

Kuobotai is adjacent to Suihuang mausoleum. It is shaped like a tomb. It is 35 meters high and 270 meters long. It is made of round rammed earth. On the existing Kaibo terrace, there is Kaibo temple, also known as Kaibo temple, which is a building of Yuan Dynasty. The temple has the main hall, worship hall, east-west Zen gate, accessory room, bell and Drum Tower, and under the stage there are theater, grand Zen gate and other buildings. On the main hall, there are four words "Li Gong Zheng Wei". Zhaoming hall in the East and Xiangtu hall in the West. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it has been repaired several times.

The house is magnificent, with flying eaves and animals, red walls and green tiles, and bright colors.

With a total area of 65268 square meters, the square has four main projects: Wang Hai statue, Wanshang square, Fushang Avenue and the gate of three merchants. The project creates five "China's first": the first square with the theme of merchants; the first square with more than 20000 "Shang" characters; the first large statue of the ancestor of merchants; the first avenue with legal tender patterns of Chinese dynasties; the first square gate with Chinese characters. This is not only the reappearance of "business" culture, but also a new tourist site and landmark.

Cultural legend

The name of Shangqiu

The Mound under the platform of Kaibo is Shangqiu, which was first granted by Kaibo. The place name of Shangqiu came from this. Kuobotai is even more towering on the boundless plain. This platform is the highest point in the capital area of ancient Shangqiu. In addition, the ancients believed that the essence of kuobotai should be the Shang star. Therefore, since ancient times, people have regarded it as the symbol of Shangqiu.

Prometheus of the East

Shangqiu is a place with many myths, among which there is a legend about him: he was originally the "God of fire" in the sky. Because he secretly threw fire into the world, he violated the rules of heaven, and the emperor of heaven wanted to demote him to the world for the people. When he was about to come down from the sky, he secretly hid the fire on his body and brought it to the world. After a short time, the emperor of heaven knew about the theft of fire. So the emperor of heaven was angry and sent out a flood to submerge the fire in the world and punish him. The flood on the ground rushed to Shangqiu like a beast, and people fled everywhere. In order to preserve the fire, he built a high platform and built a shelter to protect himself from the rain. After the flood, when people came back from all directions, the fire on the high platform was still burning, and kuobo had starved to death beside the fire.

This legend is somewhat similar to the myth of Prometheus stealing fire from heaven. This is not surprising, whether in the West or in the East, because people's decoding of the beginning of civilization can only start and end in ignorance and a supernatural imagination.

Folk activities

Kaibotai temple fair, also known as huoshentai temple fair, is also called chaotai by common people. It is the most ancient and grand temple fair in Shangqiu. It is a grand temple fair that evolved from people's sacrifice to their ancestors, and has a history of more than 4000 years.

Every year from the fourth to the eighth day of the first lunar month, many people who participate in sacrifices and temple fairs add earth and round tombs for Kaibo and offer sacrifices to him by beating sticks and stones and chanting mourning words. As time went on, there were more and more people in chaotai, and incense became more and more popular. By the Tang Dynasty, it had developed into a grand temple fair.

According to research, huoshentai temple fair was the most grand from the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. Chaotai originally started on the fourth day of the first lunar month, but pilgrims from other provinces and their own provinces, who had a long way to go, rushed here from the first lunar month to express their piety and respect for the God of fire. Before the Spring Festival, the village around huoshentai is full of pilgrims from other places.

From the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar to the second day of February, the meeting lasted for nearly a month, which was the biggest pilgrimage activity in a year. During the temple fair, people from Henan, Shandong, Anhui, Jiangsu and other provinces flocked to huoshentai.

Pilgrims are so devout because of their worship of the God of fire. They think that the God of fire will bless the whole family in the coming year.

There is a general assembly in Taiwan, and branches are set up in different places. When going to Taiwan, the head of the branch will report to the general assembly first, and then the General Assembly will arrange the pilgrimage time and make pilgrimage in order. During the pilgrimage, more than 100 suona players played with the pilgrimage team of chaotai. The Pilgrims' platforms in different places have their own programs and are colorful. It is a great display of folk customs in different places. The contents are rich and colorful, and there are a lot of visitors. Pilgrims are bustling with visitors, and there are countless fortune tellers. More than 100000 people attend the meeting every day. At the stage meeting, the local opera, folk art, acrobatics, magic and stilts, ghost club, bamboo horse, dry boat, elbow song, flower stick, single pole sedan chair, pulling Qin Hui, martial arts, dragon lantern and other folk art performances all over the country were dazzling. The clay tiger, cloth tiger, cloth doll, flower spear, flower sword, flower knife, clay dog, Clay chicken, dough figurine, sugar man, flower lantern, glass skipping, clay ring, bamboo ring and so on produced by various skilled craftsmen are dazzling in variety, exquisite in production, beautiful in shape and bright in color, showing the level of folk art, which is astonishing. Their selling voice is also in various tones, which is overpowering That sound. Most people in chaotai want to buy one or two things for their children to have fun, so as to add a festive and auspicious atmosphere.

On top of the temple fair, there are other venues for cockfighting, dog fighting, sheep fighting, cricket fighting, or Bull Racing and pig catching competitions, which are very lively and interesting. What impresses people most is the fire dragon dance (also known as rolling dragon) performed by local people in the evening. The dragon is the symbol of the Chinese nation, and fire is the embodiment of the achievements of the God of fire. The fire dragon and the green dragon dance with each other, and the two dragons play with the pearls to create an auspicious atmosphere. The rituals of chaotai are unique to Shangqiu and different from other places.

June 23 is also the memorial day of the legendary god of fire. People from the surrounding four provinces are still in an endless stream, offering incense to Taiwan. This temple fair is usually as long as 10 days.

Chinese PinYin : E Bo Tai