Zhao Wangcheng, I am proud of you

一

The first time I walked into the Zhaowangcheng ruins was at the turn of summer and autumn three years ago. The family took a map of Handan and rode their newly purchased bicycles, asking around. Along the bumpy country road, I managed to reach Zhao Wangcheng, but it was very different from the Zhao Wangcheng and the national cultural relics unit that I imagined. I could not find any trace of the city walls and the majesty that the royal city should have, which appeared in my mind. What you see in front of you is just an endless expanse of farmland, hilly terraces and wild grass and thorns. If it weren't for the cultural relics warning sign erected by the Handan City Government on the edge of the tall earth platform, I would never have guessed that it would be the only Zhao royal city among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period that could compete with the powerful Qin.

The ruins of Zhaowang City are located in the southwest corner of the current Handan City. They are submerged in the lush and vast green gauze tents, accompanied by barren tombs and wormwood. There are only a few people like me who come here to visit. There are many farmers working in the fields. The glorious years of more than two thousand years are truly and helplessly exposed before my eyes. The former glory has been washed away by the thousands of years of glory, revealing its simple, true and helpless appearance.

But as a Handan native, I can’t bear or be reconciled emotionally and mentally that Zhao Wangcheng has gone from being the capital of a country to such a bleak situation, from the majestic palace to the remote wilderness, from the glory of the golden wall to the decline of grass. Ups and downs, a scratch of loess, what kind of world of difference and mental gap should it be? But the reality is so cruel! Maybe many people in Handan will feel the same as me.

Every time at this time, the "Eighteen Beats of Hujia" that Wenji brought when she returned to the Han Dynasty would play in the bottom of her heart, and the sad sound of Hujia would echo for a long time in the lonely autumn wind in the wilderness of King Zhao City· ··

Since then, Zhao Wangcheng has become my eternal heartache and concern, and it has become something that I can never let go of. It seems to be a friend in distress that I can’t stop thinking about. Whenever I have free time, I will go to Zhaowangcheng alone or with a group of friends to have a look. Only then can I feel more at ease with the growing depression about Zhaowangcheng.

There have been many times when my heart has surged and I have picked up a pen to write something for Zhao Wangcheng. However, many times I just started and didn't know what to write, and every time I couldn't finish it. Is it about its past glory, its ancient history, or the story behind it? I never got the point, and felt that these were not what I wanted to write. Therefore, I have always been brooding and unhappy about Zhao Wangcheng. Whenever I see reports and information about Zhao Wangcheng, I am very concerned and concerned about it. Gradually, Zhao Wangcheng has become a heartache that I will never get rid of!

II

Authoritative information says that the Zhaowangcheng site was the site of the Zhaowang Palace, also known as the palace city. It is located in the south of Xidatun Village, Pengjiazhai Township, Fuxing District, Handan City. It consists of three parts: Xicheng, Dongcheng and Beicheng. It is distributed in the shape of "pin" on the plane, with a total area of ??5.12 million square meters. Surrounding the city site, there are still rammed earth city walls with a height of 3 to 8 meters, winding and undulating, shaped like hills and mountains, and are very spectacular. There are many ruins of city gates. There are more than a dozen rammed earth platforms neatly arranged in the city wall. The entire building faces south and north, is symmetrical and has clear layers. The three rammed earth platforms above the ground form a north-south central axis, which reflects the urban layout and construction characteristics since the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. The architectural layout established the basic pattern of symmetry in capital buildings in the early feudal society of my country, and had an important influence on the architectural style of capitals in later generations. The Dragon Platform in the southernmost part of the West City is the main building foundation of Zhaowang City. The bottom of the site is 296 meters long from north to south, 264 meters long from east to west, and 19 meters high. It is approximately square and has a stepped structure. It is the largest rammed earth platform foundation during the Warring States Period. At that time, it was a tall building surrounded by cloisters, with overlapping eaves and towering into the clouds. It is the most well-protected Warring Kingdom ruins in the country at the same time, and is the key to Handan becoming a national historical and cultural city.

Liu Shao, a litterateur of the Wei state during the Three Kingdoms period, used bold pen and ink to describe the grand occasion of Zhao Wangcheng in "Ode to the Capital of Zhao":

"You are the capital city of thousands of pheasants, flying around for hundreds of miles. Nine thoroughfares intersect with three gates. The pavilions are spread out on each floor, and the buildings are connected by steps. The main hall is like a flying phoenix. , Cheng Xionghong's Feiliang. Yun Pavilion was built in Nanyu, and Congtai was built in Shaoyang."

Although I can't fully understand Liu Shao's description, I don't know that Liu Shao was in Zhao Wangcheng. Four or five hundred years after it was destroyed, how did he know what the royal city looked like back then? But through these words, he could imagine the majestic appearance of Zhao Wangcheng back then. Today we can only revel in the glory of Zhao Wangcheng from Liu Shao's words.

According to expert research, before Zhao Jinghou moved the capital to Handan in 386 BC, King Zhao City already had a west city. Later, the east city and north city were expanded and built, and it experienced a prosperous history of more than 180 years. In 209 BC, after Qin general Zhang Han captured Handan, he "moved all his people to Hanoi and stripped the city walls." The "city walls" mentioned here are the Zhaowang City. This means that it has been more than 2,200 years since the ancient Zhao people were relocated and the Zhao royal city was destroyed. For more than two thousand years, it has been precarious, lonely and helpless, and it has changed from the aristocrats of the royal city to the commoners of the farmland. What I see now is its ruins more than 2,200 years later.

In the nearly two hundred years of its glory, it played an important role in the history of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, laying a solid material foundation for Handan to rise into the five major cities in China during the Qin and Han Dynasties. It is staged here There are countless stories that have been passed down through the ages, and it has been a stage for many heroes to show their heroic qualities. King Wuling of Zhao once argued with the Confucian scholars here and pushed forward the reform feat of riding and shooting in Hufu. Lin Xiangru, a civil servant, fulfilled his mission and returned the jade to Zhao intact. Lian Po, the general, attacked the city and was invincible in the field. Mao recommended himself to unite with Chu to fight against Qin... It's really Generals and ministers gathered together, and heroes emerged in large numbers. In its heyday, the Zhao State expanded its territory to thousands of miles, reaching as far as today's Inner Mongolia. It was the only large eastern country that could compete with the powerful Qin in the late Warring States Period.

Zhao Wangcheng, Sand Dune Palace, Congtai, Xin Palace, and the many palaces and pavilions cannot describe the majestic momentum of the Zhao Kingdom in those days; Hufu riding and shooting, returning the complete jade to Zhao, Mao Sui recommended himself, and there were many heroes, carrying hunting and hunting during the Warring States Period Magnificent, competing with other heroes, arrogant. But compared with the time of its decline, the glorious history of the royal city is just a flash in the pan! In the long river of nearly 2,400 years, it only lasted for 180 years before being submerged in the rolling dust of history!

“The humble house was empty, but in those days the bed was full of wats; withered grass and withered poplars, it was once a singing and dancing venue.…”

Facing Zhao Wangcheng, without knowing it, my heart surged Such a poem came out.

Three

It was the cruel and merciless war that destroyed this magnificent royal city. Facing the post-war ruins of King Zhao City, today we elegantly call this place the ruins of King Zhao City. Some people show off the majesty and grandeur of King Zhao City, some praise the long history and culture of King Zhao City, and some are grateful that King Zhao City can be completely preserved to this day. .

No one talks about it as a devastating and cruel war! Whenever I face it, there will be the sound of drums and horns in my ears, the sound of horse hooves, and the rumble of chariots. What comes to my mind is towering cloud ladders, arrows like locusts, and soldiers rushing towards death like a tide, with Hujia and Qiang flute. When the sound was played, the smoke shot straight into the blood-like sky, the tearing sounds of life came one after another, and the Zhaowang City collapsed in the endless firelight. Whenever this happens, waves of heartbreaking twitches and spasms surge up in my heart. The vivid lives of thousands of ancestors disappeared without a trace along with the glorious and majestic ancient city, turning into miles of hilly terraces before our eyes!

In my eyes, it was precisely the militaristic national policy of riding and shooting in Hufu that made Zhao State feel like taking an aphrodisiac and rapidly expand into a military empire, conquering cities and territories, expanding its territory, and embarking on the path of After reaching the point of no return, the war established the Kingdom of Zhao, and flesh and blood built up the majestic city of the King of Zhao, and also laid the root of its destruction by turning violence into violence. After all, Zhao's Hufu cavalry and archery could not withstand the more brutal and fierce northwest Qin army of his nephew Ying Zheng. The Zhao empire, which had been dominant for 158 years, finally collapsed in the flames of war. Zhao Wangcheng ended its historical role and faded out of people's sight.

Looking at our history from King Zhao City, we have been wandering in a golden law called dynasty replacement for thousands of years, and have been stumbling in a cycle of destruction and reconstruction. After the rise of a dynasty, the society is stable, the economy develops, the government builds a lot of buildings, builds palaces, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and all industries prosper; after a cycle, the smoke rises again, the people are in ruins, the country is overturned, the social infrastructure is unprecedentedly damaged, and the productivity is completely destroyed , another dynasty will rise, and everything will be rebuilt from scratch. In a certain sense, our history is a history of overthrowing and rebuilding, and rebuilding and overthrowing. It is a history of ruptures and no continuity. So it is not surprising that today we cannot see the true face of Zhao Wangcheng. For thousands of years, everyone in our nation has paid for the replacement of dynasties, paying huge costs and sacrifices in life and property.

“It rises vigorously, and its demise is sudden.” History often sighs with helplessness, and the wealth of countries and people suffers periodic destruction in this way.

Is this the long and splendid history and civilization that we have long been proud of? ! In front of the ruins of King Zhao City, one after another officials, civilians, experts, and even children still talked about it so much!

Does our civilization advocate the constant destruction of an old world and the constant re-building of a new world? Why can’t we learn to build our new world better on the basis of the old world? Can’t we stand on the shoulders of past civilizations and move to the next level? Could it be that our civilization only whitewashes the peace, shouts long live, protects itself wisely, follows the trend, and is willing to be enslaved, but rarely takes the initiative to criticize the current situation, reflect on the past, learn from historical experience and lessons, and design a fundamental national system that maintains long-term peace and stability in the country? Supervise and restrict totalitarianism, separate N rights, and avoid repeating the mistakes of history! ?

For thousands of years, our nation has been going through a cycle of starting from scratch!

Our recurring history is actually a history of continuous wars. Mencius said: "A king will rise after two hundred years." And the rise of kings often uses war as a stepping stone and paving stone. What's more, how can the interval between wars be two hundred years? You can imagine how precious and rare the days of peace and tranquility for the Chinese nation are! Every change of dynasty has destructive damage to social productivity, and Handan has always been at the forefront of all wars. War constitutes the main content of Handan's history and culture, and has also created the reputation of Handan as the hometown of idioms and allusions. According to expert statistics There are about 1,800 idioms from Handan or related to Handan. How many of them are war-related derivatives? No one may have thought to count them, but I casually listed a few Handan idioms that are related to war, such as: snipe and clam. Fighting, fishermen gain profit, Hufu rides and shoots, besieges Wei to rescue Zhao, steals talismans to rescue Zhao, talks on paper, sticks to one's word, self-recommends, returns intact to Zhao, sinks boat, lasts a fight, who wins... It is the blood of war that condenses these vivid and cruel stories! The war also created many celebrities in the history of Handan, such as Sun Bin, Lian Po, Zhao She, Xunzi, Ying Zheng, Zhao Kuo, Le Yi, Li Mu, Cao Cao, Liu Bocheng, Deng Xiaoping... Countless living lives have made these people possible Unparalleled fame!

I wonder if Handan is lucky or sad?

Our culture is a culture where the winners are princes and the losers are bandits. It is a culture of violence, tyrants and mobs. Emperors are all born from the long war, and people only cheer and sing for the victors. Not judging heroes based on success or failure is just an excuse for people to prevaricate. Power needs to be obtained through violence, and rule needs violence to maintain. When there is violence, there is war, and when there is war, there is bloodshed and sacrifice. In every war, I don’t know how many living lives will be lost, and how many brilliant buildings like the Zhaowang City will be destroyed. That’s why Handan claims to have a civilization history of more than 3,000 years, but you can’t see ground buildings that are more than a thousand years old, or even 500 years old. There are no buildings from the 20th century that can be seen. There are buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties, such as Huangliangmeng, Shengjinggang, and Congtai, which are great cultural relics. Our understanding of the history of the Zhao Kingdom can only be made by digging up tombs and inferring the history based on the cultural relics in the underground tombs.

Violent killings have been repeated repeatedly throughout history. When King Wu conquered Zhou, almost all the merchants were killed; in the battle of Changping between Zhao and Qin, 450,000 Zhao troops were buried alive, leaving only women to defend Handan; during the Han Dynasty, the country's population reached its peak of more than 50 million, but after the turmoil at the end of the Han Dynasty, by the Three Kingdoms There were only 7 million people left. The population of China at that time was not as large as the current population of Handan. Among them, the population of Shu was only more than 900,000 at its highest, and it was not as large as the current urban population of Handan. So it is not difficult to understand. The basic strategy of the Shu Kingdom was that it could not protect itself unless it united with Wu to resist Wei. The description in Cao Cao's poem of "the bones are exposed in the wild, and there are no roosters crowing for thousands of miles" is not a literary exaggeration, but a true record of the extermination of the population with ten rooms and nine empty houses at that time. When I watch "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" again, I no longer appreciate the heroic spirit of the five tiger generals and the heroes competing for the throne, but I am glad that these heroes have not been swallowed up by the smoke of war! The Five Chariots disrupted China, the Liao and Song Dynasties were in conflict, Genghis Khan marched on the Central Plains, and the Qing troops entered the Pass... There is even information that the Chinese people north of the Yellow River after the Song Dynasty were basically no longer the original Central Plains people, but were all descendants of the Mongols.

I am not very familiar with Chinese history, but I can see these historical materials just by reading other people's historical articles.

Handan, once the capital of a country and the political, economic, transportation and trade center of the Central Plains, had a population of more than 300,000 during the Warring States Period, ranking third among the five largest cities in the country. At that time, Handan had a prosperous economy, merchants gathered, and there was a lot of traffic going south and north.

"Everything in the world is hustle and bustle for the sake of profit, and the bustle of the world is all for profit." Rich merchants from the Central Plains economic cities of Wen (today's Wen County, Henan Province) and Zhi (today's Jiyuan County, Henan Province) came to "Beijia, Zhao, and Zhongshan" , Guo Zong and Zhuo "made a fortune by smelting iron and becoming rich" in Handan, and started a family by selling goods. Lu Buwei lived in Handan, "selling cheap and selling noble families to get thousands of gold", and made a fortune.

Economic prosperity also brought about cultural prosperity. At that time, Handan was full of scholars, writing books and sayings, and a hundred schools of thought contended. Thinkers Xun Kuang, Shen Dao, the founder of logic Gongsun Long, famous scholars Yu Qing, Qi Wuzi, Mao Gong, Chuzi, etc. all lived in or went to Handan for academic activities. Many of the 3,000 diners of Pingyuan Jun Zhao Sheng were scholars, and many of them later became thinkers, politicians, military strategists and artists. They often debated academic issues at Pingyuan Jun's home, and had a profound impact on the "Hundred Schools of Thought" during the Warring States Period. too important impact. As the "Handan County Chronicle·Yi Wen Zhi" said: "The scholars became popular, but Xun Kuang and Shen Dao used their theory to win for a while, and added Gongsun Longjian's white debate on similarities and differences, and spoke loudly, thus arguing for future generations. This is the most prosperous era of culture."

At the same time, Zhao Ge, Zhao Wu, Zhao Drum, Zhao Se, Zhao Ci, Zhao Qu, etc. all have distinctive Zhao cultural and artistic characteristics and are widely spread throughout the country, so there is a saying of "Handan Learning to Walk". The humorous stories have been passed down to this day, making the bustling city of Handan play music every day and sing and dance every night.

However, for our nation, peace and prosperity are always short-lived. Prosperity always belongs to the political achievements of a certain emperor in a certain period of history. After more than one or two thousand years of dynasty changes and baptism of war, Handan has experienced ups and downs with the turbulence of Chinese history. When it was most withered and declining, it had only a few thousand people. By the time of liberation in 1945, even though Handan had become the central city in southern Hebei, it only had 20,000 people and one street. If you ask everyone living in Handan now, no one dares to claim that he is a descendant of Zhao during the Warring States Period. Without exception, everyone we hear says that he is an immigrant from Hongdong County, Shanxi Province. No matter your surname is Ma or Zhao, are all immigrants from Shanxi during or after the Zhu Di era of the Ming Dynasty, including myself!

The so-called five-thousand-year history of Chinese civilization repeats the war cycle of a dynasty for 200 years. This is the splendid and glorious civilization that we often talk about! Facing the ruins of Zhao Wangcheng for more than 2,000 years, should we reflect on something from our civilization? ?

Stop advocating, ruminating, and intoxicating with the longevity and splendor of our civilization. We should see the barbaric, ignorant, bloody and violent side of our civilization, and learn from our thousands of years of historical experience and lessons. Let's find a key for our nation that will not repeat the golden rule of dynasty change, and will not repeat the tragic fate of thousands of Zhaowang cities. Don't let another raging war happen before us and behind us, and destroy us again. The current little family fortune has been accumulated through hard work for several generations!

Whether it is just or unjust, war is cruel, anti-civilization, anti-society, and anti-humanity. No matter which side wins, corpses will litter the fields, blood will flow into rivers, the country will be destroyed and families will be destroyed, and one person will become famous and thousands will die. We should learn more from other advanced civilizations, their civic consciousness, democratic and scientific ideas, and developed political civilizations. Groups with different interests must learn more about the art of compromise, concessions, communication and exchanges, learn more about negotiation, competition, alliance and winning skills. They must learn to fight in a civil manner instead of fighting with force. They must learn to elect and learn to pass parliament, voting and representation. , representative, constitutional government, law, taxation, finance and other modern and civilized national governance concepts, narrow the gap between the rich and the poor among all classes, adjust the interests and conflicts between different groups, start from safeguarding the constitution, and build fairness, justice, coordination and health Develop a modern civilized society rather than through violence and war. Violence can only bring temporary peace, but actually contains the crisis of collapse.

If our ancestors had the political wisdom of today's Europeans, there would not have been the cruel war of Qin Shihuang to unify the six countries. China may be the earliest country group in the Seven-Nation Alliance in the world, earlier than today's European Union. For two thousand years; if there had been a presidential election system at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Luo Guanzhong would not have been allowed to interpret the story of the Three Kingdoms fighting for hundreds of years; if... until now, many of us have kept the disease under wraps and refused to treat it, and we cannot discuss it.

Otherwise, our Zhao Wangcheng may have been preserved until now, and what we will see is its ancient beauty and charm, instead of the obscure ancient characters in "Zhao Du Fu" and the unrecognizable things that require archaeological experts to tell us. A ruined site! That is the real pride and pride of us Handan people!

We often admire that our nation has created a splendid civilization for thousands of years. Why does our splendid civilization continue to destroy the civilizational achievements accumulated by our predecessors generation after generation? Our enemy is ourselves, and we have not understood it for thousands of years! When will our civilization be able to achieve phoenix nirvana and be reborn as a new civilization that can make our Zhaowang City last forever? Facing Zhao Wangcheng, should we think this way?

I wonder if my idea is too naive and childish?

In Handan on November 29, 2004