Ruicheng Site

Ruicheng Site

The Ruicheng Site is a cultural heritage protection unit of Henan Province.

The Ruicheng Site is located in Ruicheng Village, Wagang Township, Tangyin County. Ruicheng was the capital of the ancient state of Ru during historical times. According to Records of the Grand Historian, Commentary on the Water Classic, and the Qianlong-era Annals of Tangyin County, King Wu of the Zhou Dynasty “granted the territory of Ru to Wu Geng, the son of King Zhou of Shang.” Furthermore, this site is also where the “Odes of Bei” from the Book of Songs originated. Around 1057 BC, after capturing Chaoge, King Wu held a grand sacrificial ceremony, proclaiming that the Zhou people had officially inherited the Mandate of Heaven from the Shang Dynasty and established the Western Zhou Dynasty. To control the central region of the former Shang rule, King Wu enfeoffed Wu Geng, the son of King Zhou of Shang, in Ruicheng within the Shang lands, allowing him to continue leading the remnants of the Shang people as their tribal leader. At the same time, he dispatched his own brothers—Guanshu, Caishu, and Huoshu—to stay in the Shang territory to supervise Wu Geng, collectively known as the “Three Supervisors.” After stabilizing internal affairs through efforts described as “pacifying his father and elder brother at home, and appeasing the feudal lords abroad,” the Duke of Zhou personally led a grand eastern campaign. The eastern expeditionary forces swiftly crushed the rebellion led by Wu Geng and other Shang nobles, executing Wu Geng and Guanshu, exiling Caishu, and demoting Huoshu to commoner status. After three years of warfare, the smaller states and feudal lords in the east who had participated in the rebellion were successively suppressed. Ruicheng and the Shang capital were reduced to ruins.

Ruicheng Village: Ruicheng Village…… Detailed information about Ruicheng Village++

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of Cultural Heritage Protection Units of Henan Province