Site of the Ancient Shěn State Capital

The Site of the Ancient Shěn State Capital

The Site of the Ancient Shěn State Capital is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Site of the Ancient Shěn State Capital is located in Gǔchén Village, Shèqiáo Town, Píngyù County. Its first feudal lord was Dān Jìzǎi, the tenth son of King Wén of Zhou and the younger brother of King Wǔ of Zhou.

In the fifth year of King Wǔ of Zhou’s reign (circa 1065 BC), as the Son of Heaven had not yet been enthroned, meritorious officials and relatives who assisted in the overthrow of the Shāng Dynasty were enfeoffed as lords “to guard the Zhou realm.” King Wǔ of Zhou had ten royal brothers, seven of whom were enfeoffed as lords, but the ninth prince Shūfēng and the tenth prince Jìzǎi were too young to receive fiefs. Shūfēng was granted Kāng as his fief, and Jìzǎi was given Dān. In reality, these two orphaned princes were sent to places where they would be provided for. In ancient times, people took their surnames from their fiefs or the lands they were granted. Thus, Jìzǎi adopted the surname Dān and was known as Dān Jìzǎi.

In the fourth year of King Chéng of Zhou’s reign (circa 1060 BC), as Shūfēng and Jìzǎi had come of age, the Duke of Zhōu enfeoffed Dān Jìzǎi as the Marquis of Shěn and Shūfēng as the Marquis of Wèi. Both governed wisely and diligently served the state, earning the Duke of Zhōu’s high regard. Years later, the Duke of Zhōu recommended Shūfēng as the Minister of Justice (in charge of national land and populace, managing public fields, and conscripting labor) and Jìzǎi as the Minister of Works, both rising to the rank of senior nobility in the royal court and assisting King Chéng in governing the state, gaining widespread fame. Therefore, in the early Western Zhou period, the Shěn State, like the Wèi State, was an important fiefdom. However, its proximity to the capital Haojing, surrounded by numerous other fiefdoms and densely packed estates, led successive lords and nobles of Shěn to live in luxury and ease, losing opportunities for territorial expansion and growing increasingly weak, gradually declining from a significant fief to a minor state.

In 771 BC, the Marquis of Shēn, the Zēng clan, the Xīfú clan, and the Quǎnróng (Dog Rong) tribes jointly attacked the Zhou capital, “killing King Yōu and seizing all the treasures of Zhou before departing.” The Haojing, carefully developed by generations of Zhou rulers, was reduced to ruins overnight. After ascending the throne, King Píng of Zhou, under pressure from the threatening Xianyun and Quǎnróng tribes, was escorted eastward to Luoyi (present-day Wangcheng Park area in Luoyang) with the support of Marquis Wén of Jìn and Duke Wǔ of Wèi. At this time, hereditary nobles whose fiefs were near Haojing also migrated eastward. The Shěn State moved from the Wei River basin to the Huai River system (the former territory of the Shì State, which had also moved eastward). The new location was around Gǔchén Village, Shèqiáo Town, north of present-day Píngyù County. In April of the fourth year of Duke Dìng of Lǔ’s reign (506 BC), Shěn was destroyed by its neighboring state, Cài. After the fall of Shěn, descendants of its lords adopted the state name as their surname, giving rise to the Shěn surname. Thus, 1,490 years ago during the Liang Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties, Shěn Yuē, a descendant of Shěn Zǐjiā, the last ruler of Shěn and a renowned literary historian, documented the origin of the Shěn lineage in his “Autobiography” in the Book of Song: “The Shěn State, now Shěntíng in Píngyù, Runán, was a participant in the Spring and Autumn alliances. In the fourth year of Duke Dìng, when feudal lords convened at Shàolíng to attack Chǔ, Shěn did not attend. Jin ordered Cài to attack Shěn, which was destroyed, and Shěn Zǐjiā was captured. Thereafter, his descendants adopted the state name as their surname...” During the Warring States period, it belonged to Chǔ. Due to its flat terrain, it became the birthplace of the wheel and was renamed Píngyú, serving as a military stronghold of Chǔ. In the 23rd year of Qin Shi Huang’s reign (224 BC), General Lǐxìn of Qin attacked Píngyú. The Chǔ army counterattacked relentlessly for three days and nights, inflicting a major defeat on Lǐxìn, breaching two defensive walls, killing seven commandants, and forcing the Qin army to retreat. The following year, General Wángjiǎn of Qin led 600,000 troops to finally conquer Píngyú. The Han Dynasty established the Yùnán Commandery with its seat in Píngyú, governing 37 counties and a large population, making it the foremost commandery in the realm.

On-site investigation shows that the Site of the Ancient Shěn State Capital is located about 4 kilometers north of the Yìshuǐ River (now known as the Hóng River). To the south of the ancient city are historical sites such as Lālónggōu (Dragonslaying Gully), Mílóngjué (Dragon-Tethering Stake), Zhǎnlóngtái (Dragon-Beheading Platform), the Tomb of Shěn Zǐjiā, and the Tomb of Shěn Jūnhū. Legend has it that Lālónggōu was the ancient path taken by the Cài army when they breached the Shěn capital and captured Shěn Zǐjiā. Over centuries, the road turned into a river and is now an ancient gully. Mílóngjué is the site of the stake where Shěn Zǐjiā was bound. Zhǎnlóngtái is the execution platform where he was beheaded. The ancient city also contains Han Dynasty relics such as the Temple of Magistrate Zhāng, the “Heavenly Bridge,” and a Han Dynasty coin-casting site.

In recent years, cultural relic archaeologists have conducted surveys, drillings, and partial excavations at the Shěn State ancient city ruins. The site stretches 1,350 meters from east to west and 1,500 meters from north to south, with a cultural layer 1 to 5 meters thick, forming a rectangular shape. During farmland leveling and basic agricultural construction, artifacts from the ancient city ruins have included bronze swords, pottery paddles, ring-footed jars, and other Spring and Autumn period bronzes and pottery. Pottery shards from the Spring and Autumn period, such as li tripods and jars, have been found on the surface of the cultural layer. A number of bone coins unearthed from the Spring and Autumn–Warring States period tombs south of the ancient city provide physical evidence linking the site to the Shěn State capital of the Spring and Autumn period, the Yùnán Commandery of the Han Dynasty, and its historical evolution. In 2006, it was designated as a Provincial-Level Cultural Relics Protection Unit by the People’s Government of Henan Province.

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units