Jizi's Reading Platform

　　Jizi was a righteous politician and litterateur in China’s Shang Dynasty. He was the uncle of King Zhou of Shang and served as a civil minister assisting in governance. Dissatisfied with King Zhou’s rule, he was imprisoned in Xihua and built a platform to study at night. Jizi's Reading Platform is also a symbol of ancient Xihua. During the Wude era of the Tang Dynasty, Xihua was also known as "Jicheng County."

　　After King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang Dynasty, he "released Jizi from prison," sought his advice on the national governance outline "Hongfan Jiutiao," and wished to employ him as a minister. Jizi declined, was first appointed to govern the Shandong Peninsula, then crossed eastward to Korea, becoming the founder of the Korean Kingdom. Today, outside Pyongyang, there is a "Jilin," which is the tomb of Jizi. Jizi also left behind literary works such as the "Mai Xiu Poem," an expression of sorrow and lamentation he wrote when returning to his homeland from Shandong and seeing the remnants of his people on their native soil.

　　The original Jizi's Reading Platform in Xihua County was built during the Ming Dynasty. After the liberation, it was designated as a county-level cultural relic protection unit but collapsed due to erosion in 1980. The current Jizi's Reading Platform was rebuilt in 2000 through social fundraising on the original site, located within a hundred-acre lake in the northwest corner of the county town. The platform is square-shaped and paved with bluestone. On the platform stands a square-shaped Jizi Pavilion (shrine), built with blue bricks and covered with gray tiles on the ridges, retaining the appearance of ancient architecture, reminiscent of the former scene of "Chou Ting Xi Zhao" (Evening Glow at the Terrace).

　　Source: Office of the People's Government of Xihua County