After the 70-ton 'Yellow River Iron Bull' was fished out in the Tang Dynasty, why was it not protected in the open air? Expert: dare not

In Chinese history, the Yellow River was called the "Mother River". As an important river that nurtured the Chinese civilization, the Gansu-Qingdao civilization, the Central Plains civilization, and the Haidai civilization were born in the area through which it flows. As a representative archaeological culture, Yangshao Culture, Longshan culture and Dawenkou culture are well known.

However, the Chinese civilization developed thanks to the water source conditions and soil conditions provided by the Yellow River, the mother river, but in the long historical cycle accompanied by population growth and environmental damage, conflicts have arisen with the mother river, the Yellow River. The Yellow River is becoming more and more unruly.

Therefore, river management has also become an important measure to appease the people in the past dynasties.

Among the many strategies for controlling the Yellow River, there are Xu Youzhen's combination of dredging, Pan Jixun's absorption of the achievements of his predecessors, and the invention of practical engineering skills such as the "shushing water flushing method". "Prayer" and "repression" by means of sacrifice and the five elements.

In the thirteenth year of Kaiyuan in the Tang Dynasty, the Yellow River Iron Bull was cast as an example. Such huge 4 Yellow River Iron Bulls were placed in the current Yongji County. There are two theories about its function. One is to stabilize the Pujin pontoon that maintains the traffic between Qin and Jin; the other is to It is the application of the theory of the five elements. As for the water of the Yellow River, in the Book of Changes, there is a saying that "Ox is relative to Kun, Kun is soil, and soil is better than water". As such, placing iron bulls on both sides of the Yellow River can deter the flooding of the Yellow River.

But it is not known whether its effect is effective. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Pujin pontoon bridge was destroyed, and then the Yellow River flooded, and the four iron bulls were also submerged.

With the founding of New China, the state has attached great importance to the management of the Yellow River, and a series of hydropower stations have been built one after another, and the flooding of the Yellow River has been gradually managed. However, the construction of the hydropower station will inevitably lead to the deepening of the water level of the Yellow River. When the water level of the Yellow River can be depleted, the iron ox, which is faintly visible to people, will be in an embarrassing situation.

Out of the protection of historical relics and the study of historical facts, the excavation of the four Yellow River Iron Bulls is naturally on the agenda. In 1988, with the strong support of the Yongji County Party Committee and the government, the excavation work was carried out. After more than a year of investigation and positioning, the four Yellow River Iron Bulls regained their honor.

However, the handling of the four Yellow River Iron Bulls quickly aroused criticism. It turned out that after the four iron bulls were excavated, the Yongji County Cultural Relics Bureau, which is the cultural relics authority, chose an unbelievable method of disposal, placing the four cultural relics with a history of more than 1,200 years in the open air.

Such cultural relics with historical value are placed in the open air? How to solve security problems? How should cultural relics be protected? These doubts are endless. At this time, the experts finally stood up and explained the reason: for the 70-ton iron bull made of iron, it was not that they did not want to control it, but they did not dare to move.

Originally, iron cultural relics are difficult to protect due to material problems, let alone an iron bull weighing 70 tons. Once a little careless, it will inevitably cause irreparable damage.

But since it has been unearthed, it is natural to do its due diligence and not let it go. In the end, after careful consideration, the experts decided to still place the iron bull in the open air, but it should be supplemented by "in-situ lifting". The four iron bulls are lifted in situ, so that it can not only avoid moving and damage the iron bulls, but also better use the lifting to protect and maintain the cultural relics.

Today's four iron bulls stand still on the old beach of the Yellow River. They can't speak, but they still show us the ancients' ability to manage the Yellow River and reflect the subjective initiative of human beings. We do not necessarily want people to conquer the sky, but we must have the unyielding spirit of arrogance.