The Eight Diagram Field first appeared in the records of the Ming Dynasty. According to the "West Lake Tour Chronicle", it is recorded: "There is an imperial field from the Song Dynasty in the scenic spot of Nanshan. It’s under the Tianlong Temple and in the shape of an eight-diagram pattern, hence, commonly known as Eight-Diagram Field. It’s still orderly arranged". In the first lunar month of the fifteenth year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty (1145), Emperor Gaozong of Song, Zhao Gou accepted the proposal of the officials of the Ministry of Rites and opened up farmland in the southern suburbs of the capital (that is, the current site of Eight-Diagram Field). Every spring when it’s time to start the year’s ploughing, the imperial family would lead civil and military officials to the field to perform Jitian Ritual, the ritual of the emperor, known as the Son of Heaven, personally farming in the field. In the Ming Dynasty, the Eight-Diagram Field gradually became a famous scenic spot in Hangzhou. Gao Lian recorded the beautiful scene at that time in the article "Watching Rape Flowers in the Eight-Diagram Field" in his book "Quietly Enjoying the Seasonal Views". During the Jiajing Period of the Ming Dynasty, Ruan E, a local official in charge of education in the area, built a Taiji Pavilion here. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the magistrate Nie Zhengtang rebuilt the Taiji Pavilion, which no longer exists today. Since the Ming Dynasty, the field has been cultivated by nearby residents as fertile land. After entering the 90s of the 20th century, Eight-Diagram Field lost its touch. In 2007, Hangzhou Municipal Party Committee and Municipal People’s Government launched the comprehensive renovation project of Yuhuang Shan’nan (South of Jade Emperor Hill). The renovated Park of Eight-Diagram Field Relics is divided into four major areas: the main entrance square area, the ancient ruins protection area, the farming culture experience area, and the farming culture exhibition area.
The Eight-Diagram Field is the site of the imperial field of the Southern Song Dynasty. Every spring when it’s time for the year’s ploughing, the imperial family would lead civil and military officials to this place to perform the Jitian Ritual, where the emperor would hold the plough to push three times and pull once to pay tribute to Shennong. Three days before the ritual, a cyan box made of bamboo and wood by Sinongsi (an ancient government organization in charge of grain storage and the supply of grain for officials) would be filled with nine kinds of grain seeds that would be used in the ritual. After the Southern Song Dynasty established Hangzhou as the capital, the grain seeds that were sown in the field were also these nine kinds of grain.
?6?7The Jitian Ritual is a relatively large-scale ceremony in ancient China’s political and economic life, where sacrifices were offered to Shennong and emperors farmed personally. It reflects "the afterimage of the history of the clan leader (the patriarch in a patriarchal society), the clan members and the mass working together at the end of the primitive society”. It reflects the farmers' good wishes of "sages working and eating with the mass, cooking for themselves and governing the country for the mass".
The field is octagonal, shaped like an eight-diagram pattern, commonly known as Eight-Diagram Field. The pattern of eight diagrams is a set of symbols with symbolic meaning in ancient China. The pattern "一" represents “yang”, while "--" is used to represent yin. Three such symbols are used to form eight forms, called eight diagrams. Each divinatory symbol represents a certain thing. “Qian (乾) Trigram” represents heaven, “Kun (坤)” represents earth, “Kan (坎)” represents water, “Li (离)” represents fire, “Zhen (震)” represents thunder, “Gen (艮)” represents mountain, “Xun (巽)” represents wind, and “Dui (兑)” represents swamp.