One of the ancient books in the National Museum's collection is very large, equivalent to twice as large as a regular book. The prints in the book are also large, the size of a fist. And his fame is even greater, and all those who study bronze regard him as a must-read classic, which is the ming dynasty ancient book "Zhida Reconstruction Xuanhe Bogu Catalogue".
Turning the page, a series of exquisite depictions of bronzes appear before our eyes. In this book, there are 839 bronzes of various types, each of which can be called the best of the three bronzes of the Xia Shang Dynasty.
In ancient China, collecting more than 800 bronzes and compiling them into books was a huge project. The preciousness of this ancient book is obvious. However, this is not the full value of this ancient book, because it is a biography left by the Song Ben "Xuanhe Bogutu" after two re-engravings, and he can find more secrets in the Song Ben "Xuanhe Bogutu".
Before the Song Dynasty, people worshipped the excavated bronzes as auspicious objects. From the Song Dynasty onwards, Shang and Zhou bronzes became the object of study, and the Song Dynasty epigraphy was also formed.
Among the founders of epigraphy, the famous female lyricist Li Qingzhao is also listed among them. She and her husband, Zhao Mingcheng, a great collector of the Song Dynasty, were like-minded and developed a strong interest in bronzes. Once they encountered a Shang Zhou bronze at the market, they poured out all of them and still couldn't buy it. Zhao Mingcheng was so anxious that he took off his clothes and gave them to the seller. The seller was finally impressed by their sincerity and sold them the bronzes.
In this way, through 20 years of accumulation, the husband and wife printed bronze inscriptions and 2,000 volumes of Han and Tang dynasty stone carvings into the "Golden Stone Record" and published it. This book became one of the important works of epigraphy in the Song Dynasty.
During the Song Dynasty, the study of Shang and Zhou bronzes gradually formed, and holding sacrifices following the etiquette of the Zhou Dynasty also became a pleasure for the government and the public.
As a sacrificial ceremonial vessel, the Shang Zhou bronzes were copied in large quantities, but the question also arises, where does the sample of the imitation bronze come from? Xuanhe Bogutu came into being.
Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Tuo, was one of the most collecting emperors in Chinese history, and he collected a large number of ancient bronzes in his Xuanhe Hall.
In order to solve the problem of imitating bronze patterns, Emperor Huizong of Song ordered that the bronzes collected by Xuanhe Hall be compiled into a book, and the Xuanhe Bogutu was compiled during the Song Xuanhe period.
The Xuanhe Bogutu contains a total of 839 bronzes in 20 categories in the Xuanhe Temple, each of which has a general description, a drawing, an inscription extension and an interpretation, and records the size, weight and capacity of the artifacts in detail, and some also record the place of excavation, color and name of the collector.
Xuanhe Bogutu is the first officially published collection of bronze catalogues in ancient China, and he pioneered the large-scale catalogue of bronzes in ancient China.
Many bronze names such as Ding, Zun, Jug, and Gluttony are used from this book and are still in use today.
It is regrettable that after the Jing Kang Disaster, the bronzes hidden in xuanhe hall were looted by jin soldiers, and the Xuanhe Bogutu was also lost in the war.
Fortunately, in order to imitate the ancient bronze ceremonial vessels, the Southern Song Dynasty court finally found this bronze catalogue collection after ten years of searching.
From the Yuan Dynasty to the Great Age, the Yuan Dynasty people re-engraved the original "Zhi da Re-repair Xuanhe BoguTu" according to the Song "Xuanhe Bogutu". However, song's Xuanhe Bogutu was completely lost.
Since then, the original edition of the "Great Restoration xuanhe and Bogu Catalogue" has been reprinted many times. Among them, the version engraved in the seventh year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty is the best. Compared with other engravings, this ancient book also has an additional chapter in the collection, and it is this chapter that reveals a little-known secret for us.
The shape of this collection chapter is very special, and the peach shape and square border are engraved with four large characters "Lu Guo Yu Zhuan". According to historical records, the State of Lu was a fiefdom of Zhu Yijun, the younger brother of the Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. During the Ming Dynasty, the king of the clan could also use the character "御", so the "Luguo Imperial Transmission" peach-shaped seal was Zhu Yi's library seal.
Coincidentally, a Ming Dynasty bronze ding in the collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing also has the word "Luguo" on it. The side of this Ding is built "Daming Chongzhen Nine Years Lu Guo System Wanton Picker".
Turning the page of the book to compare the bronze ding, it is found that this bronze ding moves the four legs of the square top to the dome, breaking the traditional form of the three legs of the round ding.
The ornamentation imitates the cicada pattern and animal face pattern that were commonly popular during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. This Luguo copper ding not only completed the double imitation of the fang ding and the yuan ding, but also boldly reformed the style, becoming a very typical artifact for the imitation and transformation of the bronze ceremonial vessel of the Shang Zhou in ancient China.
Through this connection, we find the source of the ancient Chinese imitation of the innovative Shang Zhou bronzes, but also let us see the development of the Song Dynasty bronze culture on the influence of future generations, ancient books and cultural relics correspond, but also show the preciousness of this ancient book.