The "Bronze Short Sword" of the Ancient City Village
Author Li Jichao
Recently, in Gucheng Village, Guapo Town, Huazhou District, Weinan City, Shaanxi Province, I was surprised to see a thousand-year-old "bronze short sword" unearthed locally! Although this bronze short sword has been buried in the ground for a thousand years, it still does not lose the bravery and sharpness of that year, which makes people alert after seeing it!
Mr. Liu Jinchao's collection of "bronze short swords"
According to the author and the witnesses (Mr. Liu Tiegong), the "bronze short sword" – or rather, a "bronze short sword" – is a "residual sword" (i.e., an ancient sword without a tip)! On-site observation and measurement: The body and hilt of the sword are cast together at one time, and it is still so heavy in the hand, without the outer handguard part of the handle. The metal part, the whole body is bright copper-green, the sharpness of the blades on both sides, not reduced by the year, is still very sharp, the texture is bronze alloy. According to the measurement on December 7, 2021: the bronze short sword, with a total length of 44.5 cm and a total weight of 790 g, the net length of the sword body is 34 cm, the length of the sword handle is 10.5 cm, the diameter of the bottom circle of the handle guard is 4.2 cm, the width of the bottom of the sword body is 5 cm (50 mm), and the width of the top of the sword is 3.8cm (38 mm). Experts can calculate the total length of the original sword body based on two data.
The discoverer of the sword was Mr. Liu Jinchao, a villager in the village. This sword was found in September 2019 while collecting soil from a machine brick kiln yard in the northwest corner of Gucheng Village. Old Liu, who pays attention to and cherishes cultural relics, has always collected, treasured and kept them around, and kept them properly.
After taking a picture of the original sword, the author forwarded it to a friend, and after the cultural relics expert - Liu Hexin looked at the picture, the preliminary judgment was: "It should be a weapon of the Spring and Autumn And Warring States period!" To accurately determine, it is also necessary to carefully see the actual object before the conclusion can be concluded.
Gucheng Village, located in the eastern part of the Guanzhong Plain of the Weihe River in Shaanxi Province, on the south bank of the Wei River, is located at the tail end of the eastern part of the tertiary loess mound. The terrain and topography of this village are bounded by the Mayu River in the northern foothills of the Qinling Mountains, the terrain and geology of the flood fan deposited by sand and gravel in the east of the river, and the villages and most of the farmland in Hexi are deep loess-shaped and geological areas. The profound loess resources have made this village one of the main sites for people to make pottery and building bricks and tile materials since ancient times.
Pottery excavated around the Ancient City
After the reform and opening up of the countryside, there are as many as 4 machine bricks, machine tiles and large-scale enterprises in the village. The profound loess resources provide effective resource development space for building materials enterprises. For decades, in the deep use of loess resources, although no concentrated and large number of ancient tomb communities have been found, sporadic pottery and ancient coins and other cultural relics have been unearthed from time to time, which have been collected and stored by careful villagers. Some clay pots and clay pots were taken away cheaply by cultural relics dealers.
According to the ancient documents published a few years ago, the Weinan Zhiban Learned that in the initial stage of China's feudal society, that is, after the establishment of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the basic form of its political system was the system of "sealing the princes and building the feudal guards". Its land is a very small fiefdom of the princes, the Gutong State Fief, which is said to be "on the west bank of the Mayu River, around the ancient city village.". It can be seen that the history and culture of this village are profound! And because the ancient Tong kingdom was very small and did not have many achievements, there are very few records in historical materials.
Couplets on the houses of the old city
Although there is a scarcity of information about the ancient Tong kingdom, there are still some literature that shows the humanistic stories related to the ancient Tong kingdom:
(1) The establishment of the Western Zhou Dynasty, "King Cheng of Zhou sealed his son Yu Tong", or established the "Tong State" with little fame.
(2) In the initial stage of the Warring States period, the two princely states of Qin and Wei fought for territory and fought in the eastern plain of Weishui. In 352 BC, under the strong attack of the Wei army, Duke Xiao of Qin had to seek peace with King Hui of Wei and meet at Tongcheng to seek reconciliation. History: Qin Wei will ally with Tongcheng.
(3) Tongdi was also a place where Shang Martingale was tortured. Shang Martin (c. 395 BC – 338 BC) was a politician, thinker, and pre-Qin legalist reformer during the Warring States period. During the reign of Duke Xiao of Qin, he reigned for 19 years and carried out drastic reforms, and the strength of the Qin state was significantly enhanced. The reform measures he advocated, thereby harming the interests of the aristocratic group of the Qin state, held a grudge. Qin Xiaogong collapsed, and his son King Hui of Qin succeeded to the throne, listening to gongzi Qian's cruel words and falsely accusing Shang Martin of plotting rebellion. Forced by helplessness, Shang Martin raised shang soldiers to counterattack, and Yu Shangluo sent troops to attack Zheng in the north to clear his innocence. As a result, Shang Martin was killed by King Hui of Qin at Zheng Guoshichi. After his death, he was also punished by King Hui of Qin with "five horses divided into corpses, the car split in Tong, and the Shang clan was exterminated." ”
The occurrence of these vivid and specific historical and cultural stories is related to the ancient Tong kingdom.
The Citrus Trees of Gucheng Village are selected from the Forestry Chronicle of Huaxian County
Today, this precious "bronze short sword" cultural relics unearthed in Gucheng Village are extremely similar in appearance, and the short swords on display are similar when the Hubei Provincial Museum treasures "Yue Wang Gou Jian, Lying Down and Tasting Courage".
How much historical and humanistic value does this "bronze short sword" have? Why is there no sword tip? These mysteries are still to be determined by the bronze experts.
Li Jichao of Huazhou District Folk Research Association
2021/12/10~11 Night in Huazhou Caocheng
2021/12/12 At 23:45 p.m., electronic version and correction will be made
Source: Author's contribution
Original author: Li Jichao
Compilation and editing: Huazhou Literature and History Collection