Tomb of Zheng Zhenxiang and The Woman
—— She is not only the excavator of the tomb of the woman, but also a researcher
I have said on many occasions that the most exciting thing for archaeologists is to suddenly "recognize" the owner of the tomb in the process of digging an ancient tomb.
Zheng Zhenxiang "recognized" the earliest real person with a name and a surname in the era so far: Woman Hao.
More than 3,200 years ago, the woman was the queen, bright and beautiful. She was active in politics, galloping on the battlefield, presiding over sacrifices, inspecting the year, giving birth to children, and summoning "many women". She loves to collect, especially likes exquisite jade, and lives like a modern "petty bourgeoisie".
Zheng Zhenxiang
Statue of Yin Ruins Woman and Good Woman's Hall
Ruins of the tomb of The Lady of Yin
Mr. Cheng Chun-hsiung has used quilts, soap boxes and enamel cups
More than 3,200 years ago, beautiful women "returned to dust". She laid down her man, her country, and slept on a low hill on the bank of the Huan River.
More than 3200 years later, with the arrival of female archaeologist Zheng Zhenxiang, the legendary queen finally crossed over and became known today.
In 1975, Zheng Zhenxiang arranged his field work in the Xiaotun area. This year, her luck seems to be particularly good, first excavating 2 Yin Dynasty house foundations in Xiaotun North, and then discovering a place that may be the place where the Shang royal family made jade ware in the late Yin Dynasty. It was also this year that Zheng Zhenxiang drilled into a well-preserved tomb in the northwest of Xiaotun Village, which was larger than the ordinary commercial tombs that can be seen in ordinary times. Her extensive field experience convinced her that she was about to meet a Shang nobleman.
The process of excavating the tomb of the woman, Zheng Zhenxiang wrote an article, described in detail. You can also search for various paraphrasings from the Internet, and I have no intention of repeating them. In this article, I will only talk about Zheng Zhenxiang's discussion of the tomb of the woman who cannot be found on the Internet. For example, how was the owner of the tomb determined? What does it mean to be "good for a woman"? Is the tomb of the woman buried alone in the temple area of the palace? In what ways did the discovery of this tomb drive archaeological research?
In 1976, when the tomb of the woman was just opened, Zheng Zhenxiang was shocked. The tomb contains 210 bronze containers, plus a large number of weapons, tools, etc., and the total weight of bronzes reaches 1.6 tons. More than 750 pieces of jade tools buried in the tomb allowed Zheng Zhenxiang to see the rich variety of jade in the Shang Dynasty. What excited Zheng Zhenxiang the most was, of course, the inscription on the word "woman good" or "good" on the 109 bronzes. When she realized that the "woman good" inscribed on the bronze was the spouse of Wuding, the Shang King, which was frequently mentioned by the oracle bones, she fully understood that she had met a Shang Dynasty queen.
In order to "verify" his judgment, Zheng Zhenxiang held a symposium with scholars from the Institute of Archaeology and history of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, as well as the Department of History of Peking University. Scholars have argued about the identity of the tomb owner. The discussion process was very warm, but everyone's conclusion was surprisingly unanimous: the tomb owner was one of the three spouses of Wu Ding, the "king of Zhongxing" in the Shang Dynasty: Yu Xin.
The importance of the tomb of women's good is not only the rich number of burial items, but also the historical information behind the cultural relics.
Zheng Zhenxiang believes that "woman good" is the "specific reference" of the tomb owner, "woman" is his knight, and "good" (or "son") is his surname. In the genealogy of the Shang King, a good woman is Yu Xin. "Xin" is its "temple number" in the genealogy. Zheng Zhenxiang also believes that another set of inscriptions seen in the bronze ware of the tomb of the woman may be the "word" of the woman's good.
At the same time as excavating the tomb of Nühao, Zheng Zhenxiang explored the surrounding area and confirmed that the tomb of Nühao did not exist alone in the Temple Area of the Shang Dynasty Palace. In 1981, Zheng Zhenxiang published the information of the other two Yin tombs in the article "Two Yin Dynasty Tombs in the North of Xiaotun Village in Anyang", using facts to show that there are other tombs around the Tomb of Lady Good, and may even be the tomb of Lady Good's relatives.
Archaeologists often date excavated artifacts by "staging". As early as the 1960s, archaeologists divided the relics of Yin Ruins into four phases, which roughly corresponded to the more than 200 years of history after Pan Geng moved to Yin. Stratigraphic studies have scheduled each period of artifacts relatively early and early: the first period is earlier than the second period, the second period is earlier than the third period, and the third period is earlier than the fourth period.
Although relative chronology was established, the chronology established according to stratigraphy and typology could not be directly connected with the successive Shang kings. The excavated cultural relics of the Tomb of Lady Hao belong to the second phase of the fourth phase of Yin Ruins. The woman is not only the spouse of Wu Ding, but also died before Wu Ding, so the absolute age of the cultural relics of the second phase of Yin Ruins corresponds to the early Wu Ding period. Therefore, the chronicle of the cultural relics of Yin Ruins directly established contact with the Shang King. This is of great significance for the study of the Shang Dynasty.
In several of her papers, Zheng Zhenxiang expounded the academic value of the tomb in this regard very clearly.
In the past, everyone is familiar with Zheng Zhenxiang more because she is an excavator, and I hope that this article can make everyone understand that Zheng Zhenxiang is not only an excavator of the tomb of women, but also a researcher of the tomb of women.
Zheng Zhenxiang excavated and studied women's goodness, in addition to fate, but also rely on persistence. The 1980 edition of "The Tomb of the Good Women of Yin Ruins" was completed under difficult conditions.
Zheng Zhenxiang and the archaeologists are stationed in the wilderness west of Xiaotun Village in Anyang. In the early winter, I went to Mr. Cheng's dormitory to ask questions, and I saw Mr. Zheng's slightly dry quilt stacked on the simple wooden bed, the flashlight, the soap box, and the enamel cup she used (Picture 1). On the bulky and mottled desk, the vermilion paint had fallen off in pieces, and the remains of candles were stuck to the tabletop, telling me that last night My husband had read with a candle. Looking at the thin brick walls, I could even feel the biting cold wind whistling through the cracks when night came.
Zheng Zhenxiang's fate with the woman is not only the discovery of the tomb of the woman, in fact, there is also the palace where the woman has visited in the past.
In 1989, Zheng Zhenxiang discovered a Shang Dynasty building in the northeast of Xiaotun. The scale of this building is grand, and under the steps of the "main hall" in the north, a bronze cup cast with the words "Wu Father B" has been excavated. This bronze vessel, along with several clay pots buried in rammed earth, indicates that the building was completed during the Wuding period. Regardless of the age, scale, or location, there is a high probability that this building is the palace where Women Hao and Wu Ding walked side by side.
Mr. Zheng Zhenxiang is 92 years old this year. This is the second time I have written about mr.
She didn't like it when people wrote about her. But how can others forget the legend of her encounter with a good woman?
Tang Jigen
December 13, 2021
(From 1993 to 2017, the author was the leader of the Anyang Archaeological Team at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and is now a Chair Professor at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Southern University of Science and Technology.) ）
Reprinted from The Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The first three pictures come from the Internet