The Yuguo Cemetery is a public cemetery of the princely states from the Western Zhou To the Spring and Autumn Period, which has undergone two large-scale excavations and unearthed more than 30,000 cultural relics. In particular, nearly 10,000 pieces of jade unearthed, complete in variety, excellent jade, exquisite shape, beautiful ornamentation, exquisite craftsmanship, its value is rare in the archaeology of the Zhou Dynasty, and it is an artistic treasure of China's pre-Qin period. Although a large number of jade artifacts have been unearthed from the Yuguo cemetery, there are very few jade objects with inscriptions, and only five have been reported so far. Scarce things are precious, and the rareness of inscribed jade makes its value greatly increased. Here, the author will try to talk about a few rough understandings of several pieces of inscribed jade excavated from the Yuguo cemetery.
First, the introduction of inscribed jade
Fig. 1-1 "Minor minister" Yubi
Fig. 1-2 "Minor Minister" Jade Bi inscription
Fig. 1-3 "Minor Minister" Yubi inscription rubbing
"Minor Minister" Yubi (Figure 1): Excavated in 1990 in the tomb of Yu Zhong, the cemetery of Yu Guo, M2009. Diameter 14.9 cm, pore diameter 6.8 cm, thickness 0.7 cm. Green and white jade. Bean blue, locally brownish yellow due to the qin, interspersed with a few white spots and black spots, with two cracks. Flat and round, surface photometric, regular production. The outer edge of the body is engraved with a line of four-character inscription "Xiao Chenzhi", with slender strokes and clear and regular handwriting. The Bi is the only bi ring jade with writing in the yuguo cemetery.
Fig. 2-1 "XiaoChen Properly See" Yu Chun
Fig. 2-2 "Xiaochen To see" Yu Chun inscription
Fig. 2-3 "Xiaochen To see" Yu Chun inscription rubbing
"Xiaochen Tomi" Yu Chun (Fig. 2): Excavated in 1990 in the tomb of Yu Zhong in the tomb of Yu Guo Cemetery M2009. Height 12.1 cm, width 4.9 to 5.1 cm, aperture 4 cm, shooting height 2 cm. Green and white jade. Bluish-white, locally covered with yellow or brown spots or markings. The jade is warm and crystalline, slightly transparent. Square column, inner circle outside, higher shot. A nearly elliptical perforation is laterally cut out at one end of the proximal projectile, and its overall shape resembles the drill marks on the Bones of the Shang Dynasty. The plane of the muzzle at one end is vertically inscribed in a clockwise direction with a line of four characters "Xiaochen Dumi". It is the only piece of jade with writing unearthed from the cemetery of the Kingdom of Yu.
Fig. 3-1 "Xiao Chen" Yu ge
Fig. 3-2 "Xiao Chen" Yuge inscription
Fig. 3-3 "Xiao Chen" Yuge inscription rubbing
"Xiao Chen" Yu Ge (Fig. 3): Excavated in 1991 in the tomb of Mrs. Yu Ji in M2012. Length 28.4 cm, length 24.4 cm, width 4.7 to 5.2 cm, inner length 4 cm, width 4.5 cm, thickness 0.6 cm. jasper. The jade is of good quality, and it is grayish-white on one side. Triangle bias, straight reinforcement, reinforcement ridge, edge blade, straight inside, inner blade. There is a round piercing in the middle of the reinforcement, one-way drilling. All-over photonsel, the production is more delicate. The inner front end is vertically inscribed with a line of three-character "Xiao Chen", with a rough stroke. The Ge is the only piece of jade ge with writing unearthed from the Yuguo cemetery.
Figure 4-1 "Wang Bai" Yu Zhen
Fig. 4-2 "Wang Bai" jade inscription
Fig. 4-3 "Wang Bai" jade rubbing
"Wang Bai" Jade (Figure 4): Excavated in 1990 in the tomb of the noble lady Meng Jiao in M2006. Length 9.2cm, width 2.5cm, thickness 0.8cm. Green jade. Most of the subjects have brown spots. The whole is angular and curved. The upper part is carved into a dragon shape with a double hook and yin line, with the dragon's head downwards, and the middle part is tied at the waist, and the lower part has a blunt tip. The ornamentation on both sides is the same, the dragon opens its mouth and bows, the subject word, the treasure bottle-like horn is attached to the ridge, the dragon's legs are bent forward, the dragon's claws are on the ground, and the dragon's tail is rolled up. The dragon body is decorated with a back pattern, and the tail is decorated with a heavy ring pattern. The lower part is decorated with three sets of deformed cicada patterns, with two parallel straight lines between them. The tail of the tornado has a round wear, and the word "Wang Bai" is inscribed on the outer edge. The word "white" was once re-engraved, the original "white" word is smaller, the stroke is also thinner and shallower, the "white" word after the re-engraving is slightly larger, and the lower part is pressed on top of the original "white" word. The jade inscription is the only piece of jade with writing unearthed from the cemetery of the Kingdom of Yu.
Figure 5-1 "Wang Bai" jade pipe
Fig. 5-2 "Wang Bai" jade pipe inscription
Fig. 5-3 "Wang Bai" jade pipe inscription rubbing
"Wang Bai" jade pipe (Figure 5): Excavated in 1990 in the tomb of Yu Zhong in M2009. Height 5.7 cm, thin end diameter 1.7 to 1.9 cm, coarse end diameter 1.7 to 2.15 cm, middle 0.8 to 1.8 cm. Green jade, locally brown spots. Cylinder, flush at both ends, one end is thin and straight, the other end is slightly thicker, and the middle is slightly waist-tied, slightly flared. The two ends are oval in plan, the center is drilled and perforated, the aperture of the two ends is similar in size, the middle is thinner, and there is a nearly square piece of broken jade inside the perforation. The surface of the jade pipe is decorated with yin line string patterns around the surface, and the surface is divided into three segments, with cloud thunder patterns between the two ends of the strings, and four groups of double rows of yin lines between the middle strings. The thick-ended flat surface is engraved with the word "Wang Bai", and the strokes are thin and shallow. The jade pipe is the only jade pipe with writing in the yuguo cemetery.
The above five pieces of jade are rare inscription jade excavated from the cemetery of The Kingdom of Yu, and are an indispensable part of the cultural system of the jade of the Country of Yu, and their important historical, artistic and scientific research value is self-evident.
2. Interpretation of inscriptions
Among the three "Xiaochen" jades, there are different opinions on the interpretation of the inscriptions. "Xiao Chen" is common in Shang Zhou Bu Ci, Jin Wen and Pre-Qin literature. There are usually two interpretations: one refers to the ancient official position, and the other refers to the modest title of the ancient official. Most scholars believe that the "small minister" on jade means the latter, similar to the later "subject". I also think this explanation is more appropriate, because I generally do not call my official position. The third word on the jade is considered to be the name of the xiaochen, that is, the name of the xiaochen on the jade bi is "system", the name of the minor minister on the jade is "appropriate", and the name of the minor minister on the jade is "", and the academic circles are basically unanimous.
There were divergent views on the interpretation of the fourth word. The fourth word "見" in the inscription "Xiaochen Properly See" has two interpretations: one is "觐見", that is, the Xiaochen dynasty meets the king; the other is the "see" ceremony in ancient sacrifices, that is, the "seeing" ceremony in the sacrifice presided over or participated in the sacrifice. The author believes that it is more appropriate to interpret it as "seeing", that is, the quince is a gift brought by a subordinate named Tou when he visits the king, and his name is engraved for the king's identification. Because sacrifice is a very important thing in ancient times, it is usually recorded by special personnel, and it will also involve the time, place, sacrifice, etc. of the sacrifice, which will not be so simple and perfunctory.
There are three interpretations in the academic circles: Mr. Qiu Xigui's "First Edition of the Treatise on Ancient Texts" is interpreted as "harm", which is pronounced "sacrifice", which means that the bi was contributed to the Shang King by the Xiaochen clan, and Mr. Li Xueqin also supported this view. Even Mr. Shaoming's "Shang Dynasty Minor Minister's Lineage jade from the cemetery of the Kingdom of Yu" is also interpreted as "harm", but it is pronounced as "Gurudwara", which means pilgrimage, referring to the gift brought by a subordinate named Zhi when he met the Shang King. There is also another interpretation of "harm", but it is interpreted as "harm", which means that the minor minister is injured. The author agrees with Mr. Lian's explanation, because in ancient times, when subordinates visited the king, they usually had to bring "贽" (meeting ceremony). Zheng Xuan zhuyun of the "Ceremony of Ceremonies and Ceremonies of Seeing The Soldiers": "Those who are greedy, so those who are trustworthy, the gentleman who meets the respected, will be held in order to give his kindness." "This jade bi, like the jade above, was a gift brought by his subordinates when they visited the king. If it is a tribute, it usually does not appear in a single piece, and most of them will not be engraved on it.
The inscription of the "minor minister" Ge only indicates that he was an official named, and could not read more information. In the bu ci, it is a method of using animals, which Mr. Guo Moruo believes is the word "throw". The two "Wang Bai" jade inscriptions are simpler and have different interpretations: one holds that "Wang" is the King of Shang, and "Wang Bai" is "Uncle of the King of Shang", referring to the leader of the Fang State in the Shang Dynasty; the other is that "Wang" is the king of the tribe, and "Bai" is the name, but the specific reference to the king of that tribe is not clear. Because these artifacts come from the tombs of the princes and nobles with the same surname as the King of Zhou, we speculate that "Wang Bai" may be "Zhou Fangbai", that is, the former king of the Zhou Dynasty, Ji Li or King Wen of Zhou.
3. Age and name
In the jade inscriptions, "Xiao Chentuo" is recorded in both Bu Ci and Jin Wen. For example, the "Oracle Bone Collection" 5578 "Xiaochen Tou", 27890 years "but Xiaochen Tuzhi does not fish"; "Three Generations of Jijin Wencun" records "Zi Tu Ding", "Tu Ding" and so on. In addition, the "Ancient Jade Catalogue" also contains a piece of "Xiaochentuo" jade, which proves that "Xiaochentuo" was an important figure in the Shang Dynasty. Although the "Xiaochen Lineage" is not found in the Bu Ci, it is found in the Bronze Tablets of the Late Shang Xiaochen Clan recorded in the "Three Dynasties" and the stone fence excavated from the 1003 tomb of Houjiazhuang in YinXu, which proves that the Xiaochen clan is indeed a person of the Shang Dynasty. Moreover, the structure of these inscribed fonts is very similar and should belong to the same person in the same period. Therefore, these three pieces of Xiaochen jade are all Shang Dynasty objects. Two pieces of "Wang Bai" jade, "Wang Bai" is a jiming inscription, commonly found in the Shang Zhou Bu Ci and Jin Wen. According to the characteristics of the double hook and yin line and the square folding of the inscription commonly used in jade ornamentation, it is also concluded that it is a Shang Dynasty thing. Why did the Shang Dynasty jade come to the tomb of the State of Yu, which may be closely related to "the king of The Zhou Dynasty captured the merchants, got the old treasure jade 14,000, and pei yuyi had 80,000", and the king of Zhou distributed the jade he obtained to the people who had made meritorious contributions to the destruction of the shang, and the ancestors of the state of Yu were also among them, and naturally passed down.
In addition, I would like to talk about the issue of naming. There is basically no controversy about the above-mentioned names of Yu Chun, Yu Ge and Yu Guan, but there are objections to the names of Yu Bi and Yu Zhen. Some scholars have named the "Xiaochen lineage" Yubi as the "Xiaochen lineage" Yuyi. According to the records of the Erya Shi Ji , " Meat is better than bi , good meat is called a ring " , and good meat is a ring " , they believe that the meat of the "xiaochen lineage" Jade Bi is not exactly equal, but it is very close, and should be named "Yao". The person who is named "Bi" is based on Mr. Xia Nai's note on the Erya: "It is suggested that these three be collectively called BiHuan, or simply Bi. The body is used as a thin circle, and the aperture is greater than 1/2 of the ring of the body; the word 瑗 is not used. The author also thinks that it is more appropriate to be destined for "Bi", because the concept of "瑗" is too absolute, and since it cannot reach the standard of "good meat if one", it is simply not used, and it is a lot less troublesome.
For the "Wang Bai" Jade, some people are named "弭". Probably because although this artifact is a bow, the tip is rounded and blunt, not as sharp as the cat, and cannot play a role in untangling. The author believes that it is better to order the "觿", one is because the "弭" is relatively rare and not commonly used, and the other is because although the original use of such utensils was used to untangle, it has actually become a decorative ornament to wear later, such as this "Wang Bai" jade pendant, unearthed on the neck of the tomb owner, as if used as a pendant in hair ornaments.