In 2014, the Suzhou Museum collected a bronze sword from the Spring and Autumn Period. The sword is engraved with a 75-character inscription, which is the longest sword in China to date!
This is a sword from the State of Wu in the Spring and Autumn Period. Because of the influence of two legendary sword casting masters, Gan Jiang and Ou Yezi, "Wu Yue Sword" has always been the top "brand guarantee" in that period!
01, 75 character inscription "Wu Wang Sword"
This bronze sword is a narrow grid in the shape of a "one", with a round stem with two hoops, a disc-shaped head, a ridge raised, a wide oblique, a significant narrowing of the incision, and an arc of the double edge. Length 57.5cm, width 4.8cm, waist section approx. 22cm.
In addition to its preciousness, it is famous from the State of Wu, but also because its sword is cast with a 75-character inscription, which is the most sword in the sword-type weapon inscriptions unearthed so far!
The inscription reveals the identity of the sword, which was the sword of the Wu monarch Yu 皌 (mò) during the Spring and Autumn Period, so it is also known as the "Wu King Yu Yu Sword".
Experts interpreted the 75-word inscription, and after being surprised, they were like the most precious treasures, even called "national treasures"!
It turned out that the inscription on this Wu Guobao sword recorded a wealth of historical information. The inscription not only contains the names of the three Wu kings and the names of the three countries, but also records the conquest and succession to the throne, which is a precious material for studying the history of the Spring and Autumn Period!
In these inscriptions, a rare "brother to brother" system in the Chinese imperial system for thousands of years is recorded!
02、 The "secret" in the inscription
Throughout the ages, we have heard many tragic incidents of fathers and sons turning against each other and brothers fighting for the throne! But more than 3,000 years ago, Wu Guo could actually have a beautiful talk of "brother and brother", which was not easy...
The owner of this sword was named Yu Hao. His father, Shou Meng, was the 19th monarch of the State of Wu.
Shou Meng had four sons, namely the eldest Zhu Fan, the old second Yu Festival, the third Old Yu Yu, and the old four seasons. Due to the intelligence and studiousness of his youngest son Ji Zha, he has always been regarded by Shou Meng as the best person to inherit the throne!
When Shou Meng was about to die, he promised to pass the throne to Ji Zha, but Ji Zha himself refused!
Although the three older brothers did not have any complaints and all agreed to the younger brother's ascension to the throne, the old four seasons of Zha firmly disagreed on the grounds that "Zhou Li has a system and has always adhered to the primacy of the eldest son".
The old father Shou Meng really had no choice, so he called his eldest son to him and told him: Now pass the throne to him, and after a hundred years, he will definitely pass it on to his younger brother Ji Zha...
It seems that Shou Meng has taken a path of "saving the country through the curve", and it is also painstaking to let the younger son take the throne!
At this point, it seems that there is no problem, but the eldest son Zhu Fan is also honest and benevolent. After he inherited the throne, he had just finished his father's funeral and said that he would pass the throne to the fourth elder...
Ji Zha still did not comply, and in order to avoid this matter, he also ran to his own fiefdom to hide from it!
03. Witness the sword of history
The "History of the Wu Taibo Family" records that after the death of King Zhufan of Wu, "if you want to pass it on to the second, you will bring the kingdom to the end of Jizha, in order to call the meaning of the dream of the first king"!
Therefore, the throne of the State of Wu had to continue to sit by Zhu Fan, and more than ten years later he passed the throne to the second brother Yu Ji, and a few years later, the second brother passed the throne to the third brother Yu Yu (the master of the sword mentioned today)...
The three brothers of the State of Wu, Zhu Fan, Yu Ji, and Yu Xi agreed that Zhu Fan would first take the throne, and then adopt the method of brother and brother, and finally pass it on to Ji Zha, which is the origin of this ancient beauty talk about "brother and brother and brother".
After inheriting the throne, Yu Yu ordered wu craftsmen to forge this bronze sword and record these things on the sword body in the form of inscriptions!
So, did this much-anticipated virtuous old four seasons finally become the monarch of the State of Wu?
Historical records tell us that the end of the matter is not as satisfactory as imagined, and even somewhat tragic...
It turned out that before the death of the third elder Yu Hao, he kept the agreement to pass the throne to the fourth brother Ji Zha. However, although this "fourth master" is admired and respected by the people of the whole country, he still insists on not violating the inherent etiquette system!
The country could not be left without a master for a day, and Yu Hao had no choice but to pass the throne to his son "Zhi".
And this time, a pair of eyes that have been coveting the throne for a long time finally revealed their true faces! This person is the son of the eldest Zhu Fan, "Gongzi Guang"!
Gongzi Guang may have already harbored a grudge, after all, according to the inherent etiquette system, he should be the successor to the Wu throne. Thus, a bloody battle for the throne began...
Gongzi Guang killed the "officials" and seized the throne of Wu!
And this gongzi light, not someone else, you and I both know! He was the famous "King of Wu" in later history...
This "Wu Wang Yu Yu Sword" is a witness to that past from beautiful to bloody!
Throughout the ages, people's greed has always grown when they are inadvertent, and then engulfed everyone...