Lucheng District Historical and Cultural District
On December 8 last year, Germany's Daily Mirror newspaper published a critical article accusing China of adding a red Character to nearly half of the page to the editorial board, along with words such as "Powerful Symbol, Symbol of Power." However, after it was published, some German Chinese experts complained that "even the Chinese characters are not clear, so they write articles and accusations." Whether there is a "blood" relationship between the branch and the right, let's leave it alone, the Thirty-six Fangjun excavated from Wenzhou in several Pieces of Song and Yuan Copper Rights, telling the social prosperity and economic development behind Wenzhou's "right" and "power".
First, Wenzhou unearthed the Northern Song Dynasty copper weight of the second in the country
Mencius Liang Hui Wang Shang has "right, and then know the weight", the original meaning of the right is the scale, that is, the scale (scale rod) slides to see the weight of the knot. This lump is stony, ceramic, copper, iron and so on. Most of the copper rights unearthed throughout the country today are copper rights. Among them, witnessing Qin Shi Huang's unified weights and measures system is "Qin Shi Huang Zhao Wen Quan". At that time, in order to standardize the system, the Qin government "carved the version of the zhao on the power", and the world was unified. For thousands of years, power was necessary for dynasties to collect taxes, weigh property, pay for gold, and mint coins.
△ Qin Shi Huang Zhao Wenquan (Collection of the Palace Museum)
Most of the rights unearthed after the Qin Dynasty were steamed buns and pumpkins. By the Song Dynasty, the shape of the power began to appear six prismatic. In the 1970s, the copper power during the Northern Song Dynasty unearthed in Wenzhou was such a form.
Excavated in 1972 in Ruian Xianxiakeng Village, this bronze right was cast in the 10th year of the Northern Song Dynasty (1077), in the shape of a six-petal melon, with twelve petals of sunflowers engraved at the upper and lower ends, and an inscription on the abdomen with fifteen lines totaling 168 characters:
"Chizhou YongfengJian, Huaizhou □ commanded Huaizhou to set up a pair of copper and stone, took the sample copper and stone of The Guangde Army's Jianping County, and came to the supervisor to cast a pair of one hundred pounds of copper and a pair of copper stones. Now that the casting of the gong, the Xining □ has been the eighth day of the first month..." Of which "砤" is the "砣" pass, that is, the scale hammer. This is the largest number of inscriptions in the copper power from the pre-Qin to the Ming and Qing dynasties found in China so far, and its weight is the second largest in the country.
Northern Song Dynasty Xining Ten Years of Copper Power (Collection of Ruian Museum)
This pair of copper rights was minted by the Chizhou Yongfeng Supervisor at that time and weighed one hundred pounds. Chizhou Yongfengjian (present-day northeastern suburb of Guichi City, Anhui) was one of the four major money supervisors (minted copper coins) in the country during the Northern Song Dynasty. Interestingly, this painting marked as one hundred pounds of Northern Song Copper Quan now weighs one hundred and twenty-five kilograms, which shows that one kilogram of the Song Dynasty is six hundred and twenty-five grams.
Rights, which are instruments of commercial exchange, are directly related to the tax system. So, what is the social economy of Wenzhou behind this copper power? Take the Ten Years of the Northern Song Dynasty that minted this copper power, for example. The "Song Hui To Be Compiled" contains:
Before the Xining Decade (1077), the commercial tax was "wenzhou old in the city and six services in Ruian, Yong'an, Pingyang County, Qiancang, Liushi Town, twenty-two thousand one hundred and four consecutive years". The 10-year commercial tax of Xining was "25,390 consistent 6 texts in the city, 687 texts in Ruianchang, 4,733 in Yongjiachang, 2,412 in 134 texts in Pingyangchang, 1,512 in 130 texts in The former warehouse field, and 2,499 in Yueqingchang in 794 texts". The commercial taxes that Ryan paid that year ranked behind the urban area. The commercial tax in Wenzhou's urban area in the past ten years of Xining is 3,200 yuan more than the total number of the previous six services.
To some extent, the weight of copper rights reflects the large amount of goods traded, while the commercial tax reflects the prosperity of Wenzhou's trade. Therefore, this copper right can also be said to be a small witness to the socio-economic prosperity of Wenzhou in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Second, what kind of scales are commonly used in Urban and Rural Wenzhou in the Yuan Dynasty?
After the unification of the Yuan regime, provinces were set up throughout the country, and "roads" were set up under them. Wenzhou is Wenzhou Road, and there are prefectures and prefectures under the road. This is a bronze right cast in the sixth year of Yanyou (1319), eighty-three centimeters high, forty-six centimeters in diameter at the bottom, and weighing three hundred grams. The front of the copper right is cast with "Wenzhou Road Governor's Office", the left side is cast with "Raising the Correction Official", the right side is cast with "Proofreading", and the back side is "Yanyou Six Years Of Manufacturing", all of which are Chinese characters, which belong to the official standard weighing instrument of Wenzhou Road.
Copper Power of Wenzhou Road Governor's Office (Wenzhou Museum Collection)
According to the Inscriptions of The Yuan Dynasty Copper Rights unearthed elsewhere, the weight of copper rights at that time was 300 grams, 700 grams, JiuBai Wu Shi ke, 1025 grams and 1050 grams. According to the seven hundred grams of copper right for twenty pounds of scales, Jiu Bai Wu Shi ke for twenty pounds of scales, Wenzhou this copper right, the application of roughly ten pounds of scales. Although the Yuan Dynasty inherited the Song system, it made adjustments in terms of weighing instruments, and one kilogram at that time was equivalent to six hundred and forty grams, which was fifteen grams more than one kilogram in the Song Dynasty.
In the Yuan Dynasty, Wenzhou's economy continued to develop, especially in commerce and foreign trade. At that time, there were more Wenzhou businessmen going to other places to do business, and there were many foreigners coming and going to Wenzhou. The urban area is "a collection of department stores, and the shabby is attached to the trend"; with heavy maritime traffic, Wenzhou has become a transit port and foreign trade material distribution center in the Oujiang River Basin and southern Zhejiang.
Scales and scales are required for business. In the "General History of Chinese Customs and Yuan Dynasty Volumes", there is an illustration of selling fish in the Yuan Dynasty murals, from which it can be seen that the rod scales used by small traders at that time were no different from the rod scales seen in the market today, except for the different scales. It can be seen that this simple shape and easy to carry rod scale in the Yuan Dynasty has been playing a role for hundreds of years.
Third, the meaning of weighing and folk customs
The right is "weighing the scales" and the balance is the weighing rod, so the "weighing" derives another meaning. For thousands of years, power has been given the meaning of "right" and "power". In traditional Chinese culture, quan is still a philosophical thought. Confucius said in the Analects: "It is possible to stand with each other, but not with power." Mencius said, "There is no power in clinging, but there is no right in clinging to one" and other classic quotes.
What Confucius, Mozi and others called "right" is the right to change, that is, to adapt, "weigh the weight and adapt to changes." Xie Xiaoling, a professor of sociology at Fudan University, a native of Wenzhou, talked about Confucius and "quan" when he talked about Chinese culture. He said that "the important connotation of traditional Chinese culture is embodied in power (change)", and what is manifested in the idea of moderation is the trade-off of the advantages and disadvantages of things, first "right" and then change.
Because the scale is a symbol of fairness, in Wenzhou folk, it is also a mascot in people's minds. There is also a folk proverb that "although the scale is small and presses a thousand pounds", it is also used as a thing to suppress the town. As in the old days of Wenzhou folk, when the people moved, they often moved a scale into the door to suppress the "evil" in the town. Similarly, the elderly in the family take a scale to press the corner of the children's mosquito net, hoping to make the children sleep more peacefully; build a new house on the beam, and the old man will also hang a small bluestone scale on the beam according to the custom. Nowadays, when citizens move, the scale with red ribbon color is still indispensable, which means "satisfactory".
bibliography:
Cultural Relics and Archaeology Collection "Zhejiang Ruian Discovered the Northern Song Dynasty Xining Copper Quan" by Yu Tianshu
"Wenzhou Scenic Spots" Editor / Jin Baidong Zhang Ruyuan Cai Gang steel Huang Xinglong
Tu Weihua, author of "Analysis of Copper Rights in the Yuan Dynasty"
Zhang Qingjiu, author of "A Brief Introduction to the Copper Power of the Yuan Dynasty"
Wang Shimin, author of "The Historical Role of Qin Shi Huang in Unifying China: The Unity of Writing, Weights and Measures and Currency from an Archaeological Perspective"
"The Heavy Weapon of the Kingdom: The Quantity and Power of The Western Han Dynasty Inscription in Liu He's Tomb" by Wang Jinzhong
Zhao Zhiheng, author of "From the Copper Power of the Early Yuan Dynasty to the Weighing Instrument Reform of the Yuan Dynasty"
"Ancient History of Wenzhou" by Hu Zhusheng
Edited by Chen Sitai