Yin Shang bronze is famous all over the world, the types of tools are rich and diverse, in the late Yin Shang ancient tomb excavated a bronze right hand, but let everyone wonder, why only make a right hand buried in the tomb, what is it used for?
This bronze right hand was excavated in Tomb No. 54 in 2001 in The East Village of Xiaotun Garden, Anyang, and its owner is the late Shang aristocrat "Yachang" that we mentioned earlier. For more information, see: Archaeology: Yin Shang only women are good women are goddesses of war? The Iron-Blooded Warrior will not be convinced, the Lord of the Holy Buffalo!
The bronze hand is very realistic, obviously shaping a right hand, but the shape is slightly smaller than the adult hand. The whole is semi-grip-shaped, with a concave palm and a slight convex back of the hand. The proportions of the fingers are moderate, the knuckles are clearly visible, the fingertips are sleek, and even the details of the nails are clearly displayed.
There are two vertical grooves on each finger, and the back of the hand is decorated with a feeding pattern, and only half of the animal face remains, of which the glyph-shaped eyes are particularly prominent, and the cirrus pattern is decorated under the gluttonous pattern. The cross-section of the wrist is oval in shape, and there are traces of carbonized wooden handles in the lower shank cavity, and the entire palm is 13.03 cm long and 5.61 cm at the widest point.
Such a bronze hand-shaped piece is strange, and it is the first time it has been found in the Yin Ruins and even other sites of the same period, which means that it is a bronze vessel with special functions. In connection with the identity of the tomb owner Subchang military general, the left calf at the time of excavation, and the exquisite ornamentation on the bronze hand, many people have given their own speculations, and we have also seen a lot of interesting brain holes.
To sum up, under the divergent opinions, in fact, there are no more than several views, which are roughly divided into two categories: practical instruments and symbolic instruments. Considering it a practical instrument, three different uses were proposed: one is the "prosthetic limb" used by the ancients, the second is a kind of eating utensil called "copper bi" of the ancients, and the third is considered to be a simple "itching and tickling".
If it is considered to be a symbolic instrument, it is believed that it was unearthed together with many ceremonial tools and weapons, and it is likely to be the head of the scepter that symbolizes authority. So, what evidence do the various views rely on, and how much credibility does it have?
First of all, it is believed that this bronze hand is "prosthetic", mainly based on the inference of the identity background of the tomb owner. This Shang Dynasty general named Yachang died in his prime, and when his bones were unearthed, he still retained different degrees of war trauma in his left femur, humerus and right iliac bones, and after testing and comparison, it was believed that they were caused by different weapons such as knives and axes and spears.
The warrior was wounded and broke his hand during the conquest, and in order to maintain his aristocratic prestige and the image of a general, he ordered the craftsmen to create bronze prosthetics for himself. The researchers believe that the cavity under the hand shaper should also be equipped with a wooden handle with a length of 4-5 cm, which will be tied to the large arm with a rope when used, and believe that this may be the earliest bronze prosthetic hand seen so far.
But carefully pondered in fact, there are many loopholes, since it is the right hand, how did it run to the left leg bone of the tomb owner when it was unearthed? Even if the left hand is wounded or even broken, it should not be the right hand. Also in terms of size, this is more like a child's hand, while the tomb owner is a 35-year-old adult.
The second view, which is considered to be "copper bi", is even more interesting, which was used in ancient times to fork meat for food. From the literature and vessel types, this bronze food vessel was indeed popular in the pre-Qin period, such as the "engraved copper sheet" found at the site of Liuhe Chengqiao in Jiangsu Province, and there are pictures using "bi shaped vessels" on the site of Liuhe Chengqiao in Jiangsu Province.
This kind of thing is actually similar to the role of the fork used in eating steak in Western food now, and the "meat rake" used in the Warring States period is also a form of "Bi", which is used to fork the meat pieces cooked in Dingzhong, but this speculation problem has two points: one is that the bronze fingers are smooth, how can the meat be forked? In addition, the longest finger is only 4.43 centimeters, even if it is used to catch meat, it is probably very difficult.
So, will it be that the ancients simply used to tickle it? Some netizens have such a sudden whim. This may be to ignore the importance of bronze as a metal in the Yin Shang, in the Bronze Age known as "Ji Jin", who would take such a precious resource to make an itchy toy? Moreover, the copper is extremely cold, it will irritate the skin, and it is not a very suitable material, even Cixi knows to use the warm Hetian Yu Ruyi to tickle.
Sir Yang personally believes that this may not be a practical instrument, but some kind of ritual instrument of sacrifice or a symbol of authority. Judging from the large number of weapons buried with him and the 7 bronze cymbals with inscriptions, this sub-chief was of a noble status, although not as good as the queen's wife buried next to him, but his military authority may be even greater.
Therefore, this bronze strange hand with a wooden handle may be more like the head of a scepter, used to show status and symbolize authority. Although the Chinese nation has never unified the country by religious authority, but by the combination of clan and royal power to stabilize its power, the "authority" or "scepter" developed by Yin Shang did not have the strong religious significance of the West.
As for why it is necessary to use the palm of the hand and still the right hand? Probably because Yin Shang has the custom of shang right, and the hand is the most important part of the human body, the hand is invisible but powerful authority, the so-called "turning the hand into the cloud, overturning the hand for the rain" is actually using the palm to symbolize power.
Finally, careful netizens found that there is not a vivid image of the big eye in the middle of this bronze strange hand? Perhaps "hand and eye to the sky" is four words placed here to describe, it is also the most appropriate. Of course, the current research on this particular bronze is inconclusive.
What do you think, welcome to leave a message to discuss.