The production process of ancient Chinese bronzes is extremely exquisite, reflecting the creative ability of ancient craftsmen. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the technology of casting bronzes was further developed.
According to the Book of Zhou Li Kao Gong, "Gold has six qi: six points of its gold, and tin in one, called the bell and the qi of the ding; five points of its gold, and the tin in the first, called the qi of the axe and the pound; four points of its gold, and the tin in the first, called the Qi of the Ge Ji; three points of its gold, and the tin in the first, called the Qi of the great blade; five points of its gold, and in the second, it is called the Qi of the killing arrow; the golden tin is half, which is called the Qi of the flint. ”
The tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng was unearthed, a country with little record
About 2 kilometers northwest of Suizhou City in Hubei Province, the Drum Pier is an excellent treasure land.
In 1978, a large Mogu tomb was found here, according to the cultural relics excavated in the tomb, the owner of this tomb was a Zeng Guojun named "B", so this tomb was named Zeng Houyi Tomb.
Marquis Yi of Zeng was the monarch of the State of Zeng, and in the "Records of History", there are records of the States of Jin, Chu, and Yan in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the records are quite detailed.
However, zengguo is not recorded, and in the Hubei region where the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng was excavated, it has been named "Sui" for thousands of years.
It is recorded in the "Records of History" that suiguo was divided after the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty by King Keshang of Wu, and it was one of the oldest princely states, and it was the state of Eastern Han.
In the land of Suiguo, the reason why the owner of the tomb will be called Zenghou is because Suiguo is also called Zengguo.
After the excavation of the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, Mr. Li Xueqin, a paleographer and historian in China and the chief scientist of the Xia-Shang-Zhou Dynasty Project, put forward the view of "Zeng Sui family" for the first time.
And after more than 40 years of academic discussion, this view was finally confirmed. It can be seen that the "Suiguo" recorded in history is actually the so-called "Zengguo", which is one of the two countries.
Therefore, Zeng Guo, also known as Sui Guo, was divided into Suizhou, Xiangyang, Jingmen and other places in Hubei, although the historical reputation is not obvious, but Zeng Guo was indeed an important princely state in the Western Zhou Dynasty.
Its ancestor was the famous founding general of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Nangong Shi, that is, the famous dragon set "Nangong General" in the list of gods. Because there is very little literature left by Zeng Guo, early researchers did not know much about it.
A large number of bronze treasures rare in the world have been unearthed
In January 1978, during an ordinary plant expansion mission at a certain air force radar repair office of the People's Liberation Army stationed in Suizhou, Hubei Province, the explosion of a mountain and exploded stones actually exploded more than 15,000 pieces of cultural relics.
This time, the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng unearthed a large number of extremely fine bronze treasures, which can be called the largest number of bronzes unearthed in China and the more complete variety.
According to expert estimates, the total weight of bronze cultural relics unearthed is 10 tons, and the consumption of copper, gold, tin, lead and other metals is more than 12 tons.
Moreover, the shape of these bronzes is complex, the ornamentation is extremely exquisite, and it is a rare cultural relic in the world. And after identification, it can be considered that during the Warring States period, the bronze smelting technology of southern Chudi has reached a fairly high level.
When archaeologists cleaned the bells in the main burial chamber, they also found a rotten drum and a magical base bracket.
But because no similar artifacts have ever been unearthed, it is not possible to make a judgment at the moment. Later, after consulting ancient books, the record of "building drums" is very similar to it.
For the construction of drums, it is recorded in the history books that "planting and running through it, it is called building drums", that is, using a pillar to penetrate the drum cavity and erecting it on the drum seat.
This object is one of the eight national treasure-level cultural relics excavated from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, the "Base of the Drum of Marquis Yi of Zeng".
Zeng Hou Yijian drum base: national treasure level cultural relics
As we all know, China's ancient bronze smelting and casting, there are two peak periods. One is the late Shang Dynasty, representing the bronze artifacts excavated from the Yin Ruins of Anyang, and the simu peng dafangding of large artifacts, which is very famous. Although Simu Pengding is large, the process is not very complicated.
The second peak period of bronze ware development was from the late Spring and Autumn period to the early Warring States period, which represents the bronze artifact excavated from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng.
The base of this drum is a representative bronze vessel excavated from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng.
The bronze drum base is 50 cm high and 80 cm in diameter, and is made up of eight pairs of dragons and countless small dragons intertwined with each other. And the head, body and tail of each dragon are attached to several small dragons, and the dragon is embedded with turquoise, giving people a strange feeling of variability but comfortable and vivid and orderly.
The drum base is made using the traditional fan casting method, cast in sections and then welded. And this drum seat on the thick dragon body coiled, not like other fine ornaments, the welding after the division is very difficult, the formation can be described as very difficult.
After careful study by many metallurgical experts, it is unanimously agreed that this is definitely the pinnacle of bronze casting art in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.
brief summary
Even in the modern era of rapid development of science and technology, many national treasures and cultural relics have exquisite replicas, but this drum base cannot be restored because of its complex craftsmanship, and its casting process cannot be restored, and there is no substitute for it. I have to say that the wisdom and craftsmanship of the ancients are convincing.
References: Zhou Li Kao Gong Ji, History
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