The "First Long Wenmu Yao" unearthed by Yunmeng hides the silent sigh of a Qin petty official more than two thousand years ago

In 1975, a large number of Qin Jian was found in the tomb of Yunmeng Sleeping Tiger Land No. 11 in Hubei Province, which was later known as Yunmeng Qin Jian. Among them, the qin soldier Heifu and The family letter "Heifu Mumu" is the earliest family letter found on the mainland so far.

After 46 years, Yunmeng now reproduces extremely precious and rare Relics of the Jianmu category: on November 16, the joint archaeological team of the Zhengjiahu Cemetery in Yunmeng, Hubei Province, officially disclosed that the excavation of the cemetery unearthed a wooden yao from the late Warring States period, on which about 700 characters were written in Qin li font.

This wooden treasure and the writing on it are the earliest and longest archaeological excavations on the mainland so far, so it is known as the "first long literary treasure" in China, which is of great value for archaeologists to further study the social history of the late Warring States period.

What kind of story does this 700-word article tell?

700 words long essay, telling a lobbying story

Luo Yunbing, the person in charge of the archaeological project and deputy director of the Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, told The Red Star News reporter that the excavation of the Zhengjiahu cemetery was mainly to cooperate with the municipal construction of Yunmeng County, from September this year to the present, a total of more than 100 Warring States Qin and Han dynasty tombs have been cleaned up, and more than 800 precious cultural relics (sets) have been excavated.

"One of the most important discoveries was a wooden pendant unearthed from M274 (tomb number 274). The wooden blade is made of a longitudinal and mid-section of a log, 34 cm long and 3.5 cm wide. The semicircular wood surface is trimmed into seven prisms, each about 0.5 to 0.6 cm wide, all of which are written; the flat section is also divided into seven lines, of which six lines are written, and one line is blank. The full text is about 700 words. ”

Precious Long Wood

According to expert research, Yao Wen recorded the story of a strategist named Zhu who went to lobby the King of Qin. This event should have occurred at the end of the Warring States period, when the Qin state was gaining momentum, and the five eastern countries formed an alliance against Qin, won a temporary victory, and sought a truce with Qin. Citing the scriptures, he also used what he saw and heard to persuade the King of Qin to stop the army and make the people live and work in peace and contentment. Finally, He also elaborated on the advantages of the Qin kingdom in terms of its vast territory, strong soldiers, large numbers of people, and abundant materials, hoping that the King of Qin would be satisfied with the resources he already had and would not go around fighting anymore.

Unfortunately, the counselor's persuasion apparently did not work.

A Qin man who had left his hometown was secretly tired of war

Luo Yunbing told reporters that from the perspective of the scale of the M274 tomb, the structure of the coffin, the combination of burial items, and the customs of martyrdom, it can be determined that it is a small and medium-sized Qin culture tomb, and the owner of the tomb is likely to be a low-level civil official of the Qin state who was stationed in the local area after the Qin army occupied Anlu in 278 BC.

The name of the owner of the tomb is not shown in the excavation materials, but Luo Yunbing believes that this article may be a counselor lobby article copied by the tomb owner on the wooden yao, which to some extent reflects the minor official's tiredness with the war and his nostalgia for his hometown.

"In this tomb, we also found stone stones and other objects used to grind ink, indicating that this small official was a relatively literate Qin person." Luo Yunbing said, "Through this article, we can also see that one of the ideological tendencies of the tomb owner is to agree with the counselor's statement that advised the King of Qin not to go around fighting. ”

Luo Yunbing believes that although the Qin state at the end of the Warring States period had a strong momentum and fought wars everywhere, the war consumed a lot of wealth and manpower, and the burden on the common people of the Qin state was undoubtedly greatly increased. "Almost every male has to serve the country and prepare a lot of supplies for himself, not to mention the casualties caused by the war, which is cruel in short."

This unknown official, with the large army to the land conquered by the Qin state, was ordered to stay, and may not have been able to return to his hometown for the rest of his life.

Which King of Qin was the counselor trying to persuade?

According to Luo Yunbing's recollection, the wooden yao was found on September 23. "The groundwater level here in Yunmeng is relatively high, so the tombs are mostly water-filled tombs. In particular, the wrapping of green paste mud makes the closure of some of these tombs extremely good, creating a small environment with constant temperature and humidity. A large number of lacquered wood utensils unearthed at the same time are bright in color and vivid in patterns. ”

It is worth mentioning that filling the tomb pit with green paste mud is more common in the Chu tombs of the Spring and Autumn Warring States period and the Han tombs influenced by the Chu tombs. This special soil texture is delicate and viscous, has a strong sealing and anti-corrosion effect, and is used to seal the tomb, which can isolate air and moisture. In the famous Mawangdui Han Tomb, Mrs. Xin Chai's coffin is surrounded by charcoal and green paste mud.

But Luo Yunbing also told reporters that this kind of well-preserved water-filled tomb can be encountered, and in these already small number of water-filled tombs, it is even more rare to find written materials. "Not every tomb can find writing, and not every tomb with written materials can be well preserved to this day." Therefore, this wooden treasure and the words that have survived with it to this day are even more treasures among treasures.

So, which King of Qin was this counselor named Shu trying to talk about? The two most famous monarchs of the Qin state at the end of the Warring States period, in addition to Qin Shi Huang, were his great-grandfather King Zhaoxiang of Qin. Yingzheng's grandfather, King Xiaowen of Qin, and Yingzheng's father, King Xiang of Qinzhuang, reigned for only a few years combined, during which time they did not pose a greater threat to their neighbors. Luo Yunbing said that he was more inclined to be Qin Shi Huang himself.