"Is this a teapot?" I don't see it, it should be a wine jug. ”
Mr. Sun Ji, a 90-year-old cultural relics scientist, archaeologist and honorary president of the National Museum of China Research Institute, deliberately went to the "Tiger Chain: New Era, New Destiny" exhibition being held by the National Museum before lecturing on the first session of the 2019 Guobo Lecture Hall - "The Function of trying to say the Hammer", and heard the audience's speculation about the function of the tiger chain (yíng).
▲ The top cover of the tiger hammer is cast with the inscription "Self-made Offering", which is a ceremonial vessel used for sacrifice and can be used in conjunction with another ceremonial vessel. (Courtesy of Visual China)
"Actually, it's neither tea nor wine." Sun Ji explained in a subsequent lecture hall, "People only drank tea after the Western Han Dynasty, and the tiger hammer was a Western Zhou bronze vessel, which was used to hold tulip juice. When tulip juice is added to chàng, it becomes the most expensive wine used to worship the gods in ancient times, the yujin. ”
According to Sun Ji, the existing Western Zhou bronzes in China are only 8 pieces of Bobai father's hammer and Zhou Jinjing, and most of them are mutilated, while the overseas return to the Yuanmingyuan cultural relics Tiger Lock, which has been plundered, auctioned and donated, is a rare fine product, which was officially entered into the National Museum of China on December 11 last year. So far, there has not been a single academic paper on the hammer, and the people are very unfamiliar with the hammer. Then, the lecture he launched this time may be regarded as the first academic answer to the function of the tiger chain.
Knights are not used to drink wine, nor are they used to warm wine
"鎣" has the meaning of light and beauty, and can also refer to water holding utensils. In ancient times, the utensils used to hold water were also yí (匜) and 盉 (hé), which were relatively simple in appearance, while the tiger hammer was exquisitely shaped: extravagant mouth, square lips, short corset neck, wide folded shoulders, abdomen, round bottom, three-hoofed foot.
▲ Jia Zizai, Shanxi Museum (Archaeological Chinese illustration)
On one side of the shoulder there is a tubular stream, modeled after a tiger, and on the other side there is a dragon head, the lid is folded, and there is a round carved tiger-shaped decoration, and there are small ring buttons on the lid and the hook. The shoulders of the tiger are decorated with a hammer pattern, the upper part of the abdomen is decorated with a beveled cloud pattern, the lower part of the abdomen is decorated with a tile pattern, and the foot root is decorated with a gluttonous pattern. Can such an ingenious tiger lock be filled with the same water as the water filled with or cups?
▲ Chang Si Lou National Museum of China (Archaeological Chinese Illustration)
The top cover of the tiger hammer is cast with the inscription "Self-made Offering", which is an offering, which shows that it is a ceremonial vessel for sacrifice and can be used in conjunction with another ceremonial vessel.
Slender three-legged, slender posture, long drainage groove, for the impression of The Lord, many people seem to be no strangers. But the understanding of its true efficacy is vague. Sun Ji pointed out that it is a ceremonial vessel for holding wine, but it is by no means used to drink wine, nor is it used to warm wine. "The long 'stream' is to the mouth, how inconvenient it should be to drink."
The mainland did not have the habit of drinking hot wine until the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and only after that did warm wine utensils appear, before which ordinary people drank cold wine." "Chu Ci Da Zhao" has the saying of "Qingxin frozen drink", and the fine wine of the frozen drink is called lijiu, similar to the rice wine brewed by the people today, with low alcohol and light smell.
▲ The knight is a ceremonial vessel for holding wine, but it is by no means used to drink wine, nor is it used to warm wine. The picture shows the bronze lord excavated from the Erlitou site. (Courtesy of the Erlitou Archaeological Team)
The knight is not filled with the usual liquor, but with a beard. Zheng Xuan's note in "Zhou Li And The Mane": "Mane, brewed into wine, fragrant strips are smooth up and down." "Zhou Li Suburb Special Animal" has the text "The most respectful is not delicious, and the noble smell (smell) is also." Sun Ji explained that "Straw" is black, and the mane brewed with black is much more fragrant than the liquor. Legend has it that the gods do not eat or drink, but like to smell the aroma. The devout people poured into the mane, placed it on the fire and burned it, and brought it to the face of the gods, and the mane inside was steamed and fragrant.
Mane plus tulip juice to achieve the top "yujin"
It is not the top wine of ancient times, the top one is called "Yu Yu".
The Analects of the Eight Nobles quotes Zheng Xuan's note: "Yu, tulip grass, brewed into wine, boiled tulip and zhi, its fragrance is smooth, so it is known as yu yu." "It can be seen that when a herb called tulip is boiled, tulip juice is obtained, and tulip juice is added to the mane brewed in straw, and the tulip juice is obtained.
In ancient times, the container containing tulip juice was called "Yu Yi", which can be seen in the bronze inscription "Yu Brother is Ruzi Xiao Yu Yi", Yi is a generic name for containers. Sun Ji speculated that the tiger hammer used in conjunction with Jue was probably used to hold tulip juice.
The infusion of tulip juice into the mane is of course more fragrant, but it is also to avoid the evaporation of the mane from becoming too thick and scorched. The Shuowen explains that "歆" means "Divine Eating Qi", and the ancients believed that when the gods smelled the aroma of the fumigation, they would feel happy, and then meet the requirements of the worshippers. Sun Ji said that after the sacrifice of the heavens, there would be a little bottom left in the knighthood, and the people would dump the rest on the white thatch on the ground. They expected the wine to seep into the fountain, so that the gods and ghosts in the heavens and on the earth would be happy and bring good times to the upper and lower levels.
Source: Wen Wei Po, text typesetting is reproduced from the public account archaeology in the country