Introduction: Xia, Shang, and Wednesday Dynasties are too far away from us, and the historical materials are not recorded in detail. So what legendary events happened during that period, we have no way of knowing. However, we can peek into the little-known legends of that mysterious history through those amazing national treasures.
The Hubei Provincial Museum collects the Zenghou Yizun Disk
The Xia, Shang, and Wednesday dynasties are not only the first three dynasties in China, but also an extremely important period in Chinese history, the ancient period. Our brilliant 5,000-year-old Chinese civilization was initially formed during this period.
However, such an important period is strange and mysterious to us ordinary people. The reason is that, first, time is too far away; second, there are few records in historical materials.
This gives us little understanding of that era. What kind of heroes and figures did the ancients have in that ancient era, and what kind of wisdom did the ancients have at that time? How did they come to live their lives? It's hard for us to understand.
The Zenghou Yizun Pan was excavated from the tomb of Zeng Houyi in Suizhou City, Hubei Province
However, this does not mean that we can not understand that period of history, let's look at a special ceremonial vessel, that is, this collection in the Hubei Provincial Museum, the shape of the very special "ZengHou YiZun Plate".
In 1978, archaeologists excavated the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng in the early Warring States period in Suizhou City, Hubei Province, and discovered the ZunPan of Marquis Yi of Zeng. Marquis Yi of Zeng was the monarch of the State of Zeng among the princely states of the Zhou Dynasty.
The Zenghou Yi ZunPan is one of the most precious bronze vessels buried with Zeng Houyi. Moreover, it is one of the first cultural relics on the mainland that are forbidden to be exhibited abroad, and it is a real national treasure-level cultural relic.
So, this ZengHou Yizun disk is so precious, where is it special? Especially in its shape. This Zenghou Yizun disk is extremely complex, and the upper part of the cockroach, that is, the small snake, is as many as a thousand, and each one is still curled up.
The Zenghou Yizun Plate is a national treasure-level cultural relic, and it is forbidden to export exhibitions
You say that the shape of such a complex thing, how did the craftsmen of two or three thousand years ago do it? When this zun disk was unearthed, there was a big debate in the entire archaeological community about the production process of this zun disk.
Some say that the parts are first made and then the final combination is made; others say that it is likely to be carved. But no matter which way it is said, in the end no one can convince the other party, and in the end there is no way to give a completely reasonable explanation. And this struggle has been fought for 20 years.
This question has been debated for 20 years, and after that 20 years, it will not be disputed, why? There is an answer. In the end, this question was answered by The Expert Golden Continent, who had participated in the excavation of The Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng.
In 20 years, through repeated thinking and repeated experiments, he finally successfully solved this puzzle. What method did the ancients use to make such exquisite plates? This method is called the "lost wax method".
The small snakes on the plate of Marquis Yizun of Zeng were as many as a thousand
So, what is the lost wax method? Let's take a look at it a little bit, in ancient times, bronze shapes often used intermediary substances, such as paraffin wax. Because the paraffin texture is soft and can be carved with complex patterns, this is a wax mold.
After the wax mold is carved, it is covered with three layers of quartz sand, which is repeated for two days to form a hard shell. After that, the wax wrapped in a hard shell is placed horizontally in the furnace and burned.
When encountering high temperatures, the wax mold slowly liquefies and is lost. At this time, the middle of the quartz shell becomes empty, becoming a cavity. Let the paraffin wax drain, the name of the "lost wax method" came from this.
The production process of Zenghou Yizun plate is extremely complex
After the paraffin wax is lost, the mold can be hollowed out and filled with copper water. Under the action of gravity, copper water slowly fills the cavity. And when the copper water cools and solidifies, then peel off the thick shell, so that one of the components of the disc is also declared complete.
What do you think? Our ancestors, our ancestors, were really very wise. However, what is most worthy of our admiration is not this wisdom, but the will of the ancients to make the honorable disk.
Why? Because of a small part on the disc, even with the help of modern tools, it takes a month to complete.
The process of zun pan is extremely complex, experts speculate, according to the ancient technology level, to complete the zun pan, it is estimated that the production staff may have spent more than ten or twenty years. And the life expectancy of people in that era was short, and it may be a lifetime or a lifetime to make one or two such things.
The exquisite craftsmanship of The production process of Zenghou Yizun Disk has not been able to be copied so far
If you think about it, decades of concentrating on one piece, or a lifetime of concentrating on doing, one or two pieces of craftsmanship, is this will the most worthy of our posterity's admiration?