Introduction: We understand history, in addition to historical documents, folklore, to a large extent rely on antiques left by the ancients. These antiques often bring us a sense of vicissitudes, but there are exceptions, it gives us a funny impression, very fun, such as such a national treasure.
A cute national treasure
This national treasure is a bronze vessel, but its shape is very funny. At first glance it looks like something, like a crouching dog. But it was not right to look closely, the head was a bit like a cat, but there were wings on the back, and it was folded. Then there was the tail below, and the tail hung to the ground together with two large thick legs, forming a triangular support point, standing steadily.
What kind of animal is this? It should be a bird with wings, but it looks like a beast throughout. From the appearance point of view, there are several animal characteristics, so which national treasure is this?
Alas, this national treasure is currently in the collection of the Henan Provincial Museum, from the Shang Dynasty more than 3,000 years ago. Zun is the vessel used by the ancients to hold wine. However, this thing containing wine is a bit large, up to half a meter high. And what is the owl, which is commonly known as the owl!
This bronze object is called an owl because it looks like an owl. However, Owl Zun is only its professional name, and many young people prefer to call it the "dumbest bronze in history", why? Because its face looks a little cute, it exudes a cute look.
In addition, in fact, it has a name, what is it called? You may not expect that netizens jokingly call it the Shang Dynasty version of "Angry Birds"! Why is there such a name? That was a few years ago, the Henan Provincial Museum engaged in cultural creativity. Because the Owl zun is very cute, he developed a series of related creative products based on its image.
The Owl resembles an owl
As a result, the product was not on fire as soon as it was launched, and it happened that the mobile game "Angry Birds" was also very popular at that time. So some netizens joked that they did not expect that more than 3,000 years ago, the Shang Dynasty people had already designed the "Angry Birds"! This is the origin of the nickname "Angry Birds".
Of course, this is a digression. However, although in the eyes of modern people, Owl Zun is very cute and cute. But experts believe that when it was cast, cute and cute was not its original meaning, what did it originally want to represent? Deterrence, and kingship.
Some friends may know that Wu Ding was a diligent and enlightened monarch in the middle of the Shang Dynasty, and his era was called "Wu Ding Zhongxing" by historians. Then, at that time, the Shang Dynasty ruled by Wu Ding dominated the Central Plains and had strong national strength.
However, many people may not know that half of the credit of "Wuding Zhongxing" belongs to the queen's wife, why do you say so? Because a large number of oracle bones have been unearthed in the Anyang Yin Ruins, many of which have been written on the oracle bones, indicating that the woman was in the bloody battlefield, expanded the territory, and also served as a memorial officer for various festivals.
Netizens jokingly called Owl Zun a Shang Dynasty version of "Angry Birds"
In other words, the queen woman was not only a military figure, but also a politician. However, it is a pity that the earliest legendary woman recorded in history only lived to be in her thirties and died!
Wu Ding, the King of Shang, has always been obsessed with this queen and is extremely sad about her death. Experts believe that the use of bronze owls to give women a good burial is to emphasize the status and authority of women, why? This brings us to the worship of the Shang Dynasty.
In ancient times, there was a saying that "Xuan Bird was born of a merchant", and the Shang King considered himself to be a descendant of the divine bird. Of course, this is a kind of beautification of the Shang King's own life, but what kind of bird is this kind of bird? There is no specific statement in history.
However, after archaeological excavations, most experts believe that the so-called bird should be the "owl", that is, the owl, why? Because to this day, in the Excavated Shang Dynasty and many stone tools, pottery, and bronze ware before the Shang Dynasty, exquisite owl patterns can be seen. Especially in the bronze ceremonial vessels of the Shang Dynasty, the bird that appeared the most was the owl.
Also, the word "Shang" in the oracle bone, some scholars say, it is actually the face of an owl. It can be seen that for the Shang Dynasty people who had the habit of worshipping birds, the owl was their main object of worship!
For this, one might not understand that in China the owl, that is, the night owl. Isn't it often referred to as some kind of omen? And not only in the East, but also in the West, owls are not popular.
The Owl Zun was unearthed from the tomb of The Shang King Wuding's wife
So, how could the Shang Dynasty people worship owls? In fact, this kind of worship has changed over the times. Many people have heard that there is a goddess Athena in Greek mythology. In Greek mythology, Athena represents wisdom, reason, and fairness. Her love bird was an owl, which was also the worship of the ancient Greeks, why?
Because, as a bird that can hunt at night, the owl can see the truth in the dark and clear the mind in the chaos, which is the symbol of the wisdom that the owl is endowed with. Experts believe that in ancient times, whether it is the East or the West, perhaps this feature of the owl was recognized by people, so there was a worship of the owl, that is, the owl!
However, experts believe that there is another reason for the worship of owls by merchants, and many of the artifacts unearthed in the tombs of the Shang Dynasty have the image of owls, and these images of owls are always processed in some places that are particularly eye-catching or even exaggerated.
For example, its mouth is particularly sharp, its face is particularly fierce, and its legs are particularly thick, why is this so? Because in addition to the owl's good eyes, it is also particularly fast when hunting, and it can often kill the enemy with one blow.
The Shang Dynasty people probably regarded the owl as a god of war bird
Therefore, some experts believe that it is very likely that the merchants have promoted the owl to the point of "god of war birds", believing that they are a symbol of victory over the enemy. Now we can understand why Wu Ding, the King of Shang, used the Owl Zun to give his queen's wife a good burial!
She led many expeditions to make great contributions to the expansion of the Shang Dynasty, and it was the god of war of the Shang King Wuding. In the complex situation, she was wise and clear-headed, and was her right-hand man's right-hand man to her husband Wu Ding. In a way, it may be that in Wu Ding's view, the woman is the embodiment of the bird.
So, why did such a miraculous owl become an ominous bird that everyone avoided in the three thousand years after the Shang Dynasty? Experts believe that this may be related to the change of dynasties.
As we all know, the Shang Dynasty was followed by the Zhou Dynasty, and since the owl was a bird worshipped by the Shang King, the Zhou Dynasty people certainly could not let the Yin Shang culture continue to be popular. So the Book of Verses says, "Take my son and not destroy my room," which means, "O owl, owl, you have taken my child, so don't destroy my house again."
From here, people began to do their best to debase the owl, and the owl became a bird of evil.
The owl has never changed, it has become just a human heart
In the Western Han Dynasty, not to mention, inexplicably, the owl was also added to the notoriety of "mother-eater", and since then, the owl has never turned over again.
Of course, from noble to ominous, and then to today's cuteness, the owl is still the owl, it has not changed, it has changed the human heart.