Zhong Di unearthed villagers protect the treasure
In the autumn of 1975, when the Baoji area was rainy and rainy, the earth cliff in the backyard of Ran Huaixu, a villager in Taigongmiao Village, Yangjiagou Commune, Baoji County (now Chencang District), collapsed due to seepage. One day in November of this year, the villager Wang Fu let him come here to get soil, there was not much virtual soil on the ground, he had to pick up the head of the hammer and dig up the half cliff, only to hear a "boo" sound, a round drum-shaped thing rolled down, he did not know what it was, so he installed a rack car and pulled it home. About half a month later, the production team organized the villagers to take soil here, and another villager dug out 2 large and 5 small seven bronzes, "Dug up the treasure!" The villagers at the scene shouted happily. After hearing the news, the village cadres immediately rushed to the scene and arranged for personnel to transport them to the storage room of the production team to ensure the safety of cultural relics. At the same time, it was reported to the cultural relics department of Baoji City, and soon the cultural relics business personnel came to the scene. After investigation, Wang Furang also handed over the one he had brought home. This time, a total of 3 large and 5 small 8 cultural relics were found. The cultural relics business staff told the villagers that these were ancient bronze musical instruments, the large and round ones were called palladium, and the small and flat ones were called bells. Soon, the advanced deeds of the villagers in Taigongmiao Village in protecting cultural relics were commended and rewarded by their superiors.
Villagers take a group photo with Qin Gongzhong and Tweezers
Zongmiao Heavy Instrument testimony to the history of Qin
The five Qin Gong Bells and three Qin Gong excavated from the Taigong Temple are all listed in great and small orders. Qin Gong's shape is unique, ingenious, there are four ribs on the left and right of the front and back of the body, the left and right sides of the edge are composed of nine flying dragons, and the front and back two edges are composed of five flying dragons and a phoenix bird; each dance department has a dragon and a phoenix looking back, flexible and lively; the body is decorated with deformed cicada patterns, stealing curves and diamond-shaped patterns, gorgeous and exquisite, showing a dignified and generous, beautiful and gorgeous style. The body of the Qin Gong bell is thick, tile-shaped, thin and thick, with a semi-circular stem, and the bell body is equipped with a long piece. The middle of the Yong is decorated with a relief dragon pattern, a spiral part is decorated with a mesh pattern, the cadres are decorated with a ring belt pattern, the dance department is decorated with a spit tongue dragon pattern with two heads and one body, the seal is decorated with two bird beak dragon patterns with heads facing the middle of the box, the middle drum part is decorated with two symmetrical Gu Shou dragon patterns, and the last three pieces of the right drum of the bell each have a phoenix pattern as a phonetic symbol.
Each of the three pieces of cadmium is cast with a single inscription of 135 words, five bell inscriptions read consecutively, the first two pieces are combined into one, and the last three pieces are also read continuously but incomplete, according to the combination of inscriptions and rhythms, the complete combination of the set of yong bells should be 6 to 8 pieces.
Qin GongZhong and Epitaphs interpretations
The contents of the Qin GongZhong and the Gong Inscription are the same, praying for the ancestors of the Duke of Qin, to the effect that their ancestors (Xiang Gong) inherited the Mandate of Heaven and established the state, and the Wen Gong, Jing Gong, and Xian Gong were outstanding in their meritorious service, did not lose the Mandate of Heaven, and cautiously handled their relations with Rong Di. The Duke of Qin said that as a descendant of the future generations, he did not dare to have the slightest laziness, and he prayed day and night to pray for blessings. And gathered the talents to govern the country, and rong di all came to attach themselves. This set of harmonious and loud music bells was made to worship the ancestors, hoping that the ancestors would bless themselves with a long reign, many blessings and longevity, and the world.
The inscription appears in the titles of the three monarchs of Wengong, Jinggong and Xiangong, from which it can be inferred that the Qin Gong in the inscription, that is, the owner of this set of bells, should be the fifth monarch of the Qin State, Qin Wugong, dating in the early Spring and Autumn Period, and the area around Taigongmiao Village was the capital of the Qin State at that time, Pingyang. Recent archaeological explorations have shown that Taigongmiao Village and its surroundings are the Qin GongLing Park, and the bells and neptunium discovered in 1975 should be excavated in the musical instrument sacrifice pit attached to the tomb.
Archaeological exploration map of the taigong temple site
The Qin Gongzhong and Gong inscriptions record the early lineage of the Qin State, as well as the historical facts of the Qin Wu Gong according to Pingyang and the vigorous efforts to govern, which can be corroborated with the "History of Qin Benji", and corrected the "History of Qin Benji" in which "Xian (憲)公" was written "Ning (寧)公" and "Jing Gong" (静公) was written "竫公", which is an important historical material for the study of the history of the Qin State. At the same time, the Qin Gongzhong and The Inscriptions have slender mouths, rounded lines, slightly vertical knots, dignified and beautiful fonts, and sparse overall layout, which have high calligraphy artistic value and are typical representatives of the Spring and Autumn Qin scripts.
Zhong Di corresponds to the liturgical music
Chimes are a melodic bronze percussion instrument with a fixed pitch used in ancient mainland China. According to the different shapes, it can be divided into three types: cadmium clock, Yong bell and new clock. Among the ancient instruments in the mainland, the status of chimes is the most noble, the scale is the largest, the production is the most complex, the scientific and technological content is the highest, the sound range is the widest, no ancient musical instrument can be compared, known as the "king of ancient Chinese musical instruments", but also the representative of ancient Chinese liturgical music civilization.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Zhou Dynasty declined, the princes competed for hegemony, and did not respect the Zhou Rites, forming a political situation of "the ceremony collapsed and the music was bad", while the shape and arrangement of the Qin Gong Bell and the Cadmium of the Taigong Temple still followed the old system of the Western Zhou Dynasty, reflecting the actual needs of the Qin people after entering guanzhong, imitating the Zhou Rites, and actively moving closer to the Central Plains Lile civilization in order to obtain orthodox political recognition.
Having said all that, you must be curious about how chimes play music? Let's listen to the sound of bells and bells through a short video and feel the glory of liturgical music.