The mainland has a splendid culture with a long history, which not only leaves us with many intangible cultural heritages such as language, writing, skills, song tunes, etc., but also leaves us with rich cultural relics and monuments for us to visit, appreciate and study.
However, with the change of dynasties in history and the destruction of modern warfare, many cultural relics have been damaged or lost, which is inevitable. In the last century, with the country's emphasis on the protection of cultural relics, on November 19, 1982, the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics was officially adopted by the Standing Committee of the People's Congress and implemented on the same day.
At the same time, the mainland has organized more experts and scholars to start professional protection and excavation of ancient cultural relics, so that more precious cultural relics can reappear in the day, and the water scoop of this article has benefited from this.
The water scoop that farmers have used for more than 10 years is a cultural relic
The 1960s and 1970s were a relatively difficult era, and people at that time paid more attention to the material basis of life than they now attach importance to spiritual civilization life. Moreover, at that time, the awareness of the protection of cultural relics and monuments and ancient culture was not so strong.
Therefore, if one day someone digs out something rare in his field or newly opened land, the first thing that comes to mind is not to hand it over to the country, but whether the object can be brought home to be practical.
At that time, many accidentally discovered cultural relics could not escape such a neglected fate, or were used as feed basins, or as water scoops, all depending on what practical objects were missing in the homes where they were found.
Since 1982, the establishment of the Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics and the establishment of various cultural relics protection institutions have made the term "cultural relics protection" imperceptibly enter the lives of ordinary people.
At the beginning, our cultural relics researchers not only obtained cultural relics through formal excavation of ancient ruins and tombs for research, but also often came to the fields to collect the precious cultural relics that were lost and scattered in the folk by walking the streets and alleys.
Moreover, the people's awareness of cultural relics protection has improved, and they will take the initiative to take out their own treasures for expert identification.
Once, the expert group investigated in a small village in Hebei And found traces of "water scoops". A local peasant family has an "heirloom", which is very famous in the village, and the reputation of word of mouth is heard by the cultural relics experts who come to investigate.
The name "Water Scoop" attracted the attention of the expert group, who decided to go to the farmhouse to check the physical objects.
Seeing the cultural relics experts come to visit the door, the old farmer is also very happy, Zhang Luo wants to take out his "heirloom" water scoop to show the experts, because this water scoop is really a rare thing!
It turned out that this "water scoop" was obtained by the old farmer by chance, because it was suitable for scooping water, it was used by the old farmer as a water scoop for 10 years. This "water scoop" is all copper casting, and the words are engraved on the scoop, but everyone does not recognize it. The "water scoop" looks like an object of some age, and of course the whole copper does not say.
But if you want to talk about the special, there are really only a few words that look special. Experts determined at a glance that these characters are not modern universal Chinese characters, but they could not see a reason for a while. Therefore, the experts decided to spend 8 yuan to recycle the "water scoop" with the old farmers and conduct a careful study.
Experts took the "water scoop" back to the museum for careful study, but the "water scoop" shape is simple, except for the engraving of the scoop body, there is no other obvious identity hint.
Therefore, the expert group focused its research on these inscriptions. Because of its age and the serious wear and tear of daily applications, some of the inscriptions are not too clear, but this still does not hinder the research of experts.
Experts carefully expanded the inscription on the body, and after careful study and font comparison, they could determine that the font was between the seal book and the lishu.
These strokes are square and straight, the structure is smooth and solemn, there is no ups and downs that should be in the book, and it has a typical Han Dynasty Jinwen style.
The inscription on the body of the scoop is inscribed to crack the true identity of the water scoop
It turns out that this "water scoop" is really a real cultural relic, and it is likely to be a cultural relic of the Han Dynasty. With the identification of the expert group's engraved version of the scoop, the true identity of the "water scoop" was finally revealed to the world.
There are four lines of inscriptions carved on the outer wall of the copper wall of the copper liter, which read "Shanglin Gongfu / ChuYuan Three Years Received / Lang Yan Rong One Liter Weight / Jin Er Two Engineer Junzao". It turns out that this seemingly ordinary "water scoop" is "Shanglin Gongfu Copper Liter"!
This is a very valuable and archaeological relics of the Western Han Dynasty, which is related to the Largest Casting Place of Western Han Bronze Ware - Shanglin Garden.
The Shanglin Gongfu Copper Liter was one of the standard measuring instruments at that time. According to the "Tao Zhai" record, "the elevation of the first foot is one inch and nine minutes, the caliber is three inches and five minutes, the length of the handle is three inches and six minutes, and the volume is four." ”
After careful measurement, the actual dimensions of this Shanglin Gongfu copper liter are 16 cm in total length, 4.5 cm in height and 9.2 cm in diameter. After the size conversion, this is basically consistent with the size recorded in the historical records, and the volume of the copper liter measured by the actual water loading is 209 ml.
This copper rise is a round mouth flat bottom, the whole is a lower retracted cylinder, the handle is also cylindrical, all copper cast, the outer side of the copper wall is engraved with an inscription related to the information related to this liter.
Perhaps many people will wonder how a standard measuring instrument of the Han Dynasty still has inscription carvings!
This is related to the strict system of wule names in the Western Han Dynasty. After the middle of the Western Han Dynasty, the scale of bronze casting expanded. Moreover, after these bronzes leave the factory, they are faced with a wide range of transfer and circulation in the country, and each transfer of utensils must be recorded on it, so there is a strict system of materials and workers.
Such a large range of transshipment and circulation, obviously the original casting name does not apply, which has changed to the inscription on the copper liter. After the casting of the bronze is completed, it is handed over to a special person to carry out the corresponding inscription work.
The inscription format on the bronze ware of Shanglin Garden is roughly the same, and the content roughly includes the name, volume, weight, production, age, craftsman name and number. This was done to examine the performance of craftsmen and corresponding officials, which greatly strengthened the quality of the country's handicraft industry and products.
The artifacts mainly targeted by the Wule Gong name system are all produced from official institutions. This also reflects from the side that since the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, successive emperors of the Han Dynasty have attached great importance to the centralized power system.
Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the national strength has been recuperated and developed at a high speed, and the "central standardization" represented by the name of Wule Gong has gradually taken shape.
The carved inscription on the outside of the copper wall of the Shanglin Gongfu copper rise was carved according to this standard. In this way, experts interpret the true identity of this copper liter in a one-to-one correspondence.
"Shanglin" refers to the Shanglin Garden, which was cast in the outskirts of Chang'an during the Qin and Han dynasties, "Gongfu" is the warehouse that supplies grain, "Chuyuan San" means that it was cast in the third year after the Han Yuan Emperor ascended the throne, and "Langya" refers to the contribution of this copper rise by Langya (present-day Shandong).
This means that this bronze vessel was not cast in Shanglin Garden, but was cast locally and transferred to Shanglin Garden for use. "Engineer Junzao" means that the engineer is the founder, and the name is Jun.
The priceless treasure reveals the Western Han dynasty's weights and measures system
Since the Shanglin Gongfu copper liter was the standard measuring instrument of the Western Han Dynasty, the expert group naturally further studied the Han Dynasty weights and measures system, and then compared it horizontally with other contemporaneous bronzes in order to obtain a more accurate Han Dynasty weights and measures system.
It is recorded in the Book of Han and the Chronicle of laws that the standard of the Han Dynasty is "ten is ascended, ten liters are buckets, and ten buckets are huo", and the value of the balance is stipulated as follows: "One gongrong thousand two hundred, weighing twelve baht, two for two, twenty-four baht for two, sixteen two for jin, thirty jin for jun, and four jun for stone".
According to the existing "Shanglin Gongfu Copper Liter" calculation, this measuring instrument, which was a volume of one liter at that time, can carry 209 ml of water today. In the horizontal comparison of other Han Dynasty Shanglin bronze standard measuring instrument products in the national collection, it is basically one liter of the Han Dynasty equivalent to about 200 ml of the current volume.
It can be seen that the volume of one liter in the Han Dynasty at that time was equivalent to the modern limit of 200 milliliters, which is basically the same as the volume of one liter in the Qin Dynasty. It can be seen that the weights and measures of the Han Dynasty were inherited and the relevant systems of the Qin Dynasty, and the measurement system also adopted a decimal system.
In addition to the corresponding volume marked on the Shanglin bronze, of course, it is also marked with the corresponding weight, and this Shanglin Gongfu copper liter is no different. The inscription on the outside of the copper wall records that copper weighs two pounds and two pounds. Experts actually weighed the copper liter of the Shanglin Gongfu, weighing 321.3 grams, and converted it to show that each kilogram in the Han Dynasty was equivalent to 286 grams in modern times.
Compared with the weight equivalent value calculated by other standard measuring instruments, the weight of a pound in the Han Dynasty is between 247.5 and 251.grams in modern times, with an average of 249.65 grams. In this way, it can be about one pound of the Han Dynasty equivalent to the current 250 grams.
So, can we get the equivalent value of the last Han Dynasty in terms of weight and volume with the present?
Obviously, such a single measurement analogy is not rigorous. In order to have a more rigorous scientific attitude and a more accurate equivalent calculation method, the expert group also made similar calculations and comparisons of other Han Dynasty bronzes in the national collection (in addition to standard measuring instruments).
For example, the Tianhan Four-Year Nangong Gong is inscribed with the inscription "Rong Ten Buckets, Fifty-one Pounds". The measured volume is 21,000 ml, weighing 10,350 grams, which is equivalent to 210 ml per liter and 202.94 grams per kilogram.
Of course, experts also compare the volume and weight values of many bronzes, which will not be listed here. They converted the results of the Han Dynasty bronzes outside these non-standard measuring instruments and modern values, and then took the average value, and concluded that the Han Dynasty per liter is now equivalent to 253.33 milliliters, and the Han Dynasty is now equivalent to 246.8 grams per kilogram.
However, this shows a big difference from the calculation results of the Copper Rise of the Lin Communist Government. Why is there such a big difference between the same Han Dynasty bronze ware?
The experts summarized the information at hand, and then went through the historical records, and finally found the "clues".
It turns out that there are many reasons why such an error can be caused. The wear of the standard measuring instrument will cause such an error to exist; since it is purely hand-cast, there is naturally a certain precision error;
Moreover, the later engraving inscriptions are also purely manual procedures, which is also purely in some artificial errors. In short, there are many links from production to factory that can cause such errors.
However, the relevant weight and volume of bronzes minted in the same period are still in the average range, especially the bronzes produced by ShanglinYuan are more standard. Thus it is concluded that in the Han Dynasty, about 200 milliliters per liter is now equivalent to about 250 grams per kilogram.
The water scoop is listed as a first-class cultural relics standardized system
Now, the copper of the Shanglin Communist House has been upgraded as a first-class national cultural relic. In addition to providing experts to study the weights and measures system of the Western Han Dynasty and the role of cultural relics collection, the Tongsheng of the Shanglin Communist House, as an important cultural relic of the Western Han Dynasty, is also open to the public for tourists and cultural relics enthusiasts to appreciate. This standard measuring instrument, which dates back more than 2,000 years, is quietly displayed in the exhibition cabinets of the Tianjin Museum.
Of course, there are many han dynasty bronzes like it, which show the huge scale of bronze casting in the Western Han Dynasty and the improvement of the central standardization system.
As mentioned above, Shanglin bronze ware has strict standardization specifications in terms of engraving inscriptions and weight volume. Similarly, it is also in line with the standardization system in the process of transshipment and circulation, collectively referred to as "Shanglin Bronze". However, not all of these Han Dynasty bronzes were produced in Shanglin Garden.
It can be seen from the different excavation sites that although a large part of the Shanglin bronze ware comes from the Shanglin Garden in its own jurisdiction. But a large part of it was transferred to the Shanglin Garden for use after casting from other places, just like the bronze ware of the Shanglin Gongfu recorded in the focus of this article, was not it transferred to the Shanglin Garden for use after it was cast in Langya (now in Shandong)!
Of course, if there is a transfer in, there is a call out. Many bronzes cast by ShanglinYuan are also circulated for use after being finished and engraved with inscriptions.
The transfer and circulation of these Shanglin bronzes is not in the form of "one piece of free shipping", but according to the casting time of the utensils, the batch is regularly deployed and circulated in accordance with the unified time and method, and the corresponding records are uniformly recorded.
It can be seen that the Shanglin Garden in the Western Han Dynasty has departed from its role as a simple royal garden and evolved into a comprehensive royal garden integrating political, economic, and safari functions.
epilogue
Shanglin Gongfu Copper Sheng provides great reference value and research significance in various aspects such as the "Wule Gong name" system, the weights and measures system, and the casting, transshipment, circulation methods and methods of bronze ware in the Han Dynasty.
This has led experts to further develop their research on various aspects of Shanglin bronze ware in the Han Dynasty, which was used by old farmers as a water scoop for ten years, and it is worthy of being a priceless treasure.
bibliography
Yu Lu, Treatise on The Bronze Artifacts of the Western Han Dynasty, Philosophy and Humanities, archaeology, National Museum of China, 2015.08, 105_13, eds. Chen Jiandong. The Complete Works of Chinese Design, Volume 13, Instrumental Categories[M]., 2012.