At the end of March 2018, an auction announcement released by the Canterbury auction house in Kent, England, attracted the attention of public opinion at home and abroad, and the auction item was questioned as the bronze cultural relic "Ying" lost from the Old Summer Palace. The British "Daily Telegraph" also published an article saying that this "tiger hammer" was robbed by the British army from the Old Summer Palace in 1860 and has a history of 3,500 years.
▲A bronze "tiger hammer" that returned from overseas and was incorporated into the National Museum of Tibet.
In response, the mainland's State Administration of Cultural Heritage protested many times and demanded that the auction of the "tiger hammer" be stopped, but it was eventually auctioned for 410,000 pounds (about 3.66 million yuan). Just when people were disappointed, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage received an email from the relevant auction agency in the United Kingdom, saying that foreign buyers wanted to unconditionally donate the cultural relics to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
In September and November 2018, entrusted by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the National Museum of China sent two expert teams to the UK to identify the tiger hammer. Yu Jackie Chan, a researcher at the National Museum, is one of the appraisal experts.
On the way to the UK, Yu Chanchan's mood was both excited and nervous, and after getting off the plane, he did not have time to rest, let alone take a look at the autumn colors in London, so he went straight to the Chinese Embassy in the UK. When he saw the "tiger gong" for the first time, the strong "Chinese atmosphere" came to his face - this familiar feeling made his heart hot, his eyes were moist, and a voice sounded in his heart: "This is it!" We came to pick it up and go home. ”
"Tiger Hammer", which has been living overseas for more than 100 years, has finally waited for relatives to pick it up.
One thought is in Z, and there are no obstructions. After the bronze "tiger hammer" was safely transported back to China, the National Museum held a special ceremony to enter the collection. The "tiger hammer" was plundered and exiled overseas, which was the shame of the Qing government being bullied by the great powers; The return of the "tiger hammer" to the motherland is a witness to the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Since then, the National Museum has added another national treasure with a special status.
What is "gong"?
The Shang and Zhou dynasties were the heyday of bronze casting. The names of bronze utensils we are familiar with are ding, jue, gui, li (li), staff (jia), etc., so what is "gong"?
Experts believe that "gong" is another name for bronze 盉 (he). The bronze bowl is a copper utensil made of ancient warm wine, shaped like a pot, with three legs and four legs. But the former called itself "盉" and the latter called itself "鎣". Scholar Zhu Fenghan believes that "since the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, there has been a self-name for '鎣'. This name was used from the late Western Zhou Dynasty to the early Spring and Autumn Period".
The shape of this "tiger gong" is quite similar to the late Western Zhou Dynasty Ji Liang's father and the late Western Zhou Dynasty Bobai's father from Zhangjiapo in Chang'an, Shaanxi.
▲Ji Liang's father, collection of Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
The bronze "tiger hammer" is 35 cm long, 26 cm high, 12.6 cm in diameter, with a round mouth and deep belly, a tiger pattern on the top, and a tiger-body dragon-tailed beast encircled on the top of the lid. Because the flow pipe is decorated with the image of a crouching tiger, the top cover is cast with the inscription "Self-made Offering Gong", so it is called "Tiger Gong". Cultural scholars at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom also refer to it as "Tiger Ying" in the name of the auction house.
▲ The late Western Zhou Dynasty.
However, although the name is "tiger gong", there are many characteristics of "dragon" in the shape, and the back of the shoulder is different from the front of the shoulder crouching tiger shape, which is the first title of the dragon, and the shoulder integrates the dragon and the tiger; The edge of the lid is curved, and the shoulder is a continuous 6 groups of dragon patterns.
▲Bronze "Tiger Hammer" internal inscription.
The bronze "tiger gong" is one of the only seven remaining "gong" bronzes in the world, and it is also the most exquisite product among these copper gongs. Even from today's point of view, its workmanship is still excellent, fully reflecting the advanced bronze casting technology and developed productivity level of the time.
"Tiger" culture in artifacts
"Tiger Gong" is not only a cultural relic, but also carries the memory of Chinese culture.
The lid of the "tiger hammer" and the outlet of the long tubular stream are in the shape of a mighty tiger, which is powerful but dignified and elegant. The inscription "Self-made Offering" cast inside the lid clarifies the purpose of the "tiger hammer", which is used during sacrifices. Some experts believe that the use of mighty tigers to participate in sacrifices is enough to prove that the Zhou people attach great importance to the ritual system.
▲ Prison in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, collection of the National Museum of China.
The tiger species appeared 2 million years ago. In the Neolithic period, tigers began to be deified by the Chinese ancestors. First there was the tiger culture, then there was the dragon culture. Both tiger culture and dragon culture participated in the construction process of Chinese civilization.
Dragons and tiger shapes made of mussel shells were found in M45 at the site of Xishuipo in Puyang, Henan, indicating that 6,500 years ago, tigers and dragons were sacred beasts worshipped by ancestors. In the rock paintings of Yinshan about 5,000 years ago, images of lone tigers and groups of tigers appear. According to the "History of the Five Emperors", the Yellow Emperor "taught the bear to fight against the Yan Emperor in the wilderness of Hanquan". This suggests that a clan with the tiger as a totem may have emerged.
▲ Wu Yu, a collection of the Middle Western Zhou Dynasty, in the collection of the National Museum of China.
In the stone, jade, and bronze artifacts of the pre-Qin dynasty, a large number of tiger figures and patterns can be seen. The Shang Dynasty's Houmu Pending and Dragon and Tiger Pattern bronze statues are decorated with tiger patterns. The image of the tiger is also decorated on important ceremonial instruments. And this "tiger hammer", with its rare tiger-shaped decoration and exquisite and unique shape, highlights the love of tigers in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties.
▲Jade Tiger in the late Shang Dynasty, collection of the National Museum of China.
The tiger is a beast. "Tiggo Youan" is the auspicious concept of Chinese. In ancient Chinese astrology, people divided the constellations in the sky into twenty-eight juku, which belonged to the four elephants of the Eastern Green Dragon, the Western White Tiger, the Southern Vermilion Bird, and the Northern Xuanwu. The white tiger sits in the West and is regarded as the god of war.
▲Tiger print round gold medal ornament from the Warring States period.
The famous story of Xinling Jun's "stealing talisman to save Zhao" in "Shiji Wei Gongzi Liebian " has been passed down through the ages - a small tiger talisman that affects the fate of the country and characters. The figure of the tiger can be seen on artifacts or buildings such as copper mirrors, wadang, and Han portrait stones of the Han Dynasty. The pottery wadang of the Eastern Han Dynasty, with the white tiger striding high, is intended to guard the mansion with the god of the white tiger.
▲Shijiahe Culture Jade Tiger Head, Collection of the National Museum of China.
The "Western Han Tiger Pattern Round Gold Medal" displayed in the Nomadic Style of the National Expo Exhibition Hall and the "Autumn Mountain Jade" that depicts hunting life in the Liaojin and Yuan Dynasties reflect that tigers have become the cultural imprint of many ethnic groups.
Tao Hongjing of the Southern Dynasty said in the "Commentary on the Materia Medica": "The tiger's head is a pillow to ward off disgust." "Therefore Chinese there is a custom of making pillows in the shape of a tiger. The yellow-glazed black inscription Tiger Pillow of the Jin Dynasty depicts a majestic crouching tiger with a playful verse on its back: "Carry the scripture scroll in the day, and pillow the tiger's waist at the end of the night." No one will make a mistake, and who dares to provoke it." Tiger products have become partners in people's daily lives.
To this day, people put on the god of Humen during the Spring Festival, and let babies wear tiger head hats, tiger head shoes, and sleep on tiger head pillows, in order to pray for blessings and peace in the house.
▲ Golden dynasty yellow glaze black color inscription poetry tiger pillow.
The tiger is one of the twelve zodiac signs and represents strength, courage and majesty. People of all ethnic groups in China like the image of tigers, and there are still many myths and festivals of the tiger among the Yi, Bai, Buyi, Tujia and other ethnic groups. After a long period of historical evolution and development, Chonghu's cultural consciousness has become a common cultural value of the Chinese nation.
▲Qing Dynasty Weng Tongjiang (the zodiac is tiger) cursive tiger scroll, collection of the National Museum of China.
Looking forward to the return of more lost artifacts
China is rich in civilization. The history of Chinese civilization for more than 5,000 years has accumulated rich cultural sites, precious cultural relics and documentary classics. Sadly, since the late Qing Dynasty, the national strength has weakened, and a large number of precious cultural goods have been scattered overseas. According to incomplete statistics, the total number of Chinese cultural relics collected by public and private units around the world exceeds 10 million, and these national treasures lost overseas have become the pain of the times and the death of the nation.
After the founding of New China, the party and government put curbing the loss of cultural relics and rescuing precious national treasures on an important agenda, established rules and regulations, and opened a new chapter in the recovery of lost cultural relics. From 1949 to the present, the mainland has successfully facilitated the return of more than 300 batches and more than 150,000 pieces of Chinese cultural relics lost overseas. Especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, it has successfully promoted the return of more than 1,800 pieces (sets) of lost cultural relics, including the "tiger hammer". In recent years, international cooperation on the recovery and return of lost cultural relics in the mainland has been continuously expanded and deepened, and the "Chinese practice" of the return of lost cultural relics has attracted worldwide attention.
Looking ahead, we look forward to the return of more overseas cultural relics like the "tiger hammer". (End)
Author/Weng Huainan