Shang Martingale Fangsheng, looks like a frying pan, neither as big as the Jin Marquis Bird Zun, nor the inscription of the word 'China' at the bottom of He Zun, nor is it like many ancient bronzes decorated with exquisite and wonderful ornaments, but it is a witness and witness of the Shang Martingale transformation method of the Qin State, and now, it has become a national heavyweight cultural relic that everyone knows in the field of literature and history, and it is also a landmark artifact that must be mentioned in the history of Chinese weights and measures; Then Shang Martingale Fangsheng, why did it arise in the change of law? Hello everyone, I'm Wen classmate, what we want to talk about today is - Shang Martingale Fangsheng.
Shang Martingale Fangsheng
Stand wood for faith
During the Warring States period, the princely states fought wars for years, and in order to survive in a cruel environment, countries began to change their laws one after another. First, with Li Wei's change of law, the State of Wei became the first superpower among the Seven Warring States, and then the Wu Rebellion Law revitalized the State of Chu. But these changes are not as long as the martingale transformation method, so how did the Qin State achieve the last-come-first-come?
Shang
Shang Martingale was originally a native of Wei Guo, surnamed Gongsun, so he was also known as Wei Martin and Gongsun Martingale, and was later given the title of Shang Jun for successfully recovering Hexi, which was the stronghold of the Wei state. In the first year of Qin Xiao (361 BC), the Duke of Xiao was strong Qin, ordered to seek merit, and Shang Martin entered the Qin state to persuade Xiao Gong to implement reforms, refuting the ideas of the old school "Fagu" and "following rites", and vigorously promoting the reform of the law, successively serving as the chief of Zuo Shu and the great liangzao.
Before the promulgation of the decree, Shang Martingale stood up for the trust of the people and won the trust of the people. He ordered people to erect a log three feet high outside the south gate, and whoever could move the wood to the north gate would give him a heavy reward. No one dared to try, and when he raised the bounty to five times the original, and finally someone moved the wood to the north gate, Shang Martingale immediately fulfilled his promise. Martingale won the trust of the people in the new law, and since then, the process of unifying weights and measures has officially begun.
Unified weights and measures
One law balances the stone ruler, the car is on the same track, and the book is the same as the text. In the twelfth year of the Duke of Qin Xiao (350 BC), the state of Qin moved the capital to Xianyang and took this opportunity to gradually carry out the second change of law, Shang Martingale generally implemented the county system, reformed the land system, implemented a more reasonable tax system, and unified weights and measures, the car was on the same track, and the book was the same text. Since ancient times, "law" has not only represented legal rules, but also systems and standards. As the standard measuring instrument of the Qin State, Shang Martingale Fangsheng is not only the standard measuring instrument issued by Shang Martingale when he was appointed "Daliang Manufacturing", but also the only physical example of Shang Martingale transformation method so far. It is also the only one of the weights and measures standards personally supervised by Shang Martingale at that time that survived.
Shang Martingale Fangsheng inscription
So what is the product of Shang Martingale Fangsheng, and why do the current historians attach so much importance to it? Quantity is a device for measuring the volume of objects, and ancient measuring instruments are mostly used to calculate the amount of crops, and are important reference materials for commodity exchange and agricultural taxation. The liter is a more common unit of capacity, which was first seen on measuring instruments and inscriptions on measuring instruments and inscriptions in the late Warring States period. In Oracle, the word "liter" is like adding a grain to a long spoon.
Martingale square liter dimensional drawing
Shang Martingale Fangsheng, also known as Shang Martingale or Qin Shang Martingale, is a standard gauge of the State of Qin during the Warring States period. The vessel is 2.32 cm high, 18.7 cm long, 12.4 cm long, 6.9 cm wide, 2.3 cm deep and 202.15 ml in volume. Cast in bronze, rectangular in shape, straight walled, with a short handle hollow at the back. The remaining three sides and the underside are inscribed with inscriptions. Now in the Shanghai Museum, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage is listed as the third batch of cultural relics prohibited from going abroad for exhibition.
Shang Martingale Fangsheng planing diagram
At first glance, we may seem unremarkable, although there are no strange ornaments on ancient bronzes, nor mysterious patterns, but because of its detailed inscriptions, precision workmanship and clearly recorded volumes, it is considered a rare national standard. It is inscribed with 32 characters on the outside, recording the eighteenth year of the Duke of Qin Xiao (344 BC), the maker of Fang Sheng, the era, and the use and volume of the artifacts. Daliang Zao was the highest official position in the Qin state during the reign of Qin Xiaogong, holding military and political power, and "Daliang Zao Martingale" refers to Shang Martingale.
A rubbing engraved on the martingale square
The left wall is inscribed: "In eighteen years, Qi led the Qing doctors to hire, winter and December acetate, Daliang made martingale, accumulated sixteen (inches) and five points (inches) for one rise." The wall of the vessel is opposite the Warring States Shang Martingale Fang Sheng handle, and the word "heavy spring" is engraved on one side. The bottom is engraved with the twenty-sixth edict of Qin Shi Huang: "In the twenty-sixth year, the emperor has merged with the princes of the world, Shang Martin Fangsheng (2), the head of Qian, Da'an, established as the emperor, is the edict of the prime minister, the sword, the law measurement is not one apology, all are clear." That is to say, this passage can be understood as: In the eighteenth year of filial piety, the State of Qi sent an embassy to the State of Qin to discuss major matters. On December acetate day in the winter of the same year, the Daliang manufacturer Martingale supervised the production of this standard gauge. The volume of this square liter is sixteen inches and one-fifth of a cubic inch (i.e. the capacity of one liter). Fangsheng is used in heavy springs.
In the twenty-sixth year of Qin Shi Huang (221 BC), Qin unified the world, and the original subjects of Chu, Qi, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei and other countries (Qianshou: those with black turbans, referring to subjects and common people) finally achieved stability and established him as emperor, so he decreed that Cheng Xiangxiang and Cheng Xiangxiang (狀, 绾 are personal names), standardize weights and measures, unify any inconsistencies, and clarify everything that is unclear.
Shang Martingale Fangsheng right inscription
The word "Pro" is engraved on the right wall. "Chongquan" is the same as the inscription on the left wall and should be engraved once, while the character "Pro" and the bottom edict are engraved for the second time. It can be seen that this vessel was first placed in "Chongquan" (present-day Pucheng, Shaanxi), and later forwarded to Lindi. "Shiji Qin Benji": Xiaogong "Ten years, Wei Martin made for Daliang". The eighteen years in the inscription, i.e. the eighteenth year of the Duke of Qin Xiao (344 BC).
Inscription on the bottom of the martingale square
Fang Sheng's 26-year edict was engraved at the bottom of Fang Sheng, proving that after Qin Shi Huang unified China, he still unified the weights and measures of the whole country with the system and standards stipulated by Shang Martingale. "Sixteen (inches) and five-thousandths (inches) are liters", that is, the volume of sixteen and one-fifth cubic inches is set as one liter. It shows that as early as 300 years BC, the scientific method of "measuring the appearance" has been used, reflecting the high achievements of the ancient working people on the mainland in number crunching and equipment manufacturing.
The historical value of this Fangsheng is not only that it is an important physical evidence of the Shang Martingale transformation method, but also that it has been continuously used for more than 120 years, and it has become the standard reference for Qin Shi Huang's decree. The original collector, Mr. Gong Xinming, is the earliest reader of the inscription, he analyzed the inscriptions of the two seal carvings from the perspective of calligraphy art, for these words engraved by Qin Shi Huang, he believed: "According to this edict, after the first emperor annexed the world, the edict Li Si changed the small seal chiseled, so the text is fatter, and the former edict is detailed, it is still the pre-Qin script, acetate, unitary characters still have Zhongding pen meaning, the word Chongquan seems to be engraved at the same time as the previous edict, and the linji is the second engraving (with the intention of speculation, this amount is first used in the place of Chongquan, and then used in the lin). It is pointed out that although the place used by Fang Sheng has been changed from Chongquan to Lindi, the standard of weights and measures is still the original appearance.
Historically, although there are different views on the Shang Martingale transformation method: for example, "Warring States Policy" praised Shang Martingale as "fair and selfless, punishing and powerful, and rewarding not selfishly and close", Tai Shigong used "mean" and "less grace" to judge Shang Martingale more vividly. But we must clearly understand that Shang Martingale set the standard, Qin Shi Huang popularized the standard, and we still continue the measurement principle for thousands of years. Although the commercial martingale is no longer the mainstream measurement standard, we have still complied with the fair and just rules derived by the commercial martingale promotion.
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