The bells chime slowly, and the clearer the longer
At home due to the epidemic, I have nothing to see the Quwo Chimes Orchestra flashing on TV, and I can't help but think of the national treasure that I saw in 2019 at the Shanxi Museum and the Shanghai Museum - The Jinhou Su Zhong.
Shangbo Museum Collection Jinhou Su Chimes (Picture from the Internet)
At present, this set of chimes is located in two places, 2 pieces of the Shanxi Museum of Tibet and 14 pieces of the Shanghai Museum. The story of this set of chimes is understood from the museum, which is very tortuous and bizarre, and the issue of authenticity alone has made the cultural relics community boiling.
A complete set of 16 Chimes of the Marquis of Jinhou was named after the tomb of Marquis Xianhou of Jinxian in the late Western Zhou Dynasty, which was buried in tomb No. 8 of the Marquis of Jin in Qucun Town, Quwo County, Shanxi Province, and was excavated in 1992. The Jinhou Su chimes are bronze percussion instruments, of which 14 are purchased by the Shanghai Museum from Hong Kong, and the other 2 were excavated during the clean-up and excavation of Tomb 8 of the Jinhou Cemetery. It can be divided into two groups, each group of 8 pieces, arranged into two columns of chimes of scales and rhythms. The inscription of the Bell of Marquis Su of Jin has a total of 355 words, which are engraved on 16 bells end to end, and these words can be read consecutively, describing a large-scale war personally commanded by Tianzi that King Li of Zhou participated in in the thirty-third year of The Jin Marquis Su.
The location of the war was in the Liangshan area of the northern part of Ōnozawa in present-day Shandong Province, and the target of the conquest was the Suyi tribe, and the battle took place three times, and the battle lasted for three months, from the beginning of the first month to the end of March. Because hou su of Jin was very brave in battle, he won a complete victory, and in the whole war, a total of 480 levels were beheaded, 114 people were captured, and the battle achievements were outstanding. After the end of the war, in recognition of marquis Su of Jin's military exploits, the King of Zhou held a grand ceremony in June in Zongzhou, rewarding Marquis Su of Jin with horses, bows and arrows, and sacrificial wine. And this set of chimes was specially made by Marquis Su of Jin in order to remember the reward of the King of Zhou.
In 1992, the No. 8 cemetery at the excavation site in Beizhao Village was stopped in June because migrant workers at the excavation site needed to go home to collect wheat, and the cemetery was stolen at this time. However, when cleaning up the stolen cemetery, there are still dings, gui, pots, zuns, etc., of which there is an inscription on the bronze ding as "Marquis Su of Jin". The tomb, which was excavated by rampant theft shortly after the suspension of work, sent a large number of cultural relics overseas by traffickers, including 14 chimes that were transported to Hong Kong.
In December 1992, when Mr. Ma Chengyuan, then director of the Shanghai Museum and a famous bronze expert, visited Hong Kong, a friend accompanied him on a tour of the Hong Kong antique market said: What treasure do you like, I pay for it. Here Ma Lao took a fancy to these 14 chimes. Elder Ma just finished talking about the chimes, and this patriotic old friend was surprised, but not because of the price problem, Su Zhong only had a price of more than 100,000 Hong Kong dollars at that time, which was very cheap. Instead, I was surprised that this well-known bronze expert at home and abroad could even look away, because there are many collectors in Hong Kong, and everyone agrees that they are imitations and counterfeits. He kindly reminded Elder Ma to take a closer look, and the more he looked at it, the more determined he was to buy the 14 chimes. In this way, the chimes were bought back from the Hong Kong antique market, and many experts came to watch it, which also set off a huge storm. Most people think that Ma Lao has looked away.
There are three reasons for questioning Ma Lao: one is that the bell can see the yellow color of copper, and the degree of rust is not correct; the second is that the inscription is post-engraved, not cast; and the third is that the inscription cannot be read through. And Ma Lao's explanation is that the bell has only recently been unearthed, and even the yellow of copper can be seen; although the inscription is a post-engraving, it is a post-inscription at that time; the inscription is not a one-piece inscription, if you read them in succession, it will be smooth. Ma Lao immediately wrote to the experts of the archaeological excavations at the site, asking whether another Jinhou Su chime had been found. According to the inscription, there should be one or two bells engraved with words such as "Ten thousand years without boundaries, children and grandchildren will always be used". However, the scene replied that the tomb of Marquis Su of Jin had been excavated, and there was no chime. Ma Lao wrote again, asking to be carefully searched when backfilling, and a miracle occurred! Two small bells appeared in the backfill soil! They told Ma Lao the news and informed the inscription that the slightly larger one was "Nian Wu Jie, and the children and grandchildren" were slightly smaller as "Yong Bao Zi Zhong". At this point, the Jin Marquis Su chimes were completed.
Inscription rubbings (image from the Internet)
Su Zhong, the Marquis of Jin, separated the two places due to theft, and because Ma Lao was finally able to be linked, it was fortunate in misfortune. However, Ma Lao committed suicide by jumping off a building on September 25, 2004. Some say that because of the authenticity of ShangboJian, some say that Ma Lao is due to the economic problem of buying antiques, the Shanghai cultural circles say that Ma Lao committed suicide in grief and anger, and the official said that he died of illness at the age of seventy-seven. Opinions vary, and the real reason is scattered with the death of Ma Lao's immortals, and it is unknown.
Only the bells that once fit together echoed in the Shangbo Bronze Museum, proving the once-complete reunion.