Based on cultural relics, with historical materials as a shield,
Tigers look at Mu Mu, eagles look at Wanfeng, interpret history.
Jing Ke stabbed Qin, Tu Qian Dagger Saw, and the group of courtiers shouted, "Wang Negative Sword". Negative is "back", which means that the King of Qin must first "carry the sword on his back" before pulling it out. Coincidentally, in the Han tombs in Guizhou, archaeological excavations have unearthed two bronze birds, and there are also "negative" artifacts on their backs.
Eastern Han Bronze Bird (excavated from the Han Tomb No. 6 of Jiaole, now in the Qianxian Prefecture Museum)
In 1987, a bronze bird was excavated from the Han Tomb No. 6 of Xingren Jiaole, 7.5 cm high and 11 cm long, with a short body, a round abdomen, hollow, upright feet, a short tail and a rounded head, a long and straight beak, and a fish. The bird carried an object on its back and fixed it with a "t-shaped" copper nail, and due to the mutilation, the archaeological excavation report made a suspected "fish basket" speculation, but marked a question mark. In November 1994, a bronze bird was excavated from the Han Tomb No. 29 Longtan in Anshun Ninggu Town, with a length of 6.5 cm and a height of 2.7 cm, a short body, a round head, a god in the eyes, a bird's beak, tail and legs, and archaeological excavation reports show that the middle of the bird's back is raised, like a negative object, but it fails to say what is specifically responsible.
Bronze bird line drawing (Anshun Ninggu Longtan No. 29 Han Tomb excavated, now in the Guizhou Provincial Museum)
Kingfisher Flying (April 2020 in The Pond River, Xingyi Bay. Photographed by Hu Yunjiang)
What are the prototypes of the two excavated bronze birds? Coincidentally, in early April, my colleague Hu Yunjiang also took a photo of it by the Xingyi Bay Pond River. On the branches of it, short legs, long beak, round head, short tail, snapping fish. There is also an article in the third grade textbook, "Small and exquisite, under a pair of translucent and flexible eyes, there is a sharp and long mouth... The sound is crisp, and love to fly against the surface of the water... Flying like an arrow, picking up a small fish..." Yes, the kingfisher described in the writer's essay.
Kingfisher (April 2020, at the Pond River in Xingyi Bay. Photographed by Hu Yunjiang)
Kingfishers are a common bird in our south. In the earliest (Warring States Period) dictionary of ancient China, "Erya Shi Bird", it is called "bird, tengu", that is, a bird that likes to stand. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the famous minister Cai Yong once composed a five-word poem, Yun: "Kingfishers come to collect, vibrating wings and contouring shapes." Guo Pu, a famous scholar of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, commented: "The little bird is green like green, eats fish, and Jiangdong calls it a fish dog." The Tang Dynasty pharmacist Chen Zangqi compiled the "Materia Medica Collection" and named it "Kingfisher". The Qing Dynasty physician Zhao Xuemin's compilation of the "Compendium of Materia Medica" called it "Yucui". The philologist Duan Yujie's Commentary on the Interpretation of The Text reads: "According to the garden pond where it is located today. ...... Also known as fish and tiger. ”
Copper Suzaku Treasure Vase (collected by Daguan, Shuifu County, Yunnan Province)
Han Dynasty bronze birds unearthed is not rare, but there are not many "negative objects" on the back, and only these two pieces have been found in Guizhou. So what are they carrying on their backs? The two pieces unearthed in Guizhou are mutilated and are not easy to make a conclusion. However, according to the "Yunnan Zhaotong Field Archaeology One" record, in The Daguan of Shuifu County, at the junction of the two provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan, the cultural relics department collected a bronze bird, and the object carried by the bird's back was judged to be a bottle, so it was named "Copper Suzaku Treasure Vase". Also in the county's Louba Town, Turtle Shiwan Eastern Han Dynasty Cliff Tomb No. 5, excavations of a more complete bronze bird. It is 8.4 cm long and 7.6 cm high, with a raised head, an upward beak, a short and wide tail, and a streamer at the back of the bird's head connected to the object on its back. This time it was finally clearly visible that the object carried by the bird's back resembled a jar, so it was named "Bird Negative Tank". Now the question is, is it not the turtle that traditionally "carries the weight forward", how light and agile kingfishers also have to carry a jar, why did the ancestors of the Han Dynasty make such a strange artifact to accompany the owner of the tomb to bury?
Bird negative tank copper line drawing (excavated from the cliff tomb of No. 5 of the Eastern Han Dynasty in Turtle Shiwan, Louba Town, Shuifu County)
In the many poems of the Tang and Song dynasties praising kingfishers, they are basically "birds say birds on birds", and the ancients have not seen the ancients give a particularly strange meaning to kingfishers. For example, the Tang Dynasty famous Zhang Jiuling's "Feeling the Twelve Songs and Four", Shiyun: "See the double kingfisher on the side, nest in the three pearl trees"; the Middle Tang Dynasty Caizi Qianqi "The Kingfisher of the Fish", Shiyun: "The Wave gets the diving fish, a little green light goes"; the late Tang Dynasty writer Pi Rixiu's "Eryou Poems and Ren Poems", Shiyun: "White Lotus Leaning on the Tree, Kingfisher Curtain"; Su Dongpo, a famous calligrapher of the Northern Song Dynasty, "Qi's Jade Turtle Mountain", the words are: "Yaochi is near, the painting building is hidden, and the kingfisher is dancing"; Zhang Yun, the four great disciples of the Late Tang Dynasty, "Winter Day Speech", Shiyun: "Ancient Wooden Nest Kingfisher, Qing Hao saw the swimming fish"; the Northern Song Dynasty literary scholar Song Qi's "Baizhao Mountain Bridge Pavilion", Shiyun: "Spend the day with flowers and birds, and raise spiritual turtles through the years"; Wu Qian, a famous minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, "Shuying Qiongxiaoyu", the words are: "Falling geese cold reeds, kingfisher ice branches" and so on. If it cannot be explained from ancient poetry, can it be pronounced? The answer is yes. According to the research of Ma Xiaoliang, a teacher in the Department of Archaeology of the School of History and Culture of Sichuan University, "Erya Shi Bird" refers to the kingfisher as "鴗 (pronounced lì)", which is harmonized with "li", so he speculates that the kingfisher may have the meaning of wealth, wealth and auspiciousness.
Kingfisher (April 2020, on the Pond River in Xingyi Bay. Photographed by Hu Yunjiang)
In the Han Dynasty, there was a kind of receptacle similar to cans and bottles, which could be used to draw water, store water, and could also be used to hold grain, called "甖 (pronounced yīng)", "甖" through "poppy", so it was also called "poppy can" or "poppy bottle". The "Hanshu Han Xin Biography" has a record of "using wood as a wooden pillar to cross the army", that is, through the bolt, the "甖缶" can be used as a floating ferry tool, and the soldiers are hidden in the "甖", and do not want the enemy to know. The Chronicle of the Marquis of Huaiyin records it as "甖缻", which means the same thing. According to the ancient commentary of The Tang Dynasty Yan Shigu, "甖缶, the bottle of the big belly and small mouth also." Although there are documentary records, through archaeological excavations, very few Han Dynasty "Zhen" have been unearthed. According to Li Zheng's "Briefing on the Excavation of the Astana-Hala and Zhuogu Tombs in Turpan County", in 1970, pottery was excavated from Tomb No. 6 (Wei and Jin Period), with a large belly and a small mouth, in the shape of an "egg", and the ink books on the shoulders of "Yellow Rice YiYi" and "White Rice Yiyi", which are very similar to the objects carried by the bird's back. The Yanghai No. 1 Tomb Group in Shanshan County, Turpan unearthed documents from the Yongkang period (Southern and Northern Dynasties) of the ancient kingdom of Gaochang, with the book "Tao Gong Zhi Zhen", that is, the workshop that made "Tao". After the Tang Dynasty, the excavation of "甖" gradually increased.
Tang Dynasty brown glazed porcelain poppy jar (collection of Quzhou Museum)
Is the negative on the kingfisher "甖"? Guess is highly likely. "甖" and "win" are harmonized, so there is a meaning of surplus profit, profit, and surplus. Therefore, the ancients combined "kingfisher" and "甖" to form a mascot, which has the meaning of "profit". Judging from the excavations of archaeological excavations, this shape is currently found in sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan and other southern regions, which is obviously more than in the northern region, and may be related to the fact that kingfishers are more common in the south.
Kingfisher does not have a wick braze in it, so it cannot be used as an oil lamp
Teacher Ma Xiaoliang believes that it is appropriate to call the object carried by the bird's back a can, or bottle, but if it is called a bag, a fish basket or a field snail, it is incorrect, and the shape of the instrument is named "kingfisher negative tank". The author basically agrees, but it seems more accurate to use "kingfisher negative". About the purpose. Because of its small size, it cannot be used as a container. The "negative gourd" on the back of the bird has a diagonal and upright, so the basis for use as a wine vessel is also insufficient. There is no wick braze in the glyph, so it cannot be used as an oil lamp. From the analysis of several bronze birds listed above, they are all monomers, and there are no tagged traces attached to other large bronzes at the bottom. Based on this, we can understand that the Han Dynasty kingfisher who "carries the weight forward" is similar to the "boy who recruits wealth" or the "golden toad of wangcai" on the desk desk today, which can decorate and seek wealth, and also be trusted to play with hands.
Editor: Li Yi
Editor-in-charge: Li Jia
Editor: Iron Stream