In 1963, a villager named Zhao Zhenxiu in Douma Village, Wuxiang, Xingping County, Shaanxi Province, accidentally found a heavy bronze vessel while taking soil on the cliff north of the village. The land of Sanqin is full of treasures, and the local people have richer knowledge of cultural relics than people in other regions. He carried the bronze to his home and carefully cleaned it up, and the result was a strange artifact that resembled an ox rather than an ox.
The villagers were not greedy and immediately informed the local government of the news of the excavation of this cultural relic. After being accepted by the Maoling Cultural Management Office, it has gone through several turns and is now in the National Museum. As we all know, the National Museum of Cultural Relics is gathered, not fine cultural relics can not be entered at all, so what is this bronze ware?
It turns out that its appearance is indeed not a cow, according to the expert judgment and physical comparison, the image it creates should be a Sumen rhinoceros, that is, a kind of rhinoceros. This artifact is a wine vessel, and it is a bronze statue, which is covered with clouds drawn by the wrong gold and silver craftsmanship, so it is named the bronze rhinoceros with the wrong gold and silver cloud pattern. Although it was excavated from the cellar and not excavated from the tomb, the bronze mirror, copper belt hook, copper file, copper weight and other objects placed in its abdominal cavity support this is a masterpiece of the Western Han Dynasty.
The bronze rhinoceros is about 58.1 cm long, 20.4 cm wide, 34.1 cm high and weighs 13.34 kg. Rhinos are large, standing tall and imposing. Its limbs are short and fat enough to support a huge body, and it is muscular and shows a rugged beauty. Ancient craftsmen were well-intentioned, and even the sharpness of rhino horns was exquisitely made, and the wrinkled thick skin was vividly portrayed. His eyes are wide open, as if he has traveled through time and space, looking at this different world.
Its belly was hollow, which was used to hold wine at that time, and the owner buried it with other small bronzes. It has a cover on its back and is still very complete, which is precious. To the right of the rhino's mouth, there is a circular pipe, the term on the artifact is "flow". When pouring wine, it is to lift the tail of the rhinoceros and let the wine trickle out of the "stream".
What is even more eye-catching is that it is densely covered with clouds of wrong gold and silver. The so-called "wrong" is a special process of ancient metal inlay. The craftsman slotted the surface of the utensil, and then filled it with gold and silver to inlay it, making the whole artifact golden and brilliant. This kind of craftsmanship reached its peak in the Western Han Dynasty, which is not uncommon, but this bronze piece of copper is excellent, coupled with gold and silver glittering clouds, it looks beautiful and dazzling.
However, some people will find it strange that the ancients used drinking bronze statues to make animal shapes, such as cows, sheep, birds, etc., why did they make rhinoceros? Can they see rhinos?
Indeed, wild rhinos are extinct in our country and no longer exist. However, in ancient China, rhinos not only existed, but also numbered quite a few. In the Neolithic ruins, people have found many rhino bones, and in the oracle bones of the Shang Dynasty, there have also been too many rhinos, and people have to burn forests to hunt rhinos. In ancient times, there was also the story of the spirit rhinoceros, so Li Shangyin would write in "Untitled" that "the body is without color phoenix and two wings, and the heart has a spirit rhinoceros." ”
Moreover, in ancient times, people believed that wine glasses made of rhino horns could detoxify, and rhino skin was the armor material that samurai in various countries dreamed of during the Spring and Autumn Period. But it is also because of these benefits of rhinoceros that it is ruthlessly hunted by people and its number is sharply reduced. During the Western Han Dynasty, the last figure of the rhinoceros could still be seen, and when Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, he could only exchange a high price for a live rhinoceros in the Huangzhi Kingdom of the South China Sea.
Art always comes from life, above life. If it were not common, no matter how rich the imagination of the craftsman and the skill, it would be absolutely impossible to make such a lifelike bronze figure. This rhinoceros is not only gorgeous in appearance, but also gives us a vivid lesson, which tells us that only by cherishing nature and living in harmony with animals can we not become alone.