Stepping out of the time and space of prehistoric society, we follow the Branch of the Yellow Emperor and the Shang Dynasty, the Zhou People, into the Bronze Age, to feel the style of the state of etiquette. The Zhou people gradually arose in the late Shang Dynasty in the zhouyuan in the central and western parts of the Guan, and finally settled on both sides of the Feng River, establishing a powerful dynasty and having a decisive impact on the development direction of Chinese civilization.
The ancestors of the Zhou people abandoned themselves to grow grains and melons and vegetables since childhood, and when they became adults, they were good at farming crops, and Emperor Yao cited him as a farmer, and when Emperor Shun was enfeoffed in Taidi, he was given the title of Ji Shui and the surname of Ji Shui. In the oracle bone and early Jin texts, the word "Zhou" is written as a well-defined "field", and the millet is the first of the five grains, often regarded as a symbol of agriculture. The names "Zhou ren" and "Hou Ji" show that this tribe attaches great importance to agriculture and is good at it.
After Hou Ji's death, the Zhou people were once exiled among rong di because the Xia Hou clan neglected agriculture and lost their official positions as farmers, but never abandoned the clan's tradition of harvesting. In less than three generations, Gong Liu led his people to move to The Land of Qi (豳地, in present-day Binzhou, Xunyi, and Changwu, Shaanxi), and the Zhou people gradually became stronger by reclaiming farmland and repairing their armaments. By the time of the thirteenth Gonggong Gugonggong, it had developed into a force to be reckoned with on the western frontier of the Shang Dynasty.
After Ji Chang, the grandson of Gu Gong's father, ascended the throne, the Northern Expedition continued to consolidate the strength of the Zhou people, which aroused the vigilance of the Shang King, who was once imprisoned in yሺulǐ near the Capital Yin. The arrogance and hegemony of the merchants inspired the determination of King Wen and Shang, who attached importance to production, recruited talents, expanded armaments, attacked the pro-shang Chongguo, and successively attacked the states of Xing (present-day Qinyangbei, Henan), Mi (present-day Lingtai, Gansu), and Li ("Qi", in present-day Changzhi County, Shanxi Province), conquering Shu, Chao, Chu, and other places, laying the foundation for the destruction of the merchant cause. In the 11th century BC, King Wen of Zhou made his way to the west bank of Fengshui and named the new capital "Fengjing" and "Xibo". After King Wu of Zhou ascended the throne, he continued King Wen's legacy and built Hojing on the east bank of Fengshui to prepare to march east to destroy the Shang.
Feng River
The Zhou people had a new name for their capital city "Jing", and the two capitals of Feng and Hao had been the political, economic and cultural center of the dynasty since their establishment, until king You of Zhou was killed by Inuyasha, a total of 11 generations and 12 kings, about 275 years, known as Western Zhou (1046-771 BC). Feng and Ho are close at hand, and there is a bridge between boats and bridges, and they jointly assume the responsibilities of the capital, so they are always called together. At present, fenghao has not found the remains of the city wall, which should be based on the surrounding rivers and moats to form a safety barrier for the city. Coincidentally, the Yin capital located in Anyang is also the Huan River running through the city, and there is no wall around it, and the construction concept of Feng and Pickaxe should be more or less influenced by dayi merchants. The "Huainanzi Tai Nationality Training" says that "the Son of Heaven has the Tao, and keeps in siyi", which may be the true embodiment of the Chinese nation in the process of early state formation, with Kyushu in mind and tolerance of the world.
Schematic diagram of the site of Fenghao in the Western Zhou Dynasty
Archaeological excavations have shown that the total area of Fengjing and Hokyo is about 15 square kilometers. The exploration and excavation in 2014 provided important clues for re-understanding and studying the evolution of the settlement layout of the Fengjing site. Archaeologists found an ancient river channel that ran through the site in the middle of Fengjing, and about 100 meters northeast of it there was also an artificial water surface excavated at that time, caozhai water surface, which was the earliest example of the use of garden water features to beautify the capital in China. Judging from the distribution of pre-Zhou cultural relics in the Fengjing ruins, if the river channel was built before the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Fengjing built by King Wen of Zhou is likely to be in the area surrounded by water on all sides, south of the Wuling Mountains, north of the river channel, east of the Lingnuma River, and west of the Feng River. With the establishment of the capital of Wu Dynasty and the increase in population, the river was gradually abandoned, and the scope of the Fengjing ruins gradually expanded. In the highlands around Keshengzhuang and MawangCun in the north of Fengdong, more than ten large-scale building sites and auxiliary pottery drainage facilities in the Western Zhou Dynasty have been found, which may be the palaces and temples of the Western Zhou royal family, nobles, and zongmiao areas. The chema pit found in Fengxi is one of the most intact relics of its kind in China, which can only be enjoyed by high-ranking nobles, and is of great significance to the study of the etiquette, war, and metallurgical technology of that time.
Western Zhou Che Ma Pit Remains Protection Display Western Zhou Che Ma Hang Relics Protection Display
Pickaxe is located on the east bank of the Feng River, and the Western Zhou bronze inscription is called "Zong Zhou". The northwest boundary is Linfengshui, the eastern boundary is Gushuishui, and the south is close to the Weihe River, which is also a relatively closed area. Due to the destruction caused by the Han Dynasty when building the Linyuan and Kunming Ponds, the overall layout of Hojing was not very clear. According to recent archaeological data, the Ruins of the Western Zhou Dynasty in Doumen Town, Huayuan Village, Shangquan Village, Pudu Village, Falling Water Village, Baijiazhuang and other places north of Han kunming pond are very rich, with a total area of about 5 square kilometers, which may be an important area of Pickaxe.
The palaces, temples and other important buildings in liangjing should be courtyard-style buildings with rammed foundations, roof tiles, and symmetry. People often say that Qin bricks and Han tiles, in fact, as early as the Neolithic Age, more than 4,000 years ago, the northwest region of China has begun to use ceramic tiles. At present, the earliest tiles were excavated from the site of Lushan Mountain in Yan'an, and traces of the use of terracotta tiles can also be seen in the palace of the Tao Temple site in Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province. During the Xia Shang Dynasty, terracotta tiles were mainly used for palace buildings in the capital. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, terracotta tiles were components of high-grade architecture, and with the expansion of Zhou culture throughout the country, the use of tiles was also spread from the Guanzhong area around Fenghao and Zhouyuan to North China, Jianghan and the Three Gorges region, such as the Ruins of the New Zheng Zhengguo Sacrifice, the Ruins of The Liulihe River in Beijing, the Ruins of the Ancient City of Qufu Luguo, the Ruins of Xiangfan Dengcheng, and the Ruins of Shuangyan Pond in Wushan. The early terracotta tiles were diverse, generally made of clay strips, and the outer walls were decorated with simple patterns such as basket patterns and rope patterns, which were mainly used to cover the roof ridge, and also had drainage, enclosure and other purposes.
Conflicts and contests with merchants greatly accelerated the civilization process of the Zhou people, and before the King of Wu attacked the Shang Zhou, the bronzes made by the Zhou people themselves were already indistinguishable from the bronzes of the merchants. Zhou Ren's business strategy has also been successful, and the strength of the merchants in Guanzhong has been wiped out. At this time, the Shang king killed Bigan and imprisoned Jizi, internal contradictions intensified, and the merchants' long-term military high-pressure policy also made more and more Fang Guo betray the Shang Dynasty, and the time for King Wu of Zhou to march east and fix the world was becoming more and more mature.
Bronze generally refers to copper, tin, lead alloy, China's Xia, Shang, Wednesday dynasty a large number of use of bronze casting utensils, and give it the social function of "ceremony", its production and use has been the country's full support and strong guarantee, the most can reflect the national strength and degree of civilization. Merchants liked to drink alcohol, and there were many kinds of bronze wine vessels, common utensils such as gū (gū), jue, 斝 (jiǎ), horns, gōng (gōng), zun, 瓿 (bù), 罍 (léi), 盉 (hé), 卣 (yǒu) and so on. Among all the bronze ceremonial vessel combinations, the wine vessels represented by Yao and Jue appeared most frequently, and they were not only used to sacrifice heaven and earth, drink and have fun, but also symbols of social status and wealth.
Late Shang Dynasty Excavations at the Fenghao Site in Chang'an District, Xi'an, are 29.7 cm tall and 17 cm in diameter
Half of the bronze yao in the late Shang Dynasty is a trumpet-shaped extravagant mouth, with a thin neck and a lower abdomen, and a circle foot outside, also trumpet-shaped. The name "Yao" comes from the naming of the literati of the Song Dynasty, in fact, there is no reliable basis, and the name of the artifact has not been seen since itself, so the name of Yao has been used.
In 2010, an artifact of this shape named Tong appeared in front of everyone's eyes, and we only learned that its real name was "Tong" 3,000 years ago. At first, the character did not have a lower "mouth", but was the pictogram of utensils such as barrels and barrels.
Present "same"
In addition, the inscription of this artifact records that King Cheng of the Western Zhou Dynasty gave liquor to Nei ShiHao for the guàn sacrifice, and Nei Shi did not dare to be sloppy and made this vessel for use as a sacrifice to serve it. The Japanese scholar Hayashi Miyasu once doubted the use of copper in the late Yin Shang period, believing that the mouth was extremely open and the abdominal cavity was small, which was not suitable for direct drinking. The inscription of the vessel undoubtedly answers the relevant questions unequivocally. In recent years, with the excavation of other new materials, the mystery of the use of Yao has been unveiled from the details. Originally, there was no wooden cone on the abdomen of the bronze yao, and there was a funnel-shaped plug on the barrel to hold the (jade) japon. During the ritual, the chàng wine is poured on top of the rice, because the wine is often higher than the mouth, so the mouth is large to avoid spilling the wine. The offering is symbolic, and there is no need to pour too much wine, so the cavity of the shrine does not have to be too large. After the naked sacrifice, the wine can be poured out and given to relatives to obtain ancestral blessings. The food dumplings excavated from the Fenghao site are the bronze ceremonial vessels used for the sacrifice, which may have been obtained by the Zhou people during the Shang Dynasty. The vessel is well-made, the ornamentation is meticulous and regular, the density is appropriate, solemn but lively, and can reflect the wealth and strength of the merchant.
Although the specific historical facts of the Zhou Dynasty are rarely found in ancient books, many of the events contained in bronze inscriptions obviously occurred in the two capitals.