The expression "Wang Chu Xuanxiang" appeared many times in the unearthed stone tablet "Curse Chu Wen" of Qin State, which not only confirmed the statement that all Chu kings were surnamed Xiong in the history books, but also told us that the seal characters of the bear characters were "energy" and "fire" in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. When else did the word "Jun" become the word "Bear"? The earliest dictionary in China, Shuo Wen Jie Zi compiled by Xu Shen in Han Dynasty, clearly tells us why.
Xu Shen wrote Shuo Wen Jie Zi around 100 A.D., which standardized and replaced the picturesque seal script with some strokes, greatly reducing the difficulty of writing Chinese characters, making them easier to learn, and at the same time improving the writing speed, which made due contributions to the social development at that time.
In the process of simplifying seal script into Chinese characters, Xu Shen formed the laws of "two characters are ice, three characters are water and four characters are fire", such as Xiong, Ran and Hot. However, Chinese characters such as "disaster", "spirit" and "bear", "happiness" and "heat" are not within the same six-character rule, so the fire character base is retained. If it is changed to the four-fire character base, it is not conducive to the symmetrical beauty of Chinese characters. Interestingly, however, the word "knot" is not a fire word, but its traditional Chinese character is "knot", which was changed from "inexplicable" to "knot" when the modern traditional Chinese character was changed to simplified Chinese character.
In the Chinese Dictionary published by 1985 (revised according to Ci Hai by 1936), it is also clear that "fire" and "Kun" are the same radical (the first page of the Chinese Dictionary), "bear" and "bear", but for the purpose of looking up words. It is this kind of update that makes most teachers really think that "Kun" is a four-part water, not a "fire". They argue to death in the forum and don't believe that "Kun" is a "fire". It is ridiculous to move out of the modern dictionary to explain that "Kun" is a four-part water. This phenomenon makes us deeply realize that our culture can be lost like this!
The word "Neng" is written in the shape of a "bear" in the inscriptions on bronze wares cast by Yin and Zhou Dynasties, which makes us understand that "Neng" is the "bear" of Zhou Dynasty, and the oldest form of "bear" is "Neng". But why did the ancients add a word "fire" to the word "energy" for "bear"? Let's find out the surname of the king of Qin and Chu.
As we know, Qin's surname is "Won", but the word "Won" is not the word "Won" in bronze inscriptions now, but a word "Neng" which means "female" or a combined variant of the word "Neng" and "female". In Sima Qian's Historical Records of Qin Benji, the record of "Emperor Zhuan Xu, the ancestor of Qin Dynasty (whose ancestor is the Yellow Emperor" and the Xiong family ",both of which belong to the" bear totem "country) clearly reproduces for us why the king of Qin added the word" female "under the word" can ". The ancestor of the King of Chu is Kuaixiong, and the ancestor of Kuaixiong is Zhu Rong, the god of fire (on Chu bamboo slips unearthed from Chu tombs, the ancestors of Chu people are Kuaixiong and Zhu Rong), and the ancestor of Zhu Rong is also Emperor Zhuan Xu. Then, the reason why Xiong's surname added "fire" under the word "energy" is self-evident.
Historical Records of the Chu Family says: "Ji Lian's surname is Zhou, the ancestor of the Chu royal family ... In Zhou Wenwang's time, Ji Lian's descendants were called raccoons ... Their son's name was Li Xiong, and Li Xiong was born with bear madness, while bears were born with bear madness. When Xiong Yi was the king of Zhou, he was diligent in writing martial arts and became an heir. He named Xiong Yi in the Chu people, adopted his daughter Tian, and lived in Danyang. " According to the ancient regulations on surnames, we can know that Ji Lian's surname was a big surname at that time, which was inherited by the eldest son. Other illegitimate children should take a new surname as the ancestors of this small family. The bear's son is named after his father and becomes the bear's family. Therefore, according to historical records, at least from Xiongyi, there is no doubt that the surname is Xiong.
However, according to the existing archaeological findings, there are many characters of "Chu Wang", such as 1933 Chu Wang Ding unearthed in Zhujiaji, Shouxian County, Anhui Province, with the inscription: "Chu Wang cast this Ding for the New Year and put it in the kitchen ... So it has been inferred that the surname of Chu Wang is Yi on the Internet, and the word" bear "is pronounced by Yu Button and the word" Yi "is pronounced by Shadow Button. The ancient and the turbid are indistinguishable, and the sound is close. In ancient times, both Yi and Xiong were on vacation.
But this statement is only an inference, which is not supported by any argument, and ignores the fact that ancient surnames and surnames were separated. Therefore, we must pay attention to this point when studying the Chu surname, and we can't arbitrarily say that the Chu surname is a foreigner when we see the word "Wang Chu" on the unearthed cultural relics. Just as we found the word in the tomb of Sui Guojun, it was inappropriate to say that the surname of Sui Guojun was once. As we all know, the monarch's surname is Ji Ming B.
So, what does this mysterious word "Yi" mean? Let's analyze the literal meaning of Chu and the cultural background at that time, and approach the truth of history step by step.
The prototype of "Yi" is the word "Yi". "Yi" means that the top is thatched and the bottom is the prototype of the word "You". The word "you" in bronze inscriptions symbolizes the altar of wine, and the three radicals are "wine". Therefore, the word "Tai" is actually to filter out the wine residue with bundles of civet cats on the wine set and drop it into the jar below, making it a refreshing sake, which well reproduces the ancient method of shrinking wine for us. And "Yi" is like drinking, which is the personification of "Yi". Therefore, the meaning of the word "Yi" in ancient times is just like the true portrayal of ancient people's drinking ceremony.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, witchcraft prevailed in various countries. "Zuo Zhuan" said: "The great event of the country lies in respecting peace and honor", which shows that the country at that time placed sacrifice and war in the same important position. Hanshu said: "Chu people believe in witches and ghosts and commit adultery." Chu is also rich in bracts for drinking. Therefore, when the king of Chu did not establish himself as king, he paid tribute to the Zhou royal family, took charge of drinking and the communication between man and nature. This was a great honor and glory in the social environment of "believing in witches and ghosts and attaching importance to prostitution" at that time. Naturally, when casting important sacrificial vessels and weapons in the State of Chu, the King of Chu would personally offer wine to the gods (villages) to make the cast sacrificial vessels and weapons full of aura. For example, in 1933, the "Chu Wang Jian" was unearthed in Zhujiaji, Shouxian County, Anhui Province, with the inscription: "Chu Wang Jian was cast by conscripts for the purpose of conquering". Therefore, if the word "Yi" represents a sacrificial ceremony at that time, it is also reasonable ―― Yi represents a sacrificial ceremony, followed by the name or number of the King of Chu (after all, the expression of the ancients is different from that of us modern people).
However, if the King of Chu changed Xiong's name to Xiong's and called Yi's name by offering wine to heaven (god), in order to achieve the atmosphere of "harmony between man and nature", it may be closer to historical truth. Although "a large number of people's surnames will never change" at that time, this rule was relative at that time. For example, Lu Zhong's sixth son, Ji Lian, has no inheritance rights to his ancestors' surnames, but he can be called a large number of people's surnames because he established the Xiong Dynasty. This shows that as long as his achievements are great enough, no matter whether it is a big school or a small school, he can change his surname to his surname. If this is the case in history, when did the king of Chu take "Xiong" as his surname and "Yi" as his surname? Let's discuss it through the development and archaeological discoveries of Chu State.
According to the Zhou system, when the emperor enfeoffed a vassal, the title was divided into five categories: public, Hou, Bo, Zi and public. At present, the Zhou royal family enfeoffed governors to reward the descendants of the founding heroes. Because Xiong Huan, Xiong Yi's ancestor, was Zhou Wenwang's teacher, he helped Zhou Wenwang overthrow the Shang Dynasty and establish the Zhou Dynasty. So Xiong Yi, the great grandson of raccoon, was also included. Because the monarch of Qi was Zhou's uncle, and the monarch of Jin, Lu and Wei was Zhou's mother and brother, he was also rewarded with treasures and utensils. Moreover, Xiong Yi and the Zhou royal family are descendants of the emperor, but because they are not immediate relatives of the Zhou royal family, they are only named fourth-class knights without any reward. In terms of rewards, Xiong Yi's ancestor Kuaixiong is not inferior to that of Qi, Jin, Lu and Wei, but he only sealed a son's field (50 square miles) in a remote and desolate "Chu people" land, so that when Xiong Yi broke through the wilderness and traveled across mountains to serve Zhou, he could only pay tribute to the Zhou royal family. Moreover, because of Chu's poverty and low status, it was often discriminated and despised by various vassal States. Therefore, since the founding of Chu, the seeds of "disobedience to Zhou" have been planted.
Through the continuous efforts of several generations of monarchs from Xiong Yi to Xiong Sick, the territory of Chu State has been expanding, wealth has been increasing and military strength has been increasing. As a result, he became the overlord of Jianghan area and no longer paid tribute to the Zhou royal family. I am Man Zi, and I am not arrogant in the name of China! It is also resounding through Jingchu. From then on, from the king of Wu to the king of Qi; Go to Zhuang Wang to "win the house"; Then to Wang Xuan and Wang Wei's "Xuanwei Shi Sheng", Chu has developed into a country with the largest land area and the strongest economic and military strength. At this time, a Chu royal family who refused to accept Zhou from beginning to end, we have reason to believe that as a monarch of a big rice-growing country, it is very likely that the name of "Xiong" will be changed to "Xiong" and then a new surname will be established as "Yi". The discovery of six horses driving a car in the tomb of the king of Chu recently unearthed in Xiong's home (according to the weekly system, only the emperor can drive six horses) also provides strong evidence for this inference!
According to the existing archaeological findings, the word "Yi" first appeared in the history of Chu State, and appeared in the "Zhang Yi, King of Chu" unearthed from the tomb of Zeng Houyi, the king of Sui. It is known that the last king of Chu at this time took "Yi" as his surname. Judging from the development of Chu State, it is possible to take "Xiong" as the surname and "Yi" as the surname when attacking the Zhou royal family and forcing them to recognize the title.