Simu Wuding is a bronze Fang Ding used for royal sacrifice in the late Shang Dynasty (about16th century BC to1th century BC). March 1939 was unearthed in the farmland of a family in Wuguan Village, Anyang City, Henan Province. Named after the word "Simuwu" written on the abdomen, it is now in the National Museum of China. Simuwu Ding is tall and heavy, also known as Simuwu Dafang Ding, with a height of 133 cm, a mouth length of 1 10 cm, a mouth width of 79 cm and a weight of 832.84kg.. It has a rectangular abdomen, two straight ears (only one ear was found, and the other ear was later copied and supplemented by the other ear), and there are four cylindrical ding below. This tripod was cast by Zu Geng or Zujia of Shang Dynasty as a sacrifice to his mother.
Ding Culture in China
Ding is an ancient cooker in China. The origin of China Ding culture can be traced back to the Neolithic Age of primitive society, and ceramic Ding appeared as early as 7,000 years ago. The real peak of its development appeared in the Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou Dynasty, especially in the Shang Dynasty, where the ritual vessels represented by Ding prevailed until the Han Dynasty. In the heyday of slavery, it was used as "equal, noble and cheap" and was an important ritual instrument to express status. Literature records: "Emperor Jiuding, seven princes, five doctors, three scholars or one ding", "casting Jiuding, like Kyushu". There are also idioms, such as "one word and nine sentences, winning the Central Plains" and "three pillars". The bronze tripod, originally a pottery tripod in primitive society, was originally a daily food container, and later developed into an "artifact" for offering sacrifices to the heavenly emperor and ancestors, and was shrouded in a mysterious and majestic color. In ancient times, Ding was the representative of aristocratic status. The ancient records contain the system of useful ding, that is, the emperor Jiuding, the vassal seven ding, the doctor five ding, the yuan scholar three ding or one ding. In addition, Ding is also a symbol of state power. "Zuo Zhuan" contains: "Jie lost his virtue and Ding moved to business; The Shang and Zhou dynasties were tyrannical, and Ding moved to Zhou. " Dings are mostly three-legged circles, but there are also four-legged Fang Ding. (Simu tripod is the most famous four-legged tripod)
Brief introduction of Simu Wuding
Simu Wuding was cast in the late Shang Dynasty (about14th century BC to1/century BC). The original vessel 1939 was unearthed in Wuguan Village, Houjiazhuang, Anyang, Henan Province. This tripod is magnificent in shape, weighing 832.84kg, with a height of133cm, a mouth length of110cm and a mouth width of 79cm. This is the largest and heaviest bronze unearthed so far. Simu Wuding was first dug by villagers privately. Because it was too big and heavy to move, the private digger reburied it. Simu Wuding was rediscovered in June 1946. After the founding of New China, he entered the Tibetan Museum of Chinese History on 1959.
The tripod has a rectangular body, a thick mouth edge and a straight outline, showing an unshakable momentum. Simuwu has ears, a square stomach and empty legs. Except that the center of the tripod body is a rectangular plain surface without ornamentation, there are ornamentation in other places. On the exquisite Yun Leiwen, the main decorative patterns of each part have their own forms. The tripod body is mainly decorated with gluttony around the square surface, and the four sides are decorated by the door, with the bull's head on the side and gluttony on the bottom. There are two tigers on the outside of the tripod ear, mouth to mouth and head inside. The ears are decorated with fish lines. The decorative patterns of the four tripod feet are also unique, with an animal face on each of the three strings. According to textual research, Simu Wuding should be a heavy weapon of Shang royal family, and its shape, decoration and technology have reached a fairly high level. It is the representative work of bronze culture in the heyday of Shang Dynasty.
The handle of Simu Wuding is also beautifully decorated. The two dragons and tigers opened their huge mouths and contained a head, which later evolved into an auspicious pattern of "playing with pearls in a dragon". It is generally believed that this kind of art shows the deterrent power of nature and God. Now some people speculate that the man is a virgin who presides over divination. He put his head into the dragon's mouth on his own initiative in order to show off his courage and magic and make people submit to his orders. It is entirely possible that the Virgin appeared with two beasts, and such patterns can often be seen in bronzes and Oracle Bone Inscriptions.
This tripod is huge, vigorous and powerful, with the word "Simuwu" cast on its abdomen; This was cast by Zu Geng or Zujia of Shang Dynasty to offer sacrifices to his mother. The tripod body and tripod feet of Simu tripod are integrally cast, and the tripod ears are cast after the tripod body is cast. To cast such a tall bronze ware, the required metal material should be above 1000 kg, and there should be a larger melting furnace. According to the determination, montmorillonite contains copper 84.77%, tin 1 1.64%, lead 2.79% and the rest 0.8%. The ratio of copper to tin recorded in ancient documents is basically the same. Simu Wuding fully demonstrated the production scale and technical level of bronze casting industry in Shang Dynasty.
Discovery of Simu Wuding
The world's largest bronze ware, Si Mu Wu Ding, was discovered by local farmer Wu Xizeng in the farmland north of Wuguan Village, Anyang, Henan Province on March 1939.
Since the discovery of Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Xiaotun Village, Anyang, local simple farmers have gradually realized the value of cultural relics in Yin Ruins, so they actively participated in the activities of excavating cultural relics.
1One morning in March, 939, Wu Xizeng used a probe to search for cultural relics in the fields of Pally Wu. When the probe drilled to a depth of more than ten meters underground, it hit a hard object. Wu Xizeng picked up the probe and looked at it. He found that the hard probe had a rolled blade with green rust on it, and he realized that he had found a treasure. According to local regulations, there is no boundary for treasure exploration, but when the treasure is discovered, the owner of the place where the treasure is located will get half the price. After Wu Xizeng and Wu agreed, they broke ground and dug for treasure that night. The excavation was carried out in secret. At midnight, I dug about 10 meters deep and found the treasure. First, the bottom of the vessel is dug up, and then the whole vessel is exposed. At that time, the mouth of Dafang tripod was facing northeast and the foot of the column was facing southwest, which was as big as a manger in the soil, but only one tripod ear was missing. People searched in the soil for a long time, but they couldn't find it. I guess it was broken and lost before it was buried underground.
The next night, Wu Xizeng organized more than forty people to lift it. They set up a shelf at the mouth of the cave, and tied two hemp ropes about five centimeters thick, one on the tripod ear and the other on the foot of the column. Some people pull it hard. Someone pried one end under the hole, filled the bottom with soil, then pried the other end and filled it with soil, and lifted it up bit by bit. When we reached six or seven meters, it was dawn and the hole was blocked to prevent others from finding it. On the third night, the oversized Fang Ding was finally pulled out.
The direction of [somebody]/[something].
Fang Ding's excavation has been carried out in extreme secrecy, but the news leaked out. Soon, the Japanese garrison captain of Anyang Airport came to "visit", and then the antique dealer Xiao of Beiping also made an unannounced visit and offered to buy it for 200,000 silver dollars, but asked the villagers to smash the tripod into four or ten pieces so that it could be packed in batches and transported away. Under the temptation of two hundred thousand silver dollars, the villagers really began to dismember Fang Ding. First, they saw with a hacksaw, but because Fang Ding had high hardness, he didn't move, so he hit it with a hammer. Finally, they smashed the Ding Er, causing serious damage to Fang Ding. Later, the villagers felt it was a pity to destroy Fang Ding, and they were afraid that it would be difficult to sell the broken Fang Ding, so they stopped dismembering and buried Fang Ding.
Later, the news reached the ears of the Japanese and puppet military police, who came to search for it many times. In order to prevent the treasure from being taken away by the Japanese, the villagers adopted the method of confusing the enemy, and moved Fang Ding to a distant place for burial, while other unearthed cultural relics were buried in the original place of Fang Ding. The Japanese military police found the burial place and took the cultural relics, but Fang Ding was preserved. The broken ding ear was also lost because of the years. 1946 was excavated again in June, and the original was first stored in the county government. At the end of the same year 10, in order to celebrate the 60th birthday of Chiang Kai-shek, Chairman of the National Government, the garrison transported it to Nanjing as a birthday present, and Chiang instructed it to be kept by the preparatory office of the Central Museum.
/kloc-in the summer of 0/948, the tripod was first exhibited in Nanjing. Jiang personally visited it and took photos in front of it. However, because of its weight, the National Government did not transport it to Taiwan Province Province. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the tripod was kept in Nanjing Museum and handed over to China History Museum from 65438 to 0959. Fang Ding's lost tripod ear has never been found, and experts made it up by imitating another tripod ear on the tripod, which is intact.
dependent event
In 2000, the Technical Department of Nanjing Museum applied for the topic of "Study on the Technology of Making Simu Wuding by Clay Mold Casting". In July 2006, the original Simu Wuding was initially cast by imitating the ancient clay mold casting technology.
In late September, 2005, in order to prepare the Yin Ruins for the United Nations "World Heritage" evaluation, the Chinese History Museum transported the original Ding, which had been hidden in Beijing for nearly four months, to the Yin Ruins Museum in Anyang. On July 13, 2006, after Yin Ruins officially became the "World Cultural Heritage List", Pally Wu, one of the 42 villagers who protected the original Ding collection from Japanese looting, was added as an Anyang native.
National symbol
Rituals and musical instruments
When people mention Ding, the first thing that comes to mind is the regime and the country. Ding Can can be said to be a symbol of China culture, which is of great significance.
It reached its peak in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties and lasted until the Han Dynasty. In the heyday of slavery, it was used as "equal, noble and cheap" and was an important ritual instrument to express status. (Literature records: "Heaven Emperor is Jiuding, princes are seven ding, doctors are five ding, and scholars are three ding or one ding". It also contains "casting Jiuding, like Kyushu". There is another idiom, "Keep your word, win the Central Plains, and have three pillars".
Equivalent to a pot.
The common ding shapes are round belly, ears, three legs, pots and bowls, and a small number of bucket-shaped four-legged Fang Ding. It's usually heavy.
When people respect the value of tripod, they often forget its original purpose. In fact, it is a kind of cooker, which is mostly used to cook fish, pigs, cattle and mutton during sacrifices or ceremonies, which is equivalent to the current pot.
Sacrifice to mother
Named after the words "Simuwu" engraved on the inner wall of its abdomen, Simuwu Ding is a memorial of the Shang King to his mother (Wu Ming).
Legendary experience
Simu Ding is the largest and heaviest tripod ever unearthed, and it has a legendary experience. 1March, 939, this tripod was unearthed in the farmland of Wu Yuyao's family in Houjiazhuang Military Officer Village, Anyang, Henan. Because the tripod is too heavy and big to move, people want to saw it off and carry it out, but they saw only one foot and it kept sawing, so they buried it quietly. Later, the news leaked out, and the Japanese search failed, so they paid 700 thousand yuan for counterfeit money, and the locals cleverly sent a tripod, which was left behind.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War,1June, 946, Dading was excavated again, but it had lost an ear (later repaired) and was first deposited in Anyang county government. At the end of the same year 10, Chiang Kai-shek, then chairman of the National Government, celebrated his 60th birthday. The local garrison took Ding as a birthday present and transported it to Nanjing by special car. Chiang Kai-shek's instructions were handed over to the preparatory office of the Central Museum for preservation, which was first worth it in the summer of 1948. Chiang Kai-shek personally visited it and took photos in front of it, which shows that it attaches great importance to it. Later, the Kuomintang government wanted to transport the tripod to Taiwan Province Province, but it was too difficult and gave up the idea. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), this tripod was kept in Nanjing Museum and handed over to China History Museum on 1959. Now it has become the treasure of the town hall.