The He zun (Chinese:
He zun | |
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Material | Bronze |
Size | 38.8 cm tall, 28.8 cm in diameter |
Weight | 14.6 kg |
Created | 1038 BCE – c. 1000 BCE[1] |
Discovered | 1963 Baoji, Shaanxi, China 34°21′47″N 107°14′17″E / 34.363°N 107.238°E |
Dimension and significance
editThe vessel, dating to the 5th year of the reign of King Cheng of Zhou, is 38.8 cm (15.3 in) tall, 28.8 cm (11.3 in) in diameter and weighs 14.6kg.[2] Inside the container, at the base, it contains 12 rows of 122 inscribed Chinese characters.[6] Of the 122 characters, 119 are identified while 3 are unknown.[7] The inscription contains the phrase
History
editThe construction of the city of Luoyi (
The inscription is (in liding characters and with modern punctuation added):
隹 王 初 𨟦宅 于成周 ,復 爯武王 豊 ,祼自天 ,才 亖月丙 戌 ,王 𫌲宗 小 子 于亰室 ,曰:「昔 才 爾 考 公 氏 ,克 𬩂玟王,𢑩玟王受𢆶大命 。隹 珷王既 克 大 邑商,𠟭廷吿于天,曰:『余 𠀠宅 𢆶𠁩或 ,自 之 辥民。』烏 虖,爾 有 唯 小 子 亡 戠,𧠟于公氏 ,有 𫤼于天,𬴲令 ,茍亯𢦒。叀王龏徳谷 天 ,順 我 不 每 。」王 咸𫌲。𣄰易 貝 卅朋,用 乍𫭌公 寶 𱀵彝 ,隹 王 五 祀 。
The inscription has been translated as follows:[12]
It was when the King began laying out his seat at Chengzhou. [The King] returned from extolling King Wu in the Feng sacrifice, with sacrificial meat from the [Hall of] Heaven. In the fourth month, on day bingxu, the king exhorted the scions of the royal clan in the ancestral temple, saying: "In the past, your fathers were able to aid King Wen, whereupon King Wen received this [Great Command]. When King Wu conquered the great city Shang, he then made reverent declarations to Heaven, saying: "Let me dwell in this, the central region, and from here govern the people." Hark! While you are still minors lacking understanding, look to your fathers' scrupulous respect for Heaven. Comprehend my commands and respectfully follow orders! [Your] sovereign's reverential virtue finds favour with Heaven, which guides me in my slow-wittedness." The King's exhortation having finished, [vessel maker] He was presented with the thirty strings of cowries used to make this treasured sacrificial vessel for [his father] Sire [X]. It was the King's fifth year."
— Translation by David W. Pankenier.[12]
Discovery
editThe lost artifact was discovered by a Chen family. Behind their house in Baoji was a 3 metre tall cliff.[2] One cubic metre of the piece was sticking out from the soil. In 1963, the second son of the family dug out the piece thinking that someone might be hurt by the protruding part.[2] The piece revealed a taotie design. The family did not grasp the value of the vessel, using it as a food storage container at home. On August 8, 1965, the family struggled with financial difficulties and sold the piece along with other unneeded items to a waste center in Baoji for 30 yuan.[2]
In September 1965, a worker in the waste center informed an expert about the bronze piece. The expert recognised it as a Zhou dynasty artifact and brought it back to a museum.[2] In 1975, near the end of the Cultural revolution, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage sent the piece to the Shaanxi relic bureau. Ma Chengyuan, a bronze expert at the Shanghai Museum, recognised its significance.[7]
In 1976, the PRC cultural bureau organised an art exhibition to the United States. The US requested this piece join the exhibit and offered a US$30 million protection coverage.[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Khayutina, Maria (May 2019). "The Story of the He Zun: From Political Intermediary to National Treasure". Orientations. 50 (3): 55. The He zun inscription describes events reliably dated to 1038 BCE, the fifth year of King Cheng of Zhou, but the vessel itself is not necessarily contemporaneous, and may have been cast several decades later. See Khayutina, Maria (2019). "Reflections and Uses of the Past in Chinese Bronze Inscriptions from the Eleventh to Fifth Centuries BC: The Memory of the Conquest of Shang and the First Kings of Zhou". Historical Consciousness and the Use of the Past in the Ancient World. pp. 157–180.
- ^ a b c d e f g Zhang Aiping (张爱
平 ), ed. (4 March 2005). "He zun"何 尊 . Xinhuanet.com (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. - ^ Wolfgang Behr (2004). "'To Translate' is 'To Exchange' — Linguistic Diversity and the Terms for Translation in Ancient China". In Michael Lackner and Natascha Vittinghoff (ed.). Mapping Meanings: The Field of New Learning in Late Qing China. Brill. p. 176. ISBN 9789004139190.
- ^ Rawson, Jessica (1990). Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections. Vol. 1. pp. 15–73.
- ^ For a transcription of the vessel's text, see Academy of Chinese Social Science Archaeology Research Institute, ed. (2001).
殷 周 金文 集成 釋 文 [Transcribed Texts of Collected Shang and Zhou Bronze Inscriptions]. Vol. 4. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Chinese Culture University Press. p. 275. ISBN 962-996-039-7. no. 6014. This differs from the reading offered on the vessel's Chinese wikipedia article. See also Shirakawa Shizuka (白川 靜 ) (1962). "48.1".金文 通 釋 [Complete Explanations of Bronze Inscriptions] (in Japanese). Vol. 6. Kobe: Hakutsuru bijutsukan. pp. 167–80. - ^ "He zun"
何 尊 . Baoji Bronzeware Museum (in Chinese). 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2023. - ^ a b c d “
中国 ”一词的最早记录者——何 尊 [The earliest record of the word "Zhongguo"— the He zun]. Qkzz.net (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2010-05-01. - ^ Constance Cook; Paul Goldin, eds. (2020). A Source Book of Ancient Chinese Bronze Inscriptions. The Society for the Study of Early China. pp. 16–18. ISBN 9780996944014.
- ^ Zheng Yong (郑勇) (3 February 2012).
由 《遂 公 盨》看 西 周 金文 中 “德 ”观念的 演 变 [Viewing the evolution of the concept of de in Western Zhou bronze inscriptions from the "Sui Gong xu"].学 语文学 (in Chinese). - ^ "Chinese cultural heritage protection official web list". Wenbao.net. Archived from the original on 2010-08-05. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
- ^ a b Li Feng (2006). Landscape and power in early China: the crisis and fall of the Western Zhou, 1045–771 BC. Cambridge University Press. p. 63. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511489655.006. ISBN 9780521852722.
- ^ a b Pankenier, David W. (10 October 2013). Astrology and Cosmology in Early China: Conforming Earth to Heaven. Cambridge University Press. p. 229. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139017466.013. ISBN 978-1-107-29224-6.