I wrote an article a while ago and threw it on the platform, involving the late Shang Dynasty and the early Zhou Dynasty. It is an entertaining statement to mention "Jizhou Hou" in the Romance of the Gods. When the story happened, there should not be such an administrative division as Jizhou, or even the place name Jizhou.
After the article was published, it was badly beaten. This is normal. Since the media age, everyone has the freedom to express their views and correct others. As an author, others don't know. Anyway, I appreciate all kinds of opinions.
Speaking of the article "Jizhou", some critics reminded that the place name "Jizhou" has a long history. Based on "Jiuding in Summer", it symbolizes Kyushu in the world, and Jizhou is one of Kyushu; Logical reasoning-As early as Xia Dynasty, Jizhou place names existed.
This is a good reminder!
Special thanks to this unknown reader friend.
This reminder leads the author to ponder and study another topic-Jiuding.
(A) the legendary source and symbol of Jiuding
There are many sayings about Jiuding. One of the more popular sayings is that this is a real nine-mouth bronze cauldron. On the level of common sense, the mainstream is that these nine cauldrons appeared in the Xia Dynasty.
Xia Dynasty was the first slave country in the history of China civilization, and it has been generally recognized so far. It dates back to the 22nd century BC. The monarch of Xia Dynasty was called Hou, that is, the Hou of the later Empress, which was only used on the male supreme ruler and was equivalent to the later Emperor. Relevant data of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties dating project show that the actual first generation of Hou in Xia Dynasty was named "Qi".
According to the legend, pay attention to it, it is a "legend", and there may be no confirmation-Qi's father's name is "Yu", which is the legendary man who saved the water. If he is a real historical figure and indeed the father of the first generation of "Xia Hou" Kai, then from today's point of view, his era is not Xia Dynasty, but before Xia Dynasty, which should be earlier than the 22nd century BC.
In popular understanding, the Xia Dynasty began in Yu. In other words, Yu started the Xia Dynasty.
Consistent with the mainstream view, Jiuding came from the Xia Dynasty, and Jiuding was cast from copper contributed by Kyushu after Dayu established the Xia Dynasty to symbolize their source of raw materials. With the interpretation of history, these nine cauldrons with raw materials from Kyushu have been endowed with higher and more abstract meanings, symbolizing the supremacy of kingship and the unity and prosperity of the country. Furthermore, it has been sublimated, and it is regarded as a synonym for China in China.
Kyushu refers to Yuzhou, Jizhou, Liangzhou, Yongzhou, Qingzhou, Yanzhou, Xuzhou, Jingzhou and Yangzhou. If you are associated with today's place names and know a little about geography, it is not difficult to imagine where they are and how big their territory is. From the ancient point of view, it makes sense for Kyushu to refer to China, even as a synonym for China.
However, Kyushu is different from Jiuding as I understand it.
(2) About Jiuding
The question of Jiuding has been common in modern times, from authoritative people to teenagers who are interested in history and have doubts. There are various problems, viewpoints and attempts to analyze them, mainly involving three aspects:
First, about the origin of Jiuding.
Second, compared with the first one, this one is more real. This is a question about the casting age of Jiuding.
Third, it is also physical, but it is more absolute than the second one. This is a question about whether there really is Jiuding.
Did Jiuding really exist? In the eyes of authors who like to dabble in some history, the answer is yes.
Taking architecture, similar buildings and large vessels as symbols, it is a typical feature of human civilization from distant ancient times to today.
Due to geography, hydrology, minerals and other reasons, the Chinese civilization, which originated in the ancient Yellow River valley, did not have the conditions to build large-scale architectural symbols compared with some other civilizations at the same time or later in the world, but it developed a bronze casting industry that could be described as "prosperous" and "brilliant". Therefore, it is reasonable and natural to cast large bronze wares as a symbol of hope and cohesion. It is almost "inevitable" to cast a tripod to consolidate the world.
Nine is the largest single digit. In our traditional cultural concepts, there are meanings of "extremely many" and "infinite".
Casting Jiuding, followed by continuous casting Jiuding, is used to show the will to rule and symbolize the aggregation, harmony and prosperity of multi-ethnic and wide regions, which is quite reliable.
Therefore, the physical existence of Jiuding as a utensil should not be doubted.
The question is, when were the cauldrons of these nine substances cast? Is it done at once or in batches?
Was there any bronze casting technology in Xia Dynasty, or even earlier Dayu era?
To take a step back-even if there was bronze casting technology at that time, was it mature enough to cast large symbols?
In modern times, quite a few Fang masters (including Mr. Guo Moruo, who has made great achievements in archaeology) thought that Jiuding, the symbol of "Kyushu, China", should have been born in an era when bronze casting technology was quite mature and complete. This period also began in the early Shang dynasty after the Xia dynasty (BC 16 ~ BC14th century).
I agree with this statement.
Based on this understanding, I pieced together some fragmentary historical knowledge and speculated on two possible ages of Jiuding's birth.
First, the middle and late Shang Dynasty; The second is the early Western Zhou Dynasty.
In the middle and late Shang Dynasty, the central government, also known as "Yin Shang", reached its peak, and the bronze casting industry monopolized related technologies and resources. Compared with neighboring tribes and nations, its economic and military strength showed absolute superiority and became a slave empire with strong expansion. Its territory is unprecedented and vast (but it is still far from today), and it implements high-pressure totalitarian rule, which constitutes and sows many internal and external contradictions.
It is inevitable that these contradictions will accumulate, interact, intensify and differentiate. In order to maintain the imperial rule, various measures can be introduced to enhance cohesion and show authority. Yin merchants in the imperial era were also keen on casting large-scale artifacts (such as the famous Simuwu Fang Ding, which was cast in Wuding period and is the largest bronze unearthed so far). Demand, habit, combined with mature technology and relatively rich resources, casting Jiuding is very likely to happen.
The Shang empire declined from prosperity to decline, but after more than a hundred years, it went to the demise of the system, and was defeated and replaced by Zhou, an agricultural tribe who was far less powerful but good at "training the masses" and gentle.
In the middle of BC 1 1 century, Chinese civilization entered the "rebirth" of feudal farming. The Zhou dynasty, which advocated morality, adopted the national alliance regime based on the enfeoffment system; Inherited the bronze casting technology of Shang Dynasty; Widely spreading the farming culture based on morality ... There is obvious contradiction between the convergence will of culture and mode of production and the relatively loose national alliance regime. In order to weaken and bridge this contradiction, it is necessary and relatively easy to interpret the regime with symbolic objects and enhance the cohesion of the regime.
From the demand point of view, the demand for casting Jiuding in the early Western Zhou Dynasty is more practical, active and urgent than that in the middle and late Yin and Shang Dynasties.
However, due to the economic strength and national character, it is still doubtful whether the Western Zhou Dynasty, especially in its early years, would cast large-scale artifacts. At present, the unearthed bronzes belong to the Western Zhou Dynasty, and no large number have been found.
It is not excluded that in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, in order to stabilize the new regime, huge sums of money were invested in casting ding. Just as it is not excluded, the legendary Jiuding is not necessarily very big.
If Jiuding symbolizes Kyushu, the author thinks it is more likely to be cast in the Western Zhou Dynasty. In the past, there were still many states in Kyushu, which may not have such a clear geographical concept. During the Xia and Shang Dynasties, Jingzhou, Yangzhou, Yanzhou and Qingzhou in Kyushu were not necessarily places where the central government could directly radiate and standardize management.
There is a saying that the concept of Kyushu in the world really originated in the Xia Dynasty, but its name and the area it refers to may be different from later generations. It was indeed in the Xia Dynasty that there were corresponding symbols, but they were not as durable as bronze. In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the rulers of the Zhou Dynasty tried their best to abandon the Shang Dynasty and took the long-lost Xia Dynasty as an imaginary political template. According to the current national geography, relying on legends and borrowing the name of Xia Dynasty, Jiuding was cast.
No matter what region Jiuding represents, no matter which dynasty or generation it was forged, one thing is basically certain, that is, Jiuding is unlikely to be processed and manufactured from raw materials collected from nine different regions of the country.
The distribution of copper resources in China, like most other mineral resources, is relatively unbalanced in geographical distribution, and copper mines cannot be mined everywhere. Moreover, as far as bronze casting technology is concerned, not all minerals collected anywhere can be used as casting objects.
(3) Where is Jiuding?
Chu Zhuangwang won, Qin Wuwang won, and Lv Buwei "migrated to Jiuding" ...
All these can be found in history books, which are not bridges that can be described casually by "legends", but show that Jiuding exists, which is big, heavy and symbolic.
As a symbol of authority, it can be seen from historical records that Jiuding has always been enshrined in the court of the Zhou Dynasty.
If it was made in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, it is not considered as "in place" after production. Historical records can be verified, and Jiuding has also experienced at least two major moves. The first time was Zhou Tingdong's migration, which was a transition from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, from Haojing, the capital of the Western Zhou Dynasty (now Xi 'an, Shaanxi Province), to Luoyi, the capital of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (now Luoyang, Henan Province). Another time, more than 500 years later, the prime minister of Qin destroyed Zhou by force and "crossed" Jiuding to Xianyang, Qin Dou.
According to historical records, when Jiuding moved for the second time at the end of the Warring States Period, one (or two) sank into Surabaya, and the rest were brought back to Xianyang, Qin Dou by Lv Buwei.
After that, Jiuding's whereabouts were not exactly recorded.
If there are no omissions, it can be considered that Jiuding's last "destination" (except for drowning in Surabaya) should be Xianyang, Qin Dou.
But obviously, we didn't see them today. No matter in Xianyang or anywhere.
Where did Jiuding go?
Except those that sank into Surabaya, the rest were transported to Xianyang and Qin Dou. Many people tend to say the following:
After the unification of the Qin Dynasty, a unified feudal empire was established. Out of the will to defend the fruits of victory and stabilize the world, Qin Shihuang Ying Zheng ordered the collection of weapons from all over the world, and used them as raw materials to build a giant bronze statue to protect the empire in Xianyang, a statue of *** 12.
It is said that Zhou Ting Jiuding, which was brought back by Lv Buwei in his early years, also melted at the same time and became the casting raw material for the giant bronze statue of 12.
If this statement is reliable, then Jiuding disappeared in form as early as the reunification of Qin.
According to this statement, shortly after the demise of the Qin Empire, Xiang Yu, the overlord of the place of Western Chu, led troops to occupy Xianyang, Qin Dou, causing devastating damage to it. 12 giant bronze statue, which pinned the wish of the rulers of the Qin empire that "there will be no more wars in the world", also melted in the fire and "left to fend for itself".
In this way, Jiuding was gone, destroyed and disappeared.
In this way, they may only become legends that "live in our hearts" forever.
Perhaps, if the historical records are correct, one or two that sank more than two thousand years ago will be found at the bottom of the Surabaya River. Even if there are only fragments left, we still have hope to see it.