introduce
In the era of cold weapons, the status of sword is lofty, and it has both self-defense and combat functions on the battlefield. With the evolution of history, the historical position of sword has gradually lagged behind that of hot weapons, which is not conducive to long-range attacks.
However, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, swordsmanship prevailed, and the casting of various swords is still talked about by future generations. Famous swords such as "Goujian Sword of the King of Yue", "Fish Intestine" and "Jueque" were born, and famous sword casting artists such as Mo Xie and his wife were born. At the same time, the prevalence of fencing gradually spread to all classes, which made the sword have a certain spiritual connotation and formed a unique sword culture in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
First, social production and war demand can form the sword theory.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the history of China changed from unification to division, and the princes of various countries competed for hegemony. In the turbulent Warring States period, in order to cooperate with the fierce merger war, Qiang Bing was rich. At the same time, in order to adapt to the ever-changing social, political and economic situation, rulers of various countries have recruited talents and reformed their own politics, economy and culture, which greatly promoted the development of social productive forces at that time.
According to "Flower King Gong Ji", during the Warring States period, handicrafts and commerce also developed greatly, which benefited from the improvement of social productivity at that time and promoted the further development of social production at that time. After the development of social productive forces, the casting industry in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period took advantage of the situation and laid a technical foundation for sword casting.
In addition, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were turbulent periods of feudal hegemony. With the eastward movement of the Zhou royal family, Zhou's power plummeted and the kingship declined. The feudal lords of various countries competed for hegemony, and there was a historical record of the coexistence of "five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period" and "seven heroes in the Warring States Period".
There are historical records in this period, and there are "relying on the emperor to make the princes", "respecting the king and rejecting the foreign countries", "dividing the three ethnic groups into Jin" and "uniting the horizontal" among countries. The continuous annexation war between vassal States led to the rapid development of military Wushu. In order to meet the needs of noncommissioned officers in the war, the sword gradually showed its advantages as the main close-range defense weapon, the military sword gradually expanded, and the sword gradually became the main short weapon during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
At the same time, kendo also developed during this period, and fencing theory appeared. For example, "Zhuangzi Jian Shuo" records that Wang Hui Wen Xi Jian, and Zhuangzi expounds that "the sword of the emperor, the sword of the vassal and the sword of Shu Ren" are important theories for people to study fencing during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. "Yue Nv's Argument on Sword" recorded in the legend of Gou Jian's rebellion in the Spring and Autumn Period of Wuyue indicates that fencing had developed to a considerable level at that time.
It can be seen that the social production and the need of war in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period promoted the development of fencing theory, which gradually brought sword as a military weapon into the research scope of historical theory, representing that sword as a culture has remarkable characteristics of the times.
Second, the noble love sword and swordsman, sword cultural interpretation
"Shuo Wen Jie Zi" contains:
"Sword, troops also. From the blade, hum. "
In order to adapt to the change of the war in the Spring and Autumn Period from car fighting to step fighting, the weapons in the Spring and Autumn Period began to change from long weapons to short weapons. Sword is formed and developed on this basis. Sword combines the characteristics of spear and knife, can cut and stab, has the function of compound weapon, and has become the main weapon of officers and men in the Spring and Autumn Period.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, swords were different in length, and daggers were about 20 cm, which could be stabbed and thrown. It was published in The Spring and Autumn Period of Yan Zi:
"direct attack"
The function of the sword is clearly described in Mozi:
"If you stab hard, you will enter; if you slam hard, you will break; if you hit horizontally, you will not break. This sword is also beneficial. "
Qu Yuan's "national mourning" poems describing fierce war scenes also include:
"With a long sword and a A Qin bow, if you leave your heart, you will not be punished."
The rise of swordsmanship in the Spring and Autumn Period promoted the development of sword casting industry in the Spring and Autumn Period, such as Ou Yezi, Ganjiang and Mo Xie. Famous swordsmen also have famous swords, such as Zhan Lu, Pure Hook, Conquering Evil, Fish Intestine and Giant Sparrow. The land of wuyue in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period is the origin of famous swords.
There are dozens of Yue bronze swords found in Shaoxing. The sword of the State of Yue has an inscription on birds and insects and is inlaid with turquoise, which has become a distinctive feature of Jianyue Wu. In particular, the sword unearthed by Gou Jian, the King of Yue, is made of copper-tin alloy, with vulcanized diamond-shaped silk patterns, blue glass inlaid with fairy patterns on the grid, and the body of the sword has eight inscriptions, with gold seals staggered:
Wang Hong Qian (Gou Jian)' s Self-propelled Sword'
It can be seen from the gorgeous decoration of the sword body that the sword in the Spring and Autumn Period is not only used as a weapon, but also an ornament and status symbol for men. Therefore, on the sword cast for Gou Jian, the King of Yue, there are gorgeous gems and exquisite words to symbolize the nobility of the sword holder.
In addition, not only warriors wear swords, but also fencing is very popular among the people. The nobles show off by raising swordsmen, while the people take swordsmen as their courage. "Everything goes wrong, five bad things" goes:
"A group of chivalrous men raised their swords", "A ranger's private sword belongs to it"
This shows that both Confucian scholars and martial knights have learned fencing in this war-torn era and used it as a stepping stone to enter politics.
Most of the rangers raised by the ruling class are also swordsman. Most of these rangers come from the lower classes. They "have long hair, drooping hair, wearing tassels of men's beards and short clothes". Or, like Qi Feng Xuan, he was too poor to support himself, but he was still in the living room of Meng Changjun, holding a long sword with grass and playing a long cymbal.
This phenomenon fully shows that fencing has been widely popular among the people during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Holding and owning swords is no longer a patent of nobles in the Spring and Autumn Period, but a popular social phenomenon. Therefore, the sharpness of the sword and the superb swordsmanship often become the heroic and invincible characteristics of a country.
According to Records of the Historian and Biography of Fan Sui, Qin Zhao, the king of Chu, once commented on the sword culture of Chu:
"I smell Chu Tiejian, advocating superiority. Brave is brave, and advocating Excellence is far-reaching. "
This shows that fencing can give people a strong sense of attack. Even the State of Qin, known as the "Qin of the Tiger and the Wolf", is terrified in the face of Chu, a country with strong swordsmanship.
It is the popularity of this sword culture that cultivated good swords and swordsmanship in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and created a group of folk swordsmen with superb martial arts. It also makes the sword a symbol of men's identity and status, and also a symbol of aristocratic men's demeanor and demeanor.
Third, the collapse of rites and music and spiritual sustenance, the spiritual gift of sword.
Since the sword is no longer just a weapon, it has the symbolic meaning of identity, which means that the sword itself is endowed with certain spiritual connotation. This spiritual gift is mainly manifested in two aspects.
The first is the deification of casting swords. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the rites and music collapsed, and the smoke was everywhere, and the vassal States fought endlessly for years. Advocating military courage was the main value orientation of the society at that time. In troubled times, people's demand for their own safety will inevitably make martial arts and sword worship become a relatively strong atmosphere in society. Such as "Wu Yue Chun Qiu" contains:
"The sword of Zhan Lu hates He Lu for having no way, and it is like water."
With the casting of swords, there is also a profession, which is a swordsman who specializes in watching swords. As a famous swordsman in the Spring and Autumn Period, Xue Zhu proposed the following conditions for casting famous swords: Tsunku and Zhan Lu:
"Pansy mountain breaks tin, if the wild duck creek dries up copper, the rain teacher sweeps, tripterygium wilfordii drums. Just look at it. "
It can be seen that casting swords at that time was not a single process, but needed time, place and people. This is related to the martial atmosphere formed by the constant struggle between the vassal States in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, which gradually made the sword deified and worshipped by people.
Secondly, it is to give the sword spiritual connotation. According to the records in the Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu Yue, when Mo Xie and his wife cast swords for He Lv, the king of Wu, they must combine with the Three Dragons to create a perfect sword. Even in the process of casting a sword, only with the help of the dedication of human flesh and soul can the sword be cast into a very good sword, and it can also give the sword a certain spirit.
"Zhuangzi said sword" contains:
"The sword of the Emperor, the sword of the vassal, and the sword of Shu Ren."
Zhuangzi used this metaphor to inspire Zhao Huiwen to devote himself to the national society, manage the country with an "invisible sword" and appoint talents. There are many stories of singing while playing the sword in the Warring States Policy, which pin a certain spirit of people on the sword.
These historical materials fully reflect that the sword was an object with a certain spiritual and moral symbol in the society at that time. Noble children wear swords to look rich and noble, while chivalrous men show their bravery with swordsmanship and courage, and poor men also rely on swords as their spiritual support. In addition, the sword itself has the beauty of symmetry, which is more in line with China people's idea of advocating the beauty of balance and can be used as a symbol of noble spirit.
For example, the allusion of "Ji Zha hangs a sword" describes that when Ji Zha, an envoy of the State of Wu, was sent to Guo Xushi, he wore a priceless sword, which attracted Xu's attention. I was going to give the sword to Xu, but I didn't take it off and give it to Xu Jun.
Because "in order to be an envoy to China", as an envoy, he must wear a sword to conform to the etiquette at that time, so Ji Zha can't take off his sword and give it away before completing his mission to China. This allusion regards the sword as the carrier of moral integrity and commitment, which shows that the affirmation of the sword at that time has risen to the spiritual symbol of the sword, representing people's pursuit of noble moral spirit, and it has been the representative object of the spiritual pursuit embodied by chivalrous men until the Tang Dynasty.
Therefore, in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the role of the sword is not only to kill the enemy on the battlefield, but also a symbol of status and a carrier of people's noble spirit.
label
The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period is an important period for the development of China culture, and also a golden period for the development of sword culture. The sword in this period formed the sword culture with the characteristics of the times, enriched the usage and theory of the sword, sublimated the spiritual connotation carried by the sword and laid the basic pattern of the sword culture.
At the same time, the development of sword culture in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period has its spiritual connotation beyond matter, and it is a natural product of the worship, inheritance and development of the Chinese nation.