Prince Ding Ding: The Story of the Seven Dings

There is a round tripod in the Spring and Autumn Period in the treasure house of the Henan Museum. It is a prince's afternoon tripod. It has a smart shape and a beautiful pattern, revealing a magnificent momentum. The prince Wu Ding not only highlighted the characteristics of Chu Chu Yun, but also confirmed the existence of Prince Wu of King Chu Zhuang Wang, one of the Spring and Autumn Fighters.

The bronze ding prince named Wu Ding was discovered in the river bed in 1978 at the Chu Mausoleum of Xiexi Temple in Suichuan County, Henan Province. It's unearthed can be described as "the best of times". At that time, it was not raining in Henan Province. The Danjiang Reservoir in Suichuan County was dry and there were cracks in the riverbed. One day, a child played at the reservoir and was accidentally knocked to the ground. When he took a closer look, it turned out to be a copper object. On the side of it was a few similar bronze wares. The child did not understand what it was and went back to tell the adults about the news. Because Suichuan County had discovered cultural relics before, people realized that perhaps this was a piece of cultural relics that were unknown to the dynasty, and immediately picked up tools and rushed to the river bed. They found that there were many "copper corners" of different sizes on the river bed. Everyone dared not neglect and immediately reported to the Suichuan County Cultural Relics Bureau. After the Suichuan County Cultural Relics Bureau got the news, the archaeologists were immediately organized to carry out conservation and excavation work. After 3 days, it was found to be a tomb. Zhao Shigang, a researcher at the Henan Provincial Museum, recalled: “According to the ceremonial apparatus, musical instruments, weapons, and jade objects unearthed in the tomb, the tombs were in the Chu state in the Spring and Autumn Period. Although the tombs were stolen, a large number of buried objects were still unearthed. More than 80% is national cultural relics. Among the many unearthed cultural relics, a series of tripods unearthed on Tomb No. 2 are particularly amazing. There are a total of 7 items. The shape and decoration are almost the same, but they are different in size.” These were unearthed. Several have been broken. After nearly four years of repair, the experts finally let the five of them recreate the beauty of the day.

The inscription confirms who is the owner of these tripods. The experts found that all seven of the tripods had inscriptions, and these inscriptions were often irregular and had many decorative lines, which were quite different from the previous regular script. "This is a bird-worm script, also known as a bird-worm bug, and it is a type of scripture," said Li Hong, a researcher at the Henan Provincial Museum. This habit of writing is a bird and worm-like form. It is a gold character that is popular in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period and early Warring States Period in Wu, Yue and Chu. Because of the beautiful shape of the font, the bird worm script is called "the earliest Chinese art character." With the study and interpretation of the Dingzhong inscription by the staff, it was found in the inscription that the words "Prince's Noon" were clearly recorded. Prince Wu is well documented in history books, and there are many places in the history books such as "Spring and Autumn Zuo Zhuan" that speak of him. According to these records and later generations' comments, it can be seen that Prince Wu and Zigong are the sons of Chu Zhuangwang, one of the five tyrants of the Spring and Autumn dynasty. They are also the younger brothers of the King Chu. He was appointed Sima in the Chu Dynasty. According to historical records, there was a prince Qin afternoon escort the queen Qin Hui (Qin Jinggong's sister) back to her family, but was detained by Qin Guo. His younger brother bribed a minister of Jin with three hundred gold and asked Jin Guo to build a pot of Qiu City (Chen Guodi, in today's Henan Xincai) and told Qin Guo that if you let go of the younger brother of Chu Wang, we would not build a city. . The Qin people feared that the Jin army would therefore be stationed in Chendi and had no choice but to release Zigeng. To this end, Chu State sent another three hundred cars to give thanks to Jin. From these records, we can imagine how important Prince Wu was to Chu at that time. The inscription describes the merits of Prince Wu’s life. He says that he has a German citizenship, and he has a lot of respect for the country. Therefore, he is respected. At the same time, the inscription also shows that this tripod was used to pay homage to the first king and the monks. This shows that it was cast by the prince before his midday. "The tripod is the first of the ritual vessels. As long as the name of the tripod is engraved, it will not be sent to anyone and it will be buried with the owner," said Zhao Shigang. As a result, Prince Ding did not only provide the identity of the tomb owner, Dingzhong's inscription also confirmed the existence of Prince Wu.

Seven Ding of the respect Prince Wuding is a bronze ware of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period. Seven tings are arranged from big to small. The largest one is displayed in the Henan Museum, and several other tripods are also housed in the Museum of Chinese History, Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and the Luanchuan County Museum. Prince Ding Ding from the shape to the pattern are very beautiful, with a typical Chu style, it receives waist and abdomen with the ears outside, and the general angular or distinct, or drum belly, ears of the Central Plains Ding is clearly different, with strong Dynamic and curvaceous, can not help but think of "Chu Wang is good waist" story. Ding is surrounded by six three-dimensional monsters, each of which is twisted and twisted by two dragons. The structure is complicated, and the ideas are ingenious and the style is very different. In the details of the tripod, the pattern is finely detailed, and more characteristic is that it is exquisitely crafted with reliefs and enamel carvings throughout the body. Beautiful styling, exquisite craftsmanship, and romantic themes all show the rich romantic imagination and vitality of ancient Chu people.

When people mention the ancient "ding", people immediately think of the royal status and the noble status of the owner. The word "ding" is often given the meaning of "prestige," "honor," "grand," and so on. From business to zhou, they all defined the establishment of the capital or established the dynasty as "dingding." The historically famous allusion "Average the Central Plains" was visited by the King of Chu Zhuang and Zhou Chao took the opportunity to inquire about the size of Zhou Ding. He had a great desire to take the Zhou Dynasty and replace it with the Zhou Dynasty. In fact, Dingyuan was originally an ancient morsel and was used to cook meat and meat. Xu Shen said in "Shuo Wen Jie Zi": "Ding, three feet and two ears, and the five flavors of the device also." The earliest tripod was clay pottery Ding Ding, and later there was a bronze tripod cast in bronze. The seven bronze wares unearthed in the prince's burial mounds each have cow's limbs inside, as well as copper gongs for beef and beef bones. Why then is Ding given the power of kingship and honor? Legend has it that Xia Xia had received Jiu Mu and Jin Ding Jiuding under Jingshan to symbolize Kyushu. Since the legend of the casting of Jiuding, Ding has developed from a common smasher to a device for spreading the country. Later, it became the most important ritual vessel, that is, as a container for offering sacrifices to ancestors during the sacrificial ceremony. Therefore, people called copper ting ceremonies and other ceremonial devices as “faith temple weights”. However, Ding’s more important role is to reflect the aristocrat’s power, identity, and status. Seven different sizes of Prince Wuding belong to Lending. Regarding the "Ledding System", the ritual system of the Zhou Dynasty stipulated that the emperor should use Jiuding, the princes should use Qiding, the doctor should use Wuding, and the scholar should use Sanding or Yiding. To reflect the status and level of the kings and nobles with the number of tripods, it is not possible to change them at will. Otherwise, it is to inflict confusion and suspicion. Since the ritual apparatus represents the political or social status of the deceased before or after death, seven princes of the afternoon burial of the burial show the honorable status of the tomb owner.

The past history of the Chu Kingdom has gone with the wind, but from this trip we can still see the noble powers of the Chu country and the life of Zhong Ming Ding. Not only does it let us appreciate the sculptures of the craftsmen of the Chu State. Skills and skillful bronze casting process; the inscriptions in the tripod also let us learn more about that history and show the glory of that era.