Chen Wenzhe could not see clearly many of the glyphs in the inscriptions on the small tripod, and some of them were fonts he did not recognize.
However, such an inscription is considered to be well preserved, right?
After all, you can still understand the general meaning by looking at these inscriptions.
Of course, there are more than just these inscriptions, there are more than 390 words in total, many of which Chen Wenzhe does not recognize, but he can understand them.
The entire inscription records things very well, and you can understand the meaning just by reasoning.
The general idea is: Yu reported to King Kang the results of the expedition against the ghosts at the Zhou Temple. In the two battles, he captured three enemy chiefs, captured 13,811 people, captured more than 4,000 people, and also captured carts, cattle, sheep, etc.
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The king ordered to interrogate the enemy chiefs, and the chiefs replied that they had rebelled against Zhou because the Zhou people had provoked them first.
After the hearing, the enemy chieftain was beheaded and presented to the ancestral temple.
After King Kang offered the sacrifice, he rewarded the bowl and made this tripod to commemorate it.
This is actually the key to the naming of the big and small Yu tripods. The owner of the family is the Yu family.
In the inscriptions on the large and small Yu tripods, Yu's grandfather was named "Nangong".
The so-called "Nangong" is actually the abbreviation of "Nangong Gong".
Just like Zhou Gong and Zhao Gong, they belong to the clan title.
Academic circles generally believe that these two Yu Ding were cast during the reign of King Kang of Zhou Dynasty, so the owner of the tripod was also active at this time.
It is mentioned in the inscriptions, especially in the Great Yu Ding, that Nangong is the direct ancestor of Yu.
Therefore, as the grandfather, Nangong should have been active during the reign of King Kang's grandfather, King Wu of Zhou.
According to various classics, this Nangong is Nangong Kuo.
In "The Romance of the Gods", a story about gods and demons based on King Wu's defeat of Zhou, Nangong Kuo looks unrecognizable as a mortal general.
Compared with Nezha, Yang Jian, Jiang Ziya, etc. who are always in front of the stage, he is more like an extra actor with no sense of existence.
However, in historical records, Nangong Kuo can be said to have a distinguished status.
"Shangshu·Junshi" mentioned the famous ministers of King Wen of Zhou, and wrote: "There are only Ruo Guoshu, some Ruo Hongyao, some Ruo San Yisheng, some Ruo Taiding, and some Ruo Nangongkuo."
In "The Analects of Confucius Taibo", Confucius gave an example when talking about the virtuous ministers of the previous generations: "King Wu said: 'I have ten people who are in trouble.'"
Zheng Xuan's note quoted Ma Rong as saying: "It is called Zhou Gongdan, Zhao Gongxi, Taigong Wang, Bi Gong, Ronggong, Dadian, Hongyao, Sanyisheng, Nangongkuo."
It can be seen that in the early Zhou Dynasty, Nangong Kuo was a minister as famous as Zhou Gong, Zhao Gong, Taigong (Jiang Ziya) and so on, and his status was quite high.
By the time of Sima Qian, Nangong Kuo's image became more substantial.
"Historical Records·Zhou Benji" records that King Wu of Zhou implemented a series of policies after destroying the Shang Dynasty. Among them, "Nangong Kuo was ordered to disperse the wealth of Lutai and distribute millet from Juqiao to relieve the poor and weak.
"Preserve Jade".
It is not difficult to see that Nangong Kuo was entrusted with handling financial-related matters.
Mr. Tang Lan believed that Nangong Kuo was the youngest son of King Wen of Zhou Dynasty, named Dan Jizai, also known as Nan Jizai, according to documents such as "Historical Records of the Guan Cai Family", "Zuo Zhuan of the Fourth Year of Dinggong" and "Bai Hu Tong of Names".
, was the third Duke during the reign of King Cheng of Zhou Dynasty.
From this it is speculated that he lived in the Nangong area of the Zhou Dynasty, because his place of residence was his surname.
The inscription on the Great Yu Ding shows that Yu, as the grandson of Nangong Kuo, was appointed to be in charge of military affairs and litigation during the reign of King Kang of Zhou Dynasty.
The inscription on the small Yu tripod tells us that Yu once led an army to defeat Guifang and achieved a great victory.
The inscription on the Chinese tripod from the era of King Zhao of Zhou Dynasty reads "In the year when the king ordered Nangong to attack Hu Fang", the commander who commanded the army to attack Hu Fang was Yu.
The Zhabo Ding unearthed from the Yingguo Cemetery in Pingdingshan, Nanhe, was also used during the Zhao Dynasty, and its inscription also reads "The king ordered Nangong to lead the king to serve".
Some scholars believe that Nangong of Zhaboding is also an important member of the Nangong family.
The Nangong Liuding in the late Western Zhou Dynasty shows that Nangong was still in charge of the logistics affairs of the Zhou royal family's army when he was the direct descendant of King Li.
Except for the direct eldest branch who stayed in Zongzhou, the branch of the Nangong family was enfeoffed in the Suizhou area of now Beihu, which was called Zeng State.
In 2011, the Western Zhou Dynasty Tomb in Yejiashan, Suizhou, Beihu shocked the world. Among them, a Gui was unearthed in Tomb No. 111, with the inscription "纺作 Lie Kao Nangong Baozun Yi".
Considering that most of the tombs in Yejiashan are the tombs of Zeng Guogong in the Western Zhou Dynasty, the owner of the Gui vessel should be a generation of Marquis Zeng.
Therefore, Zeng Guo should be a branch of the Nangong family entrusted here.
A set of bronze bells released in 2014 confirmed this.
This set of bronze bells was unearthed at Wenfeng Tower in Zengdu District, Suizhou as early as 2009. It is a relic of the Zeng State during the Spring and Autumn Period.
Among them, the inscription on Marquis Zeng and Zhong a1 reads: "Bo Shi was a wise man, and he was a civil and military leader. He relied on Yin's orders to regulate the world. When the king passed away, he ordered Nangong to build a house in Rui. He protected Huaiyi and was near Jiangxia...
…”
Bo Shi here is Nangong Kuo, and Kuo and Shi are both interchangeable in ancient books.
The inscription directly proves that Zeng Guo is a descendant of the Nangong family.
Nangong Kuo himself also participated in the activities of establishing Zeng State.
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, one aristocratic family held office in the royal territory and enjoyed the title of fief, while the other family was granted the title of vassal prince when going out. Very few of them are recorded in historical records.
For example, on the first day of Duke Zhou's reign, the eldest son Boqin left Qufu and founded the Lu Kingdom, while the second son Jun Chen Xijue became Duke of Zhou for generations;
After Zhao Gongxi, one branch came out to Fengji (today's Liuli River in Fangshan, the capital of the gods) and became the Yan Kingdom, and the other group attacked the prince and became Zhao Gong.
Not many people must know about Zeng State during the Western Zhou Dynasty, because it is not as famous as Qilu, nor as famous as Yanzhao.
However, in modern times, we should know more.
Because there are really many large tombs unearthed in Zeng State.
For example, the bells from the Spring and Autumn Period mentioned just now come from the tomb of Zeng Hou Yi.
This can be regarded as the Marquis Zeng that we know best in modern times.
Beihu Suizhou, the gateway from the north to the Central Plains, has always been an important place for military strategists.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it was the only place the Chu State must pass through in order to conquer the Central Plains.
Judging from the topography, the Suizao Corridor and the Nanyang Basin were the key points between the north and the south at that time, and they were also the places where the Central Plains culture in the north of China and the Chu culture in the south met.
By the Warring States Period, Zeng was just a small vassal state.
Because it is so small, there is no record of it in the historical records that have survived to this day.
However, with the opening of the tomb of Zeng Houyi in 1978, the little Zeng Kingdom began to become famous all over the world more than 2,000 years later.
A total of various funerary objects were unearthed from the tomb: bronze vessels as if they had just been put into the ground, lacquerware as fresh as new, bamboo slips with clear ink marks, especially the complete set of bells, chimes and other musical instruments that are rare in the world.
The tens of thousands of cultural relics unearthed from the tomb of Zeng Houyi, represented by chimes, shocked the world with their brilliant achievements in culture, art, science and technology.
As the owner of the tomb, Zeng Hou Yi has attracted much attention from the world. However, there is no historical record of Zeng Hou Yi.
Among the tens of thousands of cultural relics in the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, chariots, horses and weapons are the most numerous. Their complete variety, quantity, and comprehensive functions have never been seen before.
Among them, there are mostly long-range weapons, long pole weapons are particularly special, and there are extremely rare spear-shaped chariots. These are weapons and equipment used for chariot battles.
All this shows that Zeng Houyi was a strategist and commander who was good at chariot combat.