In ancient times, tripod was just a common vessel made of pottery or copper for cooking food. Later, because our ancestors used it to hold the meat of sacrificing to the gods of heaven and earth, it was endowed with a sacred meaning and differentiated from daily utensils. In the class society, the tripod further became an important symbol of the ruling power of the state. The “nine tripods” to be mentioned in this article (i.e. nine big tripods made of bronze.) It is the symbol of imperial power and the treasure of passing on the country in the Xia, Shang and three dynasties of China. In terms of its craft level and value, it is undoubtedly much more than any bronze ware that has been unearthed today. But what makes people deeply regret is that such a precious national treasure disappeared more than 2000 years ago! How did the “nine tripods” disappear? This is really a puzzling historical mystery. The following China story net Xiaobian will bring you a detailed introduction. Let’s have a look!
As early as the early days of the Xia Dynasty, in order to forge the nine tripods, the king of Xia ordered the governors of the nine states under his rule to collect bronze, contribute to the Xia royal family, and cast objects that can represent the nine states on the tripods to symbolize that the nine states in the world gathered in the center of the Xia Dynasty. The so-called “Yu received the gold of nine herds and cast nine tripods, like Jiuzhou.” (records of the historian ยท Emperor Wu Ji) is about this matter. The Xia Dynasty began with Yu. When he passed the throne to Lai, he was destroyed by Cheng Tang due to the confusion of Jie. Cheng Tang was the first king of the Shang Dynasty. It is said that after he destroyed Xia, he moved the nine tripods of Xia to Shang. When the Shang Dynasty was proclaimed king, it lost popularity because of tyranny. King Wu of Zhou took the opportunity to fight against the feudal government. After the destruction of the Shang Dynasty, he returned to the West triumphantly with the nine tripods of the Shang Dynasty. Soon, King Cheng, the son of King Wu, moved the nine tripods to Haojing (now the suburb of Xi’an) and held the “Ding Ding Ding” ceremony of Longyu, which means the establishment of the new royal power. Therefore, the later generations have the theory that the establishment of political power is called “Ding Ding Ding”.
In the spring and Autumn period, with the gradual decline of the power of the Zhou royal family, powerful princes had a bright heart for the nine tripods. In 606 BC, King Zhuang of Chu took the opportunity of the northern expedition against Luhun to show off his military strength at the Eastern Zhou border. King Ding of Zhou hurried to send Doctor Wang Sunman as an emissary to offer condolences. King Zhuang of Chu had ulterior motives to ask Wang Sunman about the “size and weight” of Zhou’s nine tripods, suggesting that he was ready to seize the ruling power of Zhou. Seeing that the other side was ambitious, Wang sun man answered tit for tat, “virtue is not in the tripod.” although Zhou De is declining, the destiny has not changed, and the weight of the tripod cannot be asked! ” (Zuo Zhuan, Xuangong’s third year.) It means that although the Zhou royal family declined, it can still be maintained. It is still the co Lord of the world. It warns King Zhuang of Chu not to have indecent ideas. Therefore, later, they compared “winning the throne” to trying to seize power or plotting for the throne, and so on.
In the late Warring States period, the Zhou royal family was in a situation of survival in name only. Qin, Qi and other big countries often fought for the nine tripods of the Zhou Dynasty. In 254 BC, Qin Dynasty destroyed Zhou Dynasty. According to the historical records of Qin Dynasty, when King Zhao of Qin Dynasty, “Zhou Mindong died, and a total of nine tripods came into Qin”, which fell into the hands of the king of Qin. However, the historical records of Fengchan said: “when Qin exterminated Zhou, the nine tripods of Zhou entered Qin, or the song Taiqiu society died, but the tripod disappeared under Pengcheng, Surabaya”. Obviously, there are two theories about the whereabouts of the nine tripods. One is that Qin took away the nine tripods when Qin exterminated Zhou, and the other is that the nine tripods sank in the water well before Qin exterminated Zhou. The historical records of the first emperor of Qin recorded another event: in the 28th year of the first emperor of Qin (219 BC), in order to find the Zhou Ding, when the first emperor of Qin passed Pengcheng on a patrol, “the fasting prayer temple wanted to go out of the Zhou Ding and sprinkle water, so that thousands of people had no water to ask for the Buddha.”. This move of Qinshihuang showed that the rumor that the tripod entered Surabaya must have been more popular at that time, so that even Qinshihuang believed it, but the result was nothing. It seems that the exact whereabouts of the tripod can no longer be searched from the relevant records in the historical records.
Although some ancient books after the historical records also recorded the whereabouts of the tripod, they basically explained or supplemented the two statements in the historical records. For example, the < historical records > justice of Qin Benji said: “in the 19th year of King Zhou (296 BC), King Zhao of Qin took nine tripods, one of which flew into Surabaya and the other eight into Qin.” According to the supplementary notes to the Han Dynasty, Jiao Si Zhi: in order to prevent the powerful from seizing the tripod and solve their own economic difficulties, the Zhou royal family destroyed the tripod and cast money, and falsely called the nine tripods missing. Although these statements are thought-provoking, they are hard to believe because they are unreasonable or lack of basis.
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, there was a trend to look for “Zhou Ding”. Qin Shihuang’s search for Zhou Ding was described earlier. In the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wen and Emperor Wu continued to look for Guo Zhou Ding. It is said that Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty found the Zhou ding that “flew into Surabaya” in Fenyang. But is it Zhou ding that “Ding Wen has no style and knowledge”? It’s hard to tell. So where did Jiuding go? Is it possible to find it in the future? This depends on the progress of archaeological excavation. If the nine tripods are not destroyed, perhaps one day, we or our descendants will be lucky to see the glory and “beauty” of the Millennium tripod from the unearthed cultural relics. Disclaimer: the above content originates from the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original author. Please inform us if your original copyright is infringed, and we will delete the relevant content as soon as possible.