In ancient my country, the tripod has a long history. The tripod was first used by the ancients as a cooking utensil. The ultimate goal of cooking is "eating". In the eyes of the ancients, "eating" is the basic living condition of human beings. Therefore, people attach great importance to the tripod related to "eating". With the development of the times, more and more cooking utensils appeared, and the tripod was regarded as a ritual vessel to symbolize important rights.
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, our country was still a slave society, and etiquette gradually emerged. The tripod was used as an instrument for important occasions such as sacrifices and banquets, and was given a noble meaning by people, "hiding rituals in the vessel." It is to describe the new role that the tripod was given at that time. The owners of different tripods are also an important symbol to distinguish different identities.
Because of this, the ancient book "Zuo Zhuan·Xuan Gong Three Years" contains records about "asking for the throne": Chu Zi's quest for the throne was of great importance. The answer is: Virtue is not in the cauldron. It can be seen that the princes at that time already used the size of the tripod as a rigid indicator to measure the strength of the opponent. So what is the largest tripod in ancient my country? What is its origin?
In 1939, our country was in a turbulent era. The chaos of the current situation made tomb robbing increasingly popular. As the saying goes, people rely on mountains and rivers to eat. Of course, the villagers living in Wuguan Village, Anyang City, Henan Province know that their village is adjacent to the ancient Yin Ruins, a geomantic treasure land, where countless ancestral treasures from the Shang Dynasty are buried.
One night in March 1939, the villagers took advantage of the dark night and high winds to go to the farmland of Wu Yuyao’s family in Wuguan Village, Houjiazhuang, Anyang City, Henan Province, more than 80 meters away from the southwest corner of the Wuguan Village Tomb. , dug out the Stepmother Wu Dafang Ding that shocked the world.
However, because the tripod was too big and heavy, the villagers could not move it, but they were unwilling to return without success, so they used a saw to cut off one of the tripod's ears as evidence. The cauldron was indeed discovered and then reburied.
Later, due to the outbreak of the war of aggression against China, the Japanese heard about this and wanted to spend a lot of money to buy it, but they did not buy it. They only bought a fake provided by a local villager. After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, the Stepmother Wuding was unearthed in June 1946 and was sent to Nanjing as a birthday gift for Chiang Kai-shek.
However, due to the war, the whereabouts of the tripod’s ears that were sawed off at that time have been unknown, which has become an eternal regret for China’s largest bronze tripod. Some readers may ask here: "The tripod we saw is complete, and there is not one missing tripod ear."
In fact, the Stepmother Wu tripod tripod ear that we can see later on display is It was recast by people. After all, such a national treasure cannot be shown to people in a incomplete image. The reason for its lack is not a story worth showing off. The regrets of history are often reluctant to touch too much.
In March 2011, the Stepmother Wuding was installed on the third floor of the new National Museum of China. It weighs 875 kilograms, is 133 centimeters high, has a mouth length of 78 centimeters, a foot height of 46 centimeters, and a wall thickness of 6 centimeters. Because of its huge shape and square appearance, it is also known as the "manger tripod". It is the largest bronze tripod that has been discovered in Chinese history, so it is known as "the largest bronze tripod in the world".
However, the original name of such a famous national treasure was not the Houmuwu Ding, but another name - Simuwu Ding.
In 1959, New China established the Chinese History Museum, and the Stepmother Wu Ding was also transported from Nanjing to Beijing and settled in the new museum. The name of the tripod was named by Guo Moruo, a well-known scholar at that time. He understood the "Si Mu Wu" in the tripod as "the Wu used to worship the mother", so he named the tripod "Si Mu Wu Ding". People born in the 1980s and 1990s should have seen this name in their history textbooks.
From then to March 2011, the name of this Baoding has never changed. People have become accustomed to this name. However, at the end of March 2011, the Houmuwu Ding was admitted to the National Museum of China. When the new building was built, the name of the tripod that appeared in the public eye was changed to "Stepmother Wu Ding", and it was also reported on CCTV. Did everyone call Baoding by the wrong name before?
It turns out that with the development of New China, some experts suggested that the word "Si" in the Houmu Wu Ding Ding is the same character as the word "Hou", and in ancient times, the word "Hou" specifically refers to The Queen, from the perspective of the Cauldron Master himself, is more in line with the identity of the Cauldron Master's mother. And if the three words "Simuwu" are used, it can only express the meaning of sacrifice to the mother, but it does not intuitively express the identity of the mother of the tripod owner.
However, if the word "Si" is changed to the word "Hou", it will not be the case. Since the tripod itself has the meaning of sacrifice, if the word "Hou" is used here, it will obviously reflect the dignity of the owner of the tripod. It can reflect the identity of the person being sacrificed, which kills two birds with one stone, and is more in line with the original intention of the ancients. Therefore, although there is only one word difference, it reflects many differences in details.
In fact, both of these names have their own reasons, but from an optimization perspective, the name "Stepmother Wuding" is obviously better than "Simuwuding" The information it conveys is more intuitive and comprehensive.
However, the name of Simu Wuding was remembered by a generation, and the idea of ??changing it at that time also aroused widespread heated discussion. After all, a national treasure that had been called by a name for half a century suddenly had a name. One day changed, which made people have a psychological barrier that was difficult to accept for a while.
Although the new name is more in line with the actual situation and has more advantages in expression, some habits are difficult to change once formed. Even if the country has renamed Baoding, many people think that it is difficult to change the name. When I read this cauldron, I will inevitably think of his original name.
Although the two names caused a lot of heated discussion at the time, from the perspective of cultural inheritance and cultural relics protection, the renaming of the country is obviously more conducive to the inheritance and protection of culture, so regardless of the name Right or wrong, the meaning and value of this tripod in people's hearts will not change at all.
Perhaps, future generations will be as uncomfortable with the previous name as we are with the new name of this tripod, so we really don’t need to worry too much about this. As long as we know that through this name change, Baoding will be better spread in the future, and it seems to be harmless to whatever it is called.
Therefore, experts speculate that the casting process of the Stepmother Wuding is likely to be like this. In the Shang Dynasty, the vessel for smelting bronzes was a pottery crucible. This has been confirmed. This crucible looks like an ancient general's helmet when turned upside down, so it is nicknamed "general's helmet" by experts.
According to scientific estimates, each general's helmet can melt 12.7 kilograms of bronze, and more than 70 "general helmets" are needed to cast a behemoth like the Houmuwu Ding. We must know that at that time, only a "general helmet" was enough to cast an ordinary small and medium-sized bronze vessel. From this, we can see that the casting of the Houmu Wuding was definitely a "big project" at the time.
The number of utensils used is not the most amazing thing, but the number of people and craftsmanship required in the Baoding casting process are the most amazing. Because if you want to pour this treasure tripod in one go, at least hundreds of people will need to operate at the same time, and they can complete the work with tacit cooperation. Such complicated craftsmanship has to make people marvel at the superb wisdom and pouring level of the ancients.
The Stepmother Wu Ding is a treasure of Chinese civilization. Its beautiful and solemn decorations and exquisite craftsmanship have always been admired by the world. Therefore, its value is extremely high, and the controversy and confusion surrounding it also add to the importance of its position in people's minds.
Stepmother Wuding has gone through more than half a century from its first discovery to its final renaming and "migration" to its new home. It has quietly watched from our country's poverty and weakness to our country's prosperity. China's development. Perhaps just like the noble meaning given to the tripod by the ancients, the Stepmother Wu tripod also symbolizes that our country’s national power is getting stronger and stronger, and it will eventually conquer the world. After all, with the giant tripod in hand, the confidence and glory of a big country are still worthy of pride for the Chinese people.
In the years to come, we should always bear in mind the glory of the motherland, contribute our own strength on the road to China's great rejuvenation, and dare to be the "tripod" of the country. Only in this way can we walk in the world Only when you are in any country can you confidently say: "I am Chinese!"
Reference: "Knowing All about Chinese History" - published by Beijing United Publishing Company