Bronze inscriptions-refers to all kinds of characters carved or imprinted on bronze wares; From Shang Dynasty to Qin and Han Dynasties, rulers and nobles mainly used the alloy of copper and tin to form bronze. Due to the addition of tin, the cast objects are blue-gray and are called bronzes. Often painted or engraved with words, commonly known as inscriptions, also known as inscriptions. Ding is the most ritual vessel in bronzes, and Zhong is the most musical instrument, so predecessors took Zhong and Ding as nicknames of bronzes, and their inscriptions are also called.
Stone carving-refers to the words carved on the stone, including stone classics, inscriptions, epitaphs, stone tombs, etc. If the original stone carvings, stone paintings and stone symbols are not counted, the history of stone as a document carrier may be earlier than that of bronze wares. Mozi Ming Ghost once said: plates and jars are carved in stone. Since Qin and Han Dynasties, stone carving has gradually replaced the main position of golden carving.
Stone carvings can be used not only to correct the mistakes recorded in documents and historical books, but also to understand the social situation at that time. Zheng Qiao pointed out in Tongzhi-Jinshi Lu: Fang Shu is the language of the ancients; A knowledgeable person, the face of the ancients ... After thousands of stories have been handed down, it's a long way to go in Xiu Yuan.
A literal name of ancient Chinese characters in China. Shang, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn and Warring States. In Qing Dynasty, Wu Shifen compiled the bronze inscriptions of Shang and Zhou Dynasties into a book "Historical Records and Bronze inscriptions", which collected a lot of information and had a great influence, thus defining the word bronze inscriptions. At this time, the so-called inscriptions refer to the whole inscription, not words. 1925, Rong Geng compiled inscriptions on Shang and Zhou dynasties into a dictionary according to the order of Shuo Wen Jie Zi, and inscriptions on Shang and Zhou dynasties became a calligraphy name from then on.
Bronze inscriptions appeared in the middle of Shang Dynasty. Although there are not many materials, they are all earlier than Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Ruins. The lower limit of inscriptions on bronze is when Qin destroyed the Six Kingdoms, that is, when Qin unified China characters with Xiao Zhuan. Song people paid great attention to inscriptions when collecting bronzes, such as Lu Dalin's archaeological drawings. There are also special inscriptions, such as Lu in Wang Qiu. When the words in the inscription were compiled into a dictionary, there was Zhong Ding Transshipment written by Chu Wang and Xue Shanggong. In the Qing Dynasty, due to the prosperity of Shuowen and the in-depth study of phonology and exegesis, under the influence of this style of study, the study of inscriptions made rapid progress, and experts such as Wu Da appeared constantly. Zi Shuo, Shuo Wen Gu Shu Bu, Sun Yirang Gu Shu Interpretation, Gu Yu Shu Lun, Ming Yuan, etc. Everyone has original ideas, which have surpassed their predecessors.
Bronze inscriptions have a long history and are widely used. If the materials are not sorted out, the research work will have little effect. Scholars have understood this in the past. Wang Guowei's Preface to the Reading of the Stone and Zhou Yun clearly explains the concepts of time and place. Guo Moruo's Preface to the Great Series of Bi-Zhou Jin Ming said: "The time and the country are consistent, … the writing time of the Western Zhou Dynasty can be set or near, with 162 instruments. ..... is based on the country, and it also coincides with the year of the country, and it has won 160 articles from various countries. " This is an epoch-making pioneering work in the study of bronze inscriptions.
1985 the fourth edition of "Jin Wen bian" uses 3902 inscriptions, including 2420 words in the text (literate) and 3772 words in the appendix 1352 words (illiterate). This is the total number of inscriptions that can be seen today. The pre-Qin written materials are not limited to inscriptions on bronze, but inscriptions on bronze are the main ones after all, which reflects the basic situation of the development and changes of China's written language during the period of 1000 years before the Qin Dynasty unified the written language with Xiao Zhuan. It was Jin Wen, also known as Zhong Dingwen, who appeared later than Oracle Bone Inscriptions. Shang and Zhou Dynasties were the bronze age, with the tripod as the representative ritual vessel and the bell as the representative musical instrument. "Zhong Ding" was synonymous with bronze ware. Therefore, Zhong Dingwen or inscriptions on bronze refers to inscriptions cast or carved on bronzes. The content of inscriptions on bronze is a record of activities or events such as offering sacrifices, giving orders, imperial edicts, campaigns, hunting and covenants. All these reflect the social life at that time. The inscriptions on bronze inscriptions are neat and elegant, simple and heavy. Compared with Oracle Bone Inscriptions, they are more colorful. Bronze inscriptions are basically printed. These characters were discovered in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, when someone sent a tripod excavated in Fenyang to the palace, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty named it Ding Yuan (formerly 1 16). Later, Jin Wen made one discovery after another. Ouyang Xiu and Zhao Mingcheng were scholars in Song Dynasty. They were both good at writing, studying and recording inscriptions on bronze. The Mao inscription in the casting is very representative, with 32 lines and 497 words, which is the earliest bronze inscription unearthed. Mao's inscription is rigorous in structure, thin, smooth, even and neat, and it is a fine work in the bronze inscription. In addition, the inscription of Dahepan is also a masterpiece of bronze inscriptions.