It is undoubtedly the most recommended program this year, bar none.
The first issue of "National Treasures" introduced three cultural relics: Ximeng's "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", Emperor Qianlong's "Vasees with Various Glazes" and stone drums from the Pre-Qin Dynasty.
Among these three cultural relics, the one that impressed Brother Gou the most was the stone drum known as "China's No. 1 Antique". The Chinese characters carved on it thousands of years ago not only record history, but also Chinese characters. It is an indispensable part of its evolution and pays tribute to its ancestors. Without them, there would definitely be no dog brother today.
Here, Brother Gou adds some information about Shigu to enhance everyone’s understanding.
The stone drum has ten sides, two feet high and more than one foot in diameter. It looks like a drum, with a thin top and a thick bottom and a slightly rounded top (actually in the shape of a tyre). Each stone drum weighs about one ton. .
It has been introduced in "National Treasure" that the stone drum is engraved with a transition from large seal script to small seal script. The content is a group of ten poems. Because it is carved on the stone drum, Therefore, it is called "Shiguwen". It describes a period of history unknown to future generations before the unification of Qin Shihuang. It is the earliest stone-engraved poem in China and the ancestor of seal script.
Since the discovery in Yong County in the early seventh century AD, calligraphers Yu Shinan, Ouyang Xun and others at that time praised the calligraphy on stone drums. Du Fu also wrote in a poem, "The stone drums in Chencang have been around for a long time." Wei Yingwu, Han Yu and Su Shi all wrote poems specifically about it, so its relationship with writers is extremely close. In epigraphy, starting from Ouyang Xiu's "Collection of Ancient Records", stone drums have been regarded as the most important relics in stone carvings.
In the show, national treasure guardian Tony Leung Ka Fai starred in the past life story about Shi Gu, playing the role of Sima Guang. Sima Guang's father, Sima Chi, would rather commit the crime of deceiving the emperor than use a fake stone drum to deceive future generations. His spirit is praiseworthy, but in fact, the story of the stone drum is much more tortuous than this.
Shigu was first discovered in the Tang Dynasty. Later, during the "An-Shi Rebellion", it was first moved to the south of Yongcheng City. A few months later, the rebels approached. In order to avoid the war, Shigu was hastily moved again. They were buried in the wilderness and declared "destroyed".
After the "Anshi Rebellion" was put down, local officials visited the burial place of the stone drum. Han Yu and others wrote to the court about this, but they were not taken seriously. Later, Zheng Yuqing took up the post of Fengxiang Yin, part-time as the imperial concubine, in charge of national academic education and cultural undertakings, and reported it to the court again. The stone drum was finally moved from the wilderness to the Fengxiang Confucius Temple, but one side of it was lost in the war. Later, wars broke out one after another, and the nine-sided stone drums in the temple were also stolen and shipped away.
Later, in the Song Dynasty, Song Renzong accidentally discovered the legendary records about stone drums and became very interested in the Chencang stone drums that had been lost for hundreds of years. He ordered talented and virtuous people from all over the world to search for them. , Find the whereabouts of Shigu. After hearing the news, Sima Chi, the father of Sima Guang, who was the prefect of Fengxiang at the time, tried his best to find the legendary ten big stones. After many twists and turns, he finally found the stone drum that had disappeared for a hundred years, but only nine sides were found. The Zha Yuan stone drum, which had been lost in the late Tang Dynasty, has not yet been found.
Finally, the original Shigu, which had disappeared for more than two hundred years, was found by Master Xiang in Taishi Village, but the Shigu had changed beyond recognition. The upper part was cut off by the villagers, and the middle was hollowed out for pounding rice. The two broken edges were used by the butchers to sharpen their knives. Most of the text on the stone drum has been worn away and severely damaged, leaving only four lines of text on the lower half.
The "past life legend" about Shigu in the program is probably the above historical story.
As we mentioned earlier, there are ten sides to Shigu. The side with the most difficult experience is Zhayuan Shigu, which is also the focus of the program, but the remaining nine sides are not introduced much, and there is no introduction. Specifically speaking about what is engraved on the stone drum inscriptions, Brother Gou will add some relevant information to you.
The stone drum is engraved with a group of ten poems, each of which has approximately eighteen or nineteen lines. Although the stone drum text is incomplete, the main content can still be seen. It is about road improvement, sightseeing, fishing and hunting. Because it talks about hunting a lot, it is also called "hunting tablet".
The ten poems on the stone drum have a certain order, but there are many debates about this order. Nowadays, the order of Shisu is generally adopted: Wuche, ?F (qin) Miao (min), Tian Che, Luan Che, Ling (lng) Yu, Chayuan, Ershi, Majian, Wushui, Wuren.
"My Che Pian": records the scene of Duke Qin hunting;
"?F Mian Pian": describes the beautiful scenery of ?F water;
"Tian Chai Pian": describes the grand occasion of Qin Gong and his entourage going to the original plains for hunting;
"Luan Cha Pian": describing Qin Gong's hunting trip through Guocheng, the Luan chariot hanging Tong bow, Tong On the day of the arrow, the followers gathered together to offer prey. At this time, the crowd was like a barrier and it was very lively;
"Ling Yu Pian": describes what Qin Gong and his entourage saw from a low place when they were crossing the F River. Scene;
"Zhayuan Pian": describes the road repair work;
"Ershi Pian": is a narrative poem describing the Duke of Qin;
"Ma Jian Pian": describes the scene encountered on the road when returning from hunting;
"Wu Shui Pian": describes the beautiful rivers and mountains of Qin State with clear water and flat roads;
"Wu Shui Pian" "People's Chapter": It writes about Wu people rushing to offer sacrifices to Duke Qin;
Next, it is about the age of Shigu, about which scholars have always debated endlessly.
Scholars of the Tang Dynasty believed that the stone drum came from the era of King Xuan of Zhou Dynasty, while scholars such as Cheng Dachang of the Song Dynasty believed that it was from the era of King Zhou Cheng. Zheng Qiao, also from the Song Dynasty, believed that the characters engraved on the stone drum were Qin seal script. It should be Queen Huiwen. Ma Dingguo, a Jin man, believed that the stone drum was made by Yu Wentai when he was hunting Qiyang in the west in the 11th year of the reign of the Western Wei Dynasty (AD 545). Most modern epigraphers believe that it is a Qin carved stone, but there is no consensus on the specific age.
In 1958, Mr. Tang Lan published an article "A Study on the Chronology of Stone Drums" in the "Journal of the Palace Museum", which covered the development of inscriptions, the development of literary history, the application of new languages, the development of glyphs, After a detailed discussion and analysis of eight aspects including the development of calligraphy, he finally concluded that the stone drum should be made in the eleventh year of Qin Xiangong, that is, 374 BC.
In 2006, Mr. Yang Zongbing, a postdoctoral fellow at Shaanxi Normal University, once again discussed the age of the stone drum in the "Journal of the Palace Museum". Mr. Yang Zongbing tended to the "Qin Wengong theory" and believed that the stone drum was the ancestor of Qin Wengong. Made in the nineteenth year (747 BC).
Generally speaking, whether it is the "Qin Xiangong theory" or the "Qin Wenggong theory", the "Master Qin theory" has basically been a common view in academic circles. The history of Shigu is at least 2,300 years old. .
Finally, I would like to end with a passage from Liang Jiahui, the guardian of Shigu, when introducing Shigu:
“I think to see how great a nation is, you have to look at it. Chinese characters have been extinct in many countries, but the vitality of Chinese characters has lasted for thousands of years. We use characters every day, and we don’t think it is so great. But there are so many Chinese dialects, how can we communicate without characters? People are really insignificant in front of them, but for them, people can be very great."