Author 丨Rinya Boy
Edited by 丨 Wu Youren
In ancient poetry, the word "Wu hook" often appeared.
Li He said, "Why don't boys take Wu Hook and collect Fifty Prefectures from Guanshan", and Xin Zhiyi said, "Look at Wu Hook, shoot all over the railing, no one will, and climb to the ground", so look at it, "Wu Hook" should be a weapon. The Fengshen Yanyi says it more obviously: "Muzha carries two swords on his back, and his name is: 'Wu Hook', and this sword is the likes of 'Gan general' and 'Gongye', and there are males and females." "Then, Wu Hook is a pair of swords."
Why is the sword called a "hook"?
First, Wu Wang's clothes hook
Cultural relics known as "Wu Hooks" have indeed been unearthed, but they are not weapons, but clothing hooks.
Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, has a Xishishan Ruins Park, also known as Tucheng Mountain, which used to be said to be the beauty palace where the beautiful woman Xishi lived.
In 1959, some bronze farm tools and weapons were unearthed here. In 1979, more than 20 kilograms of bronze blocks and fragments of copper crucibles were unearthed. Since the new century, a large number of bronzes have been excavated, many of which have been transferred into the folk, according to incomplete statistics, there are hundreds of pieces, and the Shaoxing Museum has collected forty-five pieces at a time.
According to Mr. Cao Jinyan, these copper belt hooks are "generally two to eight centimeters in length, mostly medium and small, and many of them have burrs on the edges of the hooks", and speculated that this is the site of a bronze smelting and casting workshop in Yueguo. Mr. Cao also announced three new copper belt hooks excavated from Xishi Mountain in Shaoxing in recent years, one of which is in the Shaoxing Yue Culture Museum, one in the Shaoxing Ancient Yue Pavilion, and one in the hands of a collector, and the three copper belt hook inscriptions are exactly the same, the content is:
"Gongwu Wang Guangchu obtained his shou (cast) gold, and cha (zuo) used 丩 (sentence)." [1]
Gongwu is Gou Wu, that is, Wu Guo, and Wu Wang Guang is Wu Wang Lu. A sentence is a hook, that is, a hook. Then it is obvious that these three copper belt hooks are the artifacts cast by Lu Lu.
So, why did these three pieces of Wu Wang's hook flow into the handicraft workshop of Yue Guo? Judging from the Yue chinese characters and bronzes from the Wu kingdom, these three belt hooks should not be tributes produced by the Yue people for the King of Wu, but the Wu samples that the Yue people refer to when making the hooks. Shaoxing was the capital of the Spring and Autumn Yue Kingdom, and Wu and Yue were mortal enemies, and the father and son of Wu Wang Lu and Fu Cha were killed at the hands of The Yue King, during which Gou Jian once submitted to Fu Cha. As an instrument used by Wu Wang, Fu Cha is unlikely to give samples to the Yue people, so it is most likely that the spoils after the destruction of Wu are still the spoils.
Wu WangGuang copper belt hook
What is a hook? Equivalent to today's cloth belt buckle, belt buckle, is to tie the belt around the waist of the life utensils, the pre-Qin literature is very common.
As we all know, the "History of the Family of Prince Taigong of Qi" says that Guan Zhong was originally a subordinate of Gongzi Gui of Qi, and Gongzi Gui and Gongzi Xiaobai competed for the throne, and sent Guan Zhong to intercept and kill Xiao Bai in the middle of the road. Guan Zhong shot an arrow at Xiao Bai with a hook, and Xiao Bai pretended to be dead and fell on the car. Gongzi corrected the belief that it was true, and slowly continued to hurry, and as a result, Xiao Bai preemptively took the position of Duke huan of Qi. "Pipe Da Kuang" and "Lü Shi Chunqiu" also mention Guan Zhong's shot at the small white belt hook. However, the "Da Kuang" record is slightly different, saying that the Duke of Qi Huan has taken the throne, and the Duke of Luzhuang and Gongzi Tang started a war in Qianshi, and Guan Zhong only shot the Duke of Qi Huan with an arrow on the battlefield.
It is generally believed that this Wuguo bronze belt hook is not a weapon "Wu hook".
So, in the Wu bronzes, has the "Wu hook" been found? According to statistics, among the excavated bronzes of the Wu and Yue kingdoms, they include ceremonial instruments, musical instruments, weapons, carriage and horse tools, agricultural tools, living tools, etc., of which weapons are the most numerous, reflecting the tradition of martial arts in Wu and Vietnam. But unfortunately, among the large number of weapons, there are go, spear, halberd, sword and arrow, but none of them is a weapon in the shape of a "hook"! [2]
So, is there a relationship between the hook and the hook? Let's look at what the literature has been said.
Second, the father who kills the son and casts the hook
In the "Wu Yue Chunqiu Lu Inner Biography", there is such a story. It is said that after obtaining the sword of Moye, King Lu of Wu ordered the craftsmen of the State of Wu to make a golden hook and ordered: "Those who can do good hooks will be rewarded with a hundred gold." "There are many skilled craftsmen in Wu Guo, and the competition is also fierce.
In order to covet King Wu's reward, a man killed his two sons and smeared their blood on metal, so that they could be cast into two golden hooks. This person took the pair of golden hooks to the Wu Palace to ask for a reward. Wu Wang Daqi: "There are many people who offer gold hooks, why do you ask for a reward, what is the difference between your hook and other people's hooks?" ”
This person told King Wu the origin of the golden hook. Lu Lu showed him a lot of golden hooks: "Then can you see which two are just yours?" "Wu Wang's golden hooks are many, and the shape is also very similar, and it is completely invisible on the surface. So the man shouted the names of his two sons: "Wu Hong, Hu Ji, I am here, the king can't distinguish your elves!" ”
No sooner had he said this than two golden hooks flew out and attached them to the man's chest. Lu Lu was very surprised and said, "Oops! I almost failed you! So he gave the man platinum, and then wore the pair of gold hooks to keep himself away.
This is the end of the story, in which the father is too shameless and the brother is too pitiful.
The original source of "Wu Hook" in "Wu Yue Chunqiu" records, "both treasure Moye, reinstated in the middle of the country as a golden hook", in fact, has told the reader that Wu Hook is not a sword - Wu Wang on the one hand with Moye as the most precious treasure likes to be unbelievable, on the other hand, let people make a new sword Wu Hook, this understanding does not make sense. Only after understanding that King Wu wore the divine soldier Moye with him, and then let people make a clothing buckle that matched Moye's grade, it was reasonable.
Of course, it certainly isn't entirely true. Cast with human blood into a fine gold hook, and the golden hook can fly when it hears the name of the person, which has a certain similarity with the story of gan general and Moyer, reflecting the ancient people's worship of bronze and the primitive witchcraft thinking of the ancients.
This story is clearly the source of the later "Wu Hook" allusion. However, "Wu Yue Chunqiu" said that "there are many king hooks and similar shapes", which should reasonably exist a lot, but Wuyue archaeology has not found this weapon, and it has to be said that it is more strange.
Some people argue that the two bronze artifacts excavated from the Terracotta Warriors No. 1 pit of the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum are Wu hooks. At the left and right ends of the first column of samurai warriors in Pit 1, archaeologists found two bronze artifacts of the same size and shape. This bronze vessel consists of two parts, the body and the handle, with a length of 71.2 cm, a width of 2.2 to 3.3 cm, a thickness of 0.8 cm, a handle length of 11.1 cm, and a diameter of 4 cm, and the shape of the body is a bit like a curved scythe, but the curvature is relatively slow. The finishers named it the Golden Hook, and believed that the Golden Hook was a short weapon that was popular in the Wuyue area during the Spring and Autumn Period, and later known as the Wu Hook. [3]
However, these two so-called "Wu hooks" have neither a sharp edge nor the characteristics of a sword such as a mid-ridge, and cannot achieve the effect of hook killing. It is not so much a weapon as it is a tool. Mr. Wang Xueli noticed this, so he believed that "although the two blades of this copper hook knife are very blunt and seem to be difficult to apply, after all, it belongs to the entity that simulates the Wu hook, which can also be called 'golden hook'", and advocates naming it "Qin hook". [4]
This kind of statement, somewhat preconceived by default, is "Wu hook". Considering that these two bronzes were found at the left and right ends of the queue, it is likely that this was just a carriage and horse tool, or a tool for honor guards.
It is mistaken for the so-called "Qin hook" of weapons. In fact, from the perspective of the shape and excavation location, it is more likely to be a carriage and horse tool.
Overall, it is still bold to call these two bronzes of QinLing "Wu Hook", then the evidence for the existence of Wu Hook is even weaker. "Wu Yue Chunqiu", as a novel of the Eastern Han Dynasty, has a lot of myths and legends in itself, so is this story completely out of fiction?
This possibility does exist. But in fact, as long as we change our thinking, we will easily explore another more reliable answer, that is: the so-called "Wu hook" does exist, but it is not a weapon at all, but a hook!
In "Wu Yue Chunqiu", it is not mentioned at all that the "golden hook" is a weapon, but it is very much like some kind of small and medium-sized daily necessities. For example, if the double hook "flies on the father's chest", isn't this the belt buckle attached to the chest? "Raise the crowd to show it", isn't this just holding a belt buckle? "Dress without leaving the body", isn't this the belt buckle hanging on the belt? Judging from the three pieces of Wu Wangguang copper belt hooks published, their shapes and inscriptions are exactly the same, which can confirm the saying that "there are many king hooks and similar shapes".
However, "Wu Yue Chunqiu" followed by the cadre general and Moye after the narration of the double hook, also has a magical color, so the impression given to the reader is probably the same type of items, and there is exactly one weapon called "hook" in the "Eighteen Weapons" of later generations, "Hanshu Han Yanshou Biography": "As a sword hook hammer." "Juxtaposed with a sword, it is clearly a weapon. Tang Dynasty Yan Shi's ancient annotation "Book of Han" explained: "The hook is also a weapon, like a sword and a curved, so the hook kills people." "So misunderstandings arise.
"Mengxi Pen Talk" said: "Tang poetry has many words and Wu hookers. Wu hook, knife name also, blade bend. Nowadays, nanban uses it, which is called the Ge Dang knife. "He also regarded Wu Hook as a kind of curved knife." But in fact, whether it is a sword-like or a knife-like sword, Wu Yue has no such cultural relics.
The excavated "wrong gold inlaid turquoise belt hook" in the late Warring States period was quoted from the official website of the Palace Museum
In the pre-Qin literature, the word "hook" is not uncommon, for example, there is a famous saying in "Zhuangzi": "The one who steals the hook is cursed, and the one who steals the country is Hou." This means that whoever steals the hook will be killed, but the one who steals the country becomes a prince. Why is the hook stealing here as a case, compared to the country of theft? It seems that stealing hooks should be a relatively common behavior, if the hook is a weapon, then it is certainly not a typical case, and if it is a hook to be used for wearing a belt, it is easy to understand.
"Xunzi" said that "speaking of blasphemous clothes, attacking three titles, and gentry without hook belts", jin gentry in later generations refers to officials, in fact, the original meaning is corset belt. This passage refers to putting on underwear and covering the deceased with three layers of outer clothing, and tying up the belt without the hook of the garment. In addition, the Chu Tomb of the Warring States of Changtaiguan in Xinyang, Henan, which was excavated from the records of the dispatch book, also mentions that "a group of belts, a leather, all have hooks." Of course, "hook (hook)" also has other meanings, such as a horse ornament also called "hook". But there is really no weapon called a "hook".
In short, in the inscription, there is no title of "hook" and "golden hook", just a simple "sentence (hook)" word. It can be seen that "hook" was the common name of the clothes belt hook at that time, and the "hook" as a weapon did not appear at this time. It was not until the Western Han Dynasty that this kind of weapon "hook" appeared, which was confused with the hook known as the "hook" since the Zhou Dynasty, so the "Wu hook" was also misunderstood by the public as a weapon.
Third, the basic opinions of the academic community
In addition to Mr. Cao Jinyan's assertion that Wu Hook is a hook, Mr. Dong Shan also holds this view. [5]
In addition to the first hook listed by Cao Jinyan, Dong Shan also listed several pieces of Wu Guo belt hook, including a wu king's son with a hook in the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, the inscription is "Wu Wang's son □ Wu □"; there is a private collection of hooks, the inscription is "Wu Shanggu", this hook inscription seems to belong to the Warring States period, indicating that the Wu belt hook is still the best in later generations; there is also a Song Dynasty record of birds and insects, the proverb with hook, this hook is no longer existing, may be longer, the inscription has a total of thirty-three characters.
According to the interpretation, these thirty-three words are "delete and repeat without complexity, without remorse, without seeking profit, with respect from the people, without choosing the noble and the lowly, with the right curves, with the right to be straight, and with caution." The first thirty-two words are divided into four lines, probably engraved on the four sides of the hook, to the effect that: delete the repetition, do not be cumbersome, do not be ashamed, do not regret, do not seek wealth, respect the sages, do not distinguish between noble and lowly, should bend on the bend, should be straight, there is a beginning and an end. "Allow" is probably engraved on the hooktail, which means integrity.
Although there seems to be no connection between a few proverbs, Mr. Li Zero pointed out that the proverbs on the hook are actually borrowed metaphors, using objects to metaphors for people, illustrating the ingenuity of the design of this inscription. [6]
The unearthed Han Dynasty "rabbit monkey copper belt hook" is quoted from the official website of the Palace Museum
However, the earliest point out that Wu Hook is hooked is probably Mr. Wang Renxiang, who is the most systematic scholar of ancient hook research. [7]
Mr. Wang Renxiang noticed that The Wei Emperor Cao Pi mentioned a sentence in his "Reply to Liu Bei's Letter": "He is prepared and good, and the double hook is particularly wonderful." The Book with Wang Lang also writes: "I do not love the pearl of Jianghan, but love the hook of Bashu, which is a precious treasure that is rare in this word, and a cheap thing that is not easy to have." In Cao Pi's view, the "hook of Bashu" is a "lowly thing", which can be seen that it should be a clothing hook and not a divine soldier.
Mr. Wang pointed out: "The so-called double hook, that is, the twin hook, that is, the 'pair hook', is a belt hook used in groups. Such a hook may be a double hook conjoined body with two heads, or it may be two identical hooks used in parallel, and sometimes multiple hooks may be used side by side. Archaeology has found a double head hook in the Warring States period, and there are also frequent examples of double hooks or multiple hooks used in Warring States tombs. ”
Mr. Wang listed the belt hooks placed side by side in the No. 3 and No. 57 tombs of BaijiaCun in Handan, Hebei, chuqiu no. 2 in Hui County, Henan, and the Warring States Tomb No. 25 in the Changzhi Watershed in Shanxi[8], arguing that "such hooks are undoubtedly used in parallel"; he also mentioned the three conjoined belt hooks included in the book "Research on hooks" by Toshio Nagahiro of Japan, believing that "the purpose of using the belt hook and the conjoined belt hook is to improve the tension of the hook and enhance the strength of the belt".
In this way, our understanding of "obeying without leaving the body" is even more profound. Obviously, "Wu Hong" and "扈稽" are exactly a pair of belt hooks used in parallel, so they can be used at the same time. It's just that as the hook of Wudi, it has been passed down into Shudi in later generations, and it also has the title of "The Hook of Bashu", and what story is behind it is unknown today.
(Source: Tencent News)
[1] For the archaeology of xishishan site and the situation of Wu Wangguang copper belt hook, see Cao Jinyan: "Wu Wangguang Copper Belt Hook Examination", Southeast Culture, No. 2, 2013. In addition, according to dong shan's "Wu Yue Inscription Research" on page 32 of the interpretation, there is no "gold" word.
[2] Feng Puren: Wuyue Culture, Cultural Relics Publishing House, 2007, pp. 117-154.
[3] Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology and Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum Qin Figurine Pit Archaeological Excavation Team, eds., "Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum Terracotta Warriors and Horses Pit No. 1 Excavation Report (1974-1984)" (Part 1), Cultural Relics Publishing House, 1988 Edition, p. 254.
[4] Wang Xueli, "Wu Hook, Qin Hook, Golden Hook", Journal of Chang'an University (Social Science Edition), No. 9, 2011.
[5] Wu Yue Inscription Study, pp. 32-34.
[6] Li Zero, "Interpretation of the Warring States Bird and Insect Proverbs with Hooks", Paleography Studies, No. 8, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1983 edition, pp. 59-62.
[7] Wang Renxiang, "Cao Pi's Favor: Bashu Double Hook", China Cultural Relics Daily, November 25, 2011, later included in Wang Renxiang's book "Good Self-Restraint: Ancient Hooks and Buckles" (Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2012 edition).
[8] See, respectively: "Warring States Tomb in Baijia Village, Handan, Hebei", Archaeology, No. 12, 1962; "Huixian Excavation Report", Science Press, 1956 edition; "The Second Excavation of the Warring States Tomb in the Changzhi Watershed of Shanxi", Archaeology, No. 3, 1964.
This article is excerpted from "Early China in Cultural Relics", written by Lin Wu Gongzi, produced by Chinese Tianxia, published by Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House in 2022, and has been authorized by the producer.
About author:Lin Wu Gongzi, a writer of literature and history, specializes in the history of the pre-Qin, Qin, and Han dynasties, and mythological and youkai. He is the author of "Pre-Qin Ancient Guozhi", "Wu Yue Chunqiu of Pre-Qin Ancient Guozhi", "Phantom: Ancient Chinese Deities Zhizhi", etc