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Dragon and Tiger Zun, a national first-class cultural relic, unearthed in Funan County, Anhui Province in 1957, now in the National Museum of China, so far in the mainland unearthed cultural relics unique, precious, valuable, regarded as the treasure of the treasure, can boast in the world.
Cultural relics unearthed
One day in June 1957, Xu Tinglan, a villager who lived near Taijia Temple in Zhuzhai District, came to Xiaorun River to scatter fish as usual. When he threw the net hard, he kicked under his feet and found a bronze artifact, and the national treasure Dragon and Tiger Venerable was unveiled. At the same time, 7 bronze artifacts of different sizes were also found.
Since then, the Anhui Provincial Department of Culture has sent experts to conduct inspections and appraisals. The larger one is the Shang Dynasty Dragon and Tiger Zun that we later know, and the 7 smaller pieces are Shang Dynasty bronze wine vessels. The Dragon and Tiger Zun, buried underwater for more than 3,000 years, is still clearly decorated and shining. As a national first-class cultural relic, the dragon and tiger are now treasured in the National Museum, showing the splendid Chinese civilization to the world.
Artifact features
Shanglong tiger stripe bronze statue, height 50.5 cm, diameter 44.9 cm, foot diameter 24 cm, weight 26.2 kg.
The mouth is extravagant, the diameter is over the shoulder, the neck is high, and the lower part is constricted, and it is large trumpet-shaped. The shoulders are slightly bulging, folded down to the abdomen, and the arc converges as a garden bottom, circles the feet, and is decorated with cross hollows. The shoulder of the vessel is decorated with three curved dragon patterns, and the dragon head is carved round, sticking out of the shoulder, vividly; The abdomen is decorated with cloud and thunder patterns, decorated with three groups of tiger cannibal patterns, implying mystery; The hoop foot is decorated with gluttonous patterns. The whole vessel is exquisitely crafted, the pattern lines are refined, and it is a fine product in the bronzes of the Shang Dynasty.
The meaning of cultural relics
The tiger cannibal pattern on the abdomen of the dragon and tiger bronze statue is centered on the embossed tiger head, with two bodies on the left and right, and one person in the mouth. People have no clothes, and their bodies are decorated with patterns. This composition was intended to represent the tiger from the front, but the front did not reflect the tiger's majestic body, so the axial symmetry was adopted to stretch the tiger's body to the sides.
Wang Chong of the Eastern Han Dynasty quoted the text of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" in "On Heng and Ordering Ghosts", which recorded the saying that tigers devour ghosts. This kind of tiger cannibal statue may have been taken from this intention to deter evil spirits.