How many people are there in the Simu Wuding, and what is the historical significance of the Simu Wu

How much labor is required? There is no exact number in history, but I guess it must have been a labor-intensive project. The king of Shang was cast to worship his mother, and it was named after the inscription "Simu Wu" on the inner wall of the tripod.

Casting time: Shang Dynasty - Late Shang Dynasty (c. 14th to 11th century BC); sacrificial vessels; In 1939, it was unearthed in Wuguan Village, Anyang City, Henan Province; It is 133 cm high, 110 cm long, 79 cm wide, and weighs kg.

This tripod is huge and thick, it is the heaviest bronze vessel found in China so far, and its abdomen is cast with the 3 characters of "Si (Hou) Mu Wu"; It was cast by the Shang king Zu Geng or Zu Jia to worship his mother. The body and foot of the tripod of Simu Wuding are cast as a whole, and the tripod lug is cast after the body is cast. To cast such a tall bronze object, the metal material required should be more than 1,000 kilograms, and there must be a large furnace.

It has been determined that Simu Wuding contains copper, tin and lead, which is basically consistent with the proportion of copper and tin in ancient documents. Simu Wuding fully shows the production scale and technical level of the bronze casting industry in the Shang Dynasty.

Ding is an ancient Chinese cooking utensil. As early as more than 7,000 years ago, there was a pottery tripod. The bronze tripod was the most important ritual vessel in the Shang and Zhou dynasties.

In ancient times, the tripod was a representation of aristocratic status. The classics contain the system of nine tripods of the Son of Heaven, seven tripods of the princes, five tripods of the doctor, three tripods of the Yuanshi or one tripod. In addition, the tripod is also a symbol of state power, and the "Zuo Biography" contains:

There is a faint virtue, and the tripod moves to business; Shang is tyrannical, and Ding moved to Zhou". Most tripods are three-legged round, but there are also four-legged square tripods. (Simu Wuding is the most prestigious four-legged generous tripod.)

Simu Wuding is a late Shang period (about the 14th century BC - 11th century BC) casting, the original was unearthed in March 1939 in Houjiazhuang Wuguan Village, Anyang, Henan. Weighing 832.84 kilograms and reaching a height of 133 centimeters, this majestic tripod is the largest and heaviest bronze vessel ever unearthed. Simu Wuding was excavated privately by the villagers at the beginning, and after the unearthing, it was not easy to relocate because it was too large and heavy, and the private diggers buried it again.

Simu Wuding was re-excavated in June 1946. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was collected in the Chinese History Museum in 1959.

Simu Wu Ding standing ears, square abdomen, four-legged hollow, except for the four sides of the tripod body ** is a rectangular plain face without ornamentation, the rest of the place is decorated. On top of the fine cloud and thunder patterns, each part of the main pattern has its own form. The four sides of the tripod body are decorated with gluttony as the main ornament around the square plain surface, and the junction of the four sides is decorated with the ridge, and the top of the ridge is the head of the ox, and the bottom is the gluttony.

There are two tigers on the outer part of the ears, the tiger's mouth is opposite, and the human head is contained in it. The side of the ear is decorated with a fish pattern. The decoration of the four tripods is also unique, and the animal face is applied on each of the three strings.

The inner wall of the belly of the tripod is cast with the inscription "Simu Wu". According to research, Simu Wuding should be a heavy weapon of the Shang royal family. Its modeling, ornamentation and craftsmanship have reached a very high level.

It is a representative work of the peak period of bronze culture in the Shang Dynasty.

At least 1,000 people are not workers but slaves.

Simu Wuding confirms the historical phenomenon that the bronze smelting technology of the Shang Dynasty was very developed.

To cast such a large bronze object, the parts must first be cast separately and then combined into a single piece, which is a very complex process. When casting, two or three hundred craftsmen need to be cast at the same time, and they can cooperate closely to complete the first skin high. According to the determination, Simu Wuding contains copper, tin, and lead.

The ratio of these three metals is reasonable, and it reflects the ingenuity of the craftsmen of the Shang Dynasty.

The output and quality of bronze reflect the rise and fall of national power, and the exquisite skill and imposing bronze tripod symbolizes the splendid civilization of that era.

The stepmother Wuding is not only thick and elegant, majestic in shape, magnificent, gorgeously ornamented, and the casting process is also very superb and complex. It is the method of pottery fan casting, with the model material plastic mold and the bottom fan, and then the outer fan is turned on it after drying, and the casting model is composed of the belly fan, the top fan, the core and the base and the gate fan. The casting of the stepmother Wuding fully reflects the bronze casting in the late Shang Dynasty is not only large-scale, but also tightly organized and meticulous in the division of labor, from which we can see the large scale of production and outstanding technical achievements of the bronze casting industry in the Shang Dynasty.

The existence of the Houmu Wuding is enough to represent the highly developed bronze culture of the Shang Dynasty, so the rulers unanimously believe that the Houmu Wuding is a representative work of the peak period of the bronze culture of the Shang Dynasty.

The cultural meaning of the tripod is profound and solemn, and has a high aesthetic value, by the esthetician Li Zehou praised as "the most aesthetic value of the bronze art in China's bronze art maturity period", and the stepmother Wuding is the most famous Sifang tripod in the bronze tripod, representing the splendid and outstanding bronze culture of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, so the stepmother Wuding enjoys the reputation of "the king of bronze".

The stepmother has thick vertical ears (one of which is the back match), folded along the wide margin, the straight wall is deep and the abdomen is flat, the abdomen is rectangular, and the lower bearing is four hollow column feet. The ears are decorated with a row of embossed fish patterns, the end and the end are connected, the outside of the ears is decorated with the embossed double tiger cannibal head pattern, the abdominal wall has a protruding short ridge in the middle of the four sides and the four corners, and the periphery of the abdomen is decorated with gluttonous patterns, all of which are based on cloud and thunder patterns. The upper end of the foot is decorated with a relief gluttonous pattern, and the lower part is lined with a three-week concave string pattern.

The inner wall of the abdomen is cast with the words "stepmother E". The font gesture is strong, the shape is plump, the beginning and end of the strokes are more than the peaks and exposures, and the fat pen is used intermittently. The tripod is made by the king of Shang to worship his mother "E", the shape is thick and elegant, the momentum is magnificent, the ornamentation is beautiful, the casting technology is superb, and it is also the largest bronze ritual vessel of the Shang Dynasty that has been found.

Simu Wuding is used by the ancients to worship the ancestors, the tripod is the ancient cooking utensils, how thick and heavy, the ancient sacrifice or ceremony will use the tripod to present the cooked meat or other delicacies to the ancestors, so it slowly evolved into a sacrificial utensil.

The height of the mother of Shang is 133 cm, the length of the mouth is 110 cm, the width of the mouth is 79 cm, and the weight is kilograms; The ear is thick and erect, folded, the abdomen is rectangular, and the lower bearing is four columns. The four corners of the abdomen, the middle of the upper and lower margins, and the upper part of the foot are all placed on the edges.

With the cloud and thunder pattern as the ground, the ears are decorated with a row of embossed fish patterns, the outside of the ears is decorated with the embossed double tiger cannibal head pattern, the abdominal periphery is decorated with gluttonous patterns, the upper part of the column foot is decorated with embossed gluttonous patterns, and the lower part is decorated with two convex string patterns.

Cultural relics value

Wuding, the mother of the Shang Dynasty, is the heaviest known bronze vessel in ancient China; There are a series of complex technical problems in the process of shaping clay molds, turning over pottery models, and pouring into Hefan.

The casting of Wuding, the mother of the Shang Dynasty, fully shows that the bronze casting in the late Shang Dynasty was not only large-scale, but also well-organized and meticulously divided, which is enough to represent the highly developed bronze culture of the Shang Dynasty.