Page 140 - Sotheby's NYC September 20 2022 Forging An Empire Bronzes

Fig. 1 Bei Gui and a rubbing of its inscription, Western Zhou dynasty © Palace Museum, Beijing Fig. 2 Fan You and a rubbing of its inscription, Western Zhou dynasty © Shanghai Museum, Shanghai
圖一 西周 貝黽簋及銘文拓片 © 故宮博物院，北京 圖二 西周 繁卣及銘文拓片 © 上海博物館，上海

(1990, pp 295-297 and 2016, pp 91-93). In his articles, Li Xueqin associates this fang zun with two other A closer examination of the character from the actual bronze, however, reveals that the bottom
well-known bronze vessels, the Bei Gui 貝黽簋 (fig. 1) from the Palace Museum, Beijing, and the Fan You half of the character appears to be 貝 instead of 口. The character can then be identified as . This
繁卣 (fig. 2) from the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, both of which record Gong as a superior granting new discovery is significant, as it entirely changes the meaning of the phrase as well as the previous
rewards and Xin Gong as an ancestor in their inscriptions. Li concluded that Xin Gong, Gong, and the understanding of the inscription by the academic world. This character is rarely seen in archaic bronze
owners of the three bronzes should be from the same family, which was, in fact, a surviving Shang clan in inscriptions. The only other appearance of this character is in the inscription of a bronze zun from the Le
the Western Zhou period. The clan sign from the inscription of the Fan You indicates that their clan name Cong Tang Collection, named Wen Zun 聞尊 (fig. 3). The Wen Zun was first published by Cheung Kwong
is Huo 或. Li further suggests that all three bronzes should be from the period of King Mu (c. 976-c. 922 Yue (2008, p. 10) and has been studied since then by several contemporary scholars. Different theories
BC), the fifth king of the Western Zhou dynasty. were proposed on the reading of this character and its meaning (see Dong Shan, 2008, Jiang Shuhong,
2011, and Zhang Chongli, 2012). The current view appears to be that this character should read xu 胥,
The most critical piece of information from the inscription of the present fang zun is Jian Min’s which can be interpreted as ‘to supervise’ and ‘to manage’. Based on this interpretation, the task that
assignment at the land of Yan. A key character, which indicates the type of the assignment, is partially Gong assigned to Jian Min was to supervise and manage the land of Yan.
obscured by encrustation, which poses a challenge in its identification, especially from photographs or
rubbings. Based on the published photographs, Li Xueqin identified this character as qi 启. He believed Yan was one of the locations where King Mu’s father, King Zhao of Zhou was stationed at during his
that this character in the given context can be interpreted as ‘to explore’ and concluded that the military campaign to conquer the Chujing in the south. According to a timeline reconstructed by Li
inscription of this fang zun documents that Gong ordered Jian Min to Yan to explore and develop the land Xueqin (2006, p. 130), in the 9th month of the 15th year, King Zhao started his campaign at Chengzhou
in order to claim its ownership (2016, p. 92). (today’s Luoyang). In the same month, the king is recorded to have arrived at Yan, which means Yan

勤另通過銘文中的祭祀習慣以及綴署族銘等方面推 釋文互不相同。李學勤通過照片判斷認為這個銘 目前已知唯一可見於樂從堂所藏之聞尊銘文（圖 「炎」曾是穆王之父周昭王伐楚荊時的途經駐地之
斷，辛公、公以及這三件青銅器的作器者應屬同一 字是「启」，帶有開闢的意思。因此，李氏釋其 三）。聞尊首次收錄於張光裕的著論（2008年，頁 一。根據李學勤整理的昭王伐楚荊時間排譜（2006
支延續至西周的殷商遺族，從繁卣上的銘文可知， 銘為公派柬黽開闢炎地，將之收歸己有（2016年， 10），後來亦有多位學者對其進行研究，但大家對 年，頁130），昭王於十五年九月率軍在成周（今
此氏族名為「或」。李學勤進一步推斷，這三件青 頁92）。 此字的考釋仍意見不一（詳見董珊，2008年；蔣書 洛陽）。同月，有銘文記載昭王已抵達炎。由此推
銅器均出自西周第五位君主穆王時期。 紅，2011年；及張崇禮，2012年）。目前意見是此 斷，炎應在成周之南數天步行可達之處（圖四）。
然而通過仔細觀察青銅器實物銘文，可發現上述難
此方尊銘中最關鍵的文句便是柬黽前往炎地處理公 辨之字的下半部應為「貝」，而非「口」，故此字 字應讀作「胥」，有監督、管理之意。根據這個解 李學勤也指出，炎應該位於洛陽附近（2016年，頁
務的部分，但是青銅表面形成的鏽蝕，使得句中關 實應為「 」。此發現具有重要學術意義，因其將 釋，本句銘的釋讀應為柬黽被公派往炎地進行監管 92）。既然炎是相關銘文中昭王進軍路線上唯一幾
鍵的一個動詞銘頗難辨認，如果僅根據此前所發表 改變此文句的釋讀，且將顛覆此前學朮界對本方尊 的工作。 個駐停地點之一，且又近當時的東都成周，那麼其
的照片或拓片，則是更為不易，故此前各家學者 銘文的理解。此字在高古青銅器銘文中甚為罕見，

138 POWER / CONQUEST: THE FORGING OF EMPIRES