Page 142 - Sotheby's NYC September 20 2022 Forging An Empire Bronzes

was likely to be within days of travel distance south of Chengzhou (fig. 4). Li also concluded that Yan
should be a location near Luoyang (2016, p. 92). As one of the only few recorded stops along King Zhao’s
campaign route to Chujing in the south, the land of Yan was unlikely to be in an undeveloped state in the
proceeding reign of King Mu. This further proves that Jian Min’s assignment to Yan was to supervise and
manage an already occupied location, instead of exploring and developing vacant land.

As the eastern capital, Chengzhou was a critical location for the stability of the Zhou empire. After King
Wu of Zhou conquered the Shang, he faced the challenge of managing the large number of aristocrats
from the previous dynasty. King Wu’s solution was to position three of his brothers as the ‘Three Guards’
to govern the former Shang territory on the east. This soon proved to be ineffective. Upon King Wu’s
death, the ‘Three Guards’ joined the rebellion of the Shang prince, Wu Geng, and posed a serious threat
to the newly-enthroned King Cheng (fig. 5). The rebellion was eventually suppressed by the young
king’s loyal regent, Duke of Zhou 周公 (fig. 6). Learning from previous mistakes, Duke of Zhou adopted
an alternative strategy in managing the Shang people. He introduced a policy to relocate them close
to Chengzhou for more centralized control. In order to motivate the Shang aristocrats, the Zhou court
granted land near Chengzhou to the Shang people for them to live and govern. Based on their merit, the
Shang nobles could also be selected to serve at the Zhou court as officials.

Fig. 4 A map of the possible location of Yan, original version of the map illustrated in Michael Loewe & Edward L . Shaughnessy,
eds, The Cambridge History of Ancient China. From the Origins of Civilisation to 221 B.C., Cambridge, 1999, p. 313
應該不會是一個尚未開闢之地，到了昭王之子穆王 五）年少即位，三監聯合紂王之子武庚起兵叛變， 圖四 炎地方位示意圖 地圖原版錄於魯惟一及夏含夷編，《劍橋中國上古史：從文明的起源到公元前221 年》，劍橋，1999 年，頁
統治的時代，炎也應不會突然變成了尚未開發的狀 為歷史上著名的「三監之亂」。此叛亂後由輔佐成 313
態。故此可進一步證明，公派遣柬黽去炎地應是為 王的周公（圖六）東征平息。周公汲取教訓，置東
了監管一個已有所屬之地，而非是去探索開闢一處 都成周，遷商朝遺民於此，進行集中管理，且為了
荒蕪之所。 穩定商人之心，將成周附近的土地分封予殷商貴
族，並選拔有能力者出仕周室為官。 “ Y O U S H A L L R E S I D E I N
成周作為東都，對周朝統治的穩定發揮了重要作
用。武王克殷之後，為了安撫商朝的舊貴族，設
置三監，由三位王弟擔任。武王逝後，成王 （圖 T H E C I T Y O F L U O Y I ,

C A R R Y O N W I T H Y O U R

D A I L Y L I F E A N D Y O U

W I L L H A V E P E A C E

A N D S U C C E SS; F R O M

T H E M O M E N T Y O U

R E L OC A T E D , Y O U R S O N

A ND G R A ND S O N S W I L L

PR O S PE R E T E R N A L L Y . ” 「今爾惟時宅爾邑，繼爾居；爾

B O O K O F D O C U M E N T S : B O O K O F 厥有干有年於茲洛。爾小子乃
Fig. 3 A line drawing of Wen Zun’s inscription illustrated in Dong
Shan, ‘Du Wen Zun ming [Reading the inscription of Wen Zun]’, Fudan Z H OU , DUO S H I 興，從爾遷」
University Research on Chinese Excavated Classics and Paleography
(website), Shanghai, 2008
圖三 聞尊銘文摹本錄於董珊，〈讀聞尊銘〉，復旦大學出土文獻與古文
字研究中心（網站），上海，2008年 《尚書•周書•多士》

140 POWER / CONQUEST: THE FORGING OF EMPIRES