Page 85 - Sotheby's NYC September 20 2022 Forging An Empire Bronzes

T H E J O U R N E Y O F T H E K I N G :

AN I M P O R T AN T

DOC U M E N T A R Y B R O N Z E G U I

無問昭昭： 馭簋——昭王南征之青銅重器

his masterfully cast bronze vessel is not only remarkable for its powerful presence, but also
for its extremely important documentary inscription. The nineteen-character inscription
Trecords that during the period of King Zhao of the Western Zhou dynasty (c. 1046-771 BC),
Yi Yu, the owner of this bronze, followed the king to conquer the south by mounting a military campaign
against the Chujing 楚荊 clan. Yi Yu was rewarded for his military success and used his new wealth to
make this precious vessel for his father Wu 戊. The last pictogram from the inscription indicates that Yi Yu
belonged to the Wu 吳 clan. The military expedition initiated by King Zhao to the south was a major event
in the Western Zhou period. The event marked a critical turning point in the fate of the Zhou dynasty,
from a flourishing empire to one of gradual decline.

“The magnificent and virtuous King Zhao, gloriously disciplined the Chujing and majestically paraded the
South.”
Inscription from the Shi Qiang Pan

King Zhao’s military expedition to the south, has been widely documented in Chinese classical literature,
including Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian) and Zhushu jinian (Bamboo Annals). The more direct
records, however, come from the inscriptions of a small group of highly important archaic bronzes. In
addition to the present gui, the group includes some world-famous bronzes, such as ‘The Six Vessels
of Anzhou 安州六器’, a set of bronzes discovered in Xiaogan, Hubei province during the Northern
Song dynasty (960-1127), recorded in one of China’s first systematic catalogues of bronze and stone
inscriptions, Jinshilu (Catalogue of archaic bronzes) by the Northern Song scholar, Zhao Mingcheng

此簋精工巧鑄，成器雄秀，更銘文載史，流傳千 昭王南征作為西周史上重要事件，《史記》、《竹
古。簋內底鑄銘十九字，記載西周昭王時期器主 書紀年》等史籍均有記載。與這些後世文獻相比，
馭隨王南征，攻打楚荊獲賞，鑄彝以榮其父戊。依 青銅器銘文則可為今人提供最為直觀的歷史資料。
銘文最末一字，可知 馭族屬於吳。昭王南征乃西 存世記昭王南征青銅器組，除此簋之外，不乏金石
周重要軍事大事件，歷史意義卓巨，標誌了西周王 界的一些知名重器，如「安州六器」，北宋時期自
朝由強盛逐漸轉向衰落的重要轉折，故此簋及其銘 湖北省孝感縣出土後由宋代名儒趙明誠錄入中國首
文的歷史價值不可估量。 部金石學系統專著之一《金石錄》（卷第十三，北

「宏魯昭王，廣懲楚荊，唯寏南行」
史牆盤銘

82 POWER / CONQUEST: THE FORGING OF EMPIRES