Basho Symbols

Earthenware symbols: how many secrets are contained in a jar from 2,000 years ago? Among the Ba Shu symbols, the artifact symbols are one of the more common and numerous ones, which vividly and directly reflect the living conditions and customs of the ancient Ba Shu civilization. The most common of these symbols is the earthenware symbol. The most common symbol is the earthenware symbol. Most of the artifact-type symbols in the Ba Shu symbols reflect the common tools used by the ancient Ba Shu people at that time (see: Yan Zhibin, Hongmei. The so-called earthenware jar-shaped symbols, which resemble an earthenware jar in appearance, are usually characterized by an open mouth, a rounded neck, a sloping shoulder, a narrow abdomen, a flat foot, and towering ears on the shoulders. Common Earthenware Symbols The direction of the earthenware symbols on some of the artifacts found so far is different, but it is generally believed that the style of the symbols above is ""positive"". Some scholars have counted that 31 artifacts containing this type of symbols have been found so far, and the vast majority of them are bronze swords, bronze spears and other weapons, followed by seals, and there are also some earthenware-shaped symbols appearing on bronze beans, bronze belt hooks and other living artifacts. Artifacts with Earthenware Symbols Earthenware symbols first appeared on a square seal found in a wooden coffin tomb of the Warring States period in Majia Township, Xindu County, Chengdu (district), in 1980. This seal is 3.5 wide and 1.4 centimeters high. The back is slightly arched, and in the center is a button with a pattern of four taotie motifs. The seal text is a group of Ba Shu symbols. On each side of the lower part is a man holding an earthenware jar with a hand under his arm. More earthenware symbols are found on weapons, a selection of which we would like to share with you: (Content collated from: Yan Zhibin, Hongmei. A Study of Earthenware Symbols in Ba Shu Culture during the Warring States Period) A Warring States bronze spear, unearthed in a Warring States tomb at Chengguan, Shifang City, Sichuan Province. Length 22.8, length 5.2, leaf width 3.8, diameter 2.4 centimeters. There are symbols on the two sides of the spear: < Slide to view the next picture >> Warring States Bronze Spear, excavated in the Warring States Tomb of Chengguan, Shifang City, Sichuan Province. Length 14.2, shaft length 4.1, blade width 3.4, shaft diameter 2 cm. On each side of the blade are the symbols: Warring States bronze sword, excavated in a Warring States tomb at Chengguan, Shifang City, Sichuan Province. Length 39.5, stem length 4.2, width 3.6 cm. The body of the sword bears the symbols of Ba Shu: < Slide to view next image >> Warring States bronze spear, unearthed in a Warring States tomb at Chengguan, Shifang City, Sichuan Province. Length: 16.8, blade length: 4.6, blade width: 3, blade diameter: 2.4 cm. Uploaded symbol: Bronze sword, excavated in December 1991 at No. 35 Guangrong Road, Guangrong District, Chengdu. The sword is 33.9 centimeters long, with a wide body, a central ridge, and blood grooves on both sides. Both sides of the sword contain symbols: In addition, earthenware symbols have also been found in some excavated household utensils. For example, this copper belt hook unearthed in Chongqing Baxian Dunzhangba tomb. It contains a combination of Marsh symbols, including the earthenware symbol: Earthenware Symbols A preliminary study of earthenware symbols The majority of earthenware symbols were unearthed in the ancient Shu culture region, judging from the excavation sites of these artifacts. From the point of view of the age of the artifacts, the earthenware-shaped symbols were distributed from the early to the late Warring States period. From the early Warring States period, the distribution pattern was always centered on Chengdu, and in the middle of the Warring States period, it began to expand from the north to Shifang City, and from Pujiang and Dayi to the south to the Xingjing and Emei areas. Based on the excavations, it is assumed that the earthenware jar-shaped symbols in the Shu culture area in western Sichuan experienced a development process in which they were distributed from Chengdu to the south and north, forming three centers in the north (Shifang City), the middle (Chengdu), and the south (Xingjing) in the course of their social life. Meanwhile, after analyzing the excavated sites of these relics, some scholars believe that earthenware symbols may have the function of social identity representation. During the Warring States period, the Ba Shu region has long entered the national stage, the archaeological community according to the Ba Shu culture burial artifacts, the differences in burial tools also initially recognized that the Ba Shu burials may indeed exist on the level of difference. Sichuan Xindu Warring States wooden coffin tomb excavation site, earthenware-shaped symbols were first seen in this For example, the middle of the Warring States period, earthenware-shaped symbols of the Ba Shu culture tomb can be roughly divided into three levels. Among them, there are 6 tombs between 3 meters and 6 meters in length***, 4 tombs between 6 meters and 10 meters in length, and only 1 wooden coffin tomb in Xindu with a length of more than 10 meters. However, no earthenware symbols are found in the lowest grade of tombs below 3 meters. This distribution suggests that there may have been a hierarchical difference in the use of earthenware symbols, i.e., the number of low-grade burials is higher than the number of high-grade burials, but the users and owners of earthenware symbols are not at the bottom of the social ladder. Earthenware Symbol Forms and Combinations Like the watercress symbols we have described, earthenware symbols are often used in combination with other symbols rather than on their own. Among the currently known earthenware symbols, this combination is the most common: this type of symbol combination occurs most frequently, so some scholars infer that this is a type of exclusive and fixed combination. Moreover, this combination is currently found mostly on weapons (and one copper bean), but not on any of the four seals with earthenware symbols, which proves that its ideographic function was most likely related to the type of weapon. On the other hand, another combination of symbols with the earthenware symbol is found only on seals: this symbol is also often combined with the earthenware symbol, and only in the higher-grade tombs. In the highest specification Xindu wooden coffin tomb, there are two of these symbols combined with the earthenware symbol on the copper seal, which also proves that this combination of symbols is most likely related to the manifestation of noble status. At the same time, slightly different from the other symbols previously introduced is that there are many contradictions in the direction of the earthenware symbol. Two scholars, Hong Mei and Yan Zhibin, have made statistics on the directions of earthenware symbols: Chart source: Yan Zhibin, Hong Mei. Research on earthenware symbols of Ba Shu culture during the Warring States period[J]. Journal of the National Museum of China,2015(11):67-86. It is found that the direction of earthenware-shaped symbols is not related to both location and time. Earthenware symbols with different positive and negative orientations have been found in the same place or the same period. This is also the enigma of the Ba Shu symbols that has not yet been reasonably explained. At present, the total number of Ba Shu symbols unearthed and the number of earthenware symbols found are very limited, and further understanding of them is urgently needed to continue our efforts. Main references: Yan Zhibin,Hong Mei. Study on earthenware symbols of Ba Shu culture during the Warring States period[J]. Journal of the National Museum of China,2015(11):67-86. Wooden coffin tomb of the Warring States period in Xindu, Sichuan[J]. Cultural relics,1981(06):1-16+97-103. Yan Zhibin,Hongmei. A discussion on the symbols of Ba Shu[J]. Archaeology,2017(10):90-99+2. * This column is contributed by Bashu Symbols Group * * The original article is reprinted from "Bronze Art" Public No. This issue is edited by Zhang Ke