Riding the wind of rebirth

Chapter 1466 Sima Shegui

Now this seal is the kind that cannot be deciphered. The whole is a casting rune in inscriptions. The pattern is roughly divided into five parts. The bottom is a wavy ∽ pattern, and in the middle is a symbol in the shape of a bamboo raft, "bamboo raft" There is a branched mast or tree-like thing at each end.

There is also an independent pattern on both sides of the bamboo raft, one is like the symbol of the ancient Yazhang, the image of a triangular sharp knife; the other is like the silhouette of a jade cong, with a tube with a loop line.

There is also an independent pattern on the top, which looks like a flying flag or a flying bird.

The five patterns are also surrounded by a negative line on the outside. Apart from being confused about what they mean, they still look very solemn and majestic, with a royal air.

"The appearance of this seal shows that although this place has entered the stable rule of the Chu State, there are still a lot of elements of the Ba State in the ruling class." Zhou Zhi asked: "It should also be considered a major discovery, right?"

"It's true from this point of view." Jiang Tianxi explained his reason: "The nobles who were entrusted here by the Chu State used the bronze seal of the Ba State for burial. This in itself shows that in the process of ruling the place, he had a close relationship with the state. There is a certain integration of local indigenous peoples, and the preservation of local ethnic characteristics is liberally allowed.”

"This is an old routine of the Chu aristocrats." Zhou Zhi added: "In other words, they are originally part of the indigenous people, descendants of Ji Lian Miao who use the phoenix as their totem, and they also worship the sun, moon and fire god."

"It wasn't until the leader Wu Xiong took refuge in King Wen's period and became King Wen's fire master that the Chu State had contact and contact with the civilization of the Central Plains. However, it still retained the cultural tradition of believing in witches and ghosts and emphasizing obscene sacrifices. This tradition can even be said to It has been preserved to this day, which shows its profound influence.”

"The elbow is right." Jiang Tianxi said with a smile: "This is also a good thesis idea. It shows that Chu's conquest of Ba may only be reflected in the military, but economically, it is more likely to be through the salt "

"Eh?" While everyone was chatting about this seal, Zhou Zhi was not idle, cleaning this precious seal. Zhang Xinyi had the best eyes among the friends and suddenly said: "Zhou Zhi, this seal There seems to be a pattern on the side!”

"Really?" Zhou Zhi quickly checked carefully and found that there seemed to be some marks on one side of the seal.

This seal was unearthed from a puddle and is in excellent condition. Now there is no need to worry about the seal falling off. You can shave it off with a thin bamboo stick.

The runes exposed on the side of the copper seal, after being cleared out, entered a field that Zhou Zhi was relatively familiar with: "Mr. Jiang, this is Chu Seal! It's text!"

"Can you decipher it?" Jiang Tianxi asked.

"This... is actually a counter-text! It's not a side note! This side was also used as a seal before!" Zhou Zhi raised his head and asked everyone: "Who has a mirror?"

"I have it!" Liang Hong took out a thin metal round box from the butt pocket of her shorts and opened it to reveal a small round mirror: "Here you go!"

Zhou Zhi took the mirror and compared it with the seal in the mirror and copied it down.

"Sima Shexian." Zhou Zhi dried the clean seal and handed it to Jiang Tianxi along with the small piece of paper on which the words were copied: "It should be these four words."

"This is the standard Chu character from the middle Warring States period." Huo Wei came over to take a look and immediately said: "This is a major discovery!"

There were two major categories of Chinese writing systems in the pre-Qin period, one was the Qin script and the other was the Six Kingdoms script. There are many differences between the characters of the Qin State and the characters of the Six Kingdoms in the writing of knot characters. This was an important reason why Li Si later forced the implementation of Qin seal script in the unified country. It also served as a strong signal to declare the unification of the country. Inside.

Generally speaking, it is the Central Plains ancient seal system of oracle bone inscriptions-bronze inscriptions-seal script, but Chu State is an exception. There is a "dual-track system" here.

As a relatively culturally independent southern state, Chu State retained its own Chongshu-Niaoshu system while absorbing the ancient seal script system of the Central Plains civilization.

This type of calligraphy is the most primitive form of calligraphy in the Chu State. Its shape first resembles an insect, and later it resembles a phoenix bird, which is directly related to the local totem worship.

After the influx of culture from the Central Plains, the Chu people used the bird script writing method in seal script, making the seal characters look like flying birds. This is the common inscription format on ancient Chu and Yue bronzes - bird seal script.

This system spread to the middle of the Warring States Period and changed again. At this time, the Chu State had invented the rabbit hair pen, and major calligraphy changes occurred in the silk slips and slips. The fonts began to become flat. At the same time, some official scripts such as silkworm head and wild goose tail were used in Chu. It is reflected in the country’s writing.

And this influence has also penetrated into bronze wares, and the first one is reflected in seals.

As for the seal, on the basis of ensuring anti-counterfeiting, the more recognizable it is, the better it is to use. From a practical point of view, the bird seal script that is unknown to most people has been eliminated. Only its stroke order writing method has been retained, but it has been abandoned. Its knotting rules.

This style is very unique, so Huo Wei can determine the regional and era characteristics of this seal without looking too much.

"Sima Shehao...who could it be?" Several big bosses were frowning in thought.

"鉨通玺, this is a commonly used word on seals during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Sima is the official title of the military leader of the Chu State, also known as the 'Soldier Lord', so this 'She' should be..." Zhou Zhi muttered to this point, Suddenly he thought of someone, and his eyes lit up.

Jiang Tianxi also thought of it at this time, and the two of them said in unison: "Jing She!"

From the beginning of deciphering the seal script, the friends gradually entered the state of "listening to the heavenly book", and now they are even more confused. We all came from the same school, and they must have read the same books. How come this person has never heard of it? Pass?

"The Jing family is the descendant of King Ping of Chu State. From the time of King Ping, he has been a great military aristocrat of Chu State." Seeing the state of his friends, Zhou Zhi remembered the need for popular science: "The highest military officer in Chu State is called Da Sima. Jing's ability to become a military noble is related to Jingshe."

"Jingshe was first ordered by Shangcai. During the period of King Xuan of Chu, Wei State attacked Zhao State. Zhao State asked Chu State for help. Chu State's Ling Yin at that time, that is, Prime Minister Zhao Xixie, advocated not saving, and let the two sides fight and consume. However, Jingshe State After comparing the strengths of the two countries, he proposed that reinforcements should be sent to make Zhao feel more confident, so that it would fight to the death with Wei and both sides would be exhausted and dying. "

"So King Chu ordered Jingshe to rescue Zhao. The outcome of the war was as Jingshe expected. The Wei State invaded Handan of Zhao State, but was unable to go south. The Chu State occupied Wei State's Sui and Sui areas. A lot of land.”

"Eleven years later, Jingshe was ordered to go to Gaocai."

"At that time, Cai Guo's sphere of influence was 'south as far as Gaopi, Beiling as far as Wushan, drinking water from Ruxi River, and eating fish from Xiangbo'."

(End of this chapter)