Master Archaeologist

Chapter 306 What did the image of Confucius look like 2000 years ago?

A Confucius screen caused a sensation in the entire archaeological base.

It is different from the image of Confucius in most people's impressions.

Generally speaking, the closer to the time of Confucius, the more it will reflect the true image of Confucius.

Therefore, although the portrait of Confucius unearthed from the tomb of Haihunhou cannot be 100% sure that it is the real face of Confucius, it has left people with infinite reverie.

And what does the image of Confucius on the screen look like?
To put it simply, he is a thin, somewhat hunchbacked old man with a goatee.

This is very different from the image of Confucius recorded in history books that "the head is different from ordinary people".

Of course, considering that the record of Confucius' head deformity "born with his head on the top of the polder" was recorded by Tai Shigong, it seems that there is nothing difficult to understand.

"Historical Records" has a very special place.

That is, all sages, saints, emperors, and Tai Shigong will always write many special metaphysical records for them.

One of the more special ones is that they look different from others.

It seems that only being so different can reflect the specialness of these people and ordinary people.

Therefore, the head recorded by Confucius in "Historical Records" looks different from that of ordinary people, and it may also be the artistic processing of Tai Shigong.

The image of Confucius on this screen is actually closer to the appearance of Confucius in history.

Just an ordinary thin old man.

Of course, the craftsmen who made the screens were not masters of Confucian classics, and it cannot be ruled out that word of mouth caused misinformation, or the craftsmen made clerical errors. "

In other words, since the content of the Confucius screen is only isolated evidence and is likely to be caused by a craftsman's clerical error or misrepresentation, it cannot completely overturn the existing historical records.

However, there are not only portraits of Confucius and Yan Hui on this screen.

The portraits of the two are only in the middle of the screen, and there are rows of dense official script characters at the left and right ends of the cloak.

The content of these words is exactly the written record of Confucius' life experience.

In general, it is similar to the life of Confucius recorded in history books.

However, there are two places that are contrary to the records in "Historical Records"!
According to the screen in Haihunhou's tomb, Confucius was "seven feet nine", which is about 23.1 meters tall based on the 1.82 centimeters of the Western Han Dynasty's one foot.

However, it is recorded in "Historical Records" that "nine feet have six inches", which is about 19.9 meters based on the 1.91 centimeters of the western week.

It is difficult to judge which record is more accurate now.

After all, it is really difficult for people in the Western Han Dynasty to trace the height of a person in the late Spring and Autumn Period.

Because the weights and measures in the Spring and Autumn Period were not unified.

Even if there may have been records about Confucius' height at that time.

But was the "nine feet" or "seven feet" left at that time a Lu ruler, a Jin ruler, or a Qi ruler?
When it comes to the Western Han Dynasty, how to convert it?
There is a high probability that historians of the Western Han Dynasty could not understand these things.

Modern people have no way to figure it out.

The only thing that can be determined is whether Confucius is "seven feet nine" or "nine feet six", whether it is Zhou ruler or Han ruler.

In terms of the era in which Confucius lived, Confucius was considered tall no matter what!
Whether it is 1.8 meters or 1.9 meters, in BC, they were all one in a hundred tall!
No wonder no matter who wrote the history, as long as it talks about the height of Confucius, they all agree that Confucius was a tall man.

In addition to height, there is another record that contradicts "Historical Records".

"Historical Records" records that "Confucius was born in the 22nd year of Duke Xiang of Lu", that is, 551 BC.

But the record of Haihunhou's screen is "in the sixth year of Lu Zhaogong (536 BC), Confucius Gai was 30 years old (Confucius was [-] years old)".

Therefore, Confucius was born 15 years earlier than recorded in "Historical Records".

Calculated in this way, the life expectancy of Confucius is 15 years longer than the traditional cognition!
15 years, not two or three years!

Such a large gap is obviously impossible to be a clerical error or a copying error by Tai Shigong.

It can be said that the Confucius screen has a lot of subversive content.

However, the question is, is the Confucius screen reliable?
After all, the Confucius screen appeared after the "Historical Records", and Sima Qian's "Historical Records" is more rigorous and more trustworthy.

The most important thing is, whether it is the life of Confucius in "Historical Records" or the life of Confucius on this screen.

They are all isolated evidence.

That is to say, apart from the "Historical Records" and this screen, there is no exact record about Confucius in the same period or earlier.

After all, Confucius, a saint, was revered as a saint only after Dong Zhongshu.

Before the Western Han Dynasty, Confucianism was not a prominent school, and Confucius was not a universal sage.

At least there will not be many documents dedicated to recording his birth date.

In archeology, it has always been adhering to the scientific concept of "solitary evidence cannot stand".

In other words, there is only one recorded historical fact, which cannot be used as evidence.

Just like the "Battle of Muye" mentioned before, because there are only historical materials handed down from generation to generation, and there is no other evidence to confirm it, there has always been an argument that the "Battle of Muye" does not necessarily exist, or is fabricated by later generations.

Until the unearthing of the Li Gui, this bronze Gui, which was born after the end of the Battle of Muye, proved that in 1000 BC, such a great battle did indeed take place!
This completely proved the authenticity of the Battle of Muye.

Now on this Confucius screen, there is a record different from "Historical Records", but it is only an isolated evidence, and there is no way to overturn the "Historical Records" record.

However, this screen is also very important.

At least, this screen of the Western Han Dynasty puts forward the second argument for the life of Confucius.

Regardless of who is right and who is wrong, such a new discovery is enough to shock the academic world!

"This screen is actually not a screen, but a mirror screen, but it's a bit broken!"

The researcher who brought Chen Han and the others to see the screen sighed and said, "The screen with Confucius and Yan Hui in front of us is only one-third of the original fragment."

"With the continuous assembly and restoration, the study found that the unearthed Confucius mirror screen is mainly composed of two parts."

"One part is a dressing mirror, and the other part is a remnant of lacquered wood."

"This dressing mirror is a large bronze mirror with a length of 76.3 cm and a width of 46.5 cm. It is similar in size to a modern ordinary dressing mirror and has the practical function of reflecting images."

"The square mirror is embedded in a lacquered wood frame, on which are drawn pictures of the Eastern Prince, the Western Queen Mother, and the four gods of Qinglong, Baihu, Suzaku, and Xuanwu."

"The back of the clothes mirror is a lacquered wood screen, which is similar in shape to a screen, on which are painted images and biographies of Confucius, Yan Hui and others."

"So, in fact, the "screen" we see is just the lacquered panel on the back of the full-length mirror."

"And it is seriously broken. At present, only this one-third has been repaired, and two-thirds have not been repaired."

"According to our guess, there should be four figures painted below, as well as some written records."

"However, it will take a long time to repair before we can reveal the real secret of this mirror screen!"

(End of this chapter)