Master Archaeologist

Chapter 89 The Once Powerful Zeng Kingdom

In fact, it is not uncommon for scholars to suggest that maybe Zeng and Sui are actually the same country.

Suiguo appears in historical records, but there is no unearthed evidence to prove its existence.

Many bronzes with inscriptions were unearthed in Zeng State, and it can be confirmed that such a country once existed, but there is no record in the history books.

If the two are combined into one, it seems that all doubts can be easily solved.

But doing textual research, it is obvious that you can't just pat your head and make a decision.

Archeology is a discipline that follows the double evidence method, that is, the combination of archaeological sites and documents can make a conclusion.

All conjectures and arguments must have actual and conclusive evidence before they can be settled.

The conjecture that Sui Zeng was a country really lacks strong evidence.

It's hard to even convince people.

After all, according to the bronze inscriptions unearthed in the Eastern and Western Zhou Dynasties, there are also records in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States documents.

It is impossible to confuse the word "Sui" with the word "Zeng". These two characters are completely different from the bronze inscriptions, bird and insect scripts, or seal scripts.

In the history of China, there has never been an example of one country with two names.

The only thing is that there is no record of "Xia" in oracle bone inscriptions, only a powerful "Xiyi". Domestic scholars once believed that Xiyi was Xia, and it was one of the two famous places in one country.

But again, there is no way to prove this conjecture.

Was Zeng Sui one country, or were there two countries that once fought and one country was destroyed by the other?
This is a question that has plagued historians for decades.

Suiguo was mentioned in historical books, and "Zuo Zhuan" clearly recorded the story of Suiguo.

The most famous record about Suiguo is the sentence in Shiji: "In 35 years, Chu defeated Sui. Sui said: I am innocent, Chu said: I am a barbarian!"

This sentence in the historical records about Chu Sui's relationship can be said to be famous, and it has been taken out of context by many netizens as a model of Chu's shamelessness [Note 1].

It has been passed down for thousands of years.

But Zeng Guo has no written records in the history books.

It was modern people who found evidence of Zeng Guo's existence through archaeology.

From the tomb of Zenghou Zhongzi Zhanfu discovered in 1966.

From 1970 to 1972, bronze wares were discovered twice in Laowan, Xiongjia, Suizhou, one of which contained four Zeng Bowen guis.

Later, a piece of Boge, Marquis of Zeng was collected in Caomenwan, Suizhou.

Then in 1978, the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, which caused a sensation all over the world.

With modern archaeological discoveries, the existence of Zeng Guo was finally confirmed and became an undoubted fact.

However, the area around Suizhou is the place where Ji’s surname is Suiguo recorded in handed down documents, but Suiguo bronze wares have never been seen.

The apparent contradiction between the unearthed materials and the literature records also confuses scholars, calling it the "Zeng Sui Mystery".

Scholars have put forward many speculations about this.

Among them, the most mainstream view is that the Zeng State in the bronze ware is the Sui State in the handed down documents.

It's just a conjecture that lacks enough weighty evidence to prove it!

After the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng came out, there were actually some archaeological discoveries of Zeng Guo.

In 1979, a tomb was discovered in Jishiliang in Yidigang, the northern suburb of Suizhou, and bronze wares such as tripod, yú, guǐ, chime bell, and Ge were unearthed.

Among them are two pieces of Ge, which are engraved with the inscriptions "Zhou Wang Sun Jiyao" and "Zeng Dagong Yin Jiyao".

The unearth of these two pieces of Ge proves that Zeng Guo is indeed a country surnamed Ji.

However, according to historical records, there were five out of ten brothers in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and 40 people in the country with the surname Ji.

Add up a total of 55 Ji surname countries!
There are so many vassal states surnamed Ji in the world, and only forty of them have been recorded in history books, and the names of more than ten countries have been lost.

Therefore, Zeng Guo is Ji's surname, which cannot be regarded as conclusive evidence that Zeng Sui is a country.

It is also possible that Zeng State was a vassal state with the surname Ji that was lost in historical records.

There is still not enough evidence to prove that Zeng Sui is a country.

After that, more and more tombs of the kings of Zeng Guo were discovered.

In 1981, the No. 102 Leigudun Tomb in Suizhou was discovered on Xituanpo, only [-] meters away from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng.

In 1997, after investigation and exploration, it was found that there were many earthen mounds in the Leigudun tomb group. These tombs should be the same as Zeng Hou Yi, and they should be the first-class tombs of Zeng Hou.

Since then, it can be determined that the Leigudun tomb group should have a relatively complete layout, in the Zeng Guojun Mausoleum area.

However, because this tomb group has no traces of piracy and does not involve any important development projects, no excavations have been carried out in this garden area of ​​Zeng Guojun.

However, according to the exploration results, it can also be determined that this park should be in the middle of the Warring States period at the latest.

In 1994, three late Spring and Autumn tombs were excavated at Dongfeng Oil Depot in Yidigang Cemetery, Suizhou. The six bronze containers unearthed all had the inscription "Zeng Shaozai Huang Zhongyou".

From 2002 to 2003, 27 tombs and 3 pits for chariots and horses were excavated at the Guojiamiao cemetery in Zaoyang.

Rescue excavations were carried out because the cemetery had been robbed and disturbed very seriously.

This is also the first archaeological excavation of the remains of Zeng Guo with the cemetery as the unit.

But also because of the serious robbery, basically not many valuable cultural relics were rescued.

However, there is still "Zeng Bo Sui Yue", and according to the shape of the tomb, it can be seen that many of the tombs here are tombs of the Marquis standard.

The density and scale of the distribution of the remains of the Zeng Kingdom at this site are relatively large.

It can be considered that the central area of ​​Zeng Guo should be in the area of ​​today's Guojiamiao at the time of two weeks.

At this point, the context of Zeng Guo gradually became clear through archaeological discoveries.

This should be a vassal state that was established at least in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

In the mid-Western Zhou Dynasty, the area around Guojiamiao in today's Zaoyang was the central area of ​​Zeng State.

From the late Spring and Autumn period to the early Warring States period, the central area of ​​Zeng State was moved to Leigudun, Suizhou, and all the subsequent kings of Zeng State were buried in this area, including Zeng Hou Yi.

In addition, in Duanying, Zaoyang, Caomen Bay, and even Xiaoxiguan, Xinye, Henan, Zeng Guo bronzes were discovered one after another, which also shows that the scope of Zeng Guo's rule at that time was very large, spanning two provinces.

A country that lasted from at least the mid-Western Zhou Dynasty to the mid-Warring States period, and had a large area and was once powerful, gradually became clear to archaeologists and historians.

This Zeng State, in terms of geographical scope, is almost as large as Lu, Wei, Zheng, Chen, Cao, Xu and other states in the Spring and Autumn Period.

After all, it can be regarded as a second-class big country!
However, such a long-lasting and once-powerful country has not left any records in the history books, which is too unreasonable!

Moreover, the discovery of Zeng Guo tombs in Suizhou, Zaoyang and other places.

In fact, it also confirms what is recorded in the literature, and the situation at that time was consistent with the prosperity of Suiguo!

As a result, more and more scholars supported Zeng Suishi as one country and two scholars, and they completely occupied the mainstream.

However, no matter how mainstream the guess is, it is just a guess!

In all the excavated tombs related to Zeng Guo, there is no inscription with the word "sui".

In Suizhou, Zaoyang and other places, no large tombs of Suiguo have been found.

Judging from the excavation results, it seems that this Zeng country has no connection with Sui country at all!
This worries archaeologists and historians alike!
It's like the daughters-in-law are all married, the hall has already worshiped, and they are all sent to the bridal chamber.

As a result, I lay on the bed and got the last kick, but I couldn't get in anyway!

That layer of window paper can't be pierced!

Now, local villagers in Yejiashan, Jiangzhai Village, Xihe Town, Suizhou Development Zone, dug up a batch of bronzes with a hoe when leveling the fields.

But the researchers of the Hubei Institute of Archeology were so excited!
Yejiashan is a brand-new place for Suizhou archaeology, and no tombs or remains before the Qin and Han Dynasties have ever been unearthed before.

Now that bronzes have been discovered, it is certain that there is a site from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period or even earlier!
It doesn't matter whether this is a new site of Zeng State, or the site of "Suiguo" that has never had any archaeological objects.

It is of great significance to solve the "mystery of Zeng Sui"!
Because the bronzes were dug out after leveling the field, which shows that the tomb must have been destroyed, so that the bronzes that were originally in the tomb fell into the shallow soil layer.

This shows that the newly discovered tombs on Yejiashan need rescue excavation!
These two chapters can be regarded as the preface before the beginning of the new volume. It is necessary to clarify what kind of country Zeng Guo is and the controversy with Sui Guo.

Only then can we start this journey of archaeological discovery with everyone.

Fortunately, there are a lot of dry goods in these two chapters, and the perspective of the next chapter will return to the protagonist group.

In other words, there are a lot of tombs to be excavated in this new volume~
The protagonist will also officially emerge in the academic world and take the first step to become an "archaeologist".

The so-called archaeologists are not digging up amazing cultural relics, but they are big bosses.

The real boss, who wants to contribute to sorting out the context of Chinese civilization, is to trace the origin of Chinese civilization through archaeology.

It's not about who dug out more cultural relics, whoever dug up the cultural relics is exquisite, and whoever dug up the cultural relics is valuable.

Whose cultural relics are more historically valuable.

Of course, there will also be many historically valuable and important cultural relics this time. Although they are not as good as Zeng Houyi's chime bells, they are not too far behind.

　【Release 1】

　　About the correct translation of "I am a barbarian" by the king of Chu.

　　This sentence comes from Sima Qian's "Historical Records Chu Family"

　　The original text is as follows:

　　In 35 years, Chu Fasui.Sui said, "I am not guilty." Chu said, "I am a barbarian. Today, all the princes are rebellious and invade or kill each other. I have a poor armor, and I want to observe China's politics. Please respect my title."

　　Follow others for the week, please respect Chu, the royal family will not listen, and report to Chu.

　　In the 37th year, Chu Xiongtong said angrily: "I was the first to be a bear, and the teacher of King Wen was also the teacher. The flea died. The king named my ancestor, and he lived in Chu with his son and son. I respect my ears." He established himself as King Wu, and left with his followers.So it began to exist in Pudi.

　　The original meaning of this article is not a rumor on the Internet:
　　Sui Guojun said: "I am not guilty." The king of Chu said: "I am a barbarian, I don't know etiquette, and I just want to beat you."

　　This text should mean:

　　In 35 years, Chu State attacked Sui State, but Sui State did not provoke Chu State, so Sui State argued: I did not make a mistake, you have no reason to attack me!

　　The king of Chu said: "Our country is in a land of barbarians. Today, the princes betrayed the royal family and invaded and killed each other. In this case, I also have an army. I want to use this to participate in the political affairs of the Central Plains and ask the Zhou royal family to respect me. title.

　　Go help me and talk to the Zhou royal family about this.

　　So Suiguo went to find Zhou Tianzi's public relations officer, but was rejected.

　　In a fit of rage, Chu State withdrew from the Zhou royal team, proclaimed itself king, led Suiguo to form an alliance, and formed a family of its own.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)