Guanzhong Tomb Robbery Notes

Chapter 428 Contradiction, digging it out will be enough to last a lifetime

"Fish Country?" Huang Ziran and I said in unison.

But there is a slight difference in our tone.

Huang Ziran was curious and surprised: "The Yu Kingdom you are talking about, is it Gangou Yu, Renhe Yu, or Hu Wu Yu?"

When he said this, he took it for granted that the fish in Yuguo was the Yu, Yu or Yu in the surname.

But it's no wonder he thinks so.

Many surnames are derived from the names of the countries that were enfeoffed during the Zhou Dynasty.

For example, the surname Zhao. King Mu of Zhou granted Zaofu the title of Zhao, and his descendants took Zhao as their surname.

The surname Wu. King Wu of Zhou granted the great-grandson of Zhongli Yong the title of Wu, and his descendants took Wu as their surname.

Dozens of surnames, including Zheng, Chen, Wei, Jiang, Shen, Han, and Yang, are derived from the names of countries.

In fact, there should be more surnames derived from country names.

Because during the Western Zhou Dynasty, eight hundred vassal states were established.

The fiefdoms of many small countries were only about the size of today's counties and townships.

As they were encroached upon and annexed by surrounding big countries, these small countries disappeared in the long river of history and were not recorded in historical documents.

So apart from those surnames that are documented to be based on the country name.

There should be many surnames that are derived from these unrecorded country names.

Old Man Qin shook his head and said, "It's not what you said."

"It's the fish swimming in the water."

I need to say one more thing here.

The bronze ware unearthed from the Yu Kingdom cemetery had the inscription "(拱鱼)伯" written on it, but the word "拱鱼" disappeared in the long river of history with the demise of the Yu Kingdom, so it cannot be typed in the input method now.

However, in later historical materials, the (Gongyu) Kingdom was recorded as the Yu Kingdom.

Therefore, the academic community used the word "fish" to replace the "bow fish" in the inscription.

When I heard Old Man Qin say "the fish swimming in the water", I was even more surprised.

That's why I'm surprised.

Because before going to Shangluo to explore the caves, I consulted historical materials.

In the early Spring and Autumn Period, Shangluo was the seat of the Yong State, occupying the "throat of Qin and Chu".

In order to annex this vital throat, the State of Chu sent troops to attack.

"Zuo Zhuan·Duke Wen 16th Year" records: The Chu army attacked Yong...The Yu people chased the Chu army away.

The fish people here refer to the people of Yu Country.

When the State of Chu sent troops to attack the State of Yong, the people of Yu sent troops to help the State of Yong fight against the State of Chu.

From this we can see that the Yu State in the Spring and Autumn Period should have been a neighboring country of the Yong State.

The distance between the two countries should be very close.

Now comes the problem.

Shangluo, where the Yong State was located, was quite far away from Baoji.

Yong State's request for help from Yu State, which was far away in Baoji, was like asking for help from distant water to quench immediate thirst.

By the time the reinforcements from Yu State arrived, Yong State might have already been destroyed.

This doesn't make sense logically.

So I think the Fish Kingdom cannot be in Baoji!

It should be in the area near Shangluo!

Is Old Man Qin making up a story to deceive us?

But Yuguo is such an unknown small country. If I hadn’t seen it when I was looking up the historical materials of Yongguo, I wouldn’t have known that there was such a vassal state in history.

Old Man Qin shouldn't know about such a small country.

Where did he hear about the Fish Kingdom?

Tell him that the people from Yu Country...could they be related to the people behind Ma Si?

My heart tightened when I thought of this.

He stared at Old Man Qin and said, "Your words are inconsistent!"

"Since the tomb has never been robbed, how do you know it's the tomb of a prince of the Yu Kingdom?!"

"That's a Western Zhou tomb that wasn't sealed or planted with trees!"

In fact, let alone the Western Zhou tombs.

Even in tombs from the Qin, Han, Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, the identity of the tomb owner can only be determined by epitaphs, seals, and other objects in the tomb.

In order to determine the identity of the tomb owner in the Western Zhou Dynasty, the main method is to rely on the inscriptions on the accompanying bronze objects.

Unless Old Man Qin had visited the tomb and seen the inscriptions on the bronze burial objects.

Otherwise it's just nonsense!

Huang Ziran nodded in agreement and said, "That's right!"

"Brother Qin, there is a lot of contradiction in what you said."

"Why don't you think about how to explain it?"

"Puchi." Old man Qin laughed.

He pointed his pipe at me and said, "You kid, you look like a coward, but when you put on hair, you're smarter than a monkey."

"I'm telling you the truth."

"I haven't been to the tomb, but some people have."

Huang Ziran curled his lips and said, "You just patted your chest and said that this is a tomb that has never been robbed."

"Now they say someone went down there."

"The more lies you tell, the more they become convoluted."

Old man Qin swallowed his saliva.

Waving his hands, he said, "It's not what you think."

"They went down to the Yuguo Tomb on the south bank of the Wei River."

"It was in 74 when the villagers of Rujiazhuang dug up a bronze artifact..."

The news that the villagers had unearthed the bronze artifacts spread like wildfire.

The Municipal Cultural Relics Management Office immediately sent people to the village to investigate.

After the investigators arrived, they determined that the excavated area was likely the remains of the Western Zhou Dynasty and conducted exploration and excavation.

Two chariot and horse pits were discovered at the place where the villagers unearthed the bronze artifacts.

Friends who are knowledgeable about this matter should all know that chariot and horse pits are usually burial pits.

The appearance of chariot and horse pits means that there must be a large tomb nearby.

However, the archaeological team from the Cultural Relics Management Institute conducted several surveys near the chariot and horse pit but did not find any large tomb.

When they were puzzled, a villager said in casual chat: There is a terraced field outside the village with very hard soil, and crops won't grow well no matter how hard we take care of it.

The archaeologists' eyes suddenly lit up.

If the soil is hard and crops do not grow well, it means that the soil layer has probably been compacted.

There is a high possibility of a large tomb under the rammed earth!

When they went to explore, they found that it was indeed a large tomb in the shape of the Chinese character "甲".

During the excavation, the archaeological team was pleasantly surprised to find that the tomb was well preserved with no signs of looting.

After cleaning the two coffin chambers in the tomb, they found the bodies of a man and a woman.

Five tripods and four gui vessels with the inscription "er" were also unearthed (this set of five tripods and four gui vessels is now in the collection of the Baoji Bronze Museum).

According to the system of rows of tripods in the Western Zhou Dynasty.

The Zhou emperor used nine tripods and eight gui, the princes used seven tripods and six gui, and the ministers used five tripods and four gui.

Judging from this, the tomb owner should be a nobleman.

Coincidentally, when the archaeological team was cleaning the corners of the tomb, they discovered another tomb.

A female corpse was unearthed from the newly discovered tomb.

And the inscribed bronzes buried with the deceased.

After identification, the content of the inscription was determined to be: Jing Ji Gui, also a member of the clan of our ancestor Kao Gong... Yu Bo made a tripod and gui for Jing Ji.

The last sentence "Yu Bo made tripods and gui for Jing Ji" means that these were the tripods and gui that Yu Bo made for his wife Jing Ji.

From this, it can be determined that the owner of the tomb is Yu Bo.

The second person buried in the adjacent tomb was Yu Bo's wife, Jing Ji.

The female corpse buried with Yu Bo in the main tomb chamber may have been a concubine buried alive with him.

The title "Bo" indicates that Yu Bo was the king of a small country located around the royal capital of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

It was 76.

In Zhuyuangou Village, three kilometers away from Rujiazhuang, villagers dug out a hole while working and discovered a large number of funerary objects.

Upon hearing the news, the Cultural Relics Management Office sent a team of archaeologists.

This excavation unearthed 22 tombs and two chariot pits.

These are all the undisturbed family tombs of the Yu Kingdom monarchs...

"I visited both places when the archaeological teams were excavating there."

“I also talked to the archaeological team.”

"After the chat, I went back and looked through the ancient county annals passed down in my family."

"It is confirmed that they have unearthed tombs from the middle and late period of the Fish Kingdom."

"There are still large tombs from the early Yu Kingdom that have not been discovered!"

“So I walked all over Rujiazhuang and the north and south sides of Zhuyuangou Village.”

"Finally found the location of the tomb on the north bank of the Wei River!"

"I can confirm that this is definitely a large tomb from the early Yu Kingdom that has never been looted!"

"And I can guarantee it!"

"The number of burial objects inside far exceeds the total number of tombs discovered by the archaeological team!"

"As long as we dig it out, we'll have enough to eat for a lifetime!"