The He Zun Vessel, Oldest Inscription of the WORD “China”
A Bronze Vessel discovered in 1963 on the Shaanxai Province bares the oldest known Inscription of the word China ever recovered from Antiquities, the significance of the find was not realised until 1975 when Inscriptions were deciphered and a message discovered with the Character for the word “Central Region” which means China, it proves the King of this, the longest Dynasty in Chinese History, tried to Unify the Country 3000 Years ago,
Wait till you hear this
Discovered by a farmer who gifted it to a friend who sold the artieact to a recycling company to buy grain after an Earthquake forced residents into Poverty in Baoji before a museum employee spotted the object at the facility and noticed an Ancient creature, the “Taotie” was represented on the vessel known as He Zun through its Motif, fast forward to 1975 when China held an exhibition in Japan where the He Zun was meant to be displayed, it was here that an expert noticed the Hieroglyphic character at the base of the object under layers of rust, it was shipped back to China were the rust was removed and 12 rows of 122 characters were revealed and 119 of the characters deciphered with only 3 remaining unknown,
It revealed the name of the King, King Cheng of Zhou who reigned between 1042BC and 1021 BC Who had ordered the construction of the City of Luoyang by order of the western Zhou dynasty
The
Phrase “zhaizi Zhong-Guo” means “To live in the Middle Kingdon”
This is the Chinese word for China “zhaizi Zhong-Guo” and this
confirms the use of the word China continuously for over 3 thousand
years now. An invaluable Inscription for the History of China and it
reads as translated by David W. Pankenier:
“It was when the King began laying out his seat at Chengzhou. The King returned from extolling King Wu in the Feng sacrifice, with sarificial meat from the Hall of Heaven. In the fourth month, on day bingxu, the king exhorted the scions of the royal clan in the ancestral temple, saying: "In the past, your fathers were able to aid King Wen, whereupon King Wen received this Great Command. When King Wu conquered the great city Shang, he then made reverent declarations to Heaven, saying: "Let me dwell in this, the central region”, and from here govern the people." Hark! While you are still minors lacking understanding, look to your fathers' scrupulous respect for Heaven. Comprehend my commands and respectfully follow orders! Your sovereign's reverential virtue finds favour with Heaven, which guides me in my slow-wittedness." The King's exhortation having finished, He was presented with the thirty strings of cowries used to make this treasured sacrificial vessel for his father Sire X. It was the King's fifth year."
"Let me dwell in this, the central region” is the oldest Inscription of China ever discovered from Chinese Hieroglyphs, it represents 3000 years of the use of the word
The vessel, dating to the 5th year of the reign of King Cheng of Zhou, is 38.8cm tall, 28.8cm in diameter and weighs 14.6kg.
Inside the container, at the base, it contains 12 rows of 122 inscribed Chinese characters. Of the 122 characters, 119 are identified while 3 are unknown.
The inscription contains this phrase China (宅𢆶𠁩或 (宅茲中國) inscribed in early Zhou form, structurally different to the modern form of the characters. The term for China (𠁩或) here does not carry the same semantic meaning as the modern word, referring rather to the "central region" of the newly expanded Zhou political domain, but is the earliest occurrence in the Chinese corpus of the word for China中國, which gradually expanded in its meaning over the next millennium.
Scholars have asserted that the regions surrounding the Yellow River Basin were called “The Middle Kingdom” in the early years of this Dynasty, including Luoyang, the ancient capital ordered by the King,
The He zun is also the earliest known vessel bearing this character for China (德),and one of only 64 historical artefacts forbidden from ever leaving Chinese soil by the Chinese communist party, it resides Today in the Baoji Bronzeware Museum in Shaanxi but what do you guys think about this anyway? Comments below and thank you for watching
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