It is one of the earliest Zhou bronze vessels to be discovered,[1] the earliest record of metal being given as a gift by the king,[2] one of only two vessels dateable to the reign of King Wu of Zhou to record personal names,[3] and the only epigraphic evidence of the day of the Zhou conquest of Shang.[4] This makes the Li gui important to the periodisation of the Shang and Zhou dynasties.[5]
A round vessel on a square pedestal, the Li gui measures 28 centimeters high; the mouth of the vessel has a diameter of 22 centimeters. It has two bird-shaped handles and is covered with a high-relief taotie motif similar to earlier Shang ritual objects.[6] It was excavated in 1976 in Lintong district, Shaanxi, and was kept for a time in the Lintong County Museum, before being transferred to the National Museum of ChinainBeijing, where it now resides. In 2002, it was listed among the cultural artefacts prohibited from leaving Chinese soil.[7]
The Li gui is inscribed with thirty-two characters commemorating King Wu of Zhou's conquest of Shang. Transcribed into modern-day regular script, with archaic phonetic loans and digraphs given in parentheses, the full inscription reads:
King Wu attacked Shang. It was the morning of jiazi (day 1).
King Wu's name thus recorded on a contemporary vessel supports the theory that the early Zhou kings were called by the same titles in life as they were after their deaths, unlike later Chinese monarchs.[8] The day designation within the sexagenary cycle accords with that given for the decisive Battle of Muye by the Shi Fu (世俘, "capture of the world") chapter of the Yi Zhou Shu,[9] and the Mu Shi (牧誓, "Oath at Muye") chapter of the Book of Documents.[10]
There is no scholarly consensus on the meaning of the next seven graphs, beginning with sui (歲, at the end of the first line), which is variously interpreted as the name of a ritual or as a reference to the planet Jupiter.[11] Renderings of this portion of the inscription range from "Jupiter was in the correct position, letting the King know he would conquer, and soon he controlled Shang"[12] to "The King performed the sui and ding sacrifices, letting it be known that he could rout the ruler of Shang."[13]
Following the problematic passage, the inscription concludes:
Onxinwei (day 8), the King was at Jian[14] encampment. He granted his youshi[15] Li metal, with which he makes this treasured ritual vessel for his esteemed ancestor Zhan.[16]
This indicates that the caster of the vessel may have been a participant in the Battle of Muye.[17]
^Shirakawa summarises the various proposed translations pp 320–28; Shaughnessy (1991) illustrates the different interpretations on a graph-by-graph basis, then translates each individually, pp 92–4. Shaughnessy (1991), pp 92–104, is the most thorough English treatment of the inscription, though it antedates several Chinese translations.
^The reading jian for this graph was proposed by Yu Xingwu. It is a toponym that appears in other inscriptions, and appears to have been part of the Shang royal demesne near the capital. See Shirakawa, p 324.
^Youshi is read variously as 又事or右史. Cook renders this title as "aiding ritualist"; Shaughnessy gives "chargé d'affaires", which has the drawback of still not being English. See Cook, p 267; Shaughnessy (1991), p 87
^Zhan / Chan (旜) may be Li's family name, or it may be his home state. The two interpretations are not exclusive, but if it is a toponym, 旜公 may also be rendered "the Lord of Zhan". Zhan may also be identical to 檀 (tan), as suggested by Tang Lan. See Shaughnessy (1991), p 91
^See Shirakawa, p 325, citing Tang Lan; Cook, p 267 n 104
Cook, Constance A. (1997). "Wealth and the Western Zhou". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 60 (2). Cambridge University Press: 253–294. doi:10.1017/s0041977x00036399. JSTOR620385. S2CID154422040.
Li Feng (2006). Landscape and Power in Early China. Cambridge University Press. ISBN0521852722.
Shaughnessy, Edward L. (1989). "The Role of Grand Protector Shi in the Consolidation of the Zhou Conquest". Ars Orientalis. 19: 51–77.
Shirakawa Shizuka (白川靜) (1962–84). "50". 金文通釋 [Complete Explanations of Bronze Inscriptions] (in Japanese). Vol. 6. Kobe: Hakutsuru bijutsukan. pp. 317–29.
So, Jenny F. (2008). "Antiques in Antiquity: Early Chinese looks at the past". Journal of Chinese Studies (48). The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Xie Bolin (謝博霖) (2012). 西周青銅器銘文人名及斷代研究 [Research into names and dates inscribed on Western Zhou bronzes] (Master's thesis) (in Chinese). National Chengchi University, Taipei.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
