商与西周青铜矛研究

A STUDY OF BRONZE SPEAR-HEADS OF THE SHANG AND WESTERN ZHOU PERIODS

商与西周的青铜矛,是当时军队武库中举足轻重的一个组成部分。商周青铜矛是一种纯粹的刺兵,基本形制十分简单,不易引起人们的重视;具体形制则异常复杂多变,给研究工作带来了较大的困难。因此其研究领域至今仍属相对冷落。

So far, localities yielding Shang and Western Zhou bronze spear-heads have been recorded some 50; the unearthed specimens exceed 1, 000 (not including handed-down and unpubilished material). In the light of the relevant archaeological data published and ascertained in locality of discovery, the present paper makes a typological study of the Shang and Western Zhou bronze spear-head and discusses three related problems: its pedigree and evolution; its rise and fall; and its details--the ear, perforation and nail-hole. Although all specimens share two features, i. e. each having a single point and double edges, and each having a socket for fixing to the shaft, still they can be divided into three types judged by other details: Type A--eared spears; Type B--earless; and Type C--earless but bearing double symmetric perforations near the blad base. Each type falls further into certain subtypes. Chinese bronze spears first appeared in the mid-Shang period. According to their localities of discovery and their typological features, the Shang bronze spears unearthed can be divided into the southern, northern and middle groups. The first group is characterized by two ears symmetrically arranged on the sides of the socket, a leaflike blade with a ridge raisedalong the middle and a socket having a rhombic-section opening and a simply-decorated surface; the earliest specimens are A-I spears from the Panlongcheng site, Huangpi, Hubei. The second group contains only the B-I subtype, which displays the northern steppe style and features an earless body, a leaflike blade with a ridge along the middle, a round-section socket, and a plain surface. The third group occurs in the Central Plains with the Yin Ruins in Anyang of Henan as the center; its specimens bear elements of both the southern and the northern groups as well as a series of local features. The prevalence of Shang bronze spears owed mainly to the fight on foot as the primary form of the then battles. During the Western Zhou and later, bronze spears were sharply decreasing as the fight in chariot took over the leading position. The ear, perforation and nail-hole on Shang bronze spears were all used for fixing the shaft, which was nailed to the spear-head in the northern group and largely tied in the southern and middle groups. From the Western Zhou onward, nailing became the principal method of shaft fastening.