中国东北系铜剑初论

BRONZE DAGGERS OF THE NORTHEASTERN TYPE IN ANCIENT CHINA

我国东北地区的青铜时代,比中原和北方草原开始要晚。据目前所知,从商代中叶起才有中原式青铜器流布到辽宁;另一方面,北方草原式的青铜器也有传入辽宁的。到了周代,我国东北地区开始发展起具有本地特色的青铜铸造业,其中形制很特殊的铜剑很早就引起中外研究者们的注意。日本考古界起初称之为'满州式铜剑',近年改名为'辽宁式铜剑'。朝鲜的研究者则称之为'琵琶形'剑。我国考古文献中则有'双侧曲刃短剑'、'丁字形青铜短剑'等异称,尚无统一之命名。

A unique form of bronze daggers is typical of characteristics of a local culture found in Northeast China. Based on the re-examination of the evolutional sequence in its shape, the time span of its existenee, the differences between it and other swords as well as its distribution, the auther of this article suggests that it be named the 'Broze daggers of the northeastern type'.Daggers of this type are made up of the blade, grip and pommel, each of which has its own story of evolution in shape while an inner link exists among the three. Starting from this point, the author revises and adds something to the classification made by Japanese scholars on the grip and pommel of such daggers, maintaining that during the Warring States period swords of this type were divided into two slightly different sub-types-southern and northern-in ancient China.According to the remains from Tomb 101 at Nanshangen in Ningcheng, the upper limit for early bronze daggers of the northeastern type is supposed to precede the Spring and Autumn period and the lower limit of late bronze daggers might be later than the Warring States period as presumed by most scholars. Below is a chronological table to show the evolution of the blade, grip and pommel of such daggers:As to the distribution of these daggers, they are ascertained to have spread mainly in an area from the Nulurhu Mountain in the west to the Yalu River in the east and from the Seeond Songhua River in the north to the Liaodong peninsula in the south in ancient Northeast China.Various archaeological cultures are found in the same area. Coexisting with these daggers are some bronzes that vary with locality. Therefore, we should avoid the tendency to over-simplify the classification of the northeasters type bronze daggers. Quite a few scholars have ascribed these daggers to the remains of the Donghu tribe, an argument obviously contradictory to the real dates and distribution of the daggers. In our opinion, they are remains shared by the ancestors of tribes such as Huimo (including Gaognuli and Fuyu), Zhenfan and Chaoxian.