馬的文化 The Horse in Chinese Culture

放大圖片

*駒尊

Li ju zun

西周 Western Zhou dynasty （約公元前11世紀－前771年）

中國國家博物館藏 National Museum of China

　此尊是中國已發現年代最早的一件馬形青銅器。青銅器呈馬形，軀幹短小，矮足，短尾，雙直耳。造型樸拙，稚氣盎然。腹兩側各飾一漩渦紋，背有獸紐蓋。胸前銘文九行94字，蓋內有銘文三行11字。銘文記述周懿王舉行執駒之禮時，賜*兩少壯良馬，　作此尊以記榮寵。

　This bronze zun is the earliest horse-shaped bronze vessel to have been discovered in China to date. With its ungainly figure - it has a squat torso, its limbs and tail are short, and its ears point straight up - the horse appears to be a foal. On each side of its abdomen is a whorl design and on its back is a lid with a handle in the shape of a mythical beast. Inscribed on its chest are 94 characters arranged in nine lines, and under the lid are 11 characters in three lines. The inscriptions record that when King Yi of the Zhou dynasty was presiding over the zhiju (“picking horse”) ceremony, he bestowed two strapping young horses on his senior minister Li. Li then had this zun made to commemorate the honour. 　■資料：香港歷史博物館