Regarding "jue", the two most frequently discussed questions are: which side to drink?

What are the two small pillars on the edge of the mouth used for?

　　The first question, in detail, is actually three questions:

　　(1) If you drink with "flow", the "flow" of some Jue is too wide, won't the mouth leak wine?

　　(2) If you drink with the "tail", many Jue's tails are too long and too sharp, won't they poke themselves?

　　(3) About one-tenth of the jue has burning marks on the bottom. Some people think that the jue is a wine warmer. During sacrifices, it is heated to produce fragrance to communicate with ghosts and gods. The remaining wine is poured on the ground through "flow" for ghosts and gods to enjoy.

　　My answers to these questions are:

　　(1) Jue may indeed be both a drinking vessel and a wine warming vessel;

　　(2) If it is used for drinking, it must be drunk with "flow". First, the position of the sputum is on the right end of the flow, which is in line with most people's right-handed habits; second, through experiments, drinking with flow will not cause wine leakage.

　　There are three main theories about the purpose of the two mushroom pillars along the mouth of the Juekou:

　　The first term is "temperance".

Some people think that if the copper pillar is placed at the "flow", if the cup is raised too high, it will touch the face, so there is a metaphor for "temperance".

　　control?

Let's first look at what the word "business" means.

The above three characters are all "Shang", which are oracle bone inscriptions, bronze inscriptions and official script.

The "Shang" in the oracle bone inscriptions is like the "cup" with two pillars and three legs, and the later bronze inscriptions add "口" as a borrowed phonetic symbol, indicating that the "Shang" that borrowed wine utensils is the "Shang" of the "Shang Dynasty".

The name of a regime is expressed in wine vessels, which shows that "wine" was indeed an important feature of the Shang Dynasty. Historical facts also prove that "wine" was one of the reasons for the subjugation of the Shang Dynasty. Therefore, the word "temperance" has nothing to do with the Shang Dynasty.

　　In addition, many countries in later generations have also implemented prohibition and restrictions on alcohol, but the prohibition and restriction are all on "alcohol" itself, and they will not make decisions on wine utensils. Restricting alcohol by restricting wine utensils is too far away. ?

　　The second term is "lifting".

Some people think that when Jue is used as a wine warmer, after the wine is warm, use "chopsticks" (an early name for "chopsticks") or wooden clips to lift it.

　　Obviously, this statement is also unreliable, because many "pillars" are not at the center of gravity of the jue and cannot be used for lifting; secondly, there are still many "pillars" of the jue that are made very small, as shown in this picture. How to move?

Is it to let the little brother from Lanxiang Technical School drive a forklift to lift it?

　　The third term is "filtering".

This point of view is that Xia, Shang and Zhou drank chàng wine, which was cloudy, so it needed to be filtered before drinking, and the two columns were used to hang the filter, similar to today's teabags.

　　I think this statement is even more outrageous. Why don’t princes and nobles drink and eat besides and then serve them, instead of filtering them by themselves?

Can you imagine how embarrassing this scene is?

　　So, what is the most likely function of this column?

The answer is: In fact, it is useless. The biggest function may be: decoration.

　　The "Ritual Vessels" chapter of "Book of Rites" has the following statement on the relationship between wine vessels and the user's identity: the status of a person can be distinguished by the size of the ritual vessel, and some are respected by the large, including the size of the palace, the shape of the vessel, The thickness of the coffin and the height of the tomb bag, the bigger the status, the more noble; there are also small ones, that is, in the ancestral temple sacrifices, the noble people use the jue to offer sacrifices, and the humble people use loose; Corner drinking.

The smaller the capacity, the more distinguished.

　　How big are these four containers?

The theory of "five nobles" in the Spring and Autumn Ritual System is recorded: the first promotion is Jue, the second promotion is Gou (gū), the third promotion is Gou (zhì), the fourth promotion is Jiao, and the fifth promotion is San (according to Wang Guowei's textual research, "San "It is 斝).

　　Imagine that all the lovers gather to drink, and when they hold up the cups, no one else's wine utensils have pillars, but I have one. Doesn't it look very cool?

　　It can be seen that the "function" of jue has gone through three stages: first, the wine vessel; second, the sacrificial vessel or ritual vessel in other ceremonies; and third, the "famous vessel" for classifying politics.

Here comes the question again, there are so many bronze wine vessels, why only choose "jue" as a symbol of political rank?

　　(1) Jue has a wide range of uses. As a utensil commonly used by nobles, ordinary nobles can use it, while other wine vessels have many restrictions.

Therefore, Jue has both the highest-level salute leadership and the lowest-level salute foundation.

　　(2) Among various drinking utensils (such as jue, gu, gu, jiao, zhu, etc.), "jue" has the highest status and is more suitable as a word to express the status of nobility.

　　(3) Jue not only has a definite conceptual content, but also has an exquisite perceptual form. It is noble when used in various occasions. It is really a sharp tool for the hall and the kitchen.

　　Text/Yang Xuetao (Scholar of Literature and History)