World Standards Day丨This seemingly "ordinary" artifact actually hides the secret of Qin's unification of the world?

October 14th of every year is World Standards Day .

The cultural relic I want to share with you today is inseparable from "standard" - it is called " Shang Yang Fangsheng ".

Image source: Shanghai Museum official website

The Shang Yang Fangsheng is 2.3 cm deep, 18.7 cm long, 6.9 cm wide and weighs 0.7 kg, which is slightly larger than an adult's palm .

If you don’t do some research in advance, you will probably ignore the Shang Yang Fangsheng when you see it for the first time, because it is really a bit inconspicuous. But such an ordinary-looking bronze ware actually has a great origin!

It is one of the "treasures of the town" of the Shanghai Museum and is one of the "third batch of cultural relics prohibited from being exhibited abroad"...

The reason why it has this series of titles is that it is not only the only important physical material that currently exists that witnesses the "Shang Yang Reforms" of the Qin Dynasty , but also the inscriptions on the outer wall of the vessel show that it has experienced the important historical event of "Qin Shihuang's unification of the six kingdoms."

The outer wall of Shang Yang Fangsheng is engraved with 75 characters, divided into two sections, separated by more than 100 years. Image source: Shanghai Museum official website

The artistic conception of traditional Chinese creation emphasizes "the vessel carries the truth". Now we will use these two inscriptions as clues to understand the great unification of the Qin Dynasty contained in Shang Yang Fang Sheng .

01

Understanding Shang Yang Fang Sheng

Inscription 1: Shang Yang's Reforms and Qin's Unification of Weights and Measures

"In the eighteenth year, Qi led the nobles and officials to propose marriage. On the Yiyou day of the twelfth month of winter, Daliang made a martingale, and there were sixteen cun and a half cun, and one liter."

This group of inscriptions is located on the side of the vessel and opposite the handle (see the figure below).

Image source: Shanghai Museum official website

"Eighteen years" refers to the eighteenth year of Qin Xiaogong (344 BC), "Da Liangzao" was the highest official position in Qin at that time, and "Yang" refers to Shang Yang .

The general meaning of this sentence is: "In the eighteenth year of Qin Xiaogong, Qi sent an envoy to Qin to discuss important matters. On the Yiyou day of December in the winter of the same year, Shang Yang, the great builder, supervised the production of this standard measuring instrument. The capacity of this square liter is sixteen inches and one-fifth of a cubic inch."

Among the reforms implemented by Shang Yang, there was one called " Abolish the well-field system and open up fields ", which allowed people to reclaim unowned wasteland. Land could be bought and sold freely, and the state levied taxes based on the amount of land each person occupied, thus fundamentally establishing private land ownership.

However, with the increase in cultivated land and tax revenue, new problems also emerged. In the past, the measurement standards in various parts of Qin were not consistent, and it was very troublesome to calculate land area and collect taxes across the country. It became urgent to formulate unified standards.

The unified taxation standard gave rise to the unified weighing tools , and when the measuring tools were manufactured and distributed to local areas, grassroots officials also needed to master a universal calibration system. Based on these urgent reform needs, Shang Yang Fangsheng was officially born as a "standard measuring instrument" .

Image source: Shanghai Museum official website

The standard volume of Shang Yang's square liter is one liter, which is 3×5.4×1 (unit: inch).

In 1981, the Bronze Research Group of the Shanghai Museum invited the Shanghai Metrology and Testing Administration to make a precise calculation of the volume of this square liter. The final result was converted into 202.15 milliliters today. From this, it was calculated that Shang Yang's ruler was 23.192 centimeters and his inch was 23.192 millimeters.

The Book of Han, Lülizhi, states: "The measurer...uses the degree to determine the capacity." Shang Yang's square liter is the earliest physical national standard measuring instrument that "uses the degree to determine the capacity ('degree' refers to length, that is, the method of using a known length to calculate capacity)".

Inscription 2: Qin Shi Huang Unified the Six Kingdoms

"In the 26th year, the emperor annexed all the princes in the world, and the people were at peace. He was named emperor and ordered the prime ministers Zhuang and Wan to clarify all the inconsistent laws and regulations."

This group of inscriptions is located at the bottom of the vessel and opposite the first group of inscriptions (see the picture below). It was engraved in the 26th year of Qin Shihuang's reign (221 BC).

The general meaning is "In the 26th year, the emperor unified the country and the people were at peace. He ordered the prime ministers Wei Zhuang and Wang Wan to correct the measurement and weights according to the law, replacing the original different measurement systems of various countries, so that the people in the country can know clearly."

Image source: Shanghai Museum official website

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the vassal states grew stronger one after another, and the separatist forces of the regimes caused obvious regional differences between countries. In addition to the "public measurements" promulgated by each country, each minister also had a "private measurement". The chaotic system of weights and measures greatly restricted exchanges between regions and created considerable resistance to the dissemination of culture and the development of economic trade.

Although various vassal states had reforms one after another, Qin was the only one that implemented them fully. The unification of weights and measures strengthened the centralization of power within Qin, promoted domestic economic circulation, and enabled Qin to quickly accumulate a large amount of wealth, making it one of the "Seven Kingdoms of the Warring States Period".

So, 123 years after the time of "Inscription 1", that is, in 221 BC, Qin unified the six kingdoms, and Qin Shihuang immediately issued an edict to unify currency, writing, weights and measures .

This decree announced to the world the arrival of the era of national unification more than 2,000 years ago. For the first time in Chinese history, the Qin Dynasty implemented unified standards across the country, providing strong support for national centralization, social stability, cultural exchanges and economic development.

In addition to the first two long inscriptions, the word "Chongquan" is engraved on the front wall of Shang Yang's square sheng. It is a place name in today's Pucheng, Shaanxi. Archaeologists speculate that this may be the place where this square sheng was first issued; the word "Lin" is engraved on the right wall, which is also a place name in today's Lin County, Shanxi. This shows that with the further expansion of the Qin State, this square sheng followed the conquerors to new areas and continued to perform the task of unifying weights and measures.

Image source: Shanghai Museum official website

02

Some measuring instruments and their applications in the Qin Dynasty

In addition to Shang Yang's square measure, measuring instruments such as the Qin Dynasty's First Emperor's square measure, bronze oval vessels, pottery measures, and copper weights used for weighing have also been unearthed in various places. Among them is the " Two Edicts Copper Weight " engraved with two edicts.

Two imperial bronze weights. Image source: Gansu Museum

This exquisite little fist-sized "weight" is engraved with the imperial edict of the 26th year of Qin Shihuang, just like Shang Yang Fangsheng, and also has the imperial edict of the first year of Qin Ershi, with nine lines and a total of 60 words:

"In the first year, an imperial edict was issued to Prime Minister Si and Qu Ji: 'All the laws and measures were established by the First Emperor, and all of them have inscriptions. Now you have inherited the title, but the inscription does not mention the First Emperor. In the long run, if the successors succeed you, they will not mention your successes and great virtues. Remember this edict.' So it was engraved on the left to avoid any doubt."

The general meaning is "In the first year of the reign of Qin II (209 BC), an imperial edict was issued to the left prime minister Li Si and the right prime minister Feng Quji, stating that the unification of weights and measures was a system established by the First Emperor, and that later generations simply continued to implement it without claiming any merit. Now this edict is engraved on the left side so that (people of the world) will not have any doubts."

From this we can understand the implementation and implementation of the measurement system.

At this point, we can see that the edict issued by Qin Shihuang to "standardize the wheel gauge, the writing system, and the weights and measures" did not appear after the unification, but was the result of more than a hundred years of practical testing after Shang Yang's reforms . The country was governed by laws, and unified national standard measuring tools were issued in various places, thus achieving unified management of the entire country.

The terracotta warriors and horses in the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang, with thousands of different faces but all in uniform appearance, as well as Qin Dynasty weapons and roof tiles unearthed in different regions, although thousands of miles apart, have unified craftsmanship standards. These have become strong evidence of the popularization of the unified measurement system across the country.

Terracotta Warriors. Copyrighted image, no permission to reprint

Interestingly, through the large number of unearthed Qin Dynasty measuring instruments, we can get a glimpse of the promotion and continuation of the measurement system at that time. However , it was not until the Han Dynasty that the theoretical system of the measurement system was gradually completed . After the division of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the measurement system fell into chaos again. It was not until the Kaihuang period of the Sui Dynasty that it was unified again .

In Chinese history, the most important thing for a new dynasty to establish and stabilize the country is to formulate and promulgate weights and measures. Today, when we visited the Palace Museum, the only two artifacts on display in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony were a sundial for measuring the sun's shadow and the standard measuring tool "Jialiang" from the Qianlong period , which shows the importance of "standardizing weights and measures and unifying the world."

Jialiang in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City. Copyright image, no permission to reprint

Why are "standards" so important?

It seems to be hidden in our daily life, but it is actually everywhere. There are charging standards for mobile phone charger interfaces, and national safety standards for food and clothing... From large-scale production of a company to economic and trade exchanges between countries around the world, "standards" can be said to be a "universal language" that is closely related to everyone.

What other " standardization in life " have you discovered? Please share in the comment section~

References:

[1] Zhao Xiaojun. Research on the Measurement System of Ancient China[D]. University of Science and Technology of China, 2007.

[2] Shang Yang's measurement of the volume of a square liter [J]. Shanghai Museum Bulletin, 1981.

[3] Guan Zengjian. From Shang Yang's Reform to Qin Shihuang's Unification of Weights and Measures[J]. Quality and Standardization, 2021(12):4.

Author: Wang Youmei, Researcher of Cultural History of Luoyang Cultural Protection Group, former Deputy Director of the Education Department of Luoyang Museum

Audit｜Luo Hui Director and Senior Engineer of Certification Center of Anhui Quality and Standardization Research Institute

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