Rename The Bronze Sculpture Si Mu Wu Ding (2)

By Author: ada red
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The National Museum through the renovation and expansion had finally put aside the veil and opened to the individual travelers. The same time exclaiming the new appearance of the museum, the scrupulous audiences noted another detail: the greatest treasure of the bronze sculpture, Si Mu Wu Ding had been quietly renamed as Hou Mu Wu Ding. In the matter of legendary history of this piece bronze sculpture, a mass of people have been very familiar for having heard it so many times. When the bronze was fist resurrected in the Wuguan Village of Anyang city of Henan in 1939, it had been coveted by the illegal traders and Japanese. The bronze was finally preserved in Henan after turns and twists when many national treasures were transporting to Taiwan. This bronze sculpture stayed in the mainland of China safe and sound due to its giant shape.
It is universally acknowledged that the name Si Mu Wu Ding is done by Mr. Guo Moruo. Si Mu Wu means to offer sacrifice to the mother Wu. Another well-known scholar Luo Zhenyu also considered that, in Shang, the word Si was the same as sacrifice. This name also has been widely ...
... recognized by scholars. But then there were philologists suggested that Si should be understood as the Hou as well. Thus, in the later new edition of Cihai, it describes this bronze sculpture like this: the bronze in the late Shang has three words “Si Mu Wu” engraved on the internal belly or can be called “Hou Mu Wu”, too. It is made by the king of Shang to worship his mother.
In theory, these two explanations are both feasible. This time, the action of changing Si to Hou is actually a denial of the past understanding of the Si equaling to sacrifice. Most experts believe the Hou Mu Wu is much superior to the Si Mu Wu for its meaning is equivalent to “great, awesome, and respectable”. The Hou Mu Wu seems to say that dedicate this bronze sculpture to my beloved mother. Anyhow, despite parts of the scholars approved the new designation, they still thought the cost was too high to change the name and many problems would be involved. So they took it with a grain of salt. For the public, it is prone to have doubt. Does the alteration of the national bronze statue sculpture need to have some procedures? Whether it demand the collective demonstration by experts and a press conference hold by the authorities or not?
In archaeological circle, there are two channels to name the relics. One is to call an academic seminar when the cultural relic is found while the second is to discuss publicly by publishing articles in academic journals. After discussion, if reached a consensus, the name would be widely adopted. In other words, the naming of heritage is not necessary to convene a special conference. Therefore, it is normal that the National Museum transformed the name of this chinese bronze sculpture when it was re-opened. They should have been extensively consulted the archaeologists, particularly the views of philologist specialized in the ancient characters and then made the decision.
Even so, renaming a relic with high popularity should take the public’s feelings into account. Maybe the insiders shared the knowledge yet the outside world still knows nothing about the renaming of the bronze dragon. The department concerned should do some explanation work in time so as to allow the scientific research to be better spread and avoid misunderstanding or misreading.