According to legend, in the early years of Xia Dynasty, Wang Dayu of Xia Dynasty divided the world into Kyushu, making Kyushu contribute bronze, casting Jiuding, symbolizing Kyushu, engraving Kyushu's famous mountains and rivers in Jiuding's body, and concentrating Jiuding in the capital of Xia Dynasty.
Although there is no record of Dayu melting copper in Zuo Zhuan, Jiuding's earliest record, it is mentioned that the depiction of Kyushu on the tripod actually symbolizes that all Kyushu in the world belongs to the Xia Dynasty, and such an ambitious spirit also makes Jiuding a treasure of the Xia Dynasty.
Combining the two stories, we will find that whether it is melting copper or carving Kyushu, the last tripod refers to a tripod. But whether Jiuding is Ding or Jiuding remains to be verified.
"Historical Records": "In the collection of nine animal husbandry gold, casting Jiuding. Everyone has tasted ghosts. When you are blessed, you will prosper, and the tripod will move to Zhixia. The decline of Zhou De, the death of the Song Society, and the loss of Ding, but not seen. "
There are different opinions about the whereabouts of Jiuding.
Sima Qian's description of Jiuding in Historical Records is inconsistent. For example, during the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, according to legend, in the fifty-second year of King Xiang of Qin (255 BC), Zhou Nanwang died and Qin plundered Jiuding from Luoyi into Qin.
However, the Zen Sutra said: "Zhou De declined, Song Society died, Ding lost, but disappeared." According to the latter analysis, Jiuding disappeared before the Qin Dynasty destroyed the Zhou Dynasty, that is, when the society of the Song Dynasty perished. Then, the former said that in the fifty-second year of King Qin Wei, Qin plundered Jiuding from Luoyi to Qin. Is it very contradictory and confusing?
After Sima Qian, Ban Gu, a famous historian in the Eastern Han Dynasty, took a compromise approach to Jiuding's whereabouts in his book Hanshu, which included both the above two theories of Sima Qian. At the same time, he added a piece of historical data, saying that Jiuding sank under Surabaya in Pengcheng (now Xuzhou, Jiangsu) in 327 BC. Later, Qin Shihuang made a southern tour and sent thousands of people to salvage in Surabaya. After all, the river was raging and there was nowhere to be found, so we had to return in vain.
In the Qing dynasty, Jiuding's whereabouts were even harder to find. Historians of later generations can only speculate at will. Wang Xianqian believed that the royal family of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty was unable to protect itself in the process of decline.
However, during the Warring States period, powerful vassal states were eyeing up and trying to unify China, and it was replaced by Zhou. As a result, Jiuding, a symbol of kingship and "the return of destiny", naturally became a rare national treasure that every vassal must seize;
In addition, at this time, the Zhou royal family had financial difficulties and could not make ends meet, so Jiuding was destroyed and minted copper coins, but it is said that Jiuding has disappeared. It is even said that one of them has gone east and sank into Surabaya, so as not to let the vassal States compete for the crown and ask for trouble. Although Wang Guangqian's statement seems reasonable, he can't cite any historical data to prove it. Therefore, this is incredible.
Later emperors recast Jiuding many times, with Wu Zetian and Song Huizong recasting twice in three years as the most famous.
Throughout the historical records of China, although there are many materials about Jiuding's whereabouts, they are often contradictory and cannot provide sufficient and reliable basis, which makes people wonder: Does Jiuding still exist among the buried antiquities today?
In history, according to historical records, it is indeed a treasure of Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, which has been circulating for two thousand years; In addition, no ancient historical records about its destruction have ever been found. Therefore, the whereabouts of Jiuding is still a mystery. Perhaps, in the future, one day the mystery of this Millennium will be uncovered, and it may also be the time when Jiuding will see the light of day again.