CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

103
Bronze shu spear
Overall length 328 (129 Vs), length of blade n (4 3 /s)
Warring States Period (c. 433 BCE)
From Leigudun, Suixian, Hubei Province
Hubei Provincial Museum, Wuhan
The northern chamber of Marquis Yi's tomb contained
seven spearlike weapons; inscriptions on
three of the objects identify them as shu. 1 They
are distinguishable from conventional spears (mao)
by a number of characteristics: the blades of conventional
mao have a flat leaf-shaped profile; this
weapon exhibits a tri-star cross section similar to
that of arrowheads of the period; a thick collar,
decorated with interlaced serpents, encircles the
blade at the base, paired by a similar collar further
down the haft. These collars would have slowed the
weapon had it been used as a projectile and suggest
that the shu was more likely a thrusting or slashing
weapon. 2 Mao hafts are conventionally made of
plain wood and circular in cross section; shu hafts,
by contrast, are octagonal in cross section and
veneered with bamboo strips — a feature that
would have enhanced the resilience of the long
haft when wielded laterally. The length of its haft
suggests that the shu, like the;/ (cat. 102),
was primarily a charioteer's weapon.
Shu are mentioned in several classical Chinese
texts, including the Zhou li (Rites of Zhou) and
the Shijing (Classic of poetry); 3 commentaries on
these texts indicate that the shu lacked a blade:
fourteen long poles with bronze ferrules found in
the tomb's north chamber seem to correspond to
those descriptions. 4 The bladed form seems to have
been a relatively rare variant of the shu, associated
particularly with the southern states of Chu, Zeng,
and Cai. Two weapons with features that closely
resemble this example — a tri-star blade, octagonal
socket, and separate collar — were excavated from
the tomb of Marquis Zhao of Cai (r. 518-491 BCE)
at Shouxian in Anhui province. 5 CM
1 See Hubei 1989,1:292, fig. 178:1 (N 290). The exhibited
example is uninscribed. See Hubei 1989, i: 292-294,
fig. 178:2, and 2: pi. 97:2 (N 155).
2 An array of long spikes that springs from the collar of one
of the shu would have made it a formidable weapon when
wielded laterally. See Hubei 1989, i: 292, fig. 178:3.
3 The discussion that follows is based on the excavation
report. See Hubei 1989,1:293-295.
4 Hubei 1989,1:295. Two types of shu are listed in the bamboo
slips buried in the tomb: seven shu and nine jin shu.
The report suggests that the bladed shu should be identified
with the shu and the bladeless form with the jin shu.
5 Anhui 1956,11 and pi. 22:4-5. A variant of this type,
distinguished by a row of spikes at the base of the blade,
was found in a late sixth-century BCE Chu tomb at
Caojiagang, Dangyang county, Hubei province (Hubei
1988, 482-483, fig. 30, pi. 18:3). This type seems to have
been the precursor of a shu with long spikes found in
Marquis Yi's tomb (Hubei 1989,1:292, fig. 178:3).
302 CHU AND OTHER CULTURES