The three artifacts of the Japanese emperor represent the symbols of the Japanese emperor. The sword represents the emperor's courage and strength, the eight-inch mirror symbolizes the emperor's wisdom, and the eight-foot jade symbolizes the emperor's compassion.
There is a popular legend in Japan about the origin of the eight-foot vault. It is said that Sue is God's younger brother Zun, and he is a chaotic god. He went to Gao Tianyuan to visit Zhao Tianshen, but he ran amok in Gao Tianyuan, destroying fields to fill ditches and killing spotted colts. Zhao Tianshen was not happy and hid in Zhao Tian Grottoes. Zhao Tianshen is the embodiment of the sun. As soon as Zhao Shen disappeared, the world was suddenly dark, day and night. The immortal was very worried, so he made the mirror into a distant ancestor, and made the jade into a distant ancestor's jade, and this jade is eight feet and five hundred pounds of jade. The gods prayed with jade to attract the luminous god in the sky out of the grottoes. After the luminous god in the sky came out, the world recovered its light.
According to the Japanese history book "Brandon Xia", the Great God later acquired three artifacts, and before Tiansun Qiongpestle Zun (the great-grandfather of Emperor Jimmu, the first Japanese emperor) came to Japan from Gao Tianyuan, he gave three artifacts, namely Eight-Foot Qionggouyu, Eight Mirrors and Tiancong, to Qiongpestle Zun, which is the source of Eight-Foot Qionggouyu.
According to the ancient book "Old Words" in Heian period, when the Emperor of Heaven gave Tiansun Qiongqiong a pestle, he asked him to keep three artifacts.
At that time, the ancestor of heaven was a great god, and the emperor Gao gave birth to a god, so he said, "My husband belongs to Mizuho, and my children and grandchildren can be the land of kings. Emperors and grandchildren can rule it. The prosperity of treasure is endless. "That is to say, eight mirrors and mowing swords were given to the emperor and grandson, and they will always be seals, spears and swords. Therefore, according to Japanese legend, these three objects have been with the Emperor since the founding of Japan, but after that, the eight mirrors and the original Yao Cong Yun Jian were not with the Emperor, and only eight feet of Qiong Gouyu were kept in the palace. So of the three artifact palaces, only eight feet of jade is not an imitation. Eight-foot Qionggou jade is strictly sacrificed and kept in the palace, and the emperor must carry it with him when he moves to the capital or visits the emperor. This custom was decided by the king until after World War II.
Like the Eight Zhi Mirror and Tiancong Yun Jian, no one has seen the Eight Foot Jade Hook, and I don't know what it looks like. However, some people may wonder whether eight feet is close to two meters of jade, but where is such a long jade in the world? Of course, there is no jade that long. The so-called eight feet here actually includes the length of the ears in the jade.
In the earliest history books compiled by the Japanese, there is actually no mention of the eight-foot vault, so historians now speculate that this sacred artifact may have been added to the bed-sitting ceremony by later generations for various reasons. Eight-foot vault jade is only a kind of curved jade ornament around the tenth century, and later it has symbolic significance and is called "seal". Since it was created, the status of Eight-foot Qionggou Jade has become higher and higher, and it is almost indispensable in the ceremony. It is the only real ritual vessel still in the hands of the Japanese royal family, and it is also the only object that appears in public ceremonies (although it is only a box).
Because the eight-foot jade is called a seal, it means that jade has become a token of imperial power, so the box containing jade is called a seal. The seal has never left the emperor's side since ancient times and has been placed in the palace where the emperor lived. It is said that no one can see this sacred object, even the emperor, and even the seal cannot be touched.
However, the more mysterious this thing is, the more people will be interested in it. In history, an emperor tried to open the seal and peep at the jade of Eight-Foot Joan Gouyu. Around the 10 century, the 63rd Japanese emperor Lengquan tried to open the seal, but he smoked before opening it. In a panic, Emperor Lengquan honestly covered the box. Later, Emperor Shunde, the 84th emperor of Japan, also touched the seal tablet and felt something moving inside. Later, some emperors also wanted to open it, but curiosity failed. The guardian rushed in and took the eight-foot jade seal tablet and put it in a more hidden place. Only a big ceremony can take it out.
Eight-foot Joan Gouyu is the most mysterious and true thing, and people have guessed what Gouyu looks like. In fact, many kinds of gouyu have been unearthed in archaeology. Some Japanese scholars say that Eight-foot Qionggou jade probably originated from mainland culture, because when Eight-foot Qionggou jade appeared, Japanese culture was greatly influenced by ancient Korean peninsula culture, and the ritual vessels made also had some styles of ancient Korea, such as patterns on some jade articles unearthed in ancient Japan.
In the Record of Japan, the eight-foot poor ditch fish was recorded as "Ha semi-poor" and was regarded as the laudatory name of Dagu fish. In ancient Japan, jade was loved by people not only as an ornament, but also for protection, because at that time, the Japanese thought that beautiful jade hooks had spiritual power and magical power. However, the earliest written records about Gou Jian actually came from China. In China's history books, it is recorded that the following ethnic minorities paid tribute to the Zhou royal family. This big sentence bead is Gouyu. The history books also record the rare dark green gouyu unearthed by the people.
Some Japanese scholars believe that the jade hook from Japan was transformed from the jade articles before Shang Dynasty in China, because the appearance of the jade hook is similar to many jade articles before Shang Dynasty in China. However, this statement is actually wrong, because jade has a history of thousands of years before the Shang Dynasty. However, Japan's Gouyu prevailed for more than a thousand years. Thousands of years have passed, and it is impossible for Japan to have the image of Gou Jian before the Shang Dynasty in China.
According to the findings of Japanese archaeologists, many bronze mirrors, swords and jade articles from China and ancient Korea were unearthed among Japanese tribal local tyrants in the ancient grave era. It can be seen that these mirrors, swords and jade were the treasures of tribal local tyrants all over Japan before the establishment of Japan's unified country. For local tyrants everywhere, holding a lot of treasures means power, and rare treasures are considered to have mysterious charm of protection. As for the plots of mirrors, swords and jade in myths and legends, they were completely woven after the formation of the ancient imperial power system, in order to strengthen the mystery of the imperial power, and the inheritance of swords and seals by emperors in previous dynasties also imitated the imperial seal system of the ancient feudal dynasty in China to ensure the authority of the imperial power. The three modern artifacts are kept secret to increase their sanctity and the dignity of the emperor.
The three artifacts of the Japanese emperor were symbols of power before the Meiji Restoration. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties in Japan, the South and the North fought for three artifacts. When the Northern and Southern Dynasties were unified, the shogunate put forward the first condition to the Southern Dynasties, which was to hand over three artifacts symbolizing imperial power. This shows how high the status of three artifacts is. After Meiji Restoration, Japanese laws regulated the three great artifacts. Before World War II, Japan's "royal model" stipulated that:
After the death of the emperor, the heirs will practice and inherit the artifacts of their ancestors. These laws stipulate that the new emperor must inherit the sword and seal when he ascended the throne, except that eight mirrors cannot be moved in the shrine. Moreover, it is stipulated that the emperor should take his own sword and jade when he goes out for more than one day.
After the war, the mystery of the three artifacts of the Japanese emperor declined as much as that of the Japanese emperor, and the emperor also admitted that he was a human being, so the existing Royal Model did not stipulate three artifacts. But there is a cleverly worded provision in the Royal Economic Law:
Heirs should inherit the throne at the same time, and the Japanese inheritance law also specifically legislates for the emperor's inheritance, stipulating that the new emperor does not need to pay special taxes when inheriting three artifacts. Therefore, the thousand-year-old tradition of the three artifacts as symbols of the emperor was still left as an important ceremony when the emperor passed on.
Ancient Japanese believed in the magical power of three artifacts, but now many Japanese have any three artifacts, but just like the crowns of royal families in other countries, they are only used as decorations. However, due to the constant rendering of fairy tales, everyone will be curious about what the sword and Gouyu in the box look like. However, because keeping the mystery of the three artifacts is to maintain the concept of "the symbol of the emperor" and Japan's "national god" and embody everything of the Japanese royal family, people may never see the true colors of the three artifacts, so they can only look at the long box at the ceremony of the emperor and exert their imagination.