Warriors of Ancient Ba Tribe

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Zhang Zhengming (Professor of School of Historical Culture of Central China Normal University):

Obviously this was not a weapon for actual combat. It would have been a prop for a dancer to hold in his hands. Why was a weapon used for dancing? Because he performed a military dance to show a battle scene. It was called “great military music”.

31/41/00

Historical experts believe they have found evidence that proves Ba warriors danced on the battlefield. The animals whose images were carved on the bronze weapons were worshipped as the protective deities for the warriors. This is witchcraft. Ba people believed in the existence of ghosts and deities. In their spiritual world, songs and dances were related to deities. These 3,000 year-old hieroglyphs prove this. A battle was recorded in history, in which Ba warriors defeated powerful enemies, dancing while fighting. This battle had a great impact on the history of China.

32/25/00

The inscriptions on the willow-leafed sword and the bronze weapon called “qi” were roughly the epigraphs of the dead. He was a warrior that fought and danced on the battlefield. His dances and songs brought fierce force and sanctity to the bronzeware and also to the creatures living in the woods and valleys. But death haunted him.

Guan Weiliang (Professor of Department of History of Chongqing Normal College):

We can made such an analysis according to archaeological findings. The owner of the “qi” was a leading dancer of the great military dance in the State of Ba. So his “qi” was different from others.

Zhang Zhengming