Page 290 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

traditionally associated with the hu are here
transferred to the jin.
The most impressive decorative feature of
the hu are the large handles in the form of sinuous
monsters whose heads and tails sprout antler
10
forms. Antlered monster figures appear on Xiasi
and Xingzheng hu, and these creatures seem to be
descendants of such figures. Belief in the magical
efficacy of antlers seems to have been particularly
important in the Chu sphere, where they were
a prominent feature of carved wood tomb guardians
11
(see cat. loo). The antlers decorating this vessel
were no doubt intended to enhance the ritual aura
of the hu. The textured surface of the hu, on close
inspection, reveals a dazzling number of small
fantastical creatures. CM

adjacent jian-fou would have been used to decant 1 Excavated in 1978 (C 132,133,135); reported: Hubei 1989,
1:219-222, figs. 119-120 and 2: pis. 63-64. A cast inscrip-
the wine from the hu into the jian. Three other tion inside the neck of each hu reads "Marquis Yi of Zeng
bronze jin are known, including a famous example commissioned [this vessel]; may he possess and use it for
with openwork decoration from Xiasi Tomb 2, 4 but eternity."
2 According to the excavation report (Hubei 1989,1:221), the
the vessel from Marquis Yi s tomb is the only exam- neck and foot were cast first, then joined to the belly.
ple found with its associated hu. Jin were probably 3 Hu vessels are depicted on a yi from Changzhi Fenshuiling
more often made of less costly materials, such as in Shanxi province, a dou in the Walters Art Gallery, Balti-
more, and a hu in the Musee Guimet, Paris: Weber 1973,
stone, ceramic, or (in the Chu state and its sphere) figs. 2id, 66d, and 676. In each case, the ladle is depicted
5
lacquered wood. Its appearance here in bronze floating above the hu. Hu with ladles are described in the
Xiang Yin (District Symposium) section of the Yi If. See
exemplifies the extravagant use of the material in
also Steele 1917 (1966 repr.), 52.
the marquis' ritual paraphernalia. 4 See Henan 1991, pi. 49
Antecedents of these hu can be traced back to 5 A square, lacquered wood jin found in the central
chamber of Marquis Yi's tomb may have been a stand
the Middle Western Zhou period, when paired hu for dou rather than hu; a rectangular table that may have
6
began to displace wine vessels such as zun. During originally held lacquered hu was found in the northern
the Early Eastern Zhou period, hu were particularly chamber (Hubei 1989,1:374-376, figs. 233-234). Both
examples have legs taller than those of the bronze version.
favored in the Chu and Zeng states, where they Another version in lacquered wood has been found in the
were cast on a monumental scale and assumed a fourth-century BCE Tianxingguan Tomb i at Jiangling: see
more articulated profile. 7 By the seventh century Hubei 1982,102, fig. 26 and pi. 22:5.
6 See Rawson 1990, 74,102 -103.
BCE, monster-shaped handles had replaced the 7 866501983,64-71.
traditional mask design, and decorative straps 8 See Guan 1929, i: pi. 38.
(which appear on examples dating from the West- 9 The combination of the hu's rounded forms with a rectan-
gular stand may have reflected cosmological concerns.
ern Zhou period) had become more prominent; The L-shaped raised borders on the stand echo similar
celebrated examples from Xiasi and Xinzheng 8 L-shapes used as part of a cosmological diagram on the
lacquered wood clothes-chests in the Marquis Yi's tomb.
exemplify this trend. The vessels from the tomb of
See Hubei 1989,1:357, fig. 217.
Marquis Yi differ from these immediate predeces- 10 The complexity and undercutting of the antler forms
sors in two respects: circular sections (which may indicate that they were cast using the lost-wax method.
9
derive from Western Zhou examples ) substitute for 11 See Mackenzie 1991,107-158.
the rectangular outline, and the zoomorphic feet

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