Page 338 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

FIG. i. Bronze zun inlaid materials (fig. i). Archaeological discoveries have 1 Excavated in 1987; published: Hubei 1991, i: 190-191, fig.
with lacquer from Tomb 2 suggested that these workshops were located near 120; 2: color pi. 11.1 and pi. 56.1.
at Wangshan, Jiangling, 2 See Guangdong 1974, 71, fig. 5; Lawton 1982, no. 9; Hubei
Hubei Province; Warring or even within the Chu capital, close to the present- 1996,135-136, figs. 91-92, and color pi. 4.
States period; height. 17.1 day city of Jiangling. These workshops, which pro-
3
(6 /4): from above; cross duced wine vessels (hu or lei), as well as round
section. After Hubei 1996, 2
135, fig. 91. bronze food containers, probably ceased opera-
tions when the capital was destroyed by the Qin
army in 278 BCE.
The highly complex — almost abstract — designs
on the lid and vessel body are based on dragon-and-
bird motifs. Their zoomorphic forms are concealed
in the ornament: eyes, marked by circular dots, stare
out of heads that emerge from intricate bodies,
which flow into the forms of other, similarly abstract
creatures. Four units of the motif can be seen on
the main register and, in a different rendering, at
the center of the lid; another motif is repeated six
times on the sides of the vessel. Though organized
in repeating units, the animals are intricately
configured to create an impression of endless move-
ment and to suggest that they are, in fact, alive. AT

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