Page 75 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts

The dragon bodies were interlaced, that is, not
merely overlapped but passed under-and-over one
another, creating a sense of undulant motion that
was further developed during Eastern Zhou. Late
Western Zhou dragon interlace generally appears
on square hu. The famous Song hu, and the Jin Hon
hu recently unearthed from the tomb of the
Marquis ofJin in Quwo, Shanxi Province, both
bear this type of pattern.
EASTERN ZHOU BRONZES: THE SPRING
AND AUTUMN AND WARRING STATES
PERIODS (770-221 BCE)
Aristocratic tombs of the early Spring and Autumn
era have revealed very few bronzes that were
relatively well crafted. The Zhou kings had lost the
western part of their domain and relocated their
court to their eastern capital near present-day
Luoyang. In the smaller states that made up the
Zhou realm, bronze making was rather crude. In
the larger states, however, signs of progress were
already appearing.
By the mid-Spring and Autumn era Zhou kingly
authority had declined and the various fiefdoms
were expanding their power and their borders and
beginning to come into collision. But as the
authority of the Zhou ruling house dwindled and
the political and military struggles between the
states intensified, ideas and political institutions
evolved apace. Unsettled times stimulated major
advances in the forces of social production,
begetting countless new forms of workmanship.
The earlier forging of iron weapons and
implements led to mastery of the art of casting
iron. Bronzes became an indispensable symbol of
power, status, and legitimacy for the new elites in
the aristocratic states, spurring bronze making to an
unprecedented period of innovation and
development. To meet rapidly escalating military
needs, the casting of bronze weapons was also
carried to new heights. Even some small states
possessed significant quantities of bronzes, and with frequently among the extant bronzes ot the Jin
the breakdown of centralized patronage along with
centralized authority, regional traits of bronzes of
this period became quite distinct.
New vessels appeared, and old types were rendered
with fresh shapes and unusual designs, which made
for an entirely new look. Included in this
exhibition is the square lotus-and-crane hu (cat. 45) required artistry: the workers who impressed the
found in Xinzheng, Henan Province, in 1923.
Openwork petals rise from the lid, on which stands
a crane raising its wings as if about to fly. Lug
handles on two sides of the hu take the form of
crested dragons looking backward, and winged
dragons mark the four corners of the square belly.
Iwo powerful slinking animals support the vessel,
which is decorated overall with an interlaced
double-bodied dragon pattern. The effect is opulent
RITUAL BRONZES — EPITOME OF ANCIENT CHINESE CIVILIZATION
and dazzling: the stolid and heavy bronze style that
had prevailed since the late Western Zhou has here
been wholly replaced by the innovative spirit first
apparent in the mid-Spring and Autumn era.
Regional characteristics of bronzes of the late
Spring and Autumn era are best exemplified by
works from the kingdoms of Qin in the west, Jin in
the north, Qi in the east, and Chu in the south. In
the 1920s a group of unusually designed and
exquisitely decorated Jin bronzes were unearthed at
Liyu village in Hunyuan. Shanxi Province. These,
together with the bronzes recently found in tomb
number 251 at Jinsheng village inTaiyuan, can be
considered representative of Jin style bronzes
(cats. 43, 9 whereas those from the Chu tomb at
44),
Xiasi, Xiquan county, in Henan Province are typical
of the Chu 10 In both shape and decoration
style.
Wuthe recently discovered he of King Fuchai of is
an example of how features of the Jin and Chu
bronzes were absorbed and integrated elsewhere."
Improvements in casting techniques using pottery
section molds, the spread of the complementary
processes of casting-on and precasting, and the
considerable maturing of the lost-wax casting
technique all reflect significant advances in the
bronze technology of this period. A major
revolution in the art of bronze making during the
Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods was
the use of stamps to create the surface designs in
the molds. Besides increasing the number of
bronzes that could be produced, it also assured the
uniform quality of the decorative patterns on the
pieces. This advanced technique is seen most
state. Excavation of the site of the Jin bronze
workshop at Houma in Shanxi Province has fully
revealed the advanced bronze casting technology of
the time.'- Advances such as the use of stamps in
mold-making changed the nature ot creating
surface decoration: only the maker ot the stamp
design from the stamp onto the mold needed only
simple technical skill. Subsequently new arts ot
surface decorating appeared, using inlaid gold,
silver, and copper to create a varicolored surface.
The gold, silver, and copper would be hammered
into sheets or threads, and the threads might be
coiled into tight spirals, then inlaid into the grooves
cast in the bronze to receive them. (. In some
bronzes, copper, gold, silver, and turquoise were
inlaid in combination to form a sumptuous,
brocade-like design.
It was during the late Spring and Autumn period
that human activity began to be used .is .1
decorative motif. .1 clear manifestation of the
unprecedentedly strong social humanism ot the
tune. Subjects like battles, hunting, banquets, rituals,
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