Page 43 - Deydier VOL.2 Meiyintang Collection of Chinese Bronses

Fangyi 方彝 Gong 觥
The fangyi is, as its Chinese name indicates, a square or The gong, sometimes pronounced guang, is a large vessel
rectangular vessel, similar to a small house with its four walls for fermented beverages, with a lower section in the shape
and a roof-like cover of four sloping sides. of a sauceboat supported by a ring foot and an upper section
consisting of a long cover in the shape of the back and head
The Chinese character ‘yi’ 彝, which is frequently found in of an animal.
inscriptions, is the general term used in ancient Chinese for
ritual or sacrificial vessels. The term ‘fangyi’ or square yi first First appearing during the Yinxu period of the Shang
appears in the Song dynasty work Kaogu tu (考古圖) a record dynasty, the gong continues to be used until the middle of
of ancient bronzes and other antiquities in the Imperial the Western Zhou dynasty, at which time the vessel’s ring
and private collections with illustrations and inscriptions, foot is sometimes replaced by four small feet.
compiled by the scholar Lü Dalin (呂大林) in 1092 ad.
The shape of this bronze is sometimes said to have been adapted from earlier
Although nowadays the fangyi is generally classed among vessels for fermented beverages mentioned in ancient classical texts as having
vessels used for fermented beverages, we cannot be certain as to its actual use in been made from the horns of buffaloes. This theory seems to have been
antiquity. Chinese antiquarians of the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties believed confirmed by the discovery in 1959 at Shilou Taohuazhuang in Shanxi province
the fangyi was used to hold food. In recent times, eminent archeologists and of a bronze buffalo-horn-shaped gong with its narrower front section ending
scholars such as Chen Mengjia (陳夢家) and Bernhard Kalgren hold to the in the head of a horned dragon.
same view, but others such as Rong Geng (容庚), Ma Chengyuan (馬承源)
and Minao Hayashi (林巳奈夫) regard the fangyi as a vessel for fermented
beverages. Gu 觚
The gu is one of the most common bronze goblets used for
The fangyi form, known in pottery since the Neolithic period, also appears in fermented-beverage libations. Its chalice-shaped body is
white marble during the Shang dynasty. The first fangyi in bronze seems to flared in its upper part and at its base. Slightly protruding at
appear at the beginning of the Yinxu period of the Shang dynasty or perhaps the middle, it is sometimes flanked by four flanges, or cast
during the transitional phase between the end of the Erligang period and the with a décor in open work, or, extremely rarely, the whole
beginning of the Yinxu period. vessel may be of a square shape.

The fangyi disappears at the beginning of the Western Zhou dynasty after The term gu, which is not mentioned in early bronze
having undergone some morphological changes such as the addition of inscriptions, appears in the Shuowen (說文解字) written
flanges, or protruding design parts, or even lateral handles in the shapes of during the Western Han dynasty and other early encyclopedic
elephant trunks, making the later-period vessels look quite Baroque. dictionaries and the term was confirmed in usage by the Song
scholar Lü Dalin (呂大林) in 1092 in his book the Kaogu tu
( 考古圖).
Fu 簠
The term fu was employed very early on in classical texts to Very common in ceramic during the Neolithic period and the Erlitou culture
refer to a vessel used to hold offerings of millet during rituals. period, the gu vessel appears in bronze at the beginning of the Shang dynasty
This oblong vessel of rectangular form with upwardly sloping during the Erligang period. At that time the gu is small in size but roughly cast
sides in its bottom section, is supported by a flared foot and with thin walls. Its chalice shape is like an uninterrupted vertical line from its
topped by a cover with downwardly sloping sides of the foot to its rim. It is usually decorated with a frieze of primitive taotie masks,
same shape and size as its body and can be used as a second or, much more rarely, its foot is decorated with geometric motifs in openwork.
receptacle when placed upside-down.
During the Yinxu period, the gu becomes, with the jue, the most popular
The fu appears during the end of the Western Zhou period, more precisely at vessel, and is the basic set of vessels found in Shang tombs. The late Shang gu
the end of the 9 century bc. and becomes very popular during the Spring and is taller, slimmer and more elegant, and can be entirely covered with decor.
th
Autumn period.

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