Page 46 - Deydier VOL.2 Meiyintang Collection of Chinese Bronses

The precise function of the hu is also problematic. The
Yili (Book of Rites)mentions that the hu was used to hold
alcoholic beverages, but certain inscriptions and other
classical texts classify the hu among vessels used for holding
water. The general opinion among scholars nowadays is that
the hu was used to hold either alcoholic beverages or water,
depending on what the situation called for.
Several scholars, including Mr Ma Chengyuan, believe that
the hu first appeared in bronze as early as the Erligang
period of the early Shang dynasty, but no such early
example has as yet been unearthed by archeologists. During
the Yinxu period of the Shang dynasty, most hu take a form
which resembles the lower, rounded part of a pear that
gradually becomes a bit narrower as it rises to its narrower
and much shorter neck. A pair of cylindrical lug handles
appear near the top, one on each side of the neck and the
usually coverless vessel stands on a high ring foot. If there
is a cover, it is usually dome-shaped.
Sometimes, the body of the usually coverless hu becomes
more oval in shape and some, called fanghu, are even
square.
Gradually the shape of the body changes, and by the end of
the Shang, the pear-shaped lower section narrows half way
up towards the top of the vessel and the hu’s neck becomes
much longer and the later hu usually has a high cover, often
with a wide, high, thick-lipped open-topped knob on its top.
From the Warring States period onwards, the bianhu, a
flattened-egg-shaped vessel on a low rectangular foot and
topped by a short, rather narrow cylindrical neck with a
slightly protruding lip and a low cover with a small ring
handle on it, becomes very popular in addition to the
rounder version of the hu. (See Wang Tao, Chinese Bronzes
from the Meiyintang Collection, p. 112-113 no. 49.)
The hu is very popular during all of the Han dynasty, by
which time its body, pear-shaped or square, with a long
neck and cover, is cast in a simpler fashion, and with thinner
walls. The Han hu is usually without decoration, except
for a pair of taotie masks in light relief to which moveable
handles are attached.
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Jia 斝
This vessel used for warming fermented beverages is very
similar to the jue but differs from it in its larger size and
its lack of a pouring spout. Its body, which can be round or
cylindrical, with a flat bottom or a round one, has two vertical
protuberances surmounted by knobs. Its semi-circular
lateral handle can sometimes be decorated with a wonderful
animal head cast in the round. The term jia is mentioned
for the first time in the Liji (禮記 Book of Rites of the Zhou),
where a commentary by Zheng Xuan (鄭玄) says that the
jia was used by the King for making fermented beverage
libations during rituals, while the jue was used for the same
purpose by those of the rank of Marquis. A pictogram carved
on an oracle bone from the Shang dynasty strongly resembles the shape of this
vessel.
Jia vessels appear as early as the end of the Xia dynasty. Some were excavated
from stratum III and IV in the Erlitou area. These primitive examples have a
flat bottom, a body narrowing at the middle, a semi-circular lateral handle,
two vertical protuberances surmounted by knobs, and three triangular legs,
which can sometimes be hollow, similar to those on a vessel li.
At the beginning of the Shang dynasty, during the Erligang period, the shape
of the jia changes slightly, but generally the body consists of two sections: a
lower section with outwardly expanding, rounded sides and an upper section
with a narrow waist that flares outwards as it rises to its rim. The conical legs
are hollow and extend outwards as they descend.
During the Yinxu period, the apogee of Shang bronze vessel production, the
shape of the jia’s body hardly changes, and it remains round, tall and convex,
or sometimes square. The legs are triangular and sometimes hollow and open
on their inner sides. Size can also vary greatly, with the largest reaching over
80 cm in height.
Toward the end of the Shang dynasty and the beginning of the Zhou dynasty,
the body of the jia becomes dumpier and sometimes looks like the body of a li,
composed of three clustered round swells supported by three small cylindrical
legs that narrow into points as they descend. The vessel’s semi-circular, lateral
handle becomes thicker and is often surmounted by a bovine head cast in the
round.
The jia disappears around the middle of the Zhou dynasty.
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