Page 42 - Sotheby's NYC September 20 2022 Forging An Empire Bronzes

Fig. 1 A map showing the location of Luyi and Taiqinggong, original version of the map illustrated in Institute of Cultural
Relics and Archeology of Henan and Zhoukou Department of Cultural, ed., Luyi Taiqinggong Changzikou mu / Taiqinggong
Changzikou tomb in Luyi, Zhengzhou, 2000, p.2
圖一 鹿邑太清宮方位示意圖 地圖原版錄於河南省文物考古研究所及周口市文化局，《鹿邑太清宮長子口墓》，
鄭州，2000年，頁2

his bronze jue is cast with a two-character inscription, Zi Kou, which identifies the name
of its owner. This name rarely appears in bronze inscriptions, except on a group of bronze
Tvessels discovered in a Western Zhou tomb in Taiqinggong town, Luyi county, Henan
province. The owner of the tomb is named Chang Zi Kou 長子口, as indicated by the inscriptions from the
excavated bronzes. While most of the vessels are inscribed with a three-character inscription Chang Zi
Kou, a bronze he is cast with only two characters reading Zi Kou, which is closely related to the inscription
on the present jue. The bronze he is published in Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology of Henan and
Zhoukou Department of Cultural, ed., Luyi Taiqinggong Changzikou mu / Taiqinggong Changzikou tomb
in Luyi, Zhengzhou, 2000, p. 121.

Chang Zi Kou was the leader of the Chang clan. The history of this clan can be traced to the late Shang
period, as evidenced by oracle bone inscriptions which record the Chang clan as one of the suppliers
of tortoise carapace to the Shang empire for oracle bone divination ceremonies. Some scholars believe
that the Chinese family name Zhang 張 originates from the Chang clan, as the Chang people were
assigned the task to produce gong 弓 (bow) in the Shang dynasty (see op. cit., pp 209-210). After the
Shang empire was conquered by Zhou, the Chang clan, led by Chang Zi Kou, pledged loyalty to the new
king and was allowed to occupy the region of today’s Luyi county (fig. 1). The tomb of Chang Zi Kou was
believed by scholars to date to no later than the period of King Cheng of Zhou (c. 1042-c. 1021 BC). The
grand scale of his tomb suggests that Chang Zi Kou was an aristocrat of prestigious social status in the
early Western Zhou dynasty.