Page 126 - Deydier UNDERSTANDING CHINESE ARCHAIC BRONZES

The Owl Motif

Archaeological discoveries made in China in the past 80 or so years
suggest that the owl or chixiao 鴟鴞 was endowed with a special
reverence and religious significance in ancient China from as early
as the Neolithic period, and that this esteem for the owl continued
throughout the Xia 夏 and Shang 商 dynasties until at least the early
part of the Zhou 周 dynasty.

In 1975 a remarkably attractive Yangshao Culture 仰韶文化 (circa
5500 – 3500 B.C.) ceramic tripod owl-shaped vessel was excavated by
archaeologists in Hua county 華縣 in Shaanxi 陝西province and in the
past 30 or so years a considerable number of owl-shaped jade pendants
belonging to the Hongshan Culture 紅山文化 (circa 4000 – 3500 B.C.)
have been unearthed from the tombs of Shamans and tribal leaders in
China’s northeastern provinces, suggesting that the owl was endowed
with a special religious significance in these early pre-Xia 夏前 cultural
periods.

In the 1930s archaeologists excavating the tomb of King Wuding 武丁王
of the Shang 商 in present-day Henan 河南 province discovered several
standing owl sculptures positioned near the entrance to the tomb and
the burial chamber, suggesting that the owl was believed by the people
of the Shang 商 to be efficacious in warding off evil or inauspicious
forces and thus to be endowed with unusual protective powers. Then
again in 1976, archaeologists excavating the nearby tomb of Fuhao
婦好, consort of King Wuding 武丁王 discovered a magnificent pair
of owl-shaped bronze vessels and several other ritual bronze vessels
embellished with owl motifs.

Possible Reasons Why the Owl Was So Esteemed

According to early Chinese chronicles, the Shang 商 people worshipped
a special form of mystical bird 玄鳥 called a chixiao 鴟鴞 or owl, from
whom they believed their primal ancestor Qi 契 was descended, since
his mother Jian Di 簡狄 was purported to have conceived him after
swallowing a chixiao’s 鴟鴞 egg. Thus, though in later periods in China,
the owl or chixiao 鴟鴞 was generally regarded by the population as a
harbinger of misfortune and even death, for the people of the Shang

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Owl-shaped fangjia, Shang dynasty, Yinxu period (circa 14 – 12 /11 centuries B.C.)
Height: 24.5 cm, length: 17 cm – Meiyintang Collection n° 174.
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