Page 148 - Deydier UNDERSTANDING CHINESE ARCHAIC BRONZES

Shang. Thus, by the Xia 夏 and Shang 商 periods, the domesticated
water buffalo was already playing an important role in the agricultural
life of the Chinese people and was regarded as a sign of wealth, a strong,
gentle animal that by its labours contributed to the general well-being
and prosperity of the kingdom and its people.

When describing the Shang 商 dynasty, chronicles written during the
Eastern Zhou 東周 and Han 漢 periods emphasize that, for the Shang
rulers, two activities were of prime importance: 國之大事, 惟祀與戎,
‘the nation’s important undertakings (were) only sacrificial rites and
war’. Oracle bone inscriptions, jiaguwen 甲骨文, record that water
buffalo were among the main animals slaughtered and offered to the
spirits and ancestors during the Shang’s frequently held sacrificial
rites, so much so that even the ancient phrase for ‘beast slaughtered for
sacrifice’ ‘Xisheng’ 犧牲 is composed of the ‘buffalo’ radical 牜(standing
radical form of 牛) and characters indicating the sounds xi and sheng
(牜+羲 = Xi 犧; 牜+生= Sheng 牲), with the second character of the
phrase, i.e. sheng 牲, meaning ‘domestic animal’ when used alone.

The connection between sacrificial rites and the water buffalo may
account for the frequent appearance of buffalo heads on bronze ritual
vessels and especially jue 爵, jia 斝 and gui 簋 of the Shang 商 and
Western Zhou 西周 dynasties.

In a few rare cases, complete vessels were cast in the form of water
buffalo. One such ‘buffalo zun’ or niuzun 牛尊, was excavated in 1977
at Hengyang 衡陽 in Hunan 湖南 province and is now conserved in the
Hunan Provincial Museum (See photo on page 146).

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Buffalo zun or niuzun, Shang dynasty (14 – 12 /11 centuries B.C.)
Height: 14 cm, Length: 19 cm – Henan Provincial Museum.
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