Page 214 - Deydier UNDERSTANDING CHINESE ARCHAIC BRONZES

ore scholar and researcher than dealer, Christian Deydier studied
Chinese archaeology and specialized in jiaguwen, the earliest known
Mform of Chinese writing that was etched into oracle bones and tortoise
shells in the Shang dynasty from the 13 to 12 centuries B.C. In scholarly
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circles, and most particularly among Chinese archaeologists, Christian
Deydier especially owes his renown to the work which he has carried out on
Chinese bronzes and goldware and his many scholarly publications. including
Les Bronzes Archaïques Chinois / Archaic Chinese Bronzes – I – Xia Shang
(Paris 1995), Ancient Chinese Gold (Paris 2010), Chinese Bronzes from the
Meiyintang Collection (Hong Kong 2013). Since 1985, Christian Deydier has
annually organized exhibitions on themes such as archaic bronzes of the Shang
and Zhou dynasties, Chinese gold and silverware, etc.

The present book on ancient Chinese bronzes is divided into four main sections:

• The first on the early origins of ritual Chinese bronze vessels and their
religious, cultural and social importance, as well as their morphological
evolution over the ages.
• The second on the various motifs appearing on ancient Chinese bronzes
and their meanings in the context of Chinese cultural and religious beliefs
and practices.
• The third on the various scholarly studies carried out on ancient Chinese
bronzes from antiquity to the present day.
• The fourth on fakes: their producers, methods of production, etc. from
antiquity and especially from the Song dynasty (circa 12 century A.D.) up
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to the 1940s.