Page 80 - Deydier UNDERSTANDING CHINESE ARCHAIC BRONZES

Yan 甗

The pronunciation of the Chinese character used to identify this vessel
is usually yan 甗, but some scholars pronounce it as xian. This vessel
was used for steaming rice or other grains and is composed of two parts:
■ Its lower part, similar to a li 鬲-shaped tripod, contained the water.
■ The upper part, called a zeng 甑, was used to hold rice or other
kinds of grain food to be cooked by steaming. Between the vessel’s
two sections, a strainer-like metal plate called a bi 箄is fixed.

Found in pottery as early as the neolithic period, the earliest known yan
甗 in bronze, dating from the Erligang 二里崗 period (circa 17 /16 –
th
th
14 centuries B.C.) of the early Shang 商 dynasty, was excavated at
th
Panlongcheng 盤龍城, Hubei 湖北 province between 1974 and 1976.
During the Shang 商 dynasty, the zeng 甑 or upper part of the vessel is
much larger than the lower li 鬲-like tripod-shaped lower section.

Towards the end of the Shang 商 dynasty and the beginning of the
Western Zhou 西周 dynasty, the upper part of the yan 甗 ends in a
horizontal lip on which vertical handles are secured.

The fangyan 方甗 or square yan 甗, supported by four legs, also
appears in this period, but is quite rare, with only a few examples being
published by Hayashi M. 林巳奈夫, In Shu Jidai Seidoki no Kenkyu (In

th
th
Yan, Shang dynasty, Erligang period (circa 17 /16 – 14 centuries B.C.)
th
Height: 45 cm - Meiyintang Collection n° 88.
78 79