Page 165 - China's Renaissance in Bronze, The Robert H.CIague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900

Called hua gu, or flower gu, these two identical vessels might have
served as ornamental vases but they could have functioned as flower vases
only with the aid of liners, since their bottoms are pierced to accommodate
the pins that anchor the stands. The vases follow the form of the Shang-
dynasty gu beaker, a slender vessel with flaring mouth that in antiquity was
1
used for offerings of warmed wine. Ancient gu beakers had a very slender
shaft, thus distinguishing them from their close relative, the zun wine vessel
[compare 30, 31]. Popular in celadon-glazed stoneware during the Southern
2
Song, gu-shaped vessels were seldom fashioned during the Yuan and Ming
dynasties. The same interest in antiquity that led to the creation of zun-
shaped vessels in the late Ming and Qing periods sparked a resurgence in
3
the popularity of the gu during the Kangxi and Qianlong eras. 4
Although they varied slightly in their decorative schemes, Bronze Age
gu and zun vessels typically featured the taotie mask as their principal
ornament; neither sported chi dragons. Regarded as a young, or immature,
dragon, the chilong had been popular since Warring States and Han times
[see discussion, 13]. Occasionally represented in the decorative arts of the
Song, Yuan and Ming periods, the chilong found special favor in the late
Ming and Qing, numbering among the most prominent motifs, especially
in carved jades. Usually shown creeping as if stalking prey, the playful chi
dragons are typically depicted in pairs or in the company of adult dragons
(thus forming families). Chi dragons always have long coiled tails, often
bifurcated or even trifurcated; they sometimes have furry manes and they
frequently have flames emanating from their joints, symbolizing their super-
natural status.
Presented as diagonally symmetrical pairs during the Ming [see 13],
chi dragons are usually presented as pairs of complementary opposites
during the Qing, in keeping with the Qing taste for yin-yang symbolism
[compare 21]. In the present vases, for example, each pair of chi dragons
has one with upward-arching body and the other with downward-curving
body, one with bifurcated tail and the other with undivided tail, one with
head shown from above and the other with head shown in profile, one with
a trunk-like snout and the other with a blunt nose, and one with a horn
and the other without.
If the interest in complementary opposites supports the general attri-
bution to the Qing dynasty, the style of the chi dragons underlies the specific
attribution to the Kangxi period. Shown in profile, the sleekly styled, smooth
skinned head of the snouted chilong is closely related in style and general
appearance to the heads of several sea creatures on the Kangxi-period

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