Page 76 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts

musical performances, and mulberry-leaf picking are composed in scenes of sacrificial offerings, 10. Henan Provincial Institute
might be depicted in inlaid copper or chiseled into music and dance, production, trade, war, and of Cultural Artifacts, et al., "A
the surfaces of bronzes. Inlay and incising were also hunting, offering a vivid picture of Dian society of Chu Tomb of the Spring and
used to portray fantastic creatures such as human- the time. During this same period the Xiongnu of Autumn Era at Xiasi, Xiquan"
headed animals or bird-headed humans. the northern grasslands, the Donghu tribe of the (Wenwu Publishing House,
Xianbei people in the northeast, and theYue in the
On bronzes of the Spring and Autumn and Warring south were also creating bronze cultures, each with 1991).

States periods the most popular decorative motifs its own style. Together, they complete the current 11. Chen Peifen,"King Fuchai
of Wu," Bulletin of the Shanghai
—were variations of dragon patterns an abrupt picture of developments in ancient Chinese bronze Museum, no. 7.
making.
change from the ubiquitous zoomorphic masks of
Shang and Western Zhou, which doubtless signals a Translated, from the Chinese, by June Mei.
change in society's beliefs. The dragons might be
NOTES 12. Shanxi Provincial Institute
interlaced, or coiled, or stylized into a dragon-like of Cultural Artifacts, The
1. Erlitou work team of the
pattern. However the dragons were rendered, they Institute of Archaeology, Bronze Casting Site at Houma
commonly encircle the vessels in continuous Chinese Academy of Sciences, (Wenwu Publishing House,
"Brief Report on the
designs, in strong contrast to the separate units Excavations of Sections 3 and 1993)-
8 of the Erlitou Site atYanshi,
characteristic of earlier bronze decor. Elaborate and Henan," Kaogu, 1975:5. 13. Report on the Excavation of a

delicately linear detail characterizes these dragons. Han Tomb at Maucheng (Wenwu
Late variants of the dragon patterns omitted the Publishing House, 1980).

heads, leaving only the interlaced bodies. The 2. Gejieping, "Bronzes of the 14. Yunnan Provincial Museum,
Shang Era Found at Funan,
impulse toward variation and increasingly fine Anhui Province," Wenwu, Report on the Excavation of a
detail eventually turned bronze decorations into 1959:1. Group ofAncient Tombs at
geometric designs. That was the final stage of Shizhaishan, Jinning, Yunnan
bronze decoration, succeeded by the appearance of 3. Henan Provincial Institute of
large quantities of plain, undecorated bronzes alter Cultural Artifacts and the (Wenwu Publishing House,
the mid- Warring States period. Zhengzhou Municipal
Museum, "Newly Discovered 1959)-
BRONZES OF THE QIN AND HAN PERIODS Buried Shang Dynasty Bronzes
(221 BCE-220 CE) from Zhengzhou" Wenwu,

The vast majority of bronzes of the Qin and Han 1983:3-

periods were practical vessels without ritual 4. Hubei Provincial Museum.
significance, objects of daily use, often with "Erligang Period Shang
inscriptions indicating their weight or capacity. Bronzes from Panlong City,"
Wenwu, 1976:2.
Most vessels had little or no decoration. Some
5. Gao Zhixi, "Shang Bronzes
bronzes, however, from aristocratic and royal tombs and Sites Discovered at
of the Western Han, display exquisite Huangcai, Ningxiang, Hunan,"
workmanship. " In particular, the surface decorative
techniques of gilding, gold-and-silver inlay, and Kaogu, 1963:12.
painting had reached very high standards.
6. Shanghai Municipal
Implements for daily use, cast in human or animal Commission for the
forms, became notable achievements of Han bronze Preservation of Cultural
making. These include the Changxin Palace lamp, Artifacts, "Tombs of the
Liangzhu Culture at
as well as the lamp in the shape of a goose holding Fuquanshan, Shanghai,"
Wenwu, 1984:2.
a fish (cat. 53).
7. An oracle bone inscription
Han period bronzes made by peoples living around reads, "The Emperor sent the
Phoenix." See Guo Moruo,
the periphery of the empire are markedly different Pud tongzuan, p. 398.

from those of central China. The most notable ones 8. Ma Chengyuan, "A Tentative
come from the bronze culture of the Yi people in
Interpretation of the He Zun
the western parts of Yunnan. Since the 1950s a large
number of bronze artifacts have been recovered Inscription," Wenwu, 1976:1.
from an ancient tomb at Shizhaishan,Jinning,
9. Shanxi Provincial Institute of
Yunnan. Among them is a gold seal marked "Seal of Archaeology and Taiyuan
Municipal Commission for the
the King of Dian," which confirms the ethnic Preservation of Cultural
origin of the bronze culture at this site. 14 Artifacts, "Brief Report on the
Shizhaishan bronzes show very advanced use of Excavation of a Large Spring
lost-wax casting, gold-and-silver inlay, gilding, and
inlaid gemstones. Both linear and fully modeled and Autumn Era Tomb (no.
depictions of people, animals, structures, etcetera,
richly varied and lifelike, adorn these bronzes. They 251) and Horse-and-Chanot
Pit at Jmsheng Village,
Taiyuan," Wenwu, 1989:9.

RITUAL BRONZES — EPITOME OF ANCIENT CHINESE CIVILIZATION 74