Page 16 - Deydier VOL.2 Meiyintang Collection of Chinese Bronses

Among the thirty or so surviving books written during the Song dynasty on
Related Literature
In ancient texts from as early as the Zhou dynasty, such as the Zhouli ( 周
禮) and the Liqi (禮記), we can find references to ritual bronze vessels and
detailed descriptions of their uses.
During the Han dynasty, the Shuowen Jiezi ( 說文解字) and the Erya ( 爾雅)
both included numerous references to bronze ritual vessels.
- The Erya (爾雅), which is China’s earliest-known dictionary cum
encyclopedia and was most probably compiled in the 3 century bc. from
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the end of the Qin dynasty to the beginning of the Western Han, is divided
into three sections, one on synonyms, another on words grouped together
by the closeness of their meanings and a third on terms grouped together by
theme and contains a plethora of references to ancient ritual bronze vessels.
- The Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字), a dictionary cum encyclopedia written by
Xu Shen (許慎) (died 146 ad.) in the Han dynasty, features descriptions
of shapes and types of ritual vessels and explanations of their uses. This
extremely important book, with its wealth of valuable information, is even
today considered to be the foundation upon which all subsequent studies of
ancient Chinese bronze vessels is based.
During the 5 century ad., the poet, statesman and historian Shen Yue ( 沈約)
th
( 441 – 513 ad.) in the Furui Zhi (符瑞誌) (The Book of Auspicious Omens),
included later in the Songshu (宋書) (Annals of the Kingdom of Song (420
– 479 ad.) / Song Kingdom of the post-Han, pre-Tang period) mentioned
fifteen discoveries, in which a total of forty-one ancient bronze ritual vessels
were unearthed.
However, it was during the post-Tang period Song dynasty (960 – 1279 ad.)
that Chinese antiquarians carried out the first scientific studies of ancient
Chinese bronzes. After initially making a complete inventory of all the ancient
bronze vessels discovered up to that time, several scholars compiled treatises
which included drawings and descriptions of each known vessel and its
inscription, if there was one, together with an attempt to classify the vessels
and interpret the inscriptions.
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the subject of ancient bronze ritual vessels and their inscriptions, the most
important are:
- the Xian Qin Guji Tu (先秦古器圖), which is probably the first book
to publish drawings of ancient ritual vessels. It was written by the Song
academician Liu Chang (劉敞) (1019 – 1068) who lived near the site of the
ancient capital of the Western Zhou.
- The Jigulu Bawei (集古錄跋尾), edited and published by Ouyang Xiu (歐陽
修) (1007 – 1072) is regarded by scholars as the first specialized study of the
inscriptions cast on nineteen inscribed ritual bronze vessels known at that
time. The book contains information about the place of discovery of each
bronze, its shape and size and a transcription of its inscription. Ouyang
Xiu’s book was greatly influenced by the work of Liu Chang (劉敞).
- The Kaogu Tu (考古圖) written by Lü Dalin (呂大林) in 1092 is probably the
oldest and most important compilation produced during the Song period. It
includes a description and a drawing of two hundred and ten bronze vessels
and objects, as well as thirteen jade objects, dating from the Shang dynasty
up to the Han dynasty, and all included in either the Imperial Collections or
in ten private collections of the period. Of the two hundred and ten bronzes
treated in the book, one hundred and forty-eight were considered to date
from the Shang and Zhou dynasties and Lü arranged them according to
their shape. Lü’s extremely important work was the pioneer in its field
and the book upon which all further works and studies of ancient Chinese
bronze vessels, their morphology, etc. are based.
- The Bogu Tu (博古圖) was written by Wang Fu (王黼) on Emperor
Huizong’s (徽宗) (1101 -1125) instructions. This compilation, probably the
most famous, was done between 1107-1110, and then revised and expanded
between 1107 – 1110. In this extremely important work, Wang Fu not
only records eight hundred and thirty-nine bronzes arranged according
to their shape, but he also lists, describes and includes drawings and the
inscriptions of all inscribed bronze vessels which were then in the Imperial
and private collections. After doing careful research on the names of these
vessels based on the study of all the classical texts, Wang also standardized
the terminology for most of the bronze vessel shapes and their decorative
motifs. Unfortunately, some of the pieces published by Wang Fu are today
considered later copies of earlier bronzes.
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