Page 56 - Deydier VOL.2 Meiyintang Collection of Chinese Bronses

By the end of the Yinxu period, the wide-shouldered zun is replaced by the
high, narrower, cylindrical zun with its wide flaring top and base.
2 - a high cylindrical vessel bulging at its centre and opening out
as it rises to end in a trumpet-like mouth, similar to an enlarged
version of a gu, but of larger, stockier proportions. Like the gu’s,
this type of zun’s foot is also flared.
3 - a third type of zun in the form of an animal. Such animal-
shaped vessels grouped under the heading ‘zun’ are known cast
in the form of elephants, buffaloes, rams, rhinoceroses, rabbits,
pigs, mythological hybrid animals, etc. or birds. Considered to
be southern in origin, such animal-shaped vessels appear in the
repertoire of Chinese bronzes as early as the beginning of the Shang dynasty,
during the Erligang period.
In general zun in the form of animals are spoken of as niaoshouzun (鳥獸尊)
(bird-animal zun), xizun (犠尊) (ox zun), xiangzun (象尊) (elephant zun), etc.
in Chinese to differentiate them from regular zun.
Bells (Ling, Nao, Zheng, Bo)
During the Shang dynasty when the earliest bells appear in bronze in China,
bells usually come in groups of three, each of a different size.
During the Western Zhou, bells usually come in groups of 5, or 8, or 9 or even
more, each of a different size. By the beginning of the Eastern Zhou, i.e. the
Spring and Autumn period, bells are usually grouped into sets of nine or more,
varying in size from very small to very large.
The largest set of bells so far excavated, consists of 64 bells found in the
Warring States period tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng ( 曾侯乙墓) near present-
day Wuhan in the province of Hubei.
Various types of bells:
Ling 鈴
Scientifically excavated from Strata II at the Erlitou site in
Henan province, ling bells are actually the earliest-known
bronze objects produced in China. These small, oval, cup-like
bells with very thin sides, have a long, thin handle with rounded
ends jutting out from one side, and sometimes a tongue inside,
and were cast in two parts.
Ling bells become more numerous by the end of the Shang dynasty during
the Yinxu period. Usually around 7 to 8 cm in height, they rarely come larger
than 10 cm high.
Some specialists consider these small bells to be the ancestors of the larger bo
bell of subsequent periods.
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Nao 鐃
This medium to large-sized large bell composed of a large,
elliptic, cup-like section that, unlike bells of later periods,
is placed upwards towards the sky, rests on a long, thick,
cylindrical, handle-like projection, which in fact serves as the
bell’s base. The sound emitted by this ritual instrument is
produced by percussion.
Under the heading nao, specialists place two types of bells,
similar in shape, but quite different in size:
The nao 鐃, which according to the Shuowen Jiezi, written
around the 2 century bc., is the name given to fairly small bells of between
nd
7 and 21 cm in height, which were used during the Shang dynasty. Such nao
have been excavated from Yinxu period tombs and are usually found in groups
of three or four, or exceptionally, as in the case of the Fuhao (Lady Hao 婦好)
Tomb excavation in present-day Anyang, Henan province, in a group of five.
The zheng 鉦, often simply called nao or large nao, is shaped exactly like the
smaller nao, but is of much larger size, sometimes reaching 90cm in height;
usually very heavy, the zheng type of nao can weigh as much as 154 kg each
and its walls can be as thick as 3 or 4 cm. Generally found alone and positioned
with its opening towards the sky, the zheng was used during ritual sacrifices
to the natural elements, such as the wind, the rain, the stars, etc. as well as
to mountains and rivers. These large zheng bells were very popular from the
end of the Shang dynasty throughout the early part of the Western Zhou and
have been mainly excavated in more southerly provinces of China including
Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangxi.
Bo 鎛 / Zhong 鐘
The bo and zhong are fairly thick-sided bells which, like western
bells, are suspended facing downwards from their handles. For
the bo, the handle is semi-circular, sometimes simple, but more
often elaborately decorated with three-dimensional animal
forms, while for the zhong the handle consists of a long, thick,
tubular or multi-sided projection. Bo and zhong are usually
found in sets of from four or five to fourteen, or sometimes as
many as sixty-five, as in the set of bells excavated from the
tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng (曾侯乙墓) in 1978.
Drums – Gu 鼓
A type of early bronze drum in the shape of a large barrel on a
rectangular base supported by four legs was produced during
the Shang dynasty and was most probably used during military
campaigns. So far only two such drums have been excavated.
One is conserved in the Sumitomo Collection in Kyoto, Japan
and the other, which was excavated in 1977 in Chongyang
Baini, Hubei province is now conserved in the Hubei Provincial
Museum.
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