Topic > Bronze Age - 1522

When entering a museum, large or small, located in eastern or western countries, as long as it displays ancient Asian works of art, it is difficult not to find bronzes placed in the most prominent, shining with a beam of cold white light. The Bronze Age is not as dull or frigid as this dark metallic alloy has apparently been shown to us; instead, it was full of creativity and innovation. It is surprising but not surprising that the ancient Chinese are considered one of the most intelligent groups of human beings, they produced such a remarkable amount of artifacts to use in their daily lives as necessities or decorations, or sacrifice their ancestors, or record important events. This article will provide a specific description of two bronze vessels from the Shang and Zhou dynasties respectively, providing interpretations of their production process and their roles in ritual performance. The first vase I chose, called "Zhui" gui, comes from the Western Zhou Dynasty, which was probably cast between 900 and 850 BC. Basically, this vase consists of two distinct parts: an oblate bowl with two handles symmetrically at the sides and a huge square base on the bottom. Starting from the bowl, the decoration is organized but not delicate. The ornaments can mainly be divided into three parts. The upper and lower motifs are almost the same, they look like a band with many spiraling clouds, which each of them reverses both upside down and mirrored, except for a raised head of an antelope-like animal lying in the center of the upper band, with the long horns curved inwards. The central part is more complex. One can easily identify two prominent eyes in relief of a taotie, a motif commonly found on Chinese ritual bronze, located symmetrically on each side of the center... central of the card... intended for serving wines on a ritual occasion. It is necessary to mention that there are some motifs, such as the shape of a spiral cloud, or animals, such as the taotie, which appear frequently on a large percentage of bronzes excavated from the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The fact is, however, that even though most of the bronzes have the same decorations, when comparing the details, the discrepancy is everywhere: the tattoos on the two vessels are generally the same but completely dissimilar in detail. I am fascinated by this incredible property of ancient Chinese bronze vessel as it represented the ancient Chinese's pursuit of creativity and uniqueness. The system of decoration and technique created during the Bronze Age may not be as comprehensive as other inventions such as four major inventions created in later China; It is the essence of the culture of the era and the embodiment of the intelligence of the ancient Chinese.