How did bronze wine vessels develop? The history of bronze

The history of bronze art: formative, heyday and transformation.

The formative period refers to the Longshan period, which is between 4800-4000 BC, that is, between 2800-2000 BC, which is equivalent to the legendary era of Yao Shunyu. Ancient texts record that people began to smelt bronze at that time. In the Longshan period ruins in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, bronze artifacts have been found in dozens of ruins through archaeological excavations.

Bronze

The first thing that appeared in China was small tools or ornaments. The Xia Dynasty began to have bronze vessels and weapons. By the middle Shang period, the variety of bronzes was already abundant, and inscriptions and fine patterns appeared.

From the late Shang period to the early Western Zhou Dynasty, it was the heyday of the development of bronze ware, with a variety of types, thick and dignified, gradually lengthened inscriptions, and rich patterns. Subsequently, the bronze carcass began to thin and the ornamentation was gradually simplified.

In the late Spring and Autumn period, the Chinese may have invented the lost-wax casting process. The process of the lost wax method is divided into three steps, firstly, the wax model is made from meltable paraffin, and the wax model is poured many times with fine mud to harden it to form a casting shape. Then, the cast shape is baked and ceramic.

In this process, the paraffin wax melts and flows out, forming a cavity in the casting. Finally, copper water is poured into the cavity to make utensils.

The above content reference:Encyclopedia – Bronze

The historical value of bronzes: Bronzes can be used to study the development of early human culture, and archaeology refers to the stage of human cultural development marked by the use of bronzes as the Bronze Age.

The research value of bronzes includes three factors: modeling, ornamentation and inscriptions, all of which are the products of certain social conditions, and the task of dynastic is to restore a bronze to the era to which it should belong, so that it can be examined under the original historical conditions. Therefore, the prerequisite for the use of bronzes as physical historical materials is the accurate dating of bronzes.

Chinese bronze refers to an alloy of pure copper and other chemicals such as tin, lead, nickel, and phosphorus. It has a history of 3,000 years, from the Xia Dynasty to the Han Dynasty. Chinese bronzes are most commonly found during the Chinese Bronze Age (1500-300 BC) and represent the culture and techniques of the third dynasty of the Xia and Shang dynasties.

The Bronze Age in China refers to the period from the Xia Dynasty (2100 BC-1600 BC) to the Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC-256 BC) when bronze technology developed, matured, and flourished. Unique shapes, exquisite carved patterns and elegant inscriptions reveal the casting process, cultural characteristics and historical origins of the pre-Qin period. Historians have praised these bronze vessels as living records of China's history.

During the Shang Dynasty, due to the development of the wine-making industry and the improvement of pewter and bronze making techniques, China's wine ware reached unprecedented prosperity. It also appeared in the profession at that time"Long spoons"with"Tail Spoon"This kind of clan specializes in making drinking utensils for a living. Although the drinking style of the Zhou Dynasty was not as good as that of the Shang Dynasty, the wine vessels basically followed the style of the Shang Dynasty.

In the Zhou Dynasty, there were also those that specialized in making drinking utensils"Azusa people"。

Bronze ware originated in the summer, the earliest copper wine vessel found now is the Jue of the Qing Bei Min Xia Erlitou cultural period, the bronze ware reached its peak in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the Spring and Autumn Period declined, and the use of the wine vessels of the Shang and Zhou dynasties was basically single-minded. According to the General Theory of Yin and Zhou Bronzes, the bronze roller vessels of the Shang and Zhou dynasties are divided into four major parts: food vessels, wine vessels, water vessels and musical instruments, with a total of 50 categories, of which wine vessels account for 24 categories. According to the use, it is divided into wine cooking utensils, wine containers, drinking vessels, and wine storage vessels.

In addition, there are ritual vessels. The shape is rich and varied. But there are also basic combinations, and the basic combinations are mainly Jue and Yao, the same shape, and their shape and style also bear the imprint of different historical periods.

Zun, pot, district, 卮, dish, jian, hu, 觥, urn, urn, yi.

There are many styles of each type of wine vessel, some are ordinary and some are in the shape of animals. Take Zun as an example, there are elephant zun, rhino zun, ox zun, sheep zun, tiger zun and so on.

The main types of drinking vessels are: goose, goose, horn, jue, cup, boat. People of different identities use different drinking utensils, as expressly stipulated in the "Book of Rites and Rituals"."For the sacrifice of the temple, the venerable person raises his eyes, and the humble person raises his horn"。

A wine warmer used to heat up the wine before drinking, and a ladle for easy pouring. Some wine warmers are called bottles, which were popular in the Han Dynasty.

Generally, the development of Chinese bronze culture is divided into three stages, namely, the formative period, the heyday period and the transformation period.

The formative period refers to the Longshan period, which dates from 4500 to 4000 years ago; The heyday was the Chinese Bronze Age, which included the Xia, Shang, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn Periods, and the early Warring States Period, which lasted for about 1,600 years, that is, the Bronze Culture Age of China's traditional system. The period of transformation refers to the end of the Warring States period During the Qin and Han dynasties, bronze ware has been gradually replaced by iron tools, not only in terms of quantity, but also from the original ceremonial weapons and used in ceremonial sacrifices, war activities and other important occasions into daily utensils.