Download - Chinese Bronzes The Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Quick Write What are some of the purposes of art?
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Chinese Bronzes
The Shang and Zhou Dynasties
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Quick Write
• What are some of the purposes of art?
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Bronze ageSomewhere around
2000-1800 BCE the
Shang dynasty began
to cast bronze. Like
most cultures that
began to use bronze
in an early stage, it
was put to weaponry.
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But what set the Shang apart in early bronze metallurgy was that they began to devote a great deal of attention to intricate detail and casting things otherthan common weapons,including ceremonial weapons and vessels.
Ritual wine vessels
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Ceremonial axes
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The Legend of the Founding of the First Dynasty – the Xia
Mythical King Yu
brought the primordial
floods under control,
divided his land into
nine provinces, and had
nine food cauldrons cast
to represent them.
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When the Xia fell, the nine bronzes, also called
“The Auspicious Bronzes of the State,” passed
to the Shang, and in turn, to the Zhou when they
conquered the Shang. Possession of bronze
vessels became a symbol for power and prestige.
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Shang and Zhou rulers used cauldrons,cups, pitchers, and other vessels to presentofferings to deities and ancestors
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Thus rulers reaffirmed their hereditary rights
to power and attempted to persuade the gods
and their ancestors to influence events
favorably.
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Spouted ritual wine vessel (Guang),
Shang dynasty,13th century BCE
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Detail of ritual wine vessel
The designs on the vessels depicted real and
imaginary animal forms, as well as geometric
patterns.
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Many of the designs are formed into animal masks
(taotie). The background is a series of spiral
patterns, often one animal form flows into another
animal form.
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Many of the vessels themselves were cast in
the shape of animals, both real and imaginary.
dragon
rhinoceros
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owl
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During the Western Zhou, zoomorphic forms
became more abstract.
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The Eastern Zhou added vessels with purely
geometric patterns.
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Casting Method
First a clay model
was made and then
encased with outer
layer of damp clay;
when firm, the outer
layer was cut off in
sections and fired to
form a mold.
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Next, the model was shaved down to become the core.
Sections of mold were reassembled around the core and molten bronze was poured into the gap between the two.
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Once cooled, the mold and core were removed
and the vessel polished.
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Ceremonial bell,
Eastern Zhou,
early 5th century.
Height 15 in.
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Detail of bell
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Twenty-six bronze zhong bells (c. 550 BCE).
Xichuan, height 23.6-120.4 cm.
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“With these elaborately cast vessels, bronze
itself became an art form. It moved from the
utilitarian to something…very meaningful and
deeply religious not only to the rulers but to
the Chinese civilization…in general”.