Shortly after the founding of New China in 1949, the staff of the Forbidden City counted and sorted out the cultural relics of the Palace Museum in Beijing. One day in the corner of a large hall, the staff found a bronze vessel, a large plate with a lot of things on it.
After people removed these things, they gently wiped the carbon ash off the surface of the plate, and a bear-shaped pattern appeared, and the bear looked cute, and the staff immediately realized that the copper plate was extraordinary. People continue to clean up more and more ornaments and animal shapes gradually revealed, this bronze is the turtle and fish pattern square disk.
Before this bronze was discovered by the staff, due to the lack of identification level at that time, the turtle and fish pattern square plate had been unknown during the Qing Palace and was used as a charcoal plate.
Although this turtle-and-fish pattern square plate is a heirloom, it has always been hidden in the Forbidden City. However, it was not favored by the Qing emperors and was placed haphazardly. Later, when a eunuch saw that this bronze plate was of a good size, he took it to make a brazier and used it to burn charcoal for warmth in winter. Due to the discovery of the staff of the Palace Museum in Beijing, this turtle and fish pattern square disk was reproduced in front of the world.
style
In the development of bronze to the Warring States period, the shape is more diverse, the decoration is more gorgeous, very ornamental.
This turtle-patterned square disc has a history of more than 3,000 years, it is rectangular, slightly rounded in four corners, 73.2 cm long, 45.2 cm wide, 22.5 cm high and 12.5 cm deep in the abdomen. The most attractive thing about this bronze plate is that from top to bottom, from the inside to the outside, the whole body is decorated with a variety of natural animals and mythical beasts, which is dazzling.
The front of the square disc is decorated with a beast face ring on each side of the abdomen. The animal face is decorated with scales. The ring is filled with beveled moiré.
Between the shop heads are two lifelike bears. The left bear's forefoots are crossed and support the bear's head. The bear on the right grabs a cockroach on its forefoot and seems to be teasing it, and the image is very vivid.
On the outside of the shop head is a human-faced bird-beaked winged beast, which sits on its flooped legs, and the left front paw grabs a cockroach and swallows it. The front paw on the right grabs a lizard and devours it.
The human-faced bird's beak and winged sacred beast are recorded in the ancient Chinese book "The Classic of Mountains and Seas", saying that it has wings on the beak of the human-faced bird and eats the fish in the sea.
On the left and right sides of the turtle-fish patterned square disc is a crouching mythical beast called the badger. The badger is an animal in myths and legends, commonly known as unicorns, with thick long hairs on its body. It is said that it has a skill, can distinguish between right and wrong, recognizes loyalty and adultery, good and evil, and is a symbol of justice.
There is a sheep on each of the badgers on the square plate. The body of the sheep lies on its side, and the head of the sheep reaches into the arms of the badger, and the movement is intimate and vivid.
The four sides of the tortoise pattern square disc are decorated with cockroach patterns, and a cockroach sticks out from each of the four corners. The mantis bites the back ridge of the tiger below, grasps the tiger's back with two claws, and the tail of the mantis coils around the neck.
The feet of the square disc are in the shape of a tiger, the tiger's body is lowered, the hips are raised, the tiger's mouth is slightly open, and the four claws are supported against the ground. The body is decorated with markings and looks majestic.
The bottom of the turtle-fish patterned disc is lined with triangular clouds and decorated with seven rows of turtles, fish and frogs. Some swim opposite each other, and some roam left and right. Ten cockroaches loop back and forth between turtles and frogs, and the bodies of the mantises are intertwined with each other, like ripples of flowing water, which is very interesting.
This turtle and fish pattern square disc is exquisitely cast and decorated, and in addition to the common ornaments such as cockroach pattern, hooked cloud pattern, triangular cloud pattern and string pattern, there are more than ten kinds of natural animals and mythical beast images. Among them, the human-faced bird-beaked winged divine beast has never appeared on other bronze artifacts that have been handed down.
The turtle-fish pattern square disc has important artistic value because it is a typical reaction to social changes in the early Warring States period in culture and art. Whether from this shape or from the ornamentation, it has changed the solemn and mysterious appearance of the Bronze ware of the Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou Dynasty, and began to pursue a realistic and lively artistic style.
The turtle patterned square disc has no inscription, and its rich content is expressed in patterns. This kind of narrative is an artistic feature formed during the Warring States period. The turtle and fish pattern square disc is ingeniously conceived and richly decorated, and is a rare bronze masterpiece of the Warring States period in China. The turtle and fish pattern square plate is richly decorated, allowing us to see the beauty of ancient Chinese bronzes.
function
The turtle-fish pattern square plate is an ancient Chinese washer, and its function is equivalent to our current washbasin. Generally speaking, bronze plates are used in conjunction with bronze discs, and they are popular from the Shang Dynasty to the Warring States period in China. At that time, the nobles had to wash their hands before holding ancestor worship and feasting activities, called the Ritual of Wo, to show cleanliness and honor.
When washing hands, one person pours water with a bronze zamp in his hand, and the other person holds a bronze plate with water in his hand. Washing hands with running water is not only hygienic, but also reflects the noble status of the nobility.
The turtles and frogs decorated on the inner bottom of the turtle-fish patterned square are all animals that live in the water. When the water is poured into the plate, the water ripples, and the salmon flowers on the plate seem to swim in the water, full of fun. That's why this artifact was named a turtle-and-fish pattern square plate.
Among the existing ancient Chinese bronzes, the number of bronze plates is quite large, and the more famous ones are scattered plates. Although the casting age of the turtle and fish pattern square disc is relatively late compared with these bronze plates, it combines the decorative themes on many bronzes, and the complexity of the craftsmanship and the unique style are very rare in the ancient Chinese bronzes that have been handed down.
The turtle and fish pattern square plate collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing is a beautiful washing utensil from the Warring States period of China, which not only reflects the superb bronze casting skills of ancient craftsmen, but also has great significance for experts to study the development history of Chinese bronzes.