One afternoon in 1819, Christian Jurgensen Thomsen, who had just been appointed director of the Royal Danish Museum of Northern Antiquities, was pacing the collection room.
Thomson Image Source: Network
Right now he's faced with a rather tricky job of cataloging the museum's collections. What rules should be used for these huge, disorganized collections? The young curator has been pondering this conundrum for days and nights.
Suddenly, he found that the weapons and tools of the same material in the collection seemed to belong to an era, and following this idea, he classified stone tools, bronze tools, and iron tools separately, and put forward the "three-phase theory" on this basis.
Yuanmou stone axe, Panlong City bronze axe, and iron tools that have been handed down to the present Source: Yunnan Archaeology, Hubei Daily, Photo Network
This "three-period theory", which laid the foundation of European antiquology, is different from the chronological sequence of traditional historiography, and innovatively divides the era according to the antiquities themselves.
The era of bronze as the main production and living tools is called the "Bronze Age".
Image source: Photo Network
For Thomson, however, the Dane may not have imagined that in the far East, an ancient people had created a splendid bronze civilization that was completely different from the face of Europe.
01
What is Bronze?
For Chinese, copper is not a rarity. As early as the Neolithic period, copper ore was discovered.
The most common chalcopyrite Source: Easy Ore Information
Erythrite Source: Mining Club
However, elemental copper has strong plasticity. Although it is possible to make a simple tool after repeated pounding, the texture is too soft, and a little force will produce a "deformation", which is very difficult to use.
Therefore, this metal material did not receive much attention in the early days of its discovery.
Until about the late Yongsan period, it was found that if a small amount of lead, tin and copper were added to forge together, its quality could be greatly improved.
Majiayao culture copper knife
Later, by adjusting the ratio of lead and tin, it was also possible to adjust its toughness and hardness, and a new alloy, bronze, was born.
After countless adjustments and upgrades, bronze smelting and casting technology has been further popularized. Bronze soon replaced stone tools as the main material for human tools and living tools.
Mountain Woman's Wife Source: The Palace Museum
However, what we call bronze is now called. In the mouths of the ancients, these bronzes were called "gold" or "jijin".
This is because the bronze that has just been cast actually shows a brilliant gold color, and the turquoise color we see today is actually the result of the long-term oxidation and rust of the cultural relics.
Shang Animal Face Pattern, Shanxi Bronze Museum Collection Source: Arterial Shadow. The golden part between the green rust is the primary color of the bronze (the gold of the copper), so it is relatively rare to preserve a large number of bronzes of the primary color of the artifact.
02
The development of bronzes
If you want to trace the origin of bronze ware, you may be able to trace it back to the late Neolithic period. However, bronze ware really became a civilization, or it had to start from the Erlitou culture.
Erlitou Culture: The Beginning Period
As a new thing, the development of bronze ware is mainly affected by two major factors, one is smelting technology, the other is resource reserves, and the discovery of erlitou culture proves this very well.
Erlitou excavation site Source: Luo Bao rong coal
The Erlitou culture is generally considered to be a relic of the historical record of the Mid-Xia Dynasty, and it is also the beginning of the Bronze Age in China. During this period, Chinese were already able to make bronzes relatively skillfully.
Among the bronzes unearthed in this period, tools accounted for a large number of them, mainly because the tool shape was simple, just by pulling out a cavity in the mud and injecting copper liquid to cast it.
On the other hand, the vast majority of bronze tools unearthed by the Erlitou culture come from copper casting workshops, and their use is bronze processing and production, not agricultural or economic tools. This shows that copper resources were still quite scarce at that time, far from meeting the needs of popularizing production tools.
So, how to use limited copper ore? For people at the time, the answer was to make weapons.
Compared with stone knives and stone axes, weapons made of bronze, whether in terms of hardness and sharpness, are epic product iterations.
Inlaid with a saffiano square cymbal Source: Vivi Cottage 201507
For the settlements around the Erlitou culture and the internal peasants, the bronze sharp weapons in the hands of the rulers were no different from foreign guns and cannons, and they were the only magic weapon for external conquest and maintenance of internal stability.
However, the types of weapons at that time were still relatively simple and primitive, and the main ones found at present were go, axe, cymbal, and hammer.
The so-called "great affairs of the country are in the worship and the rong." "In addition to weapons, another large denomination of bronzes appeared in the late Erlitou culture: copper containers. This, of course, was also a high-end luxury that only the aristocratic class could enjoy.
Bronze Corset, Shanghai Museum
As mentioned earlier, smelting technology is an important factor affecting the development of bronze, and the emergence of copper containers reveals a revolution in thinking among craftsmen at that time:
In order to manufacture a relatively complex shape of the container, they use the inner core and the outer fan to form the cavity in the shape of the desired utensil, and then pour the bronze solution into it, and after cooling, the pottery fan can be removed to get the finished product, which is the hefan technology.
Bronze axe
From the perspective of types, the bronze containers of the Erlitou culture mainly include jue, horn, ding, and axe, of which the number of knights is the largest. As for its use, the mainstream view is that there are two kinds of practical instruments and ceremonial instruments, of which the role of ceremonial instruments should be more.
People at that time may not know that eating and drinking with these bronzes with serious excess of heavy metal content is harmful to health, but as far as the smelting technology at that time is concerned, drinking wine with copper lords must eat a mouthful of scum, so it is a good choice to dedicate it to the gods who cannot speak.
A bronze knight excavated from the Erlitou site
Shang Dynasty: Period of Development
The Shang dynasty was the first written dynasty in Chinese history, but unlike the appearance of the Great Unification Dynasty presented in the Chronicle of History, the real Shang Dynasty is more likely to be a less stable tribal alliance centered on the Zheng and Luo regions.
Shang Dynasty Territory Map Source: Outsiders talk about it
During this period, bronze smelting technology was mastered throughout the country, creating an era of bronze civilization with a hundred flowers.
First, let's talk about the boss of this alliance: Shang.
Merchants had an almost obsessive belief in witch culture, and they had to ask God what they thought of everything, so much so that almost the entire history of the Shang Dynasty was restored by relying on the turtle shells found in Yin Ruins.
Yin Xu Oracle Bone Bu Ci
They also believe that the ethereal feeling after drinking wine is a manifestation of seeing the gods, so up to the nobles, down to the commoners are generally drunk, and the combination of wine vessels and knights has become the absolute core of the Shang Dynasty ritual vessels.
Shang Dynasty Yao Source: Palace Museum
Shang Dynasty Emperor Source: Palace Museum
After the tang dynasty and the extinction of xia, the history of the merchant state can be divided into three stages:
Early Shang, at this stage into Tang Dingdu Yu Bo, that is, the Zhengzhou Shangcheng found by archaeology, the regime was relatively stable; the Chinese Shang, at this stage, the Shang King ran away with the people to four places and did not settle down; late Shang, marked by Pan Geng's migration to Yin, the merchant finally had a comfortable life.
The development of Bronze in the Shang Dynasty also roughly coincided with this.
The change of animal face pattern is a basic clue to the development of Shang Dynasty bronzes.
In the early Shang period, the animal face pattern was more abstract and rough; in the Middle Shang period, the cloud thunder pattern was began to be added as a ground pattern, and decorated with the animal face pattern with prominent eyes; in the late Shang period, the animal face pattern became more concrete, the image was vivid, and the inscription was cast on the body. At present, the mainstream view is that these "animal noodles" should be known for their gluttony.
In 1976, the early animal face of the merchant excavated from Zhongmu Huangdian in Henan Province Image source: Archaeological Hui
Shang Dynasty Gluttony Pattern Fang Ding Source: Antique Xin
Late Shang Dynasty Panlong Pattern Collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei Source: Old Kiln
In addition to ornamentation, the types of bronze ware also ushered in a great development in the Shang Dynasty.
In terms of weapons, the merchants made advanced products such as spears and large knives and gizzards for defense, which greatly improved the survivability when flowing around.
Bronze knife of the Shang Dynasty Source: National Museum of China
On the food utensils, the use of utensils is more subdivided, there are bristles for cooking, steaming for steaming, and dings and gui for serving meals.
The wine vessels are more varied, in addition to the Yao and Jue used to drink wine, there are also the Yao, Yi, Jiao, 卣, 瓿 and so on used to hold wine.
As a result, the chinese bronze ceremonial vessel group has become more and more abundant.
Source: Palace Museum
Late Shang Houmu Xin Yi Source: Baidu Encyclopedia
In 1989, the discovery of the Oceania Merchant Tomb in Xingan, Jiangxi Province, unveiled the veil of a businessman's loyal little brother.
In archaeology, oceanian shang tombs belong to the Wucheng culture. More than 480 bronzes have been unearthed from the tomb, which can be divided into two main categories.
The first type is roughly similar to the early Shang bronzes; the second category has a unique bronze man mask, a standing bird and beast fangding, tiger-shaped, dating equivalent to the late Shang, but with a distinct local style.
Oceania merchant tombs unearthed Milk nail pattern tiger ear copper fangding", straight ears, ear on the upper one has a Crouching Tiger Source: Cultural Relics Archaeology Chat History
Oceania merchant tomb unearthed Fu bird double-tailed copper tiger Source: Cultural relics archaeology chat history
Oceania merchant tomb unearthed double-sided god man bronze head Source: Cultural relics archaeology chat history
Where does this difference come from? According to history, in the early Shang Dynasty, merchants exercised strong control over the southern region through the military town of Panlongcheng in Hubei, and the Wucheng culture was deeply influenced by it.
After Pan Geng moved to Yin, Panlong City was abandoned, and the cultural influence on Wucheng was greatly reduced, and local craftsmen could finally play freely, diy a large number of original products. It is worth noting that the Wucheng culture found that bronze ware is mainly food utensils and agricultural tools, which shows that the locals have always been dissatisfied with the characteristics of big brother wine and mengzi.
Oceania Shang Tomb Unearthed Chinese Yong King - "Lilu Da yong" Source: Cultural relics and archaeology talk about history
Oceania Shang Tomb Excavation The bronze statue buried in the tomb is the only bronze tomb of the Shang Dynasty excavated so far Source: Cultural relics and archaeology Talk about history
Thanks to the obvious location advantage, the Sanxingdui culture in the same period grew savagely in the natural dangers of Bashu and always preserved strong local characteristics.
The ancestors of Sanxingdui were also obsessed with witchcraft, but their sacrificial vessels were represented by exaggerated bronze human faces, sacred trees, and gods and figures, which was a clear proof that the bronze civilization was full of flowers at that time.
Two weeks: the heyday
In 1046 BC, Emperor Xin, the last Shang king who had already lost his way, put on a jade dress and jumped into the raging fire of Lutai. Ji Fa, the King of Zhou Wu, who arrived later, cut off his head with a yellow sword.
This highly symbolic act shows that the use of bronze ware was given a strong spiritual connotation at that time, and they exerted this meaning to the extreme in the later practice of Zhou people's liturgical music.
"Ya ugly" 钺, Shang Dynasty Yin Shang period. The royals usually used a weapon shaped like a large axe with a carved human face as a symbol of their power and status, which was called a cymbal.
The liqu system is the core value of the Zhou Renwei system, and at the material level, bronze has become the most important medium for realizing the liturgical system.
In the Shang Shu Jiu, the Duke of Zhou reviewed the history of the merchants' good wine and the fall of the country, and promulgated the first prohibition of alcohol in Chinese history. This opened a new chapter in the combination of bronze ceremonial vessels with the food vessel ding and gui as the core.
In terms of ceremonial utensils, the Zhou people stipulated a clear system of "column ding" according to different identities, that is, the heavenly son nine ding eight gui, the princes seven ding six gui, qing dafu five ding four gui.
Zhou Dynasty Dinggui system Schematic diagram of the exhibition hall of The Shanxi Bronze Museum Source: Wenbo Circle
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the princes were still quite obedient and strictly followed the rules of The Lieding.
The Yujun family was the most authentic old ho jingji nobleman in western Zhou, who was first in Baoji, and later moved east with King Ping, moving to the Sanmenxia area, always playing the role of guarding the portal of Zhou Tianzi.
In the 1950s, archaeologists discovered the Yu National Cemetery in Shangcunling, Sanmenxia. Among them, the monarchs of the Kingdom of Yu, Yu Ji and Yu Zhong, the crown prince Yu Yuan, were buried with the Seven Dings and Six Gui, and the lady of Yu Ji, Liang Ji, was buried with the Five Dings and Four Gui. This is regarded as a clear evidence of the practice of the Lieding system in the Western Zhou Dynasty.
Yu Zhongtong Leding Exhibition Site Collection of Sanmenxia Yuguo Museum Source: The Paper
Musically, the Zhou people love percussion, bronze chimes, yong bells, button bells, bells, stone chimes are their mainstream instruments.
In the social party of the upper nobility, accompanied by the "Sound of Golden Stone" to share the cooked meat in the big ding, watching the beauty dancing is a reserved program, which can be called the Western Zhou version of the "Haitian Feast".
Zeng Houyi Chimes Source: Wuhan Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism
In addition to the reform of utensils, bronze ornamentation has undergone great changes compared with the Shang Dynasty.
The animal face pattern was gradually eliminated, replaced by a hammer pattern, a phoenix pattern, a poor curved pattern, a heavy ring pattern, and the aesthetic value was further improved.
Western Zhou bronze ornamentation changes
At the same time, bronze as a "heavy weapon of the country", its casting often has to have a head, so the Western Zhou bronze will be engraved on the body of the large-scale inscription, describing the deeds of the maker, the reason for the work, has become a valuable first-hand historical material for the study of the history of that time.
Western Zhou Ligui and its inscription Source: Tencent News
The inscription clearly mentions the Wu King's conquest of the shang, and records that the specific time of the key battle of the Wu King's cutting was on the day of the Jiazi, mentioning the astronomical phenomenon of the stars in the early morning of that day.
Western Zhou Dynasty Keding and its inscriptions
During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the technological revolution pushed bronze craftsmanship to a new height.
In the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, craftsmen began to use wax molds to make the desired shape, and then wrapped them with refractory materials to bake wax molds to form cavities, and finally injected copper liquid to cast and form, which is known in the history of metallurgy as the lost wax method.
The lost-wax method products have no fan seams, and the design freedom is also higher, which provides technical support for various styles of bronze ware during the Spring War.
Spring and Autumn Lotus Crane Square Pot Source: Henan Museum
At the same time of technological innovation, the socio-political pattern has also quietly discovered changes, the Zhou royal family is getting thinner and thinner, the crowds of people everywhere are rising together, and the bronzes of various countries have also formed a unique style.
Western Zhou bronzes major variations
In the "Left Biography", it was recorded that the King of Chuzhuang asked the Zhou Dafu Wang Sun Man Tianzi jiuding about the size and weight of the nine dings, leaving an allusion to "winning the Central Plains". However, judging from the archaeological findings, even if Wang Sunman revealed the basic data, King Zhuang could only imitate the magic version of the Chu Jiuding.
Spring and Autumn "Prince Noon" Ding can be regarded as a relatively early Chu Ding Source: Music Art Club
Chu bronzes are an outstanding representative of local bronze culture during the Spring War.
Chu-style shengding, characterized by standing ears, corset waist, and large flat bottom, is different from the odd number of Zhou Ren's seven, five, and nine columns, and the Chu tomb columns are mostly even combinations.
Kehuang Shengding Mid-Spring and Autumn Chu-style Ding Source: Henan Museum
Inscription Small mouth Ding, Warring States. Excavated from the Chu Tomb in Xujialing, Nanyang Source: Road Trip
The small-mouth can-shaped ding is another typical Chu instrument, this strange shape of the ding, usually self-titled "Tang Ding", should be a water warmer suitable for the southern living habits.
In the southern region, the Chu state has always maintained a strong influence, and although Zeng Houyi is the monarch of the Zeng state, most of the bronzes unearthed in his tomb are typical Chu artifacts.
The Jiuding Eight Gui excavated from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng can be hearted / photographed
To some extent, the emergence of characteristic bronzes in various places is also a silhouette of the Zhou royal family gradually losing its centripetal force and eventually collapsing.
03
Epilogue
At the beginning, we mentioned that the two major factors that affect a new thing are resource reserves and science and technology. But it is these two factors that catalyze the demise of a thing.
On the one hand, with the expansion of the scale of mining and the advancement of technology, copper is no longer a scarce resource, and even the bronze night pot appeared at the end of the Warring States period, which is worthless, and naturally loses the favor of the nobility.
Source: Chongwen's text
On the other hand, during the War and Han Dynasties, people gradually mastered the technology of iron smelting, and iron tools were much more practical than bronzes. Even if the bronze casting technology is advanced, the process revolution will not catch up with the raw material revolution after all.
As Thomson thought, the fate of bronze as a tool and weapon raw material ushered in the end of the Iron Age.
Jade Handle Iron Sword Henan Museum has the title of "China's First Sword", which is the earliest artificial iron smelting product found in the mainland
However, the long pre-Qin period still gave bronzes endless cultural connotations. Ding has always been a symbol of royal power in the eyes of the Chinese people, and bronze ceremonial vessels have always been regarded as the material heritage of "Zhou Li", which has been continuously pushed to the center of the stage in countless waves of "re-gifts" in history.
With this label, bronzes became treasures in the eyes of collectors after they withdrew from the stage of history. From Emperor Huizong of Song's Xuanhe Bogutu, to Zhao Mingcheng's "Golden Stone Record" and Lü Dalin's "Archaeological Map", bronze research has finally formed a special discipline called "Epigraphy".
When we look back at the bronze, we are always full of infinite imagination of the mysterious pre-Qin history, as if we can see the cute face of the beginning of the birth of Chinese civilization, which may be the bronze version of "a person will die, but the spirit will always exist"!
bibliography
Zhang Zhiheng, General Theory of Chinese Archaeology, Nanjing University Press
Wang Lixin and Jing Zhongwei, Archaeology of Xia Shang Zhou, Science Press
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