(CCTV World "Ancient Carriage and Horse" documentary clip)
Hello everyone! Baobo Micro Classroom has begun! Today, Bao Bojun brings you a piece of carriage and horse ware - the Western Zhou Ren animal pattern ornament.
Excavated in 1974 in The Western Zhou Che Ma Pit in Rujiazhuang, Baoji City, the era is the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and the height is 12 cm. The ornament is a round tube as a whole, the top is sealed, the end of the reel is open, and there are symmetrical round holes in the front and back of the neck of the rim, which are used to fix the reel and tie the balance wood. The front of the ornament is a high-relief animal head, the head of the beast is crowned, the crown is decorated with cloud patterns, the round eyes are high and protruding, the nose bridge is raised, the cracks are cracked, and the cheeks are sagging. Crouching behind the head of the beast is a small person, the little man holds the crown of the beast, the face is wide and short, the forehead is full, the ears are wide, the nose is wide, and he is wearing shorts, a wide belt, and long hair. The villain back tattoo is patterned with two deer with their backs turned back. The image is very vivid. This piece of ornament is not only well-made, an extremely rare carriage ornament, but also very unique, shaping the image of the ancients at that time; Although there are exaggerated elements, it also provides us with information on race, hairstyle, clothing, etc. in the Western Zhou Dynasty, which is an extremely important research material.
The cars of the Western Zhou Dynasty were all wooden one-wheeled two-wheeled vehicles, reinforced with copper parts in key parts, and all copper parts had special names, and the ream was one of them. A total of three pieces of ornaments have been unearthed from the Rujiazhuang Western Zhou Che Ma Pit, which is the most exquisite of them.
(Western Zhou Yuan as BRCH1:2_1 Collection of Baoji Bronze Ware Museum)
(Western Zhou Dynasty human and animal pattern as BRCH3:2-12 Baoji Bronze Ware Museum Collection)
The carriages buried in the western Zhou tombs had honor chariots and chariots for combat, and the honor guard carriages were the status symbols of the high-ranking nobles of the Western Zhou Dynasty. The carriages of the Western Zhou Dynasty had two horses and one car and a four-horse frame, just like the difference between two wheel drive and four wheel drive, the power is more powerful. The bronze texture of the carriage and horse is like the decoration of modern cars, such as standard and high equipment.
According to existing archaeological findings, the invention of the wheel should have been around 3500 BC, when the Sumerians had already invented the four-wheeled cart pulled by four donkeys. The earliest chariots were excavated from the Agraben site in the Sumerian region; there were also chariots on the stone carvings of the Feast of Celebrations unearthed in Kaffai; the two sites dated between 3100 and 2700 BC. According to the current domestic archaeological findings, the earliest carriages on the mainland appeared in the Shang Dynasty, which is later in time than the Eurasian steppe region, so some scholars believe that the carriages and horses on the mainland were produced under the influence of the Eurasian steppe culture, but some scholars support the local origin theory.
Quiz
1. What are the two fawns in this photo?
Answer: Tattoos
bibliography:
1.CHEN Liang. Treasures of Baoji Bronze Ware Museum. Northwestern University Press, 2021.04.
Image & Video Source:
Baoji Bronze Museum, CCTV World "Ancient Cars and Horses" documentary, Baidu pictures
Editor: Chen Haomin
Editor-in-charge: Cui Ruihua Yang Qian
Review: Li Qi