In 2022, the Forbidden City's opening exhibition "Why China" exhibited 10 pieces of Shang Zhou bronzes. They are known as the "Ten Offerings of the Shang Zhou" and are recommended by the Confucius Museum.
These 10 bronzes were originally from the old collection of the Qing Palace. In February of the 36th year of Qianlong (1771), the Qianlong Emperor visited Qufu for the fifth time, accompanied by his mother, Empress Chongqing, who was on her eightieth birthday.
The Qianlong Emperor and his mother were particularly happy, and when they accompanied their mother on a tour of the Confucius Temple, Qianlong saw that most of the sacrificial ritual vessels used in the Confucius Temple were made in the Han Dynasty, and it was difficult to show Confucius's identity as an "emperor", so he specially ordered that the ten bronzes of the Shang Zhou Collected by the Inner House be packaged and given to the Confucius Palace to be "offered to the temple court".
Of the 10 bronzes, 3 are from the Shang Dynasty, namely: the Carpentry Book, the Animal Face Pattern, and the Book Father Yi Jie. The other 7 pieces are from the Zhou Dynasty, including The Zun Zun, the Bo Yi Gui, the Silky Qu Wen Gui, the Chuan Dragon Pattern Gui, the Chu Feng Pattern Bean, the Gluttonous Pattern, and the Four-legged Fang Ding.
Let's enjoy them one by one according to the order of the exhibition in the "Why China" exhibition.
The first is the Shang Dynasty "Woodworking Book" model of animal face pattern copper ding. Round mouth bulging abdomen, vertical ear round bottom, three-columnar foot. The lower edge of the mouth is decorated with six sets of animal face patterns, and the lower abdomen is plain and has no ornamentation. The upper part of the cylindrical foot is decorated with animal face patterns on the bottom of the vessel, and the bottom of the abdomen has three seams left by Fan Zhu. There are two lines of inscriptions on the inner abdominal wall of the vessel, a total of seven characters, which have been verified by experts to be "Father Pengding, Carpentry Book." ”
The second piece is the Shang Dynasty animal face pattern. Cylindrical, extravagant, abdominal, flared high circle foot. The abdomen and the circle foot are divided into four ridges, between which are decorated with the face of the milk beast; the lower part of the neck and the abdomen, the abdomen and the circle are enough to separate the two convex chord lines, and the neck is plain. There are two cross holes on the upper edge of the circle foot, and the inner wall of the circle foot is cast with two inscriptions "Sub-bow".
The third is the Shang Dynasty Father Yi Jie. Oval-shaped, with a slight neck and mouth, a drooping bulge, a circle foot out of the skimmer, a lid, a fungal lid button. The instrument and cover are the mouth of the mother and son, the two sides of the abdomen have ring ears, the rope pattern lifting beam, the mouth edge is decorated with a diamond-shaped thunder pattern, the middle relief is an animal head, the abdomen is plain, the circle foot is decorated with two convex string patterns, and the lid and the inner wall of the bottom of the instrument are vertically inscribed with the inscription "Father B".
The fourth is the Zhou Dynasty's Zun Zun. Sheep-shaped, with ears erected backwards, a fat body, a short tail, thicker legs, and four-hoofed feet. There is a small oval lid on the back, which can be opened and closed, and the body is plain and unpolished.
The fifth is the Bo Yi Gui. Extravagant mouth, round belly, round bottom, circle foot. The abdomen has two animal heads and elephant trunk ears, and the drooping. The abdominal pattern is divided into two parts with stripes, the upper part is decorated with four groups of deformed animal face patterns, and the lower part is decorated with two groups of deformed animal face patterns. The circle foot is decorated with four sets of deformed animal face patterns. There is a four-line inscription cast on the inner sole of the vessel, and the six words "Bo Zuo Zun Yi use□ Yong □ have been recognized. ”
The sixth piece is a stolen streak. Mouth, round belly, round bottom, three short animal head hoof-shaped feet under the circle foot, bowl-shaped lid. The abdomen has two animal ears and droops. The lid is decorated with tiles and plagiarism, the upper part of the body is decorated with plagiarism, and the lower part is tiled. The circle foot is decorated with hanging scales, and the upper part of the three-hoofed foot is embossed with animal face patterns.
The seventh piece is the dragon pattern. Rectangular, extravagant folded edge outside the mouth, animal head shaped ears, abdomen obliquely closed, four rectangular short feet underneath, the mouth edge is decorated with a week of milk ding cloud thunder pattern, the belly of the instrument is decorated with Gu Shou Chuan dragon pattern, the inner sole of the instrument is cast with three lines of inscriptions, a total of eleven characters, some have not yet recognized the "□ self-made □, its descendants Yongbao used. ”
The eighth piece is the phoenix-veined bean. Round body, covered bowl-shaped, with catchers, deep abdomen micro-drum, double ring ears, flared circle foot. The lid is decorated with triangular cirrus and phoenix patterns, the abdomen is decorated with phoenix patterns and partridge owl patterns, and the circle foot is decorated with deformed animal patterns and hammer patterns. The whole body is wrong gold and silver, most of which have fallen off.
The ninth piece is the gluttonous grain. The upper and lower bristles are cast continuously. It has a luxurious mouth, double ears, a straight abdomen, and a cross-shaped grate hole at the bottom. Mane crotch, round column foot three. The mouth is decorated with a circumferential milk cloud thunder pattern along the bottom, and the abdomen is plain. The belly is decorated with three reliefs.
The tenth piece is a four-legged square. Rectangular, flat-folded edges, double ears, slightly drummed abdomen, four-hoofed feet underneath. The abdomen is decorated with eight raised rectangular motifs. The bottom of the vessel has a rectangular conformation imprint formed by the intersection of four concave arcs.
If you look closely, you will find that this "Shang Zhou Ten Offerings" are different from the bronzes we often see, with a base or lid, which is also a masterpiece of Qianlong. When he admired the treasures of the old treasures of the Qing Palace, he often inscribed imperial poems and badges on the calligraphy and paintings, while porcelain and bronze ware were equipped with bases and lids. Whether Qianlong's approach is correct or not, we will not comment, but the use of fine materials and exquisite design fully reflects the exquisite production technology of the craftsmen of the Interior Ministry of Internal Affairs office during the Qianlong period.