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Changchun, 13 Jan (ZXS) -- Question: How can we glimpse the different paths of Eastern and Western wine vessels from the "Three Sacrifices"?
Author: Miao Tang Deputy Director of the Museum of Archaeology and Art, Jilin University
Wine, as a special cultural carrier, plays a unique role in human interaction. Eastern and Western wine culture has a long history, and there are many related studies, but relatively few studies on wine ware. In fact, as an important part of wine culture, wine ware is not only equally long-standing, but also varied.
The Museum of Archaeology and Art of Jilin University has a collection of Chinese Shang Dynasty wine vessels, the Ox Head with Animal Face Pattern. From this cultural relics, we can clearly glimpse the epitome of China's ancient etiquette system and the story of wine culture in the process of world civilization.
Why is the "Three Sacrifices" special?
This "Beast Face Pattern Ox Head Venerable", also known as "Three Sacrifice Zun", is a bronze artifact of the Shang Dynasty and is a national first-class cultural relic in China. The ancient Chinese "zun" made of bronze refers to a kind of wine vessel with a luxurious mouth, a bulging belly, high hoop feet, and a wide body. This figure has a round shape, large opening, drumming shoulders, rounded belly, and high hoop feet; The neck is decorated with three parallel convex chords, three relief cow heads are arranged at equal distances at the shoulder and abdominal junctions, and each of the two cow heads is decorated with a small animal face pattern centered on a cirrus cloud-like rib, and the shoulders are decorated with a circle pattern for horizontal separation; The upper part of the abdomen is decorated with a dragon pattern, the lower part is decorated with a conjoined animal face pattern, the animal face is prominent, the double horns are S-shaped, and the end is rolled inward; The upper part of the hoop foot is decorated with two parallel convex chords and three large cross-shaped perforations, and the lower part is a small animal face pattern with three sets of tails rolled up. The ornamentation of this Zun is particularly intricate, mainly based on the theme of three ox heads, which was a popular style in the late Shang Dynasty.
▲ Three sacrifices. Photo courtesy of interviewee
During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, princes and nobles generally used cattle, sheep and other livestock in large-scale activities, and used bronze vessels to serve wine in the activity venue to complete the ceremony, and adopted corresponding utensils and scales according to the level of social rank, thus forming a large and regulated etiquette system. The "Chinese Lu Yushang" recorded: "Give the land to the woman, sacrifice it, and the descendants of the world will not harm each other." "Zuo Chuan Zhuang Gong Ten Years" (Cao Li Controversy) contains: "Sacrifice the jade hand, Fu Dang Gaye, will be believed." The "sacrifice" contained in the above documents refers specifically to livestock for oaths and feasts. The word "sacrifice" in the modern sense also derives from this, and has been derived and used as a verb to mean an act of devotion with a noble meaning. For this reason, this exquisite bronze wine vessel was also named "Three Sacrifices" based on its unique decoration of three cow heads.
Among the many types of wine vessels, different styles and styles are popular in different eras. The shape and decorative features presented by this "Three Sacrifices" fully reflect the style of the late Shang Dynasty and have the significance of breaking the dynasty. Bronze ornaments can not only be used as a basis for judging the age of artifacts, but also reflect the spiritual connotation of the people at that time, using live animals as sacrifices, and decorating the sacrificial wine with animal-shaped ornaments, which should largely be an expression of merchants' loyalty to the gods.
▲ Three sacrifices are partial. Photo courtesy of interviewee
As a large and medium-sized wine vessel in the Shang and Zhou Dynasty, bronze Zun is a typical ceremonial vessel, which is often used with bronze jue, staff and other wine vessels in sacrifices or banquets, and is often used as a funerary product in tombs and often accompanied by bronze wine vessels such as bronze or Fang Yi. According to the Book of Zhou, there are six types of respects: Sacrifice, Elephant Venerable, Zhu Zun, Ju Zun, Tai Zun, and Shan Zun. Among the six statues, the most beautiful is the one who is honored. Witness the details of the "Three Sacrifices" and understand its origin, as if following the ancestors of the Yin Shang period through the traditional Chinese etiquette society where the Hui wine culture flourished.
How is the wine vessel produced?
Looking back from the perspective of the origin of civilization, prehistoric China originated and grew with agriculture as its economic foundation. Archaeological evidence from Neolithic sites in the Yellow River Basin fully indicates that grain storage has emerged as a result of the increasing development of agriculture. Changes in temperature and humidity caused grain to have a special taste after fermentation, which was defined as a delicious drink by the taste buds of ancestors, so brewed wine came into being.
Since then, the taste experience and spiritual pleasure when drinking have gradually made wine brewing a daily necessity for tribal leaders and princes and nobles during the Xia Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Especially in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, social hierarchies and classes had been solidified, ritual was the universal standard for maintaining social order, and bronze wine vessels also became ritual symbols of important events such as sacrifices, feasts, and wars.
Chinese wine ware is famous for bronze, lacquerware and porcelain, most of which appear in sets, the most typical of which is the bronze wine ware of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. In addition to the "Three Sacrifices" seen today, bronze wine vessels are all available in wine boilers, drinking vessels, and wine storage vessels, and more peculiar angular drinking vessels called "Yi Qi" have appeared.
▲ Shang Dynasty dragon pattern. Photo by Zhang Yun
China's Bronze Age was formed from more than 2,000 BC, and after the end of the Xia, Shang, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, bronzes gradually withdrew from the historical stage. After the Shang Zhou, wine culture gradually became an important part of Chinese traditional culture, and its inheritance continues to this day. With the development of the wine industry and the cultural exchange between China and the West, in addition to grain wine, wine, distilled spirit, beer and other categories have also appeared in China, and wine vessels with different shapes and functions have emerged one after another, becoming an important physical carrier of wine culture.
Not only Chinese wine ware has a long history, but ancient Western wine ware also has a long history. In the West, ancient Greece, which covers most of the Mediterranean coast, was the first to inherit ancient viticulture techniques and winemaking. Compared to ancient China, which was based on agriculture, the area was not suitable for growing grains, but the unique climate created excellent conditions for grape cultivation. Due to the strong communication and influence of ancient Greek civilization, wine culture gradually spread to the interior of Europe, and then became the mainstream of Western wine culture.
Compared with the ancient Chinese "Three Sacrifices" and the horn-shaped "Yi Qi" era, ancient Greece also appeared at the same time angular "Laitong cup", from pottery, animal horn to metal, "Laitong cup" was used for a long time and widely spread, from a sacrificial vessel as a religious sacrifice to a wine vessel for feasting wine. The earliest glass containers appeared during the reign of Thutmose III, the eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt in North Africa (about 1479 BC to 1425 BC), and later with the maturity and popularization of glassmaking, glassware was more widely used in the West to hold wine.
What is the cultural origin of Eastern and Western wine ware?
Although the "Laitong Cup", which supports the cup in the form of cows, sheep and other animals, is similar to the Chinese "Yi Qi", it is very different in cultural roots, representing two traditions in China and the West.
Regarding the origin of wine, the ancient Chinese history "Warring States Policy" contains, "In the past, the emperor daughter Ling Yidi made wine and beauty, and entered Yu." Yidi in the literature became the inventor of wine, for "man-made"; In Greek mythology, it is said that Dionysus, the god of wine, served as the patron saint of winegrowers and was "created by the gods".
From the perspective of the use of Eastern and Western wine ware, the traditional Oriental wine ware pays more attention to supporting use, mainly used to hold grain wine, and pays attention to people when drinking, the natural attributes of wine are diluted, and social functions are improved; Western glass wine ware pursues transparency, in order to observe the color and quality of wine, pay attention to what wine to drink, what wine should be used, and even each wine has its own fixed glass shape, in addition to the taste of the wine itself is particularly strong.
Since modern times, under the wave of industrialization and globalization, a large number of industrial products produced in the West have poured into China, and the impact on the development of Chinese wine ware is mainly reflected in the increasing popularity of glass products. With the continuous evolution of world civilization and the mutual influence of Eastern and Western cultures, the production process of wine ware has also continued to develop and change, and then formed a brilliant and magnificent variety of shapes.
From this Shang Dynasty "Three Sacrifices" throughout the development process of world civilization, we can further understand that wine vessels can not only reflect customs and habits, but also project the laws of the social order, cultural concepts, religious beliefs, aesthetic tastes and other areas of consciousness of the population. With the cultural exchange and integration, Eastern and Western wine vessels are also becoming more and more similar, and they are in the same way. It is precisely the origin and mutual learning of human civilization in many places that enable us to enjoy such rich achievements of material civilization, experience such a rich spiritual world, and make unremitting efforts to build a community with a shared future for mankind that is mutually inclusive and harmoniously coexisted. (End)
Respondent Profile:
Tang Miao, born in 1980, is currently an associate professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Archaeology of Jilin University, the deputy dean of the School of Archaeology of Jilin University, the deputy director of the Museum of Archaeology and Art of Jilin University, and a consulting expert of major projects of the Cultural Relics Bureau of Jilin Province. His research interests include archaeology, cultural heritage and museums in northern China during the pre-Qin and Han dynasties. He has published more than 20 papers, published 7 books, presided over the planning of more than 10 museum exhibitions, compiled more than 10 technical texts of cultural relics protection planning and cultural relics impact assessment reports, and presided over or participated in more than 60 scientific research projects.