It is generally believed that Jinsha is similar to Sanxingdui in terms of cultural appearance and social nature, and replaced Sanxingdui to become the capital of the ancient Shu kings. A large number of relics with the same shape as the Sanxingdui sacrificial pit have also been unearthed in the Jinsha sacrificial area, indicating that there is indeed an intrinsic relationship between the two. However, Jinsha does not see the shaped bronze vessels like Sanxingdui, but only a small number of container fragments or parts. Since the early bronze age bronzes of the Chengdu Plain are often dated by the cultural factors of the Central Plains, the differences between the unearthed containers of Jinsha and Sanxingdui will affect the evaluation of the age and nature of the two settlements. This paper intends to understand the cultural attributes of these vessels by comparing and identifying and observing the types and ages of Jinsha bronze vessels, and thus understand the pattern of bronze civilization in the Chengdu Plain.
One
Jinsha is a large site located in the urban area of today's Chengdu, covering an area of about 5 square kilometers. The remains of gold, bronze, jade and other precious materials were concentrated in the southeast of the site in the sacrificial area. The sacrificial area, which is mainly located at the site known as the "Plum Garden", was discovered in 2001 and excavations began [1]. The excavators soon published an archaeological briefing (hereinafter referred to as the "Meiyuan Briefing") [2] and more recently a catalogue of cultural relics (hereinafter referred to as the "Jinsha Site Sacrificial Area") [3]. These reports provide an overview of the excavations in the Jinsha sacrificial area, and also allow researchers to understand the cultural landscape of the Jinsha settlement.
Bronze vessels are rarely seen in the Jinsha sacrificial area, and only fragments remain, so they have not attracted enough attention from scholars in the past. According to the statistics of the "Meiyuan Bulletin", 479 bronzes were unearthed in the sacrificial area [4], including 401 geometric shaped vessels such as Lingbi and Ge, 44 statue-shaped vessels such as Liren, and only 4 remnants of the other 34 bronzes involved in containers. Even in the special study of the bronzes at the Jinsha site [5], the containers are rarely mentioned because of their poor recognizability. Recently, Tian Jianbo and Zhou Zhiqing discussed seven fragments of bronze vessels unearthed in Jinsha, and identified the age and nature of five containers as those unearthed in Sanxingdui, which led to the conclusion that "Jinsha and Sanxingdui were both high-grade central settlements in the late Shang Dynasty on the Chengdu Plain" [6]. This is a very insightful and meaningful insight into the study of the Golden Sands bronze vessel.
As seen in the published information, the Jinsha bronze vessels are all small pieces with severe mutilation, or parts attached to the body. However, most of the fragments or parts have clear shape characteristics and are highly recognizable, and can be clearly identified and located on similar artifacts, so that it is easy to determine their age. At present, the recognizable containers include folded shoulders or reeds, amphorae, square deities, and tiliang slabs. These artifacts are discussed separately below.
(1) Folded shoulders or reverence
T7913 (7) ∶ 1, T8105 (7) under the table: 34, T8004 (7) ∶ 60 and other 3 fragments were published by Tian Jianbo and Zhou Zhiqing. (Fig. 1: 1, 2, 4) The paper has pointed out the correlation between these fragments and Sanxingdui's folded shoulders and Wei. Almost all of the three fragments are decorated with patterns, and the consistency of the ornamental features is quite strong, that is, there are semi-relief convex carvings, and the reliefs and planes are decorated with cloud and thunder patterns, and the ornamentation has a strong uniformity in appearance.
Fig. 1 Fragments of Jinsha folded shoulders or relics and related artifacts
1. Sands T7913(7): 1 2. Sands T8105(7) table below: 34 3. Sands D6 : 2 4. Sands T8004(7): 60 5. Sanxingdui K2 (2): 151 6. Sanxingdui K2 (2): 159
These three fragments belong to the part of the relief animal face pattern, and can also be reset to the embossed ornament or the wall of the vessel. The following is a reference specimen description of Sanxingdui K2(2):151 decorated with semi-relief decoration [7]. (Fig. 1: 5) K2(2): 151 abdomen and ring-foot decorated with relief animal faces, diameter 49 cm, ring-foot height 22.4 cm, overall height 56.5 cm.
Jinsha T7913 (7): 1 belongs to the middle of the animal face pattern of the abdomen (Figure 1: 1), the nose bridge of the "earth" character semi-relief is the central axis of the animal face pattern, the vertical bar semi-relief symmetrically distributed on both sides is the standing feather outside the nose, the "C" shaped semi-relief on the left side is the horn of the animal face pattern, the fragment belongs to the part between the nose bridge and the double horns, and the square notch on the nose bridge should be set with the animal head of the shoulder. The residual height of this piece is 15.7 cm, which roughly meets the height of the abdomen of Sanxingdui K2(2): 151.
T8105(7) below: 34 protrudes on the right side of a rib (Fig. 1:2), the cloud and thunder patterns on both sides of the ridge are opposite, and there is a rectangular notch at the top of the ridge, which belongs to the perforation on the upper part of the ring foot. Obviously, this is a fragment of a venerable or ring-foot. The left side of the circle foot is ornamented on the right side of the animal face pattern, in which the upper part of the semi-relief pattern is the horn of the animal face pattern, the lower part is a part of the mouth, and the right part is the body of the animal face pattern. This fragment includes from the top to the bottom of the circle foot, with a height of 12.5 cm, which is a lower circle foot or a circle, which is much smaller than the height of Sanxingdui K2 (2): 151 circle foot of 22.4 cm.
T8004(7):60 is the same as the curly horn structure of the "C" shaped semi-relief animal face pattern on the left side of T7913(7):1 above (Fig. 1:4), and the horns of this wide flat body belong to the animal face pattern of the abdomen of Zun or Wei. T8004 (7): 60 animal horns are rolled to the right, which is the opposite of T7913 (7): 1 is rolled to the left, and belongs to the right side of the animal face pattern on the abdomen. The residual height of the piece is 5.2 cm, which is similar to the ratio of T7913(7):1.
In addition to the above three fragments of the wall, the Jinsha sacrificial area also unearthed small bird-shaped decorative parts that belong to the folded shoulders and the shoulders.
Jinsha D6:2 ("Jinsha Site Sacrifice Area" Figure 97), bird flattened, 4.9 cm high. (Fig. 1:3) The "Jinsha Ruins Sacrifice Area" calls it a "bronze bird" and classifies it with other round carved birds. According to the same kind of tools produced by Sanxingdui, the birds of Jinsha round carving are generally hooked beaks, and the tail, wings and other organs are molded in layers, and the birds of this kind of round carving are all based on the feet as the binding point and connected to the main body of the utensils by welding [8] - in Sanxingdui, they are mainly standing on the sacred tree. Jinsha D6:2 This flat-bodied bird is a different category, with a flat body, as thick as a wall, and only convex at the eyes. This kind of bird has no feet, and there is a longer joint under the bird's abdomen, which is set up in the shoulders of the folded shoulders and the Wei by casting them, as shown in Figure 1 Sanxingdui K2 (2): 151.
There are other unpublished specimens of this kind of small bird with folded shoulders and shoulders in the Jinsha Site Museum.
The above four fragments and parts of Jinsha can be fully matched to the semi-relief ornament excavated in Sanxingdui (Fig. 1:1-5), and can also be matched to the Sanxingdui semi-relief ornament (Fig. 1:6), such as Sanxingdui K2(2):159 (Complete Works, 13:68) [9]. That is to say, the fragments of such containers unearthed in Jinsha are the same age and nature as the same type of zun and wei in Sanxingdui K1 and K2.
In terms of age, the shape of Sanxingdui's folded shoulders and wei is the same as that of the four sheep's heads in the Shang's tomb in Xingan Oceania (Complete Works, 4:92). The author believes that these artifacts are of the same style and are dated between the first and second periods of the Yinxu culture [10]. As for the age of Sanxingdui No. 1 and No. 2 sacrificial pits, the current mainstream view is the end of the Shang Dynasty and the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty. That is to say, the production age of Sanxingdui folding shoulders and Wei is earlier than the age of Sanxingdui sacrificial pit.
(2) Fang Zun
The fragments of two bronze vessels unearthed in Jinsha are related to Fang Zun, one is a bottle-shaped horned beast head (T8004(7)∶37) (Fig. 2:1), Fig. 96 of the Sacrificial Area of Jinsha Ruins calls it a "copper monster", and a circle-legged fragment with a ridge (C∶210) (Fig. 2:2).
Figure 2 Fragments of Jinsha Fangzun and related artifacts
1. Sands T8004(7):37 2. Sands C: 210 3, 4. The animal face pattern of the spring house Bogu Museum sacrifices the head of the square respect
The head of the beast is a relief decoration protruding above the plane decoration of the bronze, which first began to appear in the Erligang culture period, when it was placed on the shoulders of the Zun as a supplement to the plane decoration of the animal face pattern. During the Yinxu culture period, the decoration of animal heads increased greatly, and was set up in the shoulder, neck, and abdomen of such utensils as zun, wei, 卣, and gui. During the Yinxu culture period, animal heads also spread to the accessories of utensils such as handles and earrings, and became a popular means of decoration. The head of the beast is generally cast with the main body of the artifact, and only a few are cast or welded, but the latter may loosen or fall off.
The bottle-shaped horns resemble African giraffe antlers, and first appeared on the dragon heads of the Funan Dragon and Tiger Zun (Complete Works 1:117) and Sanxingdui Dragon and Tiger Zun (Complete Works 13:87). In the early Western Zhou Dynasty, the dragon head with bottle-like horns spread out to the left and right, which became a popular decorative design. As a bottle-shaped horned beast head with a head and no body, it appeared in the second period of Yinxu culture, such as the tomb of the woman ("Complete Works" 3:94). In the late Yinxu culture, bottle-shaped horn decorations can be seen on the heads of some pots or pots with beams, or on the shoulders of the esteemed vessels. After the early Western Zhou Dynasty, the bottle-shaped corner decoration tended to disappear.
Jinsha T8004 (7): 37 bottle-shaped horned beast heads, 5.3 cm high. (Fig. 2:1) The head of the beast is in the shape of a fully carved bird, and there are round holes on the base under it, which is a technical design welded to the body. Unlike those animal heads on round or reed statues that lie low on the shoulders, this animal head is narrower, longer and taller, and has a longer contact surface with the body, and should stand on the four corners of the square folded shoulders or shoulders. In terms of shape, the bird-shaped animal head with its beak protruding upwards and downwards like this began to appear from the square folded shoulders unearthed from the tomb of the woman. The head of the beast on the four horns of the shoulders of the woman is in the shape of a bird, and the beak of the bird is stretched out up and down to form a double hook (Collected Works 3:108). The animal head with the same shape as T8004(7):37, that is, the double-hooked beak and bottle-shaped horns, can only be found in a few artifacts such as the animal face pattern Fang Zun [11] (Fig. 2: 3 and 4) in the collection of the Izumiya Hakoko Museum and the animal face pattern Fang Zun [12] in the collection of the former Fujita Museum of Art. In short, it is very certain that the head of the horned beast in Jinsha T8004 (7): 37 bottles is decorated on the four corners of Fang Zun's shoulder.
Jinsha C:210 is 6.3 cm long and 7 cm high (Plum Garden Bulletin, Figure 61). (Fig. 2:2) The surface is decorated with thunder patterns, the middle part is convex and ridged, and the edge of the vessel is below. Tian Jianbo et al.'s paper also talks about this fragment, saying that "the wall is thicker, and the body is slightly thicker". Judging from the picture, the wall of the vessel is flattened, coupled with the heavy volume, it should belong to Fang Zun's circle foot.
In the Jinsha Ruins Museum, there are also fragments of thicker ribs, which are in the shape of "F", which should also be fragments of the wall of Fangzun, and the "F" shaped ridges are the chronological characteristics of containers in the late Shang and early Zhou dynasties. The Fang Zun era to which the above fragments belong should also be at the end of the Shang Dynasty or the Shang Zhou Dynasty.
(3) Binaural resonance
Similar to the folded shoulder, the amphora is also a wine container with a small mouth and a deep belly. However, the ears are rounded and drummed, with ears on both sides of the shoulders and a pin on the lower abdomen for easy carrying and pouring. The shape of the instrument is different, especially because of the setting of the two ears, so that the two ears are different from the folded shoulder in terms of production technology and decoration. Therefore, as a new type of instrument, the amphora appeared in the Yinxu culture period, and functionally replaced the folded shoulder at the same time. In the early Western Zhou Dynasty, amphorae were in a flourishing stage, mostly appearing in high-grade tombs, and rapidly declined after the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty. In the Yangtze River Basin, amphorae lasted for a long time, and they were still seen in the early and middle spring and autumn periods or even later.
There are no remnants of the amphora unearthed in the Jinsha sacrificial area, but some parts such as rings and animal heads should belong to the amphora.
About the ring. At the end of the Yinxu culture, the title ring began to be added to the ears of the two ears to facilitate lifting. This situation continued until the early Western Zhou Dynasty, and the proportion of rings also increased. Yinxu Guojiazhuang West M160 sub-site ("Complete Works" 3:81), the collars of both ears are thicker. M1046:25 Fangwei in Liujiazhuang Beidi of Yinxu is also equipped with rings [13], which are the earliest stage of rings. Technically, the collar is generally a pair, first cast and then buried in the pottery fan of the ears, and the collar is sleeved under the ears after being cast into both ears. In fact, most of the amphorae before and after the Shang and Zhou dynasties did not have rings - of course, this does not rule out that the utensils originally had rings. After the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the collar became more developed and appeared on the pot, pot, bowl, gui and pot. From the late Western Zhou Dynasty to the early Spring and Autumn Period, the rings were mainly set on the ears of the pot, the gui and the Wei, among which the ears of the round pot or the square pot generally had the ring, and it became a popular way. After the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, the rings were mostly seen in various pots. In the late Spring and Autumn Period, the ring on the pot began to be attached to the wall of the shop, and such a head ring expanded from various pots to wooden coffins in the Warring States Period, and then appeared on the door as a household utensil, and became a symbol of Chinese culture. Most of the above collars are somen noodles. The title ring decoration decorator, in the early Western Zhou Dynasty decorated with moire, there are more ornaments before and after the two weeks, and generally decorate the popular heavy ring pattern at that time. Some of the Jinsha rings are called rings or rings, which should be binaural rings or similar rings on binaurals, such as the following two pieces.
Jinsha T8105 (7): 18 rings (Figure 64 of the Sacrificial Area of Jinsha Ruins) (Figure 3: 1), decorated with continuous triangular moire, 11.8 cm in diameter and 0.5 cm thick. According to the ornamentation, it is known that it belongs to the early Western Zhou Dynasty.
The C:1283 ring of Jinsha (Figure 38, Figure 20:18) (Figure 3:2) of the Plum Garden Briefing is a broken section with a diameter of 11 cm and a width of 1.3 cm. This decorative collar is quite common on pots and other utensils around the time of the second week.
Figure 3 The rings and small rings of the Sands amphorae
1. Sands T8105(7): 18 2. Sands C: 1283 3. Sands C: 552 4, 5. Bamboo tile street pan dragon cover beast face pattern sheep head and its ring
The above two rings are more than 11 cm in diameter. The head of the sheep with a beast face pattern in the early Western Zhou Dynasty (Complete Works, 13:8) is 50 cm high (Fig. 3: 4 and 5, Fig. 8: 1), and its diameter is less than 9 cm in proportion. In other words, the binaural body to which the two rings belong to Jinsha is larger.
The two plain rings are smaller in shape. C:552 (Plum Garden Bulletin, Fig. 37, Fig. 21:6) has a diameter of 5.3 cm and an aperture of 3.6 cm. (Figure 3: 3) Figure 63 of the "Jinsha Site Sacrifice Area" is a description of a piece, with a diameter of 4.3 cm, an aperture of 3.7 cm, and a thickness of 0.1 cm. The two pieces are plain and have no lines, and the shape of the vessel is smaller, which should belong to the small amphora of the early Western Zhou Dynasty.
About the head of the beast. The origin of the beast head has been mentioned above, and the Shang and Zhou dynasties were the stage when the beast head began to develop. Jinsha C:198 is in the shape of a cow's head, with a width of 2.4 cm and a height of 3.1 cm (Figure 60 of the Meiyuan Briefing, and Figure 102 of the Sacrificial Area of the Jinsha Site) [14]. The root of the cow's head is cylindrical, which is designed to be welded by attaching a raised tenon to the body of the vessel [15].
Jinsha C: 198 ox head double horns pointed and upward, its decoration of moire, plane shape is a typical ox head in the Central Plains cultural bronzes before and after the Shang and Zhou dynasties. However, the fully carved animal head is convex at the sharp corners, and the animal head is welded to the body at the neck, which can only be seen on a few exaggerated ornaments of the time. Under the belly of the Chunhua Dading, it is decorated with the same ox head, which is the only example in the tripod (Complete Works 6:122). (Fig. 4:3) In the bronze artifacts excavated at M4 in Yangzishan, Suizhou, several such welded animal heads (Fig. 4:4) [16] can also be seen, but the shape of the animal heads is different. A pair of amphorae (M111:110, M111:120) [17] were unearthed at M111 in Yejiashan, Suizhou, and the bull-headed animal head between the ears (Fig. 4: 5 and 6) is not only the same as Jinsha C:198, but also has the same technical characteristics connected to the body by welding. The head of a sheep with a pattern on the face of a beast (Complete Works 13:78) in Zhuwa Street, Pengzhou (Picture 8:1) is a similar setting of animal heads. On the other hand, another piece of the same shape (Complete Works 13:76) shows that there is no animal head between the ears, but the tenon connecting the animal head can be seen (Fig. 8:2), which shows that it originally had a similar design, which also shows that this kind of attribute of the Jinsha ox head is also more indicative of this kind of attribution. The age of Yejiashan M111 and Zhuwajie cellars are in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, and the Jinsha C:198 animal head should also belong to the early Western Zhou Dynasty.
Fig. 4 Heads of animals welded on artifacts of the early Zhou culture in Jinsha and the Western Zhou Dynasty
1、2. Sands C: 198 3. Chunhua Dading 4. Yangzishan M4 God Face Pattern Zun 5, 6. Yejiashan M111: 120 amphorae
The two animal heads of the late age in the Jinsha sacrificial area are amphorae belonging to the Spring and Autumn Period. The above-mentioned amphora basically disappeared in the Zhou culture area after the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, but it was more common in the surrounding areas of the Zhou culture in the early and middle Spring and Autumn periods, and was regarded by scholars as the "cultural retro" of the surrounding countries [18]. Judging from the rheology and distribution of amphora in the Spring and Autumn Period, it is likely that the Jianghuai region, which inherited more Zhou culture in the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty, continued to use amphora, and in the vigorous development stage of the region in the early and middle Spring and Autumn period, it developed northward to the Huaisi area including present-day Shandong, and spread westward to the south of Chu culture, today's Liangguang and Xiangchuan. The shape and decoration of these amphorae in these areas are very similar, and the ends of the ears often have well-developed animal heads, and the animal heads are also protruding, and the original ring-shaped ears and their function as a lifting have been degenerated. Typical examples of this type of amphora are the dragon pattern amphora unearthed in Changgang Village, Tongcheng (Fig. 5:4)[19] and the Moutuo M1 ox head ear kui dragon pattern (Complete Works, 13:82) (Fig. 5:5).
Fig. 5 Fragments of Jinsha amphora and related amphora from the Spring and Autumn Period
1. Sands T8206(7):45 2. Sands T8405(7): 16 3. Sands T7607 (7): 1 (Figure 105 of the Fine Catalogue) 4. Tongcheng Changgang Village 5. Mu Tuo M1 ox head ear kui dragon pattern
The so-called "bronze bull" (Fig. 5:1) in Figure 101 of Figure 101 and the so-called "Bronze Spirit Cat" (Fig. 5:1) in Figure 103 of T8405(7):16 (Fig. 5:2), the two animals have different shapes, but both have animal heads stretched forward and stout necks are broken, and their shapes are the same as the ear heads of the amphorae in the Spring and Autumn Period, and they should also belong to this type of ampralia, and their ages are in the early and middle Spring and Autumn Period.
T7607(7):1 recorded in Figure 105 of the "Sacrificial Area of Jinsha Ruins", the shape of the vessel is a basically complete amphora. (Fig. 5:3) but the device is only 3.6 cm high, which is only a model or a bright vessel. The shape characteristics of this vessel are also similar to those of similar vessels in Zhuwajie and Yejiashan, and the age belongs to the early Western Zhou Dynasty.
(4) Lifting beams
T8406(6):2, 2.2 cm wide and 6.2 cm long (Fig. 6:2), recorded in Figure 104 of the Sacrificial Area of Jinsha Ruins, is a fragment of two annular parts that are set together, of which the semi-annular part belongs to the vessel wall, and the part with the head of the beast belongs to the artifact handle. This kind of animal head is only found in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, and it is relatively easy to identify. Those with identical shapes, such as the exact same shape unearthed from the tombs of the Western Zhou Dynasty in Liujia Village, Fufeng [20]. (Fig. 6:1) This also shows that Jinsha T8406(6):2 is typical of the Central Plains cultural characteristics, and its age should also belong to the early Western Zhou Dynasty.
Fig. 6 Jinsha Tiliang and related utensils
1. The tomb of the Western Zhou Dynasty in Liujia Village 2. Sands T8406 (6): 2
In addition to the above fragments and parts that can identify the type of utensils and their parts, Jinsha has also unearthed some other containers. The two jars discussed in Tian Jianbo et al.'s papers are equivalent to similar vessels in Sanxingdui's No. 1 and No. 2 sacrificial pits. T7509(6):1 tiger-shaped vessel [21] in Figure 90 of the Sacrificial Area of Jinsha Site [21] may be the flowing part of a tiliang bowl, which is dated to the late Eastern Zhou Dynasty. The T7009-7110_I2:18 dragon button in Figure 93 of the "Jinsha Site Sacrificial Area", the bottom part of the button is smaller, and it should be the cover of a square vessel, which is a sub-mouth cover connected to the female mouthpiece, which may belong to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and other utensils. These artifacts are of little relevance to the subject of this article and will not be discussed further.
Two
The above bronze containers unearthed in Jinsha mainly include folded shoulders or reeds, square statues, amphorae, and beams. After clarifying the shape to which they belong, the cultural background and origin of the vessel are discussed below.
(1) Folded shoulders or reverence
At the same time, the fragments of Jinsha folded shoulders or Wei can be matched on Sanxingdui K2 (2) : 151 or K2 (2) : 159 Wei, indicating that this kind of zun and Wei has a high degree of homogeneity. In fact, Jinsha folded shoulders or Wei and Sanxingdui similar ware, are completely different from the local utensils. These statues and vessels, especially the decorations, have many similarities in the Yinxu culture period, and the age and nature are relatively clear.
Folded shoulders or Wei arose in the Erligang culture period, and there are a large number of discoveries in Zhengzhou Mall and Panlong City. In the political center of the Central Plains during the Yinxu culture period, the number of folded shoulders, especially folded shoulders, tended to decrease. However, in the Yangtze River Basin, a large number of folded shoulders appeared in the Huanbei Mall period and thereafter, indicating that there was a bronze culture at the confluence of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and its products and technologies spread to other regions [22]. From this, we can understand why in the Jianghuai region, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the Hanshui Basin, there are many places in the Yangtze River and the Han River Basin. These sites of the unearthed Zun and Wei are distributed along the Yangtze River and the Han River, forming a clear cultural transmission line. (Figure 7) In the two sacrificial pits in Sanxingdui in 1986, a total of 15 pieces of such zun and wei and 1 urn were unearthed. From 2019 to 2021, the excavation of the sacrificial pit has unearthed new statues and reeds of the same kind. The author puts forward the view that the Sanxingdui artifacts were spread from the confluence of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River [23], which has also been recognized by many scholars in recent years.
Fig.7 The same style of folded shoulders, wei, and urn and their distribution in the southern region during the Yinxu culture period
This kind of zun or wei in the Yangtze River basin is decorated with animal face patterns, which obviously belong to the Central Plains cultural system. However, these statues or reveals have a lot of different vessel shape and ornamental characteristics from the political center of the Central Plains, among which the common characteristics of the Jinsha container can be summarized as follows.
a. The shape of the vessel is mostly between 40~70 cm, and the shape is tall, but it is relatively light and thin. In casting, when dealing with the embossed animal face pattern, the inner wall should be concave accordingly, which we used to call convex and concave casting.
b. The composition of the animal face pattern is mostly highly similar, but it is different from the similar pattern composition of the Central Plains political center, especially at the joints of some relief animal face patterns, decorated with round and convex milk nails.
c. The ribs are more developed and tend to be arranged in a continuous "C" shape. The ribs are located at the junction of each group of animal face patterns, while the central axis of the animal face pattern is not, which is also different from the central plains in the Central Plains. At the same time, on the shoulders corresponding to the ribs, there are often flat birds, and the sides of the birds are often decorated with moire.
The characteristics of the Yangtze River basin are not found in the Central Plains cultural center area, and they have strong regionality. The Chengdu Plain comes from the view between the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and is also based on such characteristics. The three-piece wall fragments (T7913 (7) : 1, T8004 (7) : 60, T8105 (7) under the table: 34) have both the above a characteristics of the convex and concave casting method and the b feature of the round convex milk nail, T7913 (7): 1 has no rib at the central axis of the nose bridge, and has the characteristics of c. Jinsha D6:2 and other flattened birds are ridged, which conforms to the characteristics of c. In other words, these container fragments of Jinsha were also imported from the eastern region through the Yangtze River transportation line. In other words, the products used by Jinsha and Sanxingdui are from exactly the same source. Considering the homogeneity of some decorative and technical characteristics of the Zun and Wei in the Yangtze River Basin, the fragments of such containers in Jinsha should represent different types of vessels of different individuals, Zun or Wei.
(2) Fang Zun
After the epidemic period of Erligang culture, the folded shoulder and the folded shoulder began to diverge into different development directions, and the folded shoulder was replaced by the new double-eared arc shoulder fold, and the folded shoulder continued to be seen in high-level tombs, and the square folded shoulder was developed. Fang Zun was first seen in Yinxu Garden Zhuang Dongdi M54, and later in the tombs of high-ranking nobles such as the Tomb of Nuhao and Guojiazhuang M160.
Based on the above background, the age of Fangzun's appearance in the Yangtze River basin should be later than the second period of Yinxu culture, that is, later than the folded shoulders along the Yangtze River. Due to the second phase of Yinxu culture and later, in the Yangtze River Basin, except for the Ningxiang Bronze Group, which is very close to the Yinxu Bronzes, the bronzes in other places have strong local characteristics, and there are very few Fangzun. Sanxingdui K2 has appeared in the square round mouth and the square round mouth [24], and the ornamental characteristics are very close to the round body zun, which may be a slightly later product of the folded shoulder and the Wei bronze cultural center in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. In the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, it was found that Fangzun with the direct source of Central Plains culture and local characteristics was selected in Changsha in the 50s of the 20th century and unearthed in Changning. The statue is 54 centimeters high, and the bottle-shaped horned head on the four corners of the shoulders seen in the present catalogue is a contemporary restoration [25]. The composition of the animal face pattern on the Fangzun of Changning is almost exactly the same as that of the typical Shang culture in the late Yinxu period, indicating the origin and background of the original culture. However, the nose and mouth corners of Changning Fangzun's abdomen and circle-legged beast face patterns are decorated with round and convex nipple nails like folded shoulders and wei in the Yangtze River Basin, which are obviously influenced by the latter. Changning Fangzun is a product of the Yangtze River basin influenced by the Central Plains culture in the late Yinxu culture, indicating that the middle reaches of the Yangtze River still had the ability to produce Fangzun at the end of the Shang Dynasty.
Jinsha T8004 (7): 37 bottle-shaped horned bird-shaped animal heads are exactly the same as those of Fangzun animal heads of Central Plains culture, and it is difficult to judge the origin information. However, the two sides of the central ridge of Jinsha C:210 Fangzun are thunder patterns, which are different from the Central Plains cultural Fangzun. The rib is the central axis of the decorative patterns of the Central Plains culture, which is often the bridge of the nose of the animal face pattern, or the gathering place of two animal patterns. The Jinsha C:210 thunder pattern is diffuse, and the ornamental layout is different from that of the Central Plains, the Fangzun is likely to be a product of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
(3) Binaural resonance
As discussed in the previous section, the amphorae in the Jinsha sacrificial area belong to two stages: the early Western Zhou Dynasty, the late Western Zhou Dynasty and the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period.
The parts belonging to the amphora of the early Western Zhou Dynasty include the collar ring and the head of the horned beast. Amphorae are common in the tombs of high-ranking nobles of the Central Plains culture, so the title rings do not have a regional cultural background, but the horned animal heads are different. In addition to the animal head molded on the ears and the horn, there was generally no independent animal head between the ears. It is Fang Wei's regular practice to set up a beast head between the ears, and the round belt animal head such as Yejiashan M111 and Zhuwa Street is supposed to be borrowed from Fang Wei's design.
Fig. 8 Beast heads and ears in the early Western Zhou Dynasty
1. Bamboo tile street dragon cover animal face pattern sheep head 2. Zhuwa Street Panlong Cover Beast Face Pattern 3.Yejiashan M111:110 Panlong Cover Beast Face Pattern 4. Yejiashan M111: 120 Panlong covers the beast's face pattern
Looking at the amphora of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, it is not difficult to find that the round carved animal heads set between the ears are all local bronze vessels. There are the following batches of such Yuanwei with unearthed background: 1. M27, M28, M111, M27 and M111 in Yejiashan cemetery, one pair of two pieces were unearthed in M27 and M111, and one amphora was unearthed in M28 [26], M28 and M111 are the tombs of Marquis Zeng, and M27 is the tomb of Mrs. Zenghou; 2. Pengzhou Zhuwa Street Cellar, including two unearthed amphora 9, Yaoxingzun 1, and Ji 1 [27], including 7 pieces of animal head style amphorae; 3. Kazuo Beidong Village, The Shanwanzi Cellar includes 8 pieces of amphora and other bronzes[28], and 2 pieces of animal heads in the amphora. In addition to the special setting of the beast head, the decoration of these beast heads and ears is also extremely exaggerated. Taking Zhuwa Street and Yejiashan as examples, the two dragons on the top of these dragons and the ears on the shoulders are extremely exaggerated, and the shape and size are almost the same, so they should come from the same origin. (Table 1)
Table 1 Statistics of amphora size in the early Western Zhou Dynasty
The origin of these beastheads and amphorae may be in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. This kind of amphora shape and ornamentation belong to the Central Plains cultural system, and its origin should be an area close to the Central Plains culture. The Zeng State where Yejiashan is located is a feudal state of the Zhou Dynasty, and the main body of bronzes is a typical Zhou culture, but the beast head and ears are a series of their own, which does not rule out the possibility of their own production. In addition, as mentioned earlier, a square and two pieces of different sizes unearthed from the M4 Marquis Tomb in Yangzi Mountain, Suizhou, are also welded animal heads between the ears, and the animal heads are in the shape of tapir heads. The author has argued that the three bronzes of Yangzishan M4 are exaggeratedly decorated but poorly designed with the god face pattern and belong to the local production of bronzes [29]. It is not surprising that the products have similar technical characteristics in the proximity of the two countries. If these beast heads and ears in the Chengdu Plain came from the Zeng Kingdom of Yejiashan, it is also easy to understand that there are typical Zhou culture bronzes such as 卣, zun, and 觯 in the bronzes accompanying the west.
In the early and middle spring and autumn periods, similar to the amphora of Changgang Village in Tongcheng, there is also a source of origin in the eastern region. Some scholars have noted that such ampralae of a later age are found in Shandong and Anhui, as far south as Hunan and Guangxi[30], and as far up the Min River from the Chengdu Plain, they can also be found in the No. 1 tomb of Mutuo in Maoxian County (Complete Works, 13:82) [31]. (Figure 5:4) We believe that these amphorae are mainly products from the Jianghuai region, spreading to the northeast and southwest respectively.
Three
Fragments and parts of bronze vessels unearthed in the Jinsha sacrificial area represent different types of vessels and different individuals, and they are likely fragments of artifacts used in the sacrificial process—broken vessels were quite common sacrificial practices in the Shang period [32]. The small number of containers excavated in the sacrificial area does not mean that the number of containers owned by the user is limited.
The bronze vessel is an important indicator to judge the age of the early civilization of the Chengdu Plain and the connection with the civilization of the Central Plains. Through the investigation of the bronze containers unearthed in the Jinsha sacrificial area, the following clear understandings can be obtained.
(1) Like Sanxingdui, Jinsha also uses bronze containers in sacrificial activities, but the broken state of Jinsha containers indicates that they are used in different ways. Jinsha and Sanxingdui artifacts are both precious materials with a strong religious atmosphere, and the categories of artifacts in the two locations are similar, but the measurements are very different, suggesting that although the two sites are sacrificial in nature, the links engaged in sacrificial activities are different.
(2) The Jinsha sacrificial area uses the same folded shoulders or reed as the Sanxingdui sacrificial pit, indicating that Jinsha was a high-level central settlement at least in the equivalent period of Yinxu culture. If this is the case, Sanxingdui and Jinsha stood side by side for at least a long period of time during the Yinxu cultural period, rather than two bronze civilization centers inherited successively.
(3) The age of the Jinsha container includes different stages such as the first and second phases of the Yinxu culture, the end of the Yinxu culture, the early Western Zhou Dynasty, the second week, and the early and middle Spring and Autumn periods, indicating that there was a continuous connection between the Chengdu Plain and the Central Plains culture in the above periods, and the path of the association was mainly through the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
Author: Zhang Changping (School of History, Wuhan University)
This article was originally published in the 3rd issue of Central Plains Cultural Relics in 2023