The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, the four seasons change between hot and cold, and nature has a system that works freely as early as the beginning of human ignorance. Thermal expansion and contraction, the principle of leverage, and mechanical resonance are all waiting to be discovered by humans one by one.
We often appreciate cultural relics from the perspective of history and art, but ignore the scientific principles of the cultural objects themselves. We will introduce relevant cultural relics from the four branches of physics: mechanics, optics, acoustics, and thermals, and discuss the discovery and application of physics knowledge by the ancients.
The pottery is exquisite, the copper lamp is flickering, and how are these exquisite artifacts created? How can the kiln be improved to achieve the 1000°C high temperature required for firing pottery? What kind of precision structure does the Bianjing Hongqiao in "The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" use to carry the huge weight? How did Zeng Hou Yi's chimes achieve "one bell and two tones"? Why does the wooden tower in Yingxian County "not fall for thousands of years"? Let's uncover the secrets behind the artifacts and feel the wisdom of the ancients.
01 Mechanics
1. Copper galloping horse
Eastern Han Dynasty Copper Galloping Horse Collection of Gansu Provincial Museum
Experts through modern scientific instruments for metal flaw analysis, observation of the surface casting traces and the remaining iron core in the bottom of the horse's hoof, combined with the metal composition test results, confirmed that the copper galloping horse is made of bronze pottery casting method, segmented casting welding, and the craftsman in the horse's right hind leg between the tenon iron core bone, can enhance the strength and support of the horse's legs.
In addition, the maker has also made special mortise and tenon joints on the stressed parts such as leg roots, ankle joints, hooves and feet, so that the copper galloping horse has the best strength and support effect, so that this copper galloping horse has stepped on the Feiyan with one foot and has stood still for 2000 years.
2. Blue glaze engraved handle reflux pot
Five dynasties Yaozhou kiln blue glaze carved flower beam inverted pot Shaanxi History Museum collection
Generally, the handles of the handle pot are on both sides of the body, and the lid can be taken independently, and the uniqueness of this pot is that the lid and the body are integrated. The designer has been ingenious in connecting one end of the handle to the body and the other end to the center of the lid, and designing the handle in the shape of a phoenix.
This unique design is also destined to be unique when used, this pot is an inverted pot, which can pour liquid from the bottom of the pot and pour it out normally from the spout. It applies the principle of "constant height of the liquid level of the communicator" in physics, that is, there is only one liquid in the communicator, and when the liquid does not flow, the liquid level in each container always remains flat. The inverted pot embodies a kind of philosophical thinking in ancient times, that is, "pouring is right, it is pouring". As long as the liquid in the pot is maintained at the same height, the water will not overflow, which also warns people not to fall into extremes when acting in a way.
3. Zhang Zeduan's "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" volume
Northern Song Dynasty Zhang Zeduan, "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival", Collection of the Palace Museum
The volume vividly records the urban appearance of Tokyo (also known as Bianjing, present-day Kaifeng, Henan), the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty in China in the 12th century, and the living conditions of people from all walks of life at that time, and is a testimony to the prosperity of the capital city of Tokyo during the Northern Song Dynasty.
There are several Hongqiao in the "Qingming Riverside Map", which is a wooden arch bridge, commonly known as a flying bridge and a centipede bridge. The construction of Hongqiao was flourishing in the Northern Song Dynasty. Zhang Zeduan used realistic techniques and the principle of perspective to carefully paint the Hongqiao near Bianliang in the Song Dynasty. The structure of the Hongqiao can be clearly seen from Zhang Zeduan's paintings. Some bridge experts have estimated that it has a span of about 20 meters and a width of about 8 meters.
Hongqiao is a vertical and horizontal frame and a self-stable wooden structure. In order to guarantee that it is almost deformable and makes the structure a solid whole, the timber structure of Hongqiao consists of 21 sets of juxtaposed arches made of logs with a diameter of about 40 cm. There are two systems of arches: an outer group, two long and two short arches, hinged to each other, called the first system; The adjacent group inside, consisting of three equal-length archbones, is called the second system. In this alternating arrangement, the whole bridge is composed of 11 groups of arches of the first system and 10 groups of the second system, when these two systems are independent, they are unstable structures, only at the intersection of these two systems, the giant trees are traversed, so that the arches are connected with each other, which becomes a stable structure, and the bridge deck load is distributed horizontally on each arch.
4. Tao Yingding
Neolithic Age, Tao Yingding, Collection of the National Museum of China
Tao Yingding is the only animal plastic vessel in the Neolithic Yangshao culture, which shows the innovation and particularity of its shape. In traditional Chinese culture, tripods are more associated with "bronze", showing more heaviness and atmosphere. Tao Yingding is an eagle type, standing on three legs, solemn with a hint of "cute".
Although Tao Yingding is in the shape of an eagle, it does not affect the practicality of the vessel itself. Throughout the eagle tripod, its eagle body is fat and powerful, muscles are strong, the legs are slightly separated, the eagle's tail is pulled down, and the other two feet constitute the tripod of the tripod, supporting the whole tripod body, and its center of gravity surface falls vertically near the center of the circle with the three-legged point to make a circle, this kind of three-legged vessel embodies the cognition and application of the primitive ancestors to the center of gravity of the object: the center of gravity is the weight center of the object, and the vertical line or vertical plane of the center of the object is perpendicular to the support surface of the object, then the object is balanced.
5. Neolithic Yangshao culture painted pottery reticulated boat-shaped pot
Neolithic Age, now in the National Museum of China
The reticulated boat-shaped pot is a water vessel used by the ancestors thousands of years ago, its shape is peculiar, the decoration is exquisite and ingenious, it can be said to be a fashionable boutique in the water vessel industry at that time. As for the shape and usefulness of this water vessel, it is believed that the reticulated boat-shaped pot evolved from a kind of pointed bottom clay pot that was popular at that time.
This kind of pointed bottom clay pot generally has a large belly and a small mouth, and some studies believe that this kind of pointed bottom vessel is a water drawing pot made by using the principle of center of gravity. The ears are located in the lower position of the abdomen, when the two sides are tethered, because the ears are lower than the center of gravity, the empty can is tilted, and when the body of the tank is filled with half of the water, the bottle is upright, and when the tank is filled with more than half of the can of water, it will overturn. The boat-shaped pot is tilted 90 degrees to create a boat-shaped shape with sharp corners on both sides of the flat bottom, which not only distributes the weight evenly, but also makes it more practical and beautiful.
6. Dancing horsebit cup imitation leather bag silver kettle
Tang Dance Horsebit Cup Imitation Leather Bladder Silver Kettle Collection of Shaanxi History Museum
The craftsmanship of this pot is very unique. The cap of the pot is a hammered lotus petal, with a silver ring riveted in the center of the top, and a 14-centimeter-long silver chain is attached to the handle, and the shoulder of the pot is welded with a bow-shaped handle with three petals at one end. The body of the pot is to first hammer a whole piece of silver plate out of the general shape of the pot, and then mold out two dancing horses corresponding to each other on both sides of the ampulla by the method of molding, and then the two ends are glued and welded, and repeatedly polished to flatten, and there are almost no traces of welding.
The gilded dancing horsebit cup pattern silver kettle is made by hammering, engraving, gilding and other processes, showing the superb level of gold and silver production in the Tang Dynasty. Hammering is to make full use of the malleability of gold and silver, using a hammer to shape gold and silver into a round thin leaf, and then put it on the utensils or molds and then squeeze and hammer from the center to form a vessel with concave and convex decorations. As early as 2000 BC, the Western Asian region mastered the hammering technique. With the close exchange of Chinese and foreign cultures, the hammering technology was introduced to the mainland from West Asia, and the craftsmen of the Tang Dynasty mastered this craft, so that the gold and silver manufacturing technology entered a new stage of development.
7. Warring States gold-inlaid jade inlaid glazed silver with hook
Warring States period is now in the collection of the National Museum of China
The main decoration techniques of gold-filled jade beast head silver belt hook include engraving, engraving, gilding, inlay, etc. According to the design drawing, the craftsman copies the pattern with tissue paper, sticks it on the material, chisels out the dotted line, that is, the line composed of points, removes the paper pattern, and uses a wooden hammer and an iron hammer to make a large outline according to the printing hammer. In the process of building the shape, it is generally burned several times to maintain its softness. Through the hollowing process, the unwanted parts of the design are engraved to form a hollow pattern, which is called hollowing or openwork.
Chiseling is a process of decorating the metal surface, using a small hammer to skillfully hit the chisels of various sizes and different textures, so that they leave chisel marks on the metal surface, forming a variety of smooth and vivid patterns, to achieve the purpose of decoration. This craft began in the late Spring and Autumn period and flourished in the Warring States period.
This gold-inlaid jade beast head silver belt hook belongs to the hollow relief of the chisel flower process, through the hollow process in the chisel flower to carve the beast head with one end of the hook, the dragon coiled on both sides of the hook body and two symmetrical phoenix bird ornaments. The chisel flower production process relies not only on the craftsman's own carving skills and experience, but also on the chisel flower production tools. These tools are made by craftsmen according to the needs of the engraved patterns. Homemade chisel fish maw is also an important part of the chisel flower process. Because it needs to play the role of fixing, bonding and liner in the chisel flower so that the chisel knife can work well on the material.
02 Optics
8. Changxin Palace Lamp
Han Dynasty Changxin Palace Lamp Hebei Museum Collection
The shape of the Changxin Palace lamp is exquisite, consisting of six parts: head, body, right arm, lamp base, lamp plate and lampshade. The entire lamp is hollow, and the parts can be flexibly disassembled to facilitate the removal of dust deposits in the lamp. The right arm of the maid holding the lamp alaloft is a flue channel, through which the soot enters the body, thus keeping the room clean. The lampshade can be adjusted to control the brightness of the lamp, and a candle is inserted in the center of the lamp plate, and after it is lit, the smoke will enter the body along the sleeve tube of the palace maid and will not pollute the environment.
The burning principle of the Changxin Palace lamp is one of its biggest highlights. In the Han Dynasty, lamps generally used animal fat as fuel, but the oil smoke produced when burned polluted the indoor air. Through the ingenious design, the Changxin Palace lamp solves the smoke exhaust problem of the smoked oil lamp very well. The oil smoke produced when the lamp burns rises with the push of hot air, enters the hollow lamp body along the sleeve tube of the palace maid, and gradually cools after contact with the metal wall, and condenses on the inner wall. Since there is no bottom cover at the lower end of the lamp body, this lamp can also be placed on the water tray, and the smoke will also condense when exposed to water, avoiding indoor air pollution.
Changxin Palace lamp is an outstanding representative of the ancient concept of "environmental protection". When the candle in the center of the lamp plate is lit, the smoke will enter the inside of the lamp body along the sleeve tube of the palace maid, which effectively avoids the pollution of the environment by the smoke and ensures the freshness of the indoor air. The design of the palace lamp is reasonable, many components are easy to disassemble and clean, and the research experts of archaeology and metallurgical history are recognized that the design of this lamp is exquisite, and the production process is high, which is second to none in the palace lamp of the Han Dynasty. It was designated as a national treasure in 1993. Therefore, it is known as "the first light in China".
9. Painted bronze lantern of goose fish
Western Han Dynasty Painted Goose Fish Bronze Lantern Collection of the National Museum of China
釭 is a guide smoke pipe, 釭 lamp is a lamp with a smoke guide pipe, can also be referred to as 釭, is a kind of lamp newly created in the Han Dynasty. Han Dynasty lamps were usually made into humanoid, animal-shaped and utensil-shaped, and their smoke guide pipes were available in single and double tubes, both of which could channel smoke into the belly of the lamp, so that the room could reduce soot and keep it clean. The lantern is the most advanced invention and creation of the Han Dynasty lamps in terms of function, the concept and design are ingenious and reasonable, and the perfect unity of function and form has been achieved, and it is in a leading position in the history of lamps and lanterns in the world.
The painted copper goose fish lamp is a masterpiece among the lanterns. It is presented in the traditional artistic shape of the bird, and the overall image is a wild goose looking back at the fish. This goose has a slender neck, looking back at a fish, with a fat body, full wings, a short tail upturned, and two feet together. The lamp disc has a handle and sits on the back of the goose, while the lampshade is made up of two curved plates. Users can adjust the light and wind direction by turning the opening and closing of the lamp tray and lampshade to make the indoor environment more comfortable. What's even more unique is that the bodies of this goose and fish are hollow. On the neck and back of the wild goose, as well as in the belly of the fish, there are child and mother mouths that allow these parts to be connected to each other. When the grease is ignited, the resulting smoke is collected through the belly of the fish, which is then introduced through the neck of the goose and finally adsorbed on the surface of the water within the belly. This design not only effectively reduces the smoke pollution in the room, but also gives the lamps more artistic beauty.
10. Bronze lamp with silver figurines
Warring States period silver-headed figurines bronze lamp Hebei Museum collection
The head of the male figurine is carefully made of silver, the eyes are inlaid with black gemstones, high cheekbones, thick eyebrows and short beard, the beard is slightly upturned, the hair bun, beard, eyebrows, and hair are visible at the roots, and the smile is lovely. The male figurines wear long robes, wide sleeves and low hanging skirts, and long skirts swaying to the ground, which not only looks chic and natural, but also conducive to the balance of utensils. Holding a snake in his right hand, connected to a pillar, on top of which is a lamp plate, on which there is a climbing ape; The left hand holds the snake's tail, and the snake's mouth holds a lamp plate. In the lamp tray placed on the left flat ground, a python is entrenched in the middle, and the snout is high against the snake held by the snake charmer's left hand, ensuring the stability of the center of gravity of the whole lamp. Such a difficult action is not fiction, but a life prototype, and it is found that this is the earliest physical evidence found in the history of Hebei acrobatics so far.
According to different use scenarios, this lamp can be freely adjusted light, high, medium and low different lamps and candles, three, six, nine candles, respectively, corresponding to different brightness needs, when the nine candles are lit at the same time, the fire is staggered, like a fire tree silver flower as dazzling and bright.
11. Bronze cylinder lamp
Western Han Dynasty bronze cylinder lamp Haiyang Marquis Ruins Museum collection
The bronze cylinder lamp has a complex structure, consisting of a base, a tray, a side lampshade, a top lampshade and a curved smoke pipe. The seat is a spherical belly, with animal hooves and feet, and there are arc-shaped upward smoke pipes on both sides of the shoulder. There is a round tray on the seat and a cylinder at the bottom of the plate, which can be matched with the base. Inside the tray is a circular lamp tray with two detachable curved lampshades between the two, which can be moved to block the wind and adjust the light direction. This lamp uses the siphon principle, the belly of the lamp is filled with water, and the smoke reaches the abdomen through the smoke pipe to dissolve in water, which prevents the fuel lamp from polluting the room and is more conducive to lighting.
03 Acoustics
12. Chimes of Marquis Zeng
Warring States Zenghou Yi Chime, Hubei Provincial Museum Collection
On the basis of scientific proportioning, the "composite pottery fan" casting technology and the investment method of lead and tin as the mold material, coupled with the reasonable design of the thickness of the bell wall, the setting of the sound ridge in the drum cavity and the heat treatment technology of the furnace, make the casting form a "tile shape", produce a double tone area, and constitute a "resonance cavity", so as to play a load role in the vibration area where it is located, achieve the attenuation of accelerated high frequency, and help the bell enter the steady state vibration.
The tile-shaped bell body is ribbed on both sides. The ridge is the connection of two pieces of tile, is the part with the greatest rigidity of the bell, when the bell body vibrates, it takes more energy to make the ridge enter the vibration state, so when the chime sounds, the ridge energy plays a damping role on the bell (vibration reduction and energy dissipation), and accelerates the attenuation of the bell. Moreover, when striking different parts of the same chime, the vibration mode varies greatly because of the different damping effects of the ridges. After striking the main drum part, after the chime enters the vibration state, the edge plays an obvious damping effect, on the contrary, when striking the side drum part, the damping effect of the edge is very small, so that there is a miracle of "one bell and two tones".
Through the test and analysis of all the geometric dimensions of Zeng Hou Yi's chimes, it is found that the geometric dimensions of each bell strictly follow a certain mathematical logical relationship. In the case of a particular clock, the remaining dimensions can be calculated by determining one of the main dimensions, and the size of the bell body is closely related to the acoustic properties of the chime. For example, if the first fundamental frequency of the chime is analyzed in relation to its milling length, it can be seen that the fundamental frequency is clearly divided into three areas: low frequency, medium frequency and high frequency with the change of milling length. There is also an intrinsic relationship between the thickness of the bell body and the milling length, when the milling length of the two bells is the same, the vibration frequency of the bell can be changed by adjusting the thickness of the bell body; At a fixed frequency, the thickness of the bell is limited, and the milling length can also be changed.
13. Animal-faced stripe
Spring and Autumn Beast Face Pattern Puncture Collection of Shanxi Museum
Beast face pattern pun, also known as the beast head phoenix pattern pun clock, a group of four, for the national first-class cultural relics. The top of the bell is a hollow double dragon-shaped button, the dragon's head is opposite, the mouth is a snake, and it is majestic. The flat place above the bell is called the "dance" part, and it is decorated with the phoenix pattern of the head of the beast. The middle of the bell is called the "cymbal" part, which is decorated with the double body pattern of the head of the beast; The lower circle is called the "Drum" part, and it is also decorated with an ornate and intricate pattern of the head of the beast and the phoenix, which is the part that is struck during the performance. The circular protrusions on the bell, called "pieces", play a role in speeding up the attenuation of sounds, and they are shaped into the image of coiled crests. The strip-shaped part between the "piece" and the "piece" is called the "seal" part, and it is decorated with another kind of ornament with the mythical beast as the main body - the pan mantis pattern. The beast face is one of the many precious national treasures that have been recovered.
04 Thermal
14. Northern Song Dynasty Ru kiln azure glazed string pattern bottle
Northern Song Dynasty Ru kiln azure glazed string pattern bottle collection of the Palace Museum
Song Ru kiln azure glazed string bottle is a Song Dynasty Ru kiln firing handicrafts, we can clearly see the glaze of the fine broken pieces, the reason for the opening of the piece is that when the firing is cooled, the ratio of thermal expansion and cold contraction of the porcelain blank and the glaze is different, so it will cause glaze cracking when leaving the kiln. Although this is a flaw, throughout the ages, people have recognized the beauty of this opening piece, and the craftsmen have also understood and mastered the principle and law of the opening piece, but have taken the initiative to pursue this special decoration of porcelain.
The opening of this piece of porcelain perfectly interprets the crab claw pattern and the fish scale opening piece, which are two typical characteristics of Ru kiln. Crab claw pattern: The texture is messy, much like the claws of crabs. The fish scale opening means that the shape of the opening and the angle of the crack are oblique, and there is no straight crack, which is very similar to fish scales, so it is called fish scale opening.
15. Painted stork stone axe figure pottery jar
Neolithic Painted stork stone axe pottery jar Collection of the National Museum of China
The painted stork stone axe pottery jar is a burial tool from the early Neolithic period, unearthed in 1978 in Yancun, Linru County, Henan Province, which is today's Ruzhou City. Ruzhou is the birthplace of ceramics since ancient times, from the stork stone axe figure Ru pottery jar in the primitive society, to the first of the five famous kilns, the blazing furnace fire in Ruzhou has burned for thousands of years, forming a prosperous scene of "a hundred miles of landscape on both sides of the Ru River, and the fire is in the sky everywhere", which occupies a significant position in the history of Chinese ceramics.
Pottery is made of clay or clay after being kneaded into shape and fired, which has the characteristics of fire resistance and insoluble in water, and is the earliest artificial material product. The production of pottery is inseparable from the use of fire. According to legend, the Suiren clan in the primitive society invented the "wooden fire" for making fire, that is, the fire tool for "drilling wood to make fire", so that people mastered the thermal principle of "friction heat". When people have mastered the use of fire, it is necessary to reach a certain temperature in order to achieve the change of chemical composition when firing pottery, produce a low eutectic glass phase, bond the particles in the clay, reduce the water absorption, and thus enhance the hardness of the pottery. If the temperature is not enough, it will become raw firing, the chemical reaction is not sufficient, the water absorption rate is high, the hardness is poor, and the quality of the pottery is poor. Therefore, the ancients also created a technique of visual temperature inspection based on experience, which is also the key to the failure of pottery firing.
16. Neolithic Yangshao culture painted pottery human-faced fish-pattern basin
Neolithic Neolithic Yangshao Culture Painted Pottery Human-faced Fish-Pattern Basin Collection of the National Museum of China
The human-faced fish-patterned faience pot was excavated in the Banpo site, and the pottery-making process had developed to the stage of having a scientifically and reasonably designed pottery kiln. During this period, there were two types of pottery kilns, horizontal cave kilns and vertical hole kilns, which were developed from flat ground open pile firing to one-time clay thin shell sealing and then developed. When the pottery is burned on the flat ground, the temperature rises quickly, and the maximum temperature can reach 900°, but the heat preservation is not good, so the thermal efficiency is low, and the phenomenon of raw burning often occurs; The one-time clay thin shell sealing burner improves the thermal insulation problem of flat ground pile burning, reduces the amount of fuel consumed by firing, and improves the thermal efficiency, and the firing temperature is generally between 800-900°. The method of kiln firing pottery, the use of kiln chamber to further improve the thermal insulation performance and thermal efficiency, the firing temperature is increased to between 950-1050°, and also solves the one-time problem of clay thin shell sealing and firing.
The exhaust hole at the rear of the kiln will suction the hot gas in the front of the furnace, thereby increasing the temperature of the kiln chamber. In the pit kiln, the heat from below rises to the kiln chamber, so that the temperature rises quickly and the heat is kept warm for a long time. The emergence of this type of pottery kiln is a great advance in kiln technology.
17. Seal the white pottery
Neolithic Sealed White Pottery Collection of Juzhou Museum
This pottery (guī) is sand-filled white pottery, belongs to the Dawenkou cultural utensils, pottery is a common water vessel and ritual vessel in the Neolithic Age, generally mostly open, this sealed pottery is one of the special vessel types. This type is a long-flow bell with multiple sieve holes on the horn seal. The sieve hole has multiple uses, not only to prevent dust and debris from falling into the interior when boiling water, but also to play a certain role in filtration. It has three pouch legs, a bridge-shaped handle between the neck and abdomen, two strings on it, and a long strip on the abdomen.
In the later period of Dawenkou culture, the ancestors used the "crucible soil" to fire pottery at a high temperature of 1000 °C, and the firing vessel was hard in substance, the tire wall was thin and even, and the utensils showed bright white color, and there were some yellow and pink fine sand pottery, which were generally referred to as white pottery. Compared with other utensils, white pottery has pure color, mellow texture, and plain surface as a whole, showing the beauty of cleanliness and elegance.
18. Black pottery
Neolithic Black Pottery Collection of Rizhao City Museum
Neolithic wine vessels, fine clay black pottery. The appearance is polished and smooth, the shape is a straight neck ball belly, the shoulder and abdomen are decorated with two pairs of piercing ears that are symmetrically distributed vertically, and the surface of the vessel is decorated with a number of concave string patterns, the production is exquisite, the shape is beautiful, and it is a fine product in the black pottery of Longshan culture in Shandong. The black pottery and the black pottery eggshell pottery cup and the white pottery squill appear together, and the three types of utensils just form a complete set of wine vessels, which can realize the three functions of holding, pouring and drinking.
Black pottery is a representative artifact of the Yongsan culture, and a large number of beautifully crafted black pottery containers have been unearthed in many high-standard tombs. The firing method of black pottery is to slowly add water to the hot kiln in the final stage of firing, and a large amount of smoke and charcoal particles produced by this adhere to the surface of the ware, and after the kiln temperature is cooled, the carbon element is sealed in the wall of the vessel, so as to fire the black pottery. The fired black pottery is more calm and atmospheric, with the reputation of pure black lacquer, commonly known as "black and bright".
19. Muson
Spring and Autumn Sacrifice Zun Collection of Shanghai Museum
This bronze vessel is cleverly conceived in the shape of a buffalo. The belly of the cow is hollow, and there are three clever holes in the neck and back, and a detachable pot-shaped vessel is nested in the central hole, which is practical and convenient. Based on its structure, we can deduce that it was a piece of ware used to warm sake. The pot-shaped vessel is used to hold the liquor, while the hollow hole is used to pour water, and the water is injected into the belly of the reverence to warm the sake.
One of the distinguishing features of Chinese bronzes is the incorporation of animal forms into the design of wine vessels, and this work is one of the most prominent. Despite its short quadrupeds, the whole form appears steady and powerful. The tension of the horns on the head of the ox and the rounded eyes of the bull maintain a high level of realism, making the shape and practicality harmonious. It is worth mentioning that the nose of the cow is worn with a ring, a detail that reveals that the nose piercing method was already used to tame the cow during the Spring and Autumn period. Therefore, this bronze is not only a beautiful work of art, but also an important material for the study of the history of livestock domestication in China.