In recent years, some porcelain plates or the bottom of porcelain cups, there has been a cute small animal shape, although the difficulty of cleaning has increased, but when drinking water or using the plate, see the cute small animals, will definitely feel comfortable!
Images are from the web
Do you think this is a new way of playing by literary and artistic young people in recent years? No, no, no, it is hard to imagine that our ancestors have already played such a cute game, and the craftsmanship and gameplay are far more exquisite than they are now.
The ancients made cups, in addition to the decent porcelain cups, there is also a kind of "suction cup", that is, even the straw is also done together to make a shape, the end is connected to the bottom of the cup, and it is directly absorbed when drinking water. The ancients were "lazy", but they were not at all inferior to today's people.
Qing Guangxu Pastel lotus suction cup Collection of Hubei Provincial Museum
Source: Arterial shadow
The ancients had the elegant thing of drinking lotus leaf wine, so the suction cup was mostly lotus leaf shaped, but also turtle-shaped and duck-shaped. Many suction cups will be decorated with three-dimensional turtles, fish or ducklings on the round holes at the bottom of the cups.
Qing green glazed lotus leaf type suction cup Collection of Jiangxi Provincial Museum
Qing Dehua kiln white glazed petal mouth suction cup Guangdong Provincial Museum collection
This cute practice of decorating small animals at the bottom of the cup was not only seen in porcelain in the Tang Dynasty and later. Surprisingly, as early as the bottom of the bronze ware of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, a variety of lively and vivid small animals had appeared.
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Bronzes give people the feeling of being thick and dignified. The ornamentation on the bronze, such as the hammer pattern and the animal face pattern, will also give people an awe-inspiring and solemn posture. Of course, small utensils such as plates, knights, and yaos, as well as later style changes, will also show delicacy and agility because of the ingenuity of the craftsmen.
Western Han Dynasty Eight Cattle Shellfish Container Collection of Shanghai Museum
A bronze plate is a type of bronze vessel used to hold water, but not water for drinking, but similar to the modern pot function. Not only modern people know how to wash their hands frequently under the new crown epidemic, as early as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, nobles have begun to perform the ritual of fertility in places such as sacrifices and feasts.
The Book of Rites and Internal Rules says: "Enter the wash, the young ones serve the plates, the elders serve the water, please ask for the water, and the pawns give the towels." "In the wo ceremony, Wo is poured with water on the hands, washed hands and faces, and the plate is used to receive discarded water, and the waiter offers a towel to wipe his hands. Except for the absence of hand sanitizer, everything is the same as the modern handwashing process. Of course, at that time, people also had their own handwashing "soap", which was grass and wood ash containing potassium carbonate.
Therefore, as a kind of ceremonial vessel, the disc needs to be used in conjunction with the waterer. In the early period of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the popular pan was matched, and from the late Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Warring States, it was mostly a pan match. After the Warring States period, the ritual of fertility gradually disappeared, and the function of the plate evolved into a double use of water, which was called washing.
Bronze plates appeared in the early Shang Dynasty, but there were only a few of them, and it was only in the late Shang Dynasty that they gradually became popular. The disks of the Shang Dynasty were all open, circle feet, and no ears, and the changes were only on the mouth edge and circle foot. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, especially in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the shape of the disc began to change greatly, with various shapes and ornaments.
Most of the bronze plates have only reliefs or cast ornaments and inscriptions at the bottom, which are used to decorate or record the descendants of the descendants. However, at the bottom of some plates, there are some three-dimensional "little cuteness".
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Bronze dragon plate
Bronze dragon plate Collected by Wenling Museum, Zhejiang
In 1984, a national treasure-level cultural relic, the bronze dragon plate, was excavated in Wenling, Zhejiang. This bronze plate is a late Shang Dynasty disk, with a large body, rich ornamentation, and extraordinary courage, I am afraid that it is no longer a practical instrument, but a ceremonial instrument specially used for sacrifice.
The relief casting of the dragon in the center of the disc is the most exciting and special feature of this disc.
The image of the dragon is delicate and vivid, the dragon head is three-dimensional, slightly square, standing out of the center of the plate nearly 10 centimeters, it seems to be about to jump out of the plate, volleying away, particularly eye-catching. The dragon sits clockwise in a circular fashion, scaled on both sides, with a diamond-shaped checkered pattern sandwiched in the middle.
The dragon has two stout dragon horns, with horns on the dragon's head, probably to show the dragon's divine power. The shape of the longan is in the shape of the "subject" glyph common in Shang Zhou bronzes, and the eyeballs are prominent. The mouth is large and toothless, and the ears are similar to those of the bull's ear.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="54" > bronze hammer pattern pan partial Source: Taizhou Net, China</h1>
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="55" > "Bronze Dragon Plate: The Legend of the Mysterious "Pan King"</h1>"
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="56" > Photographed by Huang Xiaohui, correspondent of Taizhou Evening News</h1>
How does this little divine beast look so cute,
Mouth full of jagged teeth, but no sense of viciousness.
The White Crane Museum of Art in Japan has a late Shang Six Birds Dragon Pattern Plate, and the image of the dragon is similar to this disk. Six three-dimensional birds crouch on the edge of the plate, which is made in the same way as the dragon head of this plate.
The excavation site of the Six Birds Dragon Pattern Plate is said to be the Jianghuai Belt, which is the activity area of Xu Guo and Qunshu during the Shang Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, experts speculate that the two plates may be sister instruments, both belonging to Xu and Shu's national treasures.
With the advancement of the times, the bronze craftsmanship improved, and more exquisite bronze plates began to appear. The emergence of inscriptions has also allowed people to trace the old owner of the artifact and the original intention of its production.
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Zizhong ginger plate
Zizhong Ginger Plate Collection of Shanghai Museum
Source: Archaeological China
The brilliance of this disc is the 31 aquatic animals cast in the disc, of which 11 are circular sculptures, which can be rotated 360 degrees at the bottom of the disc, and the other 20 are bas-reliefs.
The 31 ornaments are arranged in a plate for 5 weeks, with a male waterfowl with a round sculpture with a crown on its head, and the first week around it is 2 frogs and 2 turtles in relief, interlaced with each other; the second week is 4 fish with a round carving; the third week is 4 frogs and 4 turtles in relief, staggered; the fourth week is 4 female waterfowl with no crown on the head; the fifth week is 7 relief fish and 4 round sculptures as crouching frogs, also staggered, one of which is missing, with an inscription next to it.
Zizhong Ginger Plate Partial Shanghai Museum Collection
The average length of these critters is only about 6.5 centimeters, but they are meticulously crafted and vivid. Underneath the critters are hidden vertical axes that can be rotated 360 degrees in situ.
Injecting clear water into the rippling waves, the relief aquarium seems to sway under the water, and the water birds and pond fish that rotate with the water seem to swim above the blue waves.
The three-dimensional horned dragon on both sides of the ear, the dragon head holding the edge of the plate, as if in the probe to drink water in the plate, very interesting.
The inscription on the plate is very short: Early June Ji Xinhai, the master as a zizhong ginger foam plate, Kong Shuo and good, with the prayer eyebrow shou, children and grandchildren forever used as treasure.
It means that in June of a certain year, the Taishi, who was also responsible for teaching poetry, made this prayer plate for his wife, Miss Jiang Jia'er, hoping that she would live a long life and that her children and grandchildren would use this plate forever.
The son is the inner son and the lady, and Zhong is the second eldest in the order of Uncle Bozhong's uncle, indicating that the lady ranks second in the family, and Jiang is the surname of the lady. This plate is not only interesting and exquisite, but also a gift from a husband who expressed his love to his wife more than 2,000 years ago.
Perhaps this Miss Jiang Er is a lively, nature-loving girl, combined with her husband who understands music, she has to meet a good person, and when the water gushes on the plate, she not only feels the vitality of spring, but also feels the strong love and honey of the two hearts and the quiet years.
Zizhong ginger plate partial Collection of Shanghai Museum
In the long years of more than two thousand years, Zizhong Ginger Pan was not known to the world. It wasn't until 1994 that Ma Chengyuan, then director of the Shanghai Museum, and Wang Qingzheng, deputy director of the Shanghai Museum, rushed to Hong Kong and arrived at the office of Ye Zhaofu, then chairman of the board of directors of Sun Group. It turned out that he had recently purchased this plate from an antique shop, which was said to have been unearthed in Shanxi in modern times and unfortunately exiled overseas. Due to the peculiar shape of the instrument, which had never been seen before, Ye Zhaofu did not dare to be sure whether it was true or false. Ma Chengyuan and Wang Qing seriously studied carefully and believed that this was a rare treasure that had been lost for a hundred years. In 1997, in order to celebrate the return of Hong Kong, Ip Zhaofu donated this plate to the Shanghai Museum, which became the treasure of Shangbo's town hall.
However, because of its unprecedented ingenuity, it is considered to be "strange in shape". The controversy over the authenticity of this disc has never stopped. In 2019, after many police pursuits, it was finally successfully recovered from abroad that the Jinguo heavy weapon that was stolen and sold by the tomb group a few years ago - Jin Gongpan was successfully recovered. Coincidentally, the style and casting techniques of the Jin Gongpan are extremely similar to the Zizhong Ginger Plate. At this point, zizhong ginger plate is no longer an isolated case.
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Jin Gongpan
Collection of Shanxi Bronze Museum
Source: Shanxi Museum Official
The Jin Gongpan is a Jin state ceremonial vessel from the Spring and Autumn Period, which belongs to the national first-class cultural relics and is now in the Shanxi Bronze Museum.
The center of the inner bottom of the Jin Gong Plate is decorated with a pair of exquisitely embossed dragons, coiled in a circle.
In the center of The Double Dragon, there is a three-dimensional water bird. On the outside of Shuanglong, there are also 4 three-dimensional water birds and 4 relief golden turtles. Beyond the golden turtle are 3 round eagle jumping frogs and 3 swimming fish. The outermost circle is 4 crouching frogs, 7 relief swimming frogs and 4 round eagle crawling turtles.
Jin Gongpan Shanxi Bronze Museum Collection
Source: Shanxi Museum official Blog Weibo video
These small animals are not "dead", and all can do 360° rotation in place. The head of the turtle can be retracted, the upper beak of the water bird is not integrated with the head, there is a small slit in the middle, and the beak can be opened and closed.
Jin Gong pan part of the Collection of The Shanxi Bronze Museum
Source: Shanghai Museum Official Blog
There are seven inscriptions on the inner wall of the Jin Gongpan, each with three lines, totaling 183 characters.
Inscription in the Jin Gong Pan Collection of the Shanxi Bronze Museum
In the inscription, the monarch of the Jin dynasty first introduced the ancestor Tang Shuyu's surrender to The Hundred Barbarians and the establishment of the Jin State, and the father's dedication to the achievements of the territory and territory, and then showed his intention to emulate the ancestors and uphold the will of the ten thousand states to submit, and finally introduced the ins and outs of his daughter's marriage to the Chu state.
Mr. Wu Zhenfeng, an archaeologist, believes that this monarch is one of the five hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period more than 2,600 years ago, the Jin Wen Gong Zhong'er. This vivid and lovely bronze plate is a dowry given by Jin Wengong to his eldest daughter Meng Ji.
It can be imagined that under the impact of the water flow, the small animals in the plate seem to come alive instantly, the clear water flows down from the turn happily, and the newly cast golden and lifelike small animals swim in it, rotating, stretching, opening and closing, and the copper plate immediately becomes a shallow pond, a small world full of vitality. As if in the dazzling summer sun, the sparkling pond, the sound of frogs, and the water birds playing in the water, will the daughter of the distant marriage remind her of the scene of playing with her parents at the pond in her childhood? The princess who "must not rebel" all her life may be able to experience her father's strong love from this elaborate and ingenious tool.
Jin Gong pan Frog pattern Shanxi Bronze Museum collection
Whether it is the blessing and love of the old father to his daughter, or the gentleness and sweetness of the husband to his wife, it has finally turned into a delicate and ingenious "toy" disk, so that the world more than two thousand years later, from the rusty heavy bronze surface, recall their once golden and brilliant appearance, and the pulse warmth hidden in it.
Craftsmanship and ingenuity are moving enough, and what impresses the world even more is the love behind it. These two bronze plates, which are quite similar in shape and decoration and gameplay, can be described as well-deserved jinpan double bibi.
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Fish-patterned round trim panel
Fish-patterned circular panels Exhibit of Afghan National Treasures
Collection of Tsinghua University Art Museum
The same fish-pattern decorated plate, why does this look so much like a Dark British dish – Look up at the stars?
In fact, this is a fish-patterned circular panel from Beglam, Afghanistan.
The center of the ornamental plate is the head of Medusa, a serpent-haired banshee in ancient Greek mythology, and its periphery is full of swimming fish, some suspected of dolphins. The images of Medusa and the fish are molded from the reverse, so that the front has a convex feeling.
Interestingly, neither the fan-shaped fins nor the fins are fixed, but are designed to be flippable. The fins and fins are inserted into the reverse side of the copper plate through the lower insert, and then the perforation is tied to a small bell, which clangs when shaking. The fins and tails of the fish seem to swing with the waves of the water, and the fish seem to be alive.
When this disc is exhibited at the Art Museum of Tsinghua University, there is a replica next to it, which restores the original golden luster of the bronze, which allows the audience to shake and play, so that the cultural relics can travel through time and interact with us.
Many post-80s and post-90s children will have such a familiar golden turtle toy at home, packed in a small box, shiny and golden, limbs and head and tail will shake, as if alive. When I was a child, I thought that if I came back with some fish and birds, it would look better. Unexpectedly, a thousand years ago, Afghans thousands of miles away also coincided with it. The heart that loves to play is common to all human beings.
If Zizhong Jiang Pan and Jin Gong Pan can also have such replicas for the audience to play, they will definitely become Internet celebrities in the cultural and bo circles.
Another fish-patterned square vessel that comes out at the same time
Jimei Museum collection Photo by Liu Xiaobo
It is speculated that the disc may have been decorated with the bottom of some kind of circular basin, or the specific function of the square basin and the circular basin, which is now in the southwest corner of the room, or the sacrificial pot.
Afghanistan is located in the special heart of Eurasia, which has been the center of the intersection of multiple cultures and civilizations since ancient times, and is known as the "crossroads of civilization". Each cultural relic exhibited in the exhibition can be said to be the most vivid witness of the collision of cultural exchanges.
These two pot decoration plates, which are quite similar to The Chinese bronze plates, can also allow us to lament the profundity of Chinese civilization while feeling the collision of the wisdom and culture of the predecessors from a broader perspective.
Perhaps, behind these two artifacts, there is also a deep but unknown feeling that has been buried in the smoke of history?
bibliography:
1. "Pastel Lotus Flower Cup", Global Human Geography, Issue 09, 2020
2. "A Piece of Xing Kiln White Glazed Green Color Suction Cup from the Water of the "Black Stone"" Yang Lijuan "Collection", 2019-05-01
3. "Instruments and Rituals: Beans in the Social Changes of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the Revolution of The Tao (匜)", Zhang Chong, Studies in Art Studies, 2020-10-15
4. "Bronze Dragon Plate" Chen Ping, Jin Ping, China Culture Daily, 2002-12-12
5. "Bronze National Treasure Zi Zhongjiang Plate" Liu Fei "Collection Circle" 2006-04-01
6. "Ye Zhaofu and Zizhong Jiang Pan" Solemn "Searching for Roots" 2000-06-25
7. "Meng Ji's Dowry Jin Gongpan" Qiu Ci; Wu Lei "Friends of Science (First Half)" 2020-11-01
8. "On the Inscriptions of the Jin Gongpan and Related Issues" Guan Wentao, Bronze and Golden Texts, 2019-12-31
9. "Utensils and Clothing Wear Boundless Afghan National Treasures where Eastern and Western Civilizations Converge" Tan Shengguang "Literary and Art Life (Art China)" 2019-08-15
Source: Museum 丨 Watch the exhibition