Bronze is a great invention in the history of mankind. It is an alloy of red copper and tin and lead. It is also the earliest alloy in the history of metal casting. After the invention of bronze, it immediately became popular, and human history has since entered a new stage - the Bronze Age.
China has a long history of using copper. Our ancestors discovered and started using copper about six or seven thousand years ago. In 1973, a semi-circular residual copper piece was unearthed from the Jiangzhai site in Linyi, Shaanxi Province, and was identified as brass. In 1975, a bronze knives were unearthed at the Linjia Majiayao Cultural Relics in Dongxiang, Gansu Province (about 3,000 BC). This is the earliest bronze ware found in China and is a testament to China’s entry into the Bronze Age. Relative to West Asia, South Asia and North Africa, which entered the Bronze Age about 6500 years ago, the Chinese Bronze Age came late, but it cannot be denied that it was of independent origin, because China has a bronze and stone tools used in the era. It is about 5500~4500 years ago. China has invented bronze alloys on this basis, which is the same as the development model of world bronzes. Therefore, it can be ruled out that Chinese bronzes are spread from abroad.
"The great thing about the country is in harmony." For China’s pre-Qin and Central Plains countries, the biggest thing is the sacrifices and foreign wars. As the bronze that represents the most advanced metal processing and casting technology at that time, it is also mainly used in sacrificial etiquette and war. The functions of bronzes found in Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties are ritual tools and weapons, as well as accessories around them. This is different from the bronzes of various countries in the world, forming a bronze culture system with Chinese traditional characteristics.
Generally, the development of Chinese bronze culture is divided into three major stages, namely, the formation period, the heyday and the transition period. The formation period refers to the Longshan era, dating from 4500 to 4000 years; the peak period is the Chinese bronze age, including Xia, Shang, Xi Zhou, Chunqiu and early Warring States, lasting for more than 1,600 years, which is the traditional Chinese system. The era of bronze culture; the period of change refers to the end of the Warring States Period - the Qin and Han Dynasties, the bronzes have gradually been replaced by iron, not only the number of large reductions, but also from the original ritual weapons and use in ceremonial sacrifices, war activities and other important occasions into daily utensils, The corresponding types, structural features, and decorative arts have also undergone a turning point.
First, the formation period
The Longshan era from 4500 to 4000 years ago is equivalent to the legendary era. At the time of the ancient literature, people began to smelt bronzes. In the Longshan period ruins of the Yellow River and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, bronze artifacts were found in dozens of sites through archaeological excavations. From the perspective of existing materials, the bronzes in the formation period have the following characteristics:
1. Red copper and bronze coexist, and brass appears. A bronze knives of Fan Zhu was unearthed from the Linjia site in Dongxiang, Gansu Province; two pieces of red bronze ornaments with holes were found at the Dachengshan site in Tangshan, Hebei Province; a piece of bronze container containing 7% tin was unearthed in Longcheng City, Dengcheng, Dengfeng, Henan Province; A complete copper bell was unearthed in the cemetery of Taotao Temple in Shanxi Province, which was red copper; two brass cones were unearthed from the Sanlihe site in Jiaoxian County, Shandong Province; and brass fragments were unearthed from Yangjia Circle in Qixia, Shandong Province. The largest number of copper products found in Qijia culture in Gansu, Qinghai and Ningxia. There are several cemeteries with knives, cones, drills, rings and copper. Some are bronze and some are red copper. In terms of production technology, some are forged, some are cast with Van, and are more advanced.
2, bronze varieties are less, mostly belong to daily tools and life, such as knives, cones, drills, rings, bronze mirrors, decorations and so on. But it should be acknowledged that people were able to make containers at the time. In addition, red or yellow pottery figurines are common in Longshan culture, and there are often metal rivets that are imitated in the vents and ventral ridges. If you think that the gongs and gongs in this case are the same as those of Xia Shang gongs, gongs and gongs, The bronzes of the time were already at or beginning to turn to rituals.
3, ordinary small sites are also unearthed copper products, the general residents also have bronze products. In addition, the bronze products of this period are simple and unadorned, that is, the bronze mirrors with decorative patterns are only geometric ornaments of star stripes, triangles, etc., and there is no mystery of three generations of bronze ornaments.
Second, the peak period:
The heyday of the Chinese Bronze Age, including Xia, Shang, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn and the early Warring States period, lasted for more than 1,600 years. The bronzes of this period were mainly divided into ritual instruments, weapons and organs. Musical instruments are also mainly used in the ancestral temple activities. The rituals are used in the ancient red tape rituals, or in the temples, or used for feasting, washing, and some are dedicated to funeral. Bronze rituals have a certain sacredness and cannot be used in general life. Among all the bronzes, the number of rituals is the largest and the production is the most beautiful. The ritual instrument can represent the highest level of Chinese bronze making process. The types of rituals include cooking utensils, food utensils, wine vessels, water vessels and idols. The bronze decoration of this period is the most exquisite, and there are many kinds of decorative ornaments.
One of the most common patterns of bronze is the crepe pattern, also known as the animal face pattern. This ornamentation first appeared on the Liangzhu culture jade artifacts in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River 5,000 years ago. The Shandong Longshan culture inherited this ornamentation. The crepe pattern itself has a strong mystery. "Lv's Spring and Autumn · First Aid" in the article "Zhou Ding is stunned, there is no body, the eater does not swallow, harms his body", therefore, this animal face is generally called 饕餮 pattern. The crepe pattern has already appeared on the bronze in the Erlitou summer culture. There are many types of crepe patterns in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Some are like dragons, like tigers, like cows, like sheep, like deer; and like birds, like phoenixes, like humans. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the mysterious color of bronze ornaments gradually declined. The dragon and the phoenix are still the motifs of many bronze patterns. It can be said that many patterned patterns are actually derived from the two major types of dragon snakes and phoenix birds.
The crepe pattern is a common pattern in the Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou Dynasty. In the spring and autumn, there are also deformed crepe patterns. In the Spring and Autumn Period, the dragon dragon pattern prevailed, gradually occupying a dominant position, and almost all other patterns were squeezed out.
Another outstanding feature of ancient Chinese bronze wares is the exquisite craftsmanship of the craftsmanship, which shows the creative talents of ancient craftsmen. The method of making bronzes with the compound compound of ceramics was fully developed in ancient China. Tao Fan's selection of materials and molds, the pattern engraving is extremely elegant, and the technology of casting, casting, casting and stacking is very mature. Subsequent development of the lost wax process technology that is in need of split casting is undoubtedly a major advancement in the bronze casting process.
This technique has been around for a long time by inlaying bronzes to add aesthetics. The inlaid material, the first one is turquoise, this green gem is still used in jewelry today. The second type is jade, which has jade aids, jade leaves, and jade blades. The third kind of bismuth iron, such as iron blade copper gong, iron aid copper blade, has been identified, the iron blade is a master. The fourth type is inlaid with red copper, and red copper is used to form a beast pattern. In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, bronzes decorated with gold and silver were also used.
In the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the development of smelting and casting technology was relatively high, and the technical summary document "Kaogongji" for the production of bronzes appeared. The book specifies the proportion of copper and tin in the bronze used in making various kinds of utensils such as Zhong Ding, Axe, and 弋戟. Due to the frequent wars, weapons casting has developed rapidly. In particular, the swords of Wu and Yue are extremely sharp and famous. There are some famous craftsmen who cast swords, such as Gan Jiang, Ou Zhizi and others. Although some swords have been buried underground for more than two thousand years, they can still cut into stacks of paper. Some swords, such as Wang Gou Jianjian, have a certain chemical treatment on the surface to form a rust-proof diamond, scale or flame-shaped pattern, which is unusually gorgeous.
Another feature of Chinese bronzes is that no portraits have been found so far. Many bronzes use human faces as decorations, such as human faces, human faces, etc., but these faces are not the faces of specific people. More objects are the overall image of a person, such as a human-shaped lamp or a seat; or a part of the human body as a part of the object, such as a bell with a sword-shaped person raising his hand to hold the beam, and several humanoid feet under the copper plate In the same way, most of these figures are costumes for men and women, and they are not portraits of specific slaves. The three-dimensional portraits and human heads unearthed from Sanxingdui in Sichuan Guanghan are larger than normal people. They are all long-eared, high-nosed, and mysterious. They should be mythical characters.
Tens of thousands of bronzes in the Shang and Zhou bronzes have inscriptions. These words are now called Jin Wen. For historical scholars, it plays the role of witness history and supplement history.
The inscriptions of Chinese bronzes, the words are more than cast. The concave typeface is called the Yin text, and the minority text is raised, which is called Yang Wen. The Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou Dynasty can be said that the inscriptions are all cast, and there are only a few examples of sharp tool lettering.
In the late Western Zhou Dynasty, there was an inscription that was completely engraved. In the middle of the Warring States period, most of the inscriptions were already engraved. Even the three extremely ceremonial rituals of the Tomb of the King of Hanshan in Pingshan, Hebei Province were engraved. The knives were extremely familiar and of high artistic value.
The ancients believed that bronzes were extremely strong, and inscriptions could be passed on to immortality. Therefore, matters that must be circulated for a long time must be cast on bronze. Therefore, the inscription has become an important material for studying ancient history today.
Third, the transition period;
The period of transition generally refers to the period from the end of the Warring States to the end of the late Qin and Han Dynasties. After hundreds of years of merger wars and political, economic, and cultural reforms aimed at enriching the country and strengthening the military, the county system replaced the sub-sealing system. The feudal society with centralized nature was finally established, and the traditional etiquette system was completely disintegrated. Products have been widely used. Earth-shaking changes have taken place in all areas of society.
The status of bronzes in social life has gradually declined, and most of the artifacts have been used daily, but specific to some bronzes, there are still many beautiful works. For example, the two-pass copper horses and horses that were excavated in the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum in Linyi, Shaanxi. The first ride is four horses, there is a shed on the car, and the royals are seated. These two riders are made of bronze castings, the size is proportional to the actual, extremely delicate. There are still a lot of gold and silver ornaments on the car, and the whole body is painted. The second horse, 3.17 long and 1.06 meters high, can be said to be the huge, structurally and most complex bronze that has been discovered so far.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, ceramics were greatly developed, and their role in social life became more and more important, thus further excluding daily bronze vessels from their lives. As for weapons, tools, etc., ironware has already occupied a dominant position. The bronzes of the Sui and Tang Dynasties were mainly various kinds of exquisite bronze mirrors, and generally had various inscriptions. Since then, in addition to the bronze mirror, bronze can be said that there is no longer any development. Therefore, this website studies the development of ancient Chinese bronzes until the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
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