國立故宮博物院 National Palace Museum (New window)
 
 
::: * Site Map │ 中 文 │ English │ 日本語  
::: * Introduction
     
  * Rites and Music:
Ritual Objects From Shang Dynasty
     
  * Worship and Warfare:
Clan Vessels and Weaponry During Shang and Zhou
     
  * The Newly Endowed Mandate:
Ritual Objects from Zhou Dynasty
     
  * The Elaborate Textual Repertoire:
Bronze Inscriptions from Western Zhou to the Spring and Autumn Period
     
  * Hegemons and Rivalries:
Ritual Vessels, Weapons, and Others during eastern zhou
     
  * The Glamorous New Age:
Bronzes from the Spring-and-Autumn to the Warring States Period
     
  * The Post-Bronze Age:
Bronzed from Qin to Han
     
  * A Colorful, Multicultural Presence:
Bronzes in the Frontier Style
     
  * Home
::: Title: Rites and Music: Ritual Objects From Shang Dynasty  
 

The inaccessibility of materials and complexity in making heightened the status of ritual bronzes. They were displayed at the ceremonies and buried with the deceased, respecting life and death in the same quintessence of "Rites and Music".

By early Shang, bronze vessels had begun to appear in sets. The sophisticated combinations further matured in late Shang, such as commonly seen examples of ding, yan, and li, or gui and dou, in the food vessel category; gu, jue, zhi, and jia, or lei, pou, zun, and you, for drink vessels; yu and pan, as water vessels. The all-pervading presence testifies to the paramount significance of bronzes in that fully-developed stage of a rite-based system.

The most common patterns on bronze objects, shou-mian (animal masks), feng-niao (mythical phoenix), and kui dragons, initially conceived to mediate with deities and ancestors, over the time also evolved into a dazzling array of magnificent, intricate variations, the dragon-and-phoenix pattern being one of the examples.

The elaborate forms and motifs of the ancient bronzes delivered the very first pinnacle in the art of China.

 
Pan water vessel with coiling dragon pattern Late Shang Dynasty (New window)
Pan water vessel with coiling dragon pattern
Late Shang Dynasty

c. 13th to 11th century B.C.E.
中銅1513
h. 16.3 cm  w. 43 cm
 
Nao bells with animal mask pattern Late Shang Dynasty (New window)
Nao bells with animal mask pattern
Late Shang Dynasty

c. 13th to 11th century B.C.E.
購銅104  h. 19.5 cm  w. 15.6 cm
購銅105  h. 16.1 cm  w. 13.2 cm
購銅106  h. 13 cm  w. 10.5 cm
 
     
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