The father and son, Kings Wen and Wu of Zhou, defeated the old regime of Shang and another son Duke of Zhou implemented a new institution of governance based on patriarchal feudalism. As "Zhou as a state is ancient yet as a dynasty its mandate is newly endowed" (Shijing the Classics of Poetry), its bronzes also exude an aura of "newness".

Bronzes made during Early Zhou of the first four kings mostly inherited their shapes and motifs from those of late Shang, with growingly distinctive Zhou flavors (e.g. square-footed gui vessels) when its own rituals evolved toward maturity over the time, as evidenced in the bronze inscription records of jade usage.

Beginning in the mid-period under the subsequent five rulers, the artistic styles made a drastic turn; a multitude of brand-new functions, shapes and designs emerged. The old drink vessels jue, jia, and gu disappeared whereas food vessels such as gui, fu, xu, and pu increased, reflecting the new focus of Zhou on food. Tile motifs and patterns of phoenixes with large, curly tails also made their popular appearances; the inscriptions grew longer, in calligraphic forms and styles totally different from those of the early period.

The late Western Zhou under the final four kings saw another wave of new patterns. The animal masks dissolved into various new decorative patterns: boqu (hooked wave), chonghuan (double rings), and chuilin (vertical scale) and an increasing number of vessels were commissioned by regional feudal states, paving the way for Eastern Zhou's dazzling local styles. Above all, the most prominent feature of the period belonged in the richness of inscriptions, which denotes an advanced state in the use of writing. Upon this rich cultural soil would one day grow and blossom the refined fruits: the classics of the Chinese classics, the Books of Changes, of Documents, of Poetry, of Rites, of Music, and of History in the upcoming Spring and Autumn period.