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A dui is a type of Chinese ritual bronze vessel used in the late Zhou dynasty and the Warring States period of ancient China. It was a food container used as a ritual vessel. Most dui consist of two bowls supported on three legs.
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A dui is a type of Chinese ritual bronze vessel used in the late Zhou dynasty and the Warring States period of ancient China. It was a food container used as a ritual vessel. Most dui consist of two bowls supported on three legs.
The dui is typically spherical in shape,possessing a half-domed bowl on bottom with a similarly shaped container fitting on top. Shapes vary from circular,ovular,or subcircular. Types from the late Eastern Zhou appear more spheroidal;containers become more ovular during the Spring and Autumn period;and transitioning from the late Spring and Autumn to the Warring States period,vessel types appear less round in shape,possessing a flattened lid paired with a rounded bowl. [1] The vessel stands on either a single pedestal or is supported by three legs (similarly to the ding ). The three legs would permit heating of the food within. Each vessel sports two handles;either set or unfixed rings adorn the bottom portion of the vessel,allowing for easy transport. [2]
The containers themselves possess highly intricate detailing,varying in geometric and curvilinear designs distributed in symmetrical registers. Many of these carvings assume biomorphic forms,depicting typical animal imagery found throughout ancient China such as cats,snakes,dragons or birds. Much of the designs are inlaid with metal,though few complete renditions still exist. [3]
From the specimen found from the Warring States period,proof of copper in-lay can be found in swirling spherical patterns that accentuate the shape of the dui. Incised geometric patterning along with cat-like outlines emanate from the container. [4]
Types coming out of the Late Eastern Zhou are spherical in form and possess three animal masks in relief;the heads are situated symmetrically around the lid,mirroring the three ding-like feet supporting the base. Simple linear patterning covers the vessel in clearly defined registers,while high-relief rope bands separate the basin from the lid. [5]
From the Warring States period,ovular forms become subcircular shapes. Four fantastical creatures adorn the lid of this period's example,forming upright rings. Animal pendant masks hold moveable rings in their mouths,allowing for easy transport. In-lay patterning surfaces in this example too,with turquoise and silver in typical registers. Curvilinear patterns accentuate the shape;the more prominent bands of decoration portray symmetrical bird figures with intertwining bodies encircling the vessel. Border designs consist of S-shaped bands around the foot,lid,and body. [6]
In some examples the two symmetric hemispheres could be used individually or as a bowl with lid when facilitating the ritual process. Lidded varieties are evidenced by the lack of supporting structure on each bowl. [4] The vessel might be displayed prominently within a temple or hall but also found use during feasts commemorating ancestors. At times,the vessel was produced solely for burial. In later periods the vessel became a symbol of societal prominence and the religious aspect receded. [7]
The dui functioned and was created in the Late Zhou dynasties and Warring States period in early China. The dui is one of the earliest types of near-spherical shape of vessel. [4] In the middle of the Spring and Autumn period,people gradually began to use the dui as a warming and serving food vessel. [1] According to scholar K.C. Chang,the term "dui" was said to have been written in the catalogue incorrectly by cataloguers from the Song dynasty. First seen in Eastern Zhou,"dui" means "gobular vessel",but in Shang and Western Zhou,this particular vessel was called "gui". "Dui" was transcribed into the modern equivalent of "gui". [8]
Some dui vessels were inspired by nomadic Steppe art with sophisticated designs and colorful exteriors. After the Eastern Zhou dynasty,the dui might have been seen as a status symbol or used in various rituals. It was most popular during the Late Zhou Dynasty,but later it was replaced by another food container named "sheng" that was used during the Qin and Han dynasties. [7] In the Warring States Period,the form was changed to an oval and the lid was transformed to reflect the body in a mirror image. They are sometimes marked as "watermelon ding" which were dated back to the early Warring States Period. [1]
The Chen Hou Yinqi dui (陳侯因齊敦),cast by King Wei of Qi (r. 356–320 BCE),bears an inscription containing the earliest attestation of the Yellow Emperor in the historical record. [9]
In 2004,there was a dui vessel discovered in tomb M6 in Zhenghan Road,Xinzheng City by the Xinzheng Work Station of the Henan Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeology Institute. [10]
The Shang dynasty,also known as the Yin dynasty,was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC,traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou dynasty. The classic account of the Shang comes from texts such as the Book of Documents,Bamboo Annals and Records of the Grand Historian. Modern scholarship dates the dynasty between the 16th to 11th centuries BC,with more agreement surrounding the end date than beginning date.
Chinese bronze inscriptions,also commonly referred to as bronze script or bronzeware script,are writing in a variety of Chinese scripts on ritual bronzes such as zhōng bells and dǐng tripodal cauldrons from the Shang dynasty to the Zhou dynasty and even later. Early bronze inscriptions were almost always cast,while later inscriptions were often engraved after the bronze was cast. The bronze inscriptions are one of the earliest scripts in the Chinese family of scripts,preceded by the oracle bone script.
The zun or yi,used until the Northern Song (960–1126) is a type of Chinese ritual bronze or ceramic wine vessel with a round or square vase-like form,sometimes in the shape of an animal,first appearing in the Shang dynasty. Used in religious ceremonies to hold wine,the zun has a wide lip to facilitate pouring. Vessels have been found in the shape of a dragon,an ox,a goose,and more. One notable zun is the He zun from the Western Zhou.
Ding are prehistoric and ancient Chinese cauldrons standing upon legs with a lid and two facing handles. They are one of the most important shapes used in Chinese ritual bronzes. They were made in two shapes:round vessels with three legs and rectangular ones with four,the latter often called fāng dǐng "square ding (方鼎. They were used for cooking,storage,and ritual offerings to the gods or to ancestors.
The Erlitou culture was an early Bronze Age urban society and archaeological culture that existed in the Yellow River valley from approximately 1900 to 1500 BC. The culture was named after the site discovered at Erlitou in Yanshi,Henan. It was widely spread throughout Henan and Shanxi and later appeared in Shaanxi and Hubei. Most archaeologists consider Erlitou the first state-level society in China. Chinese archaeologists generally identify the Erlitou culture as the site of the Xia dynasty,but there is no firm evidence,such as writing,to substantiate such a linkage,as the earliest evidence of Chinese writing dates to the late Shang dynasty.
A guang or gong is a particular shape used in Chinese art for vessels,originally made as Chinese ritual bronzes in the Shang dynasty,and sometimes later in Chinese porcelain. They are a type of ewer which was used for pouring rice wine at ritual banquets,and often deposited as grave goods in high-status burial. Examples of the shape may be described as ewers,ritual wine vessels,wine pourers and similar terms,though all of these terms are also used of a number of other shapes,especially the smaller tripod jue and the larger zun.
The Taotie is an ancient Chinese mythological creature that was commonly emblazoned on bronze and other artifacts during the 1st millennium BC. Taotie are one of the "four evil creatures of the world". In Chinese classical texts such as the "Classic of Mountains and Seas",the fiend is named alongside the Hundun,Qiongqi,and Taowu. They are opposed by the Four Holy Creatures,the Azure Dragon,Vermilion Bird,White Tiger and Black Tortoise. The four fiends are also juxtaposed with the four benevolent animals which are Qilin,Dragon,Turtle and Fenghuang.
Ancient Chinese glass refers to all types of glass manufactured in China prior to the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). In Chinese history,glass played a peripheral role in arts and crafts,when compared to ceramics and metal work. The limited archaeological distribution and use of glass objects are evidence of the rarity of the material. Literary sources date the first manufacture of glass to the 5th century AD. However,the earliest archaeological evidence for glass manufacture in China comes from the Warring States period.
Sets and individual examples of ritual bronzes survive from when they were made mainly during the Chinese Bronze Age. Ritual bronzes create quite an impression both due to their sophistication of design and manufacturing process,but also because of their remarkable durability. From around 1650 BCE,these elaborately decorated vessels were deposited as grave goods in the tombs of royalty and the nobility,and were evidently produced in very large numbers,with documented excavations finding over 200 pieces in a single royal tomb. They were produced for an individual or social group to use in making ritual offerings of food and drink to his or their ancestors and other deities or spirits. Such ceremonies generally took place in family temples or ceremonial halls over tombs. These ceremonies can be seen as ritual banquets in which both living and dead members of a family were supposed to participate. Details of these ritual ceremonies are preserved through early literary records. On the death of the owner of a ritual bronze,it would often be placed in his tomb,so that he could continue to pay his respects in the afterlife;other examples were cast specifically as grave goods. Indeed,many surviving examples have been excavated from graves.
A hu is a type of wine vessel that has a pear-shaped cross-section. Its body swells and flares into a narrow neck,creating S-shaped profile. While it is similar to you vessel,hu usually has a longer body and neck. The shape of hu probably derives from its ceramic prototype prior to the Shang dynasty. They usually have handles on the top or rings attached to each side of neck. Many extant hu lack lids while those excavated in such tombs as Fu Hao's indicate that this type of vessel might be originally made with lids. Although it is more often to see hu having a circular body,there also appears hu in square and flat rectangular forms,called fang hu and bian hu in Chinese. In addition,hu often came to be found in a pair or in a set together with other types of vessels. As wine had played an important part in the Shang ritual,the hu vessel might be placed in the grave of an ancestor as part of ritual in order to ensure a good relationship with ancestor's spirit.
A jia is a ritual vessel type found in both pottery and bronze forms;it was used to hold libations of wine for the veneration of ancestors. It was made either with four legs or in the form of a tripod and included two pillar-like protrusions on the rim that were possibly used to suspend the vessel over heat. The earliest evidence of the Jia vessel type appears during the Neolithic Period. It was a prominent form during the Shang and early Western Zhou dynasties,but had disappeared by the mid-Western Zhou.
The He zun is an ancient Chinese ritual bronze vessel of the zun shape. It dates from the era of Western Zhou,specifically the early years of the dynasty,and is famous as the oldest artifact with the written characters meaning "Middle Kingdom" or "Central State" —中國:"China" —in a bronze inscription on the container. Today it is in the Baoji Bronzeware Museum in Shaanxi.
The Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng is an archaeological site in Leigudun Community (擂鼓墩社區),Nanjiao Subdistrict (南郊街道),Zengdu District,Suizhou,Hubei,China,dated sometime after 433 BC. The tomb contained the remains of Marquis Yi of Zeng,and is one of a handful of ancient Chinese royal tombs to have been discovered intact and then excavated using modern archaeological methods. Zeng was a state during the Spring and Autumn period of China. The tomb was made around 433 BC,either at the end of the Spring and Autumn period or the start of the Warring States period. The tomb comes from the end of the thousand-year-long period of the burial of large sets of Chinese ritual bronzes in elite tombs,and is also unusual in containing large numbers of musical instruments,including the great set of bells for which it is most famous.
A gu is a type of ancient Chinese ritual bronze vessel from the Shang and Zhou dynasties. It was used to drink wine or to offer ritual libations.
An elaborately decorated "ritual wine server" in the guang shape is a Chinese ritual bronze wine vessel,accession number 60.43,in the permanent Asian collection at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It dates to about 1100 BCE in the Shang dynasty period. The piece is currently on display in the Arthur R. &Frances D. Baxter Gallery of the museum.
The Huixian Bronze Hu are a pair of bronze wine vessels that were found in the city of Huixian,Henan province,central China. Dating to the Eastern Zhou dynasty,they have been part of the British Museum's Asian Collections since 1972.
The Kang Hou gui is a bronze vessel that is said to have been taken from the city of Huixian,Henan province,central China. Dating to the Western Zhou period,this ancient Chinese artefact is famous for its inscription on the bottom of the interior. It has been part of the British Museum's Asian Collections since 1977.
A fangyi is a type of Chinese ritual bronze container typical of the Shang and early to middle Zhou periods of Bronze Age China. It takes the shape of a square or rectangular casket with a cover that resembles a hip roof,surmounted by a knob of a similar hipped appearance. The lower edge is typically indented with a semi-circular notch.
Xiangyun,are traditional Chinese stylized clouds decorative patterns. They are also known as yunwen,auspicious clouds,lucky clouds,and sometimes abbreviated as clouds in English. A type of xiangyun which was perceived as being especially auspicious is the five-coloured clouds,called qingyun,which is more commonly known as wuse yun or wucai xiangyun,which was perceived as an indicator of a kingdom at peace.
The religion of the Shang dynasty,practiced in ancient China from c. 1600 BC to c. 1046 BC,involved practitioners communicating with deified beings,including deceased ancestors and supernatural gods. The primary methods of spiritual veneration were divinations,carried out on oracle bones,and sacrifices of living beings. The Shang dynasty also had large-scale constructions of tombs,which reflects their belief in the afterlife,along with sacred places. Numerous Shang vessels,as well as oracle bones,have been excavated in the kingdom's capital Yin. They reveal a large number of honored deities,most of which came from the Shang's extensive observations of the surrounding world. Headed by the god Shangdi,the deities form a diversified pantheon.
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