Bronzework in the Shang Dynasty

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Bronzework in the Shang Dynasty

• By Group 7

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Brief History of Shang Dynasty

• Dates
• 16th-11th centuries B.C.
• Origins
• Population
• By time of the fall of the Shang there were about
  4-5 million
• Land/ Settlement
• Demise
• Attacked by the King Wu of the Chou
• Famous for
• Bronze Metallurgy
• Writing System

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Map of Ancient China
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The bronze age in China- 2000 and 771 B.C.
-bronze was produced on a massive scale for
weapons and ritual objects used by the ruling
elite. Bronze became widespread in the central
plain of China in the early Shang times -tin was
abundant in Chinaled to the Chinese discovery
of bronze -tin copper bronze -The last of
the legendary rulers of the Shang, Yu, cast nine
sacred bronze vessels that became symbolic of the
right to rule, and these were passed on to
subsequent dynasties.
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3 Ways Bronze Was Used -tools for
agriculture -weapons for war -drinking vessels
and food containers for worship and
ritual -Some 30 different types of bronze
sacrificial vessels are known from China's
Bronze Age. -their possession and use seem to
have been restricted to the king, royal family,
and the aristocracy
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Ancient Chinese bronze designs
-The narrow bands that characterized early
bronze designs gave way to more expansive
decorations, which by the late Shang period
covered the whole vessel. -taotie
motif -zoomorphic designs -animal mask -stern
and angular appearance -Protruding eyes- animate
the vessel -Hard to identity exactly what type of
animal is depicted on the bronze vessels
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Do the Shang bronze decoration motifs have a
meaning at all or are simply of decorative value?
-distinct disagreement among the researchers of
ancient China -lack of textual references on the
function of these motifs View 1 Scholars like
S. Allen and K.C. Chang, believe that the
decorations are directly related to mythology and
are representing the religious ideology of Shang
people View 2 Other scholars like Robert W.
Bagley argue that the design is purely decorative
and has no religious connotation. Bagley insists
that the design of ritual utensils is ornamental
and cannot be traced back to Shang religion or
mythology
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The Role of Bronze in Chinese Religion Bronze in
ancient China was closely related to power and
divinity. Thus it played an important role in
religion. The bronze workers of this time would
cast bronze into drinking vessels and food
containers which played central roles in ancestor
worship and state rituals.
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Ritual Wine Vessels
Chinese civilization in the early Bronze Age was
a highly stratified slave society ruled by an
all-powerful king. According to the religion of
the Shang dynasty, the king derived his power
from his divine ancestors, whose spirits
influenced the course of events in the city.
Bronze vessels were used to contain the wine and
food which were offered up in ceremonies
performed at the altar of the ancestral shrine.
It seems that their possession and use were
restricted to the king and royal family. The
Shang used more wine in their rituals than many
societies and therefore had many vessels created.
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Writing in the Shang Dynasty
-one of the first cultures in the world to have
writing -writing based on pictures that stand for
words and ideas -wrote on bronze artworks and
oracle bones -2,000 of the 4,500 characters have
been translated
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Oracle bones
-Made of turtle shell or cow scapula -3 sections
of oracles bones 1) ask a question to the
oracle 2) answer from the oracle 3)
verification if the oracle was right or wrong

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WEAPONS

• Bow
• Chief offensive are of the Chinese

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WEAPONS

• Dagger-Axe
• Pointed like a Dagger but used as an Axe

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WEAPONS

• Spears and Lances
• Mao
• Head of a normal spear but handle is 16-20 ft.
  long.

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WEAPONS

• Battle-Axe
• Had blades up to 7 inches long
• Intended for close range fighting

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Archaeological Finds
1976- the tomb Fu Hao

• one of the consorts of Wu Ding,
• twenty-first king of the Shang
• dated to 1250 BC
• tomb of modest size

• 468 bronze objects including 130 weapons, 23
  bells, 27 knives, 4 mirrors, and 4 tigers or
  tiger heads
• some of these bronze vessels were used by Fu Hao
  during her life. Others were cast as burial
  goods.
• contained more than fifteen hundred objects
  including jade, stone, ivory, bone and pottery
  pieces.

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More Archaeological Finds

• 1986- the pits excavated at Sanxingdui in Sichuan
  province
• two pits filled with bronze objects, jades, and
  elephant tusks that had been buried (probably
  as offerings).
• the objects clearly indicate the presence of a
  strong regional culture with sophisticated
  religious practices and advanced bronze- casting
  technology
• these offering pits reveal a marked interest in
  the human form, especially the face.
• The Sanxingdui finds remain enigmatic-
• no texts have been found, nor is there any
  mention of this culture in the records of other
  states

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BRONZE CASTING TECHNIQUES
bronze alloy of copper, tin, and lead

• greater amounts of tin makes bronze harder and
  sharper, but more brittle.
• greater amounts of lead makes bronze stronger but
  softer

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BRONZE CASTING TECHNIQUES

• pottery piece-mould method
• wax method
• separate-casting

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BRONZE CASTING TECHNIQUES

• pottery piece-mould method

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BRONZE CASTING TECHNIQUES

• pottery piece-mould method

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BRONZE CASTING TECHNIQUES

• pottery piece-mould method

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BRONZE CASTING TECHNIQUES

• pottery piece-mould method

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BRONZE CASTING TECHNIQUES

• wax method

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BRONZE CASTING TECHNIQUES

• pottery piece-mould method

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BRONZE CASTING TECHNIQUES

• pottery piece-mould method

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BRONZE CASTING TECHNIQUES
separate-casting

• This technique was used mostly for swords to take
  advantage of properties of different bronze
  alloys. The inner core of the weapon would be
  cast with a softer, stronger alloy (more lead) to
  give the object strength, and the blade surface
  would be caste with a harder, more brittle alloy
  (more tin) to make the weapon sharper.

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