The Western Zhou Dynasty was an era in which rites and music prevailed, emphasizing "hiding rituals in utensils". Therefore, the Western Zhou Dynasty is considered to be the most developed era of bronze casting and inscription carving. Later, with the decline of casting technology, casting qualification spread from aristocrats to doctors, and the daily functions of bronzes became more and more important, especially bronze weapons. The need of war in the Warring States period led to the casting of a large number of weapons and money. At this time, the content of the inscription is mainly Wu Le's name.
Wu Le's name was rewritten with the change of officials, so movable mud films and many inscriptions appeared. The Western Zhou Dynasty was basically cast and rarely carved.
Cast inscriptions have existed since the late Shang Dynasty, but there are also chisels. Four bronze inscriptions were unearthed in a tomb in the ruins of Yin Dynasty. Chiseling is two different processes. The cross section of the engraved stroke is V-shaped under the magnifying glass, while the engraved stroke is thinner and smoother. The strokes of cast inscriptions are generally thick and the cross section is round. See Dong Fantong for details. Also, when casting bronzes, molds and models are divided vertically and horizontally, especially pottery models, which leads to the model lines on bronze castings.
Later, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the casting technology also developed continuously. Complete inscriptions appeared on bronzes during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. However, the original inscription appeared shortly after the bronze was out of specification. Because there was no steel knife in ancient times, it was polished on bronzes with a small wheel, so the fonts were relatively smooth, with only traces of polishing and no knife marks. With the development of the times, knife carving technology gradually appeared. The improvement of inscriptions in the Spring and Autumn Period: the new technology of rough work in the early stage of inscriptions; After the invention of iron, it was fired with copper gold wire or gold powder, inlaid with decorative patterns and characters, and then polished.
In the early Warring States period, the lost wax method was invented to cast bronzes. The so-called lost wax method is to use beeswax as a model, fill the clay core with refractory inside and outside, and lay it in the outer mold. After heating and baking, the wax pattern falls off, and then copper liquid is poured to cast the object. This method can produce fine patterns and complex and rich shapes. Zun He Pan unearthed from Tomb No.2 of Zeng Hou in Suixian County, Hubei Province is the earliest lost wax casting bronze ware.