Characteristics of Western Zhou Bronze Wares
The production technology of bronze wares in the Western Zhou Dynasty is the same as that of the Xia and Shang Dynasties. The manual production makes each bronze ware different. The most important difference is It is reflected in the decoration.
Archaeological data in recent years have proven that the iron used in iron and steel castings in the late Shang Dynasty and the early and middle Western Zhou Dynasty was meteorite; and in 1990, in the late Western Zhou Dynasty Guo Kingdom noble cemetery in Sanxiamen, Henan The unearthed jade-stem, copper-core, and iron-handled iron swords are made of artificially smelted iron and are typical copper-iron combined castings.
In addition to the pottery mold casting method, the Western Zhou Dynasty also continued the tradition of using stone molds to cast small bronze objects and uncomplicated objects during the Xia and Shang Dynasties. Since the stone mold method can only produce some simple tools and weapons, the method of casting bronzes with stone molds has basically not been developed in the Western Zhou Dynasty. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, most bronzes were still cast by the pottery mold method. A very small number of bronzes are cast using the stone mold casting method.
From the perspective of ornamentation, the bronze ornamentation in the Western Zhou Dynasty continued to develop on the basis of inheriting the Shang Dynasty. The early Western Zhou Dynasty entered the heyday of ornamentation development like the late Shang Dynasty. This was at the same time as the social and historical events at that time. The background is inseparable, that is to say, although dynasties have changed, the ruling class's idea of ??using ritual vessels to rule people has not changed. Therefore, the general environment for the development of bronze ritual vessels has not changed, so the decorations on bronze still serve the ritual vessels. The ideas of the Shang Dynasty continued to develop, and many ornaments of the Shang Dynasty were still in use in the Western Zhou Dynasty. For example, the changing forms of animal mask patterns in the late Shang Dynasty were "cylindrical horns, ox horns, outwardly rolled horns, sheep's horns, inwardly rolled horns, zigzag horns" Decorations such as "Double Dragon Horns, Giraffe Horns, Tiger Heads, Bear Heads and Animal Face Patterns" were still in use in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. In the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty, the unique decorative characteristics of the Western Zhou Dynasty were formed. For example, in the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty, band patterns, curved patterns, double ring patterns, hanging scale patterns, wavy patterns, phoenix and bird patterns, tile patterns, etc. were mainly popular. In addition, there are many plain wares without patterns, and some of these plain wares are decorated with several patterns. Bronze wares in the Western Zhou Dynasty sometimes used thunder patterns as the ground. This actually continued the process of bronze wares becoming ritual objects. It can be imagined that the various patterns on bronze wares with thunder patterns as the ground were mostly gods in the sky, or could represent gods. It is a divine object that reaches heaven and earth because it can live on the cloud and thunder patterns. However, the cloud and thunder patterns on bronzes in the Western Zhou Dynasty are not as common as those in the Shang Dynasty. This also shows from another aspect that the object of worship in the Western Zhou Dynasty is Gradually returned from heaven to earth. However, we should understand that although the types of decorations in the Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou Dynasty were different, the essence and function of these decorations did not change. They were still intended to enhance the mystery of bronze vessels and strengthen their status as ritual vessels. Of course, in the process of the evolution of bronze decoration in the Western Zhou Dynasty, many traditional bronze decorations were negated. Why were these decorations negated? The reason is very simple, that is, these patterns no longer meet the requirements of the times and do not comply with the mysterious laws of ritual vessels, so they will naturally be eliminated.
Many patterns in the Western Zhou Dynasty follow this rule. For example, the animal mask patterns and their deformed patterns in the Shang Dynasty and the early Western Zhou Dynasty were gradually eliminated during the Western Zhou Dynasty. In the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty, there were very few animal mask patterns. , even if there are, they are mostly on the feet and some inconspicuous places. In addition, the Kui dragon and bird patterns of the Shang Dynasty were also rare in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and were basically discarded. This is because the objects of people's worship changed during the Western Zhou Dynasty, and productivity was further improved. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, there were no animals that were human beings. People no longer fear or worship many animals that exist in nature. Although they are unconquerable beasts, they at least have a deep understanding of their habits and are no longer objects of worship. In this way, the mystery of these animals The sex was small, let alone being called a god, so there were fewer real animal mask patterns during the Western Zhou Dynasty. Even if there are, they mostly appear in abstract form. Because only abstraction is surreal and what people worship, because people only worship abstract things. The replacements are new patterns. Of course, these patterns are abstract to the extreme, such as heavy ring patterns, hanging scale patterns, dragon patterns, etc.
Of course, there are also some patterns that are difficult to explain, such as the wavy pattern, which can be seen on bronze beans and bronze retorts from the Western Zhou Dynasty. Some people think that this wavy pattern is an unknown animal pattern. , of course, our research on corrugated patterns is not enough, but according to my observation of the corrugated patterns on the bronzes in the Guo State Cemetery, I always feel that they are like waves of the sea, or at least they should have some connection with the sea, because the sea is in The Zhou Dynasty was not known and understood by people, so the sea was still very mysterious to the Zhou people, so people would become the object of worship. Maybe the ripples themselves did not originate from the sea, but from From the appearance, it is inevitable that people will interpret it this way.
The decorations on many bronzes in the Western Zhou Dynasty also showed the coexistence of several kinds of decorations in terms of layout methods. Some are decorated with curved patterns on the top, triangular patterns and curved patterns in the middle, phoenix or dragon patterns on the abdomen, and curved patterns on the circle feet. They are very complicated. In terms of techniques, the main use is the arrangement of virtual and solid, vertical and horizontal, density, etc. This method makes the pattern changes rich and colorful, but the symmetry is very strong. In addition, there is another characteristic of the ornamentation in the Western Zhou Dynasty, which is the application of primary and secondary ornamentation. That is, there are generally several kinds of ornamentation on bronzes in the Western Zhou Dynasty, but only one kind of ornamentation is the main body. Its characteristics are very obvious, and it generally occupies the dominant position. Remarkable location and large area. There are many imitation Western Zhou bronzes on the market, but most of them lack their essence.