Rites came into being in the late primitive society with the appearance of clan nobles. For example, in the tomb of Longshan culture at Taosi site in Xiangfen, Shanxi, painted dragon plates and catfish drums were unearthed, and in some tombs of Liangzhu culture, jade cong and jade bi were unearthed. After entering the slavery society of Shang and Zhou Dynasties, ritual vessels developed greatly and became a symbol of "rule by courtesy", which was used to adjust the order within the ruling class, thus maintaining the rule of slave owners and nobles. At this time, the ritual vessels included jade, bronze and costumes. Jade ritual vessels include Bi, Cong, Gui and Zhang. There are many kinds of bronze ritual vessels with exquisite craftsmanship, and the most important ones are food vessels (such as cook the meat Ding for holding meat, guǐ for holding rice, wine vessels (such as drinking vessels, wine vessels, pots), water vessels (such as washbasin, yi) and musical instruments (such as bells and cymbals). After entering the feudal society of Qin and Han dynasties, the bronze ritual vessels gradually declined and withdrew from the historical stage.
in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, when it entered the bronze age, ritual vessels mainly referred to bronze ritual vessels. Bronze ritual vessels, also known as Yi vessels, are furnishings in ancestral temples and palaces. They are used by slave owners and nobles for ritual activities such as offering sacrifices, feasts, courtship, conquest and funeral. Their functions are to show respect for the noble and distinguish the rank, to show the identity and status of users, to be a treasure handed down from family to family, and to embody the ritual system. Therefore, they are called "ritual vessels". The bronze ritual vessels used by emperors and vassals have become symbols of the state and the royal power of vassals. The ancients thought that sacrifice and war were the most important things for the country, and the so-called "national affairs are in sacrifice and Rong". Therefore, when the two countries are at war, the victorious country will not only plunder the wealth of the defeated country and occupy its fief, but also remove all the ritual and yi bronzes from its ancestral temple, just as the ancient book often says, "destroy its ancestral temple and move its heavy weapons."
There are many kinds of bronze sacrificial vessels, which are huge in quantity and exquisite in workmanship. The most important part of the sacrificial vessels is the vessels related to sacrifices. At present, the most important bronze vessels are those used in ancestral temples.
in many bronze inscriptions, many ritual vessels in the ancestral temple are called "Bao Zun Yi", and Zun Yi is the general term for ritual vessels. Some of the ritual vessels can't be moved. The so-called "heavy vessels don't go out" means that if the utensils that are of great significance to the family can't be kept, it means the demise of a family. It can't be compared with the utensils in daily life. Therefore, the rulers of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties attached great importance to the making of bronze dings, and spared no expense in manpower and financial resources. All the nobles who have seen so far use bronze dings are exquisitely cast, with simple and dignified shapes and gorgeous decorative patterns. They are the crystallization of ancient wisdom and have high artistic value.
Ritual vessels are the most numerous, complicated and luxurious objects in bronze wares. According to the provisions of Zhou Li, Yi Li and Li Ji, a complete set of bronze ritual vessels must include cooking vessels (including cooking vessels and food vessels), wine vessels, water vessels and musical instruments. Each device class can be divided into more than ten or twenty device names. Due to the change of dynasties, the change of ceremony system, the mutual influence of customs, and even the progress of production technology, each kind of utensils will evolve into many forms. According to rough statistics, there are nearly 4 different names for utensils in the two categories of wine vessels and cooking vessels. There are many variations and varieties of each basic shape, and there are hundreds of these styles. In this way, the bronze ritual vessels form a huge system of utensils.
The main cooking utensils are Ding, Gui (guǐ), Wei, Xian, Gui (fǔ), Zhong (xǔ), Dun, Dou, Pu, Yu, Zhong and Yu. Ding and GUI are the most important. Ding is used to cook meat, sacrifice or feast, and it is the main cooking utensil in bronze ritual vessels. It is regarded as the embodiment of "honor and inferiority, don't go up and down", and it is the symbol of the hierarchy in China's slavery era. The earliest bronze tripod was found in the late Xia Dynasty, and the "tripod system" was formed in the Western Zhou Dynasty, which was the most obvious manifestation of the patriarchal hierarchy in the slavery era. After the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, it was used until Wei and Jin Dynasties, and it was used as a sacrificial vessel from Song Dynasty to Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was the longest-used vessel in bronze ware, so it changed a lot. There are roughly round ding, Fang Ding, flat foot ding and other forms. The so-called "tripod" tripod is mostly odd; Match even reeds. Dings are often similar in material, pattern and inscription, but different in size, and the size decreases in turn, and they are displayed to form a regular sequence, which is called "Lieding system" or "Lieding". Since the Western Zhou Dynasty. Patriarchal hierarchy formed a relatively systematic system on bronze vessels. Ding first appeared in Erlitou culture. Reed is a utensil for holding cooked millet, millet, rice, sorghum and other meals. One of the important ritual vessels in Shang and Zhou Dynasties, matched with even sets of contract ding. By the Warring States period, the bronze ritual vessel system was basically withdrawn. Bronze reeds first appeared in the middle of Shang Dynasty, but the number was small. In the late Shang Dynasty, especially in the Western Zhou Dynasty, the bamboo pole was one of the important ritual vessels, which was used in conjunction with the tripod in sacrificial ceremonies and banquets. Since the early Western Zhou Dynasty, a kind of square seat reed appeared, that is, a square seat was continuously cast under the ring foot of the reed. Wei is a porridge container, and bronze Wei first appeared in the early Shang Dynasty. It is a big-pocket abdominal device, which was very popular after the mid-Western Zhou Dynasty and was often unearthed in groups, and naturally disappeared in the late Warring States period. Cooked rice is a rice steamer, which is divided into two parts, the upper part is used to hold rice, called Cooked rice; The lower part is used for boiling water, and the middle grate is steamed in the steamer. Bronze was cast in the middle of Shang dynasty, but it was few, and it was more in the late Shang dynasty and early Zhou dynasty. The hairpin is a utensil for holding cooked millet, millet, rice, sorghum and other meals. The bronze hairpin first appeared in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and its basic shape is a cuboid, which is inclined and flat from the mouth to the foot wall, with the same cover, and can be divided into two devices. A cup is a utensil for holding cooked millet, millet, rice, sorghum and other meals. The bronze helmet first appeared in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and its basic shape was an ellipsoid, and the cover could be tilted to hold things. Dun is a utensil for holding cooked millet, millet, rice, sorghum and other meals. Bronze dui first appeared in the mid-Spring and Autumn Period. Its basic shape is that the top and bottom are round, the cover and the container are combined into spheres, and some are not completely symmetrical or completely symmetrical. Beans are containers for pickles, meat sauce and other condiments. Bronze beans first appeared in the late Shang Dynasty, but they were rare. The basic shape is that there is a plate on the top, and its lower long handle is connected with a circle foot, and some have a cover. Bronze beans prevailed in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. A shop is a container for holding meat sauce. The shape is similar to that of beans, but the edge of the dish is narrow and the bottom of the dish is flat, and the circle is very thick and short, mostly hollow. Bronze paving was seen from the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period. The bowl is a large rice container, which is used in conjunction with the basket, and the rice in the basket is taken from the bowl. The bronze jar was first seen in the late Shang Dynasty, and its shape is generally a small mouth, a deep belly, ears and a round foot, all of which are relatively large. Yi is a case of cutting and filling meat, which is used in conjunction with Ding. There are few bronze cups handed down from generation to generation and unearthed, or most of the cups used at that time were made of wood, which is not easy to preserve. At present, all the cups seen are from the end of Shang Dynasty and the beginning of Zhou Dynasty, which are rectangular in shape and slightly concave in the middle, with wall-shaped feet at both ends and bells attached to them. Bi is a spoon for fetching food. Archaeological findings show that Bi often goes out with Ding and Wei. Bronze dagger was first seen in the late Shang Dynasty, and it is rare to be handed down from generation to generation. The body is shaped like a peach leaf with a long handle.
wine is a necessary thing for activities such as offering sacrifices to gods and enjoying ancestors, etiquette communication, banquets and receiving guests, and wine vessels naturally become ritual vessels. The wine vessels mainly include Jue, Jiao, Yan, Yan, Zun, Hu, Yan, Fang Yi, Yan, Yan, Bu, Yan, Liao, spoon, ban and so on. Jue, Jiao, Zun, Hu and Heng are the most common. Jue is a drinking vessel, and the bronze Jue first appeared in the late Xia Dynasty and prevailed in the late Shang Dynasty. The basic shape of Jue is that there is a flow before, that is, a trough for pouring wine; There are two columns at the junction of Liuhe and Linkou, with a sharp tail at the back, a cup at the middle, ears at one side and three feet at the bottom. Horn is a drinking vessel, similar in shape to Jue, but without flow and injection. The number of unearthed and handed down horns is far less than that of Jue, and bronze horns prevailed in the late Shang and early Zhou Dynasties. The water bottle is a drinking vessel, which is shaped as a container with a bell mouth, a thin waist and a high circle foot. Bronze ribbon was first seen in the early Shang Dynasty, and it was mainly prevalent in the late Shang and early Zhou Dynasties. There are two types of drinking vessels: elliptical and round, with a small mouth, a neck, a deep belly and a round foot, and most of them have a lid. Bronze Fu was first seen in the late Shang Dynasty, and it was also very popular in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. Tuo is a wine container, which is used for naked ceremony, or it is also used as a wine warmer. It is shaped as a small mouth, two columns, a deep abdomen, three legs under the circle, and an ear between the neck and abdomen. Bronze coffin was first seen in the late Xia Dynasty and prevailed in the early Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Zun is a wine container, which is a large or medium-sized wine container with a big mouth and a full circle at the bottom. Bronze Zun first appeared in the middle of Shang Dynasty and prevailed in the late Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou Dynasty. Zun's body can be divided into three types: Shoulder-big Zun, Shoulder-shaped Zun and Bird-beast Zun. Pots are wine containers, which are round, square, oval, flat and other forms. Generally, they have a lifting beam and a cover, which is a major category of wine containers. Bronze pot was first seen in the middle of Shang Dynasty, and it was popular for a long time. From Shang Dynasty to Warring States Period, it could still be seen after Qin and Han Dynasties, and the change of its shape was quite complicated. It's a wine container, and it's a sacrificial vessel dedicated to holding cabinets. The cabinet is a wine brewed from black millet and vanilla in ancient times. There are round, square, oval, bird-like and other forms, and there are lifting beams and covers, which are sleeved outside the mouth of the device. Bronze was first seen in the late Shang Dynasty and became popular in the early and middle Western Zhou Dynasty. Fang Yi is a wine container, which is square and has a roof-shaped cover. The cross section is short vertically and long horizontally, the abdomen is connected with the circular foot, and there is a gap in the center of each side of the circular foot, which is divided into four regular feet. Some Fang Yi have ears on both sides. Bronze Fang Yi was first seen in the late Shang Dynasty and was popular in the late Shang and early Zhou Dynasties. The water bottle is a wine container, with a flow at one side of the mouth, an oval or rectangular abdomen, a circle foot or four feet under it, and a cover. The cover to the side of the flow mouth is often decorated with animal heads. Another form is that the whole device is animal-shaped. In some cases, there is a bucket for drinking, and bronze cups are mainly popular in the late Shang and early Zhou Dynasties. Qian is a wine container, which is a tall, large or medium-sized wine container with a lid. Its basic forms are round and square, with ears on both sides of the shoulder and an ear on the lower end of the front abdomen. Bronze chimes prevailed in the late Shang and early Zhou Dynasties. The bottle is a wine container, which is a large wine container with a large mouth, a big belly and a full circle. Bronze vases were popular for a short time, only in the middle and late Shang Dynasty. The cup is a wine vessel, which holds mysterious wine to reconcile the strong and weak flavor of the wine. The shape is a small mouth, a wide abdomen, a circle foot or a three-legged foot. There is an oblique flow between the neck and abdomen, and the device has a cover. Bronze was first seen in the late Xia Dynasty, with the early flowing on the top and the late lifting beam, which was popular for a long time until after the Warring States Period. It's a drinking vessel. It is a small cup with a curved long handle. The bronze ladle was first seen in the late Shang Dynasty and still existed in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Both handed down and unearthed are rare. Spoon is a wine ladle, which is similar to ladle, except that a small cup is continuously cast with a straight handle. Bronze spoons are mostly late Shang Dynasty wares. Forbidden is the holder of the wine-bearing statue, which has two forms: square and rectangular, with walls on all sides and rectangular holes. It is rare for bronze to be handed down from generation to generation and archaeological excavations. It was first seen in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, and was occasionally banned in the Spring and Autumn Period, with little circulation.
water containers can be divided into four types: water receiver, water injector, water container and water scoop, mainly including tray, paddle and identification. The dish is a water receiver, which is used in conjunction with the moo, so that the water can be poured into the hand and the discarded water can be accepted by the dish. Bronze plates first appeared in the middle of Shang Dynasty. But there are only a few, which have been popular since the end of Shang Dynasty to the Warring States Period. The shape is open, with circular feet or three feet under the shallow abdomen and ears on both sides. Before the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the disk was not matched with the node, but with the tube-shaped flow, and it was replaced by the grain in the late Western Zhou Dynasty. The card is a water container, which is used in conjunction with the plate. Bronze cards were first seen in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and were popular in the late Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period. The shape of the moo is that there is a curved flow at the front end of the mouth, and there are three feet, four feet or circle feet under the oval abdomen, which was flat-bottomed in the Warring States period. There is a card to hold on one side of the abdomen. Jian is an important water container and a large basin, which usually has three uses: first. Is to hold water for bathing; Second, store water to face each other; Third, it is used to hold ice, that is, the ice guide mentioned in Zhou Li. The body is generally large, with a big mouth, a deep belly, a flat bottom, and a circle foot, with animal ears on both sides. Bronze Jian appeared in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, most popular in the late Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and was still cast in the Western Han Dynasty.
Musical instruments are used for military service, sacrifice and feasting. There are mainly cymbals, cymbals, bells, beats, priests, bells, hooks, upsetting, drums and so on. There are few kinds of bronze musical instruments in Shang Dynasty, only three kinds are cymbals, cymbals and bells. After the Western Zhou Dynasty, the number of bells was the largest, which appeared in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty. In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it was still an important ritual instrument in sacrificial banquets, and it was used for a long time. After the Tang Dynasty, it was no longer used as a musical instrument. But something to tell the time.
Ding is the core and the most important part of the combination of bronze ritual vessels. The number and size of Ding are determined according to different aristocratic status and grades: the son of heaven is Jiuding, the princes are seven Ding, the Qing doctor is five Ding, and the scholar is three Ding. In the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty, the tripod system was formed, that is, odd-numbered tripod groups with the same shape and pattern and decreasing size were used to represent the identity of nobles. According to He Xiu's note in the biography of the Spring and Autumn Ram, the emperor used Jiuding, the vassal used seven ding, the Qing doctor used five ding, and the scholar used three ding or one ding. In archaeological discoveries, odd-numbered tripods are often used in conjunction with even-numbered reeds for millet, that is, Jiuding is matched with eight reeds, and seven tripods are matched with six reeds.
Ding is divided into wok ding, rising ding and shame ding, among which the number of rising ding is the most critical. These pots are the so-called cooking containers.
wok ding was a special cooker for nobles to cook sacrificial meat during sacrifices or banquets in the pre-Qin period, which was large and small. Among the pots buried with nobles, wok ding was the largest. "Yili" records that a tripod that can hold a sheep is called a sheep wok; A wok that can hold a pig; A tripod that can hold a cow is called a wok. Matching the wok tripod is the Sheng tripod, which is a special ritual vessel for holding all kinds of meat cooked in the wok tripod when offering sacrifices to ancestors or entertaining VIPs.
There are also strict rules about what kind of meat to put in the tripod: the meat in Jiuding is cattle, sheep, pigs, fish, wax, intestines and stomach, fresh fish and fresh wax; Fresh fish and wax are missing from the offerings of Qiding, because there are cows in the offerings of Jiuding and Qiding, so it is called "prison". The products of Wuding are pigs, sheep, fish, wax and skin. Sanding only holds pigs, fish, wax or pigs, sheep and fish. Wuding and Sanding are also called "young prisons" because there are no cows among the animals.
Shame Ding, also known as accompanying Ding, is the Ding for holding meat soup. According to historical records, the meat in Shame Ding is generally not seasoned, and the bland white cook the meat is definitely unpalatable, so it can only be used for ritual activities of offering sacrifices to ancestors of ghosts and gods.
In addition, there are strict rules for the bells and cymbals of musical instruments. In Shang and Zhou Dynasties, bronze cymbals, cast bells, Yong bells, chimes and other musical instruments appeared. "Zhong Ming Ding Shi" has increasingly become a symbol of the power status of aristocratic rulers. Hanging chimes should be strictly in accordance with the rank of fame and position stipulated in the system of rites and music, such as Tianuterus hanging (hanging on four sides), princes hanging (hanging on three sides), QingDafu hanging (hanging on two sides) and Shite hanging (hanging on one side). System of rites and music became a great event in governing the country and keeping the country safe at that time. Qu Yuan, a great poet in the Warring States Period, wrote a poem "Huang Zhong is destroyed, but the tiles are full of thunder, the greedy people are arrogant, and the wise men are nameless", which not only reflects the social situation of the collapse of ceremonies at that time, but also shows that the ancient clock has become a noble, just, wise and beautiful symbol of Chinese civilization in people's hearts. In the Qin Dynasty, a giant bronze bell symbolizing centralization appeared again-Chaozhong.
Rites of Zhou based on the patriarchal clan system are all kinds of laws and regulations and etiquette regulations that reflect the difference of grades, and are mainly used to adjust the relations within the ruling class. The ritual vessels used by nobles of different grades have different combinations. Shu Ren must not use aristocratic manners.
However, with the development and change of society, the etiquette system of bronze objects characterized by bronze ritual vessels has changed rapidly.
in the spring and autumn period, unprecedented great differentiation and changes have taken place in the history of China. With the rapid development of social economy, social class relations and the corresponding hierarchical system are undergoing irreversible drastic changes. The outstanding performance is the decline of kingship, and the princes sit big, breaking the hierarchical system established in the Zhou Dynasty.
from the late western Zhou dynasty to the early spring and autumn period, the power of governors in various countries became stronger and stronger, while the power of Zhou dynasty was weakened.