A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE DING BRONZE VESSELS FROM XIN'GAN

Abstract

Shang and Zhou period bronzes that exhibit a number of regional features are being discovered more and more frequently in southern China. Comparative studies of these bronzes are needed to establish their evolutionary sequences. The ritual bronzes from the large Shang tombs at Xin'gan, Jiangxi, are an example. Among the vessels from this tomb, the ding vessels account for more than half of the total. Comparison with their counterparts in the Zhengzhou Erligang phase and the Anyang Yin period shows that typologically the bronzes from Xin'gan distinctly differ from those in the Central Plains, as the main vessel type at Xin'gan is the ding, and in the Central Plains, the gu and jue wine vessels. The Xin'gan ding has a variety of forms, with the flat-legged ding constituting the major group, thus suggesting that this subtype might have developed first in the south. The Xin'gan ding often bears tiger-shaped decorations on its two handles, and these seem to be an indication of totemism among the local ethnic group. Chronologically, the Xin'gan ding roughly correspond to the late Zhengzhou Erligang period.