Abstract
Abstract. Early Chinese elites were defined by their aristocratic control of land. That control came directly from the emperor and was documented on bronze ritual vessels, which were handed down from generation to generation. The land grant boundaries were defined using decorative symbols inscribed on bronze, and Western Zhou vessels containing these symbols were used to resolve land disputes. Methodical analysis comparing the inscriptions and symbols, combined with an understanding of early Chinese cartography and etymology, allows the bronze vessel land grants to be decoded.
Highlights
It was a standard land deal gone bad
They decided against Ge Bo and went into the fields to perform what was called a livery of seisins to legally transfer the land from Ge Bo to Mr Peng
On the Peng Sheng gui, we find the symbol for “stream” (Figure 5) bordering each section of the bronze (Figure 6) and separating the symbols denoting agricultural fields (Wilkinson, 2018, 230)
Summary
It was a standard land deal gone bad. Ge Bo made a deal with Mr Peng. Mr Peng persuaded some friends in the government to settle the dispute They decided against Ge Bo and went into the fields to perform what was called a livery of seisins to legally transfer the land from Ge Bo to Mr Peng. The inscription (Figure 1) starts with the legal formalities: the date and location of the event It tells the background story of Mr Peng having given Ge Bo horses and chariots in exchange for the taxed produce from the farms. To make the transaction completely clear, Mr Peng included a map on the bronze (Figure 2). He did not tell anybody that he had done so. According to Chinese tradition, the bronze would be handed down and explained so that each new generation would know the origins and boundaries of their hereditary lands—just in case Ge Bo’s family tried to contest the boundary later on
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