Chinese Bronze Research Articles

Art of the Houma Foundry (review)

Reviewed by: Art of the Houma Foundry Alfonz Lengyel (bio) Institute of Archaeology of Shanxi Province (Shanxi Sheng Kaogu Yanjiusuo). Art of the Houma Foundry (Houma Taofan yishu). [Principal author, and drawings by, Li Xiating; coauthor and photographer Liang Ziming; and English foreword and introduction by Robert W. Bagley]. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996. viii, 523 pp. 1 map; 46 figures; "18 color illustrations, 1,156 halftones, 213 line illustrations." Hardcover $195.00, ISBN 0-691-01137-0. Although this book was published as a "pictorial survey," it can be regarded as a basic reference for the comparative study of Jin bronzes from the ancient foundry discovered at Houma. In 585 B.C. the present city of Houma (ancient name: Xintian) became the capital of the Jin (585-404 B.C.). Today the region formerly occupied by the Jin includes all of modern Shanxi Province and parts of Henan, Hebei, and Shaanxi. In 403 B.C., after the Jin had fallen, its territories were divided among the states of Han, Zhao, and Wei. The rise and fall of the Jin overlap with the Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn) (770-475 B.C.) and Zhanguo (Warring States) (445-221 B.C.) periods. According to the historical record there were as many as 170 different states up to this time, but by the Warring States period this number had been reduced to seven, including the Jin state. All seven were regarded as semi-barbarian, each with its own distinct culture. 1 [End Page 472] In 1923, following the accidental discovery of a hoard of ancient bronzes in the town of Liyu, half of the items were sold to various museums in the West, some went to the Shanghai Museum, 2and the rest came into the possession of the local district magistrate. For a long time, Western experts were puzzled by the unusual decorations on these bronzes, which were quite different from the known bronzes of the Shang period. In 1957, archaeologists working some five hundred kilometers south of Liyu discovered the Houma Foundry and investigated the ancient city of Xintian. 3At present, the Institute of Archaeology of Shanxi Province continues to conduct further excavations at an archaeological field station there. After items that were excavated were analyzed, classified, evaluated, and typologically arranged, this important and long-overdue book was published, with financial aid from the Getty Foundation. The rise and the fall of Jin authority can be discerned from the quality and the design of the artifacts collected at the foundry. The book has been printed using simplified Chinese characters; some terms have been given in pinyin romanization. The principal author, Li Xiating, is an associate research fellow and the head of the technical department of the Institute of Archaeology of Shanxi Province. He has prepared the excellent drawings that appear in the book. The coauthor and photographer is Liang Ziming, a research fellow and staff photographer at the Institute; the English foreword and introduction are by Robert Bagley, an associate professor in the Department of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University; and the summary of chapter 1 was written by Jay Xu (about whom no other information is given). From the artifact remains of the molds and models that were found, it was evident that in addition to vessels in the traditional shapes such as "Fu," "Jia," "Ding," and "Fa Hu" and birds and other animals and mythical creatures, some decorated axes were also made. New scenes began to appear such as a dragon devouring small snakes, animals clawing and biting each other, or animals in combat. For the rounding out of large designs, some of the motifs used were pebbles, scales, interlocking spirals, twisted braids, and parallel lines. The clay fragments that were discovered are extremely important for identifying a great many Chinese bronzes from this period that have found their way into museum collections. In addition to sacrificial vessels and images of humans and animals, the Jin foundry workers also cast bronze coins. Jin bronze designs were more sophisticated than those of the former Shang or early Zhou. The dragon images were miniaturized and interlaced in angular, ribbon-like configurations. It is pointed out that the new type...

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

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.

SIMS analysis of lead isotope composition in ancient Chinese metallic artefacts

An attempt on the use of secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) in studying ancient Chinese bronze is reported with an evaluation of the suitability of SIMS for the provenance study of ancient bronze objects. The advantage of using SIMS in the study of the lead isotope ratio is the high sensitivity that enables the examination of small fragments of valuable relics that are often difficult to collect. The application of SIMS in this direction widens the sampling area, which is limited by the use of thermal ionization mass spectroscopy (TIMS). The focus of the study has been placed on the precision of SIMS when compared to TIMS and the effect of sample matrices on the precision. Samples of Chinese bronze artefacts and a standard lead sample (SRM 981) were tested for their lead isotope ratios using both SIMS and TIMS. A comparison of the data obtained using the two techniques showed that SIMS results have a relatively large standard deviation, which was attributed to the non-uniformity of the ancient samples and the single-isotope detection system of the SIMS set-up used. Matrix effects were found to be small among bronze samples of different compositions. Non-conducting samples can also be analysed when a specimen isolation technique is employed. Although SIMS gave higher uncertainties than TIMS, the SIMS technique can be applied easily to differentiate the high radiogenic lead in Shang bronze artefacts from common lead. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Corrosion of ancient Chinese bronze money trees studied by Raman microscopy

Corrosion of ancient Chinese bronze money trees studied by Raman microscopy

Corrosion of ancient Chinese bronze money trees studied by Raman microscopy

Raman microscopy was used to identify corrosion products and their locations on and within samples from ancient Chinese bronze money trees to help determine the corrosive environments the trees experienced in the past. The compounds found included Cu2 O, CuCO3 · Cu(OH)2, 2CuCO3 · Cu(OH)2, PbO, PbCO 3 and PbSO4. In addition, a number of pigments on the exterior were identified (ultramarine, Prussian blue, phthalocyanine blue, phthalocyanine green, Hansa yellow G and chrome yellow) which were applied to the artifacts in more recent times. Two-dimensional Raman mapping was applied to cross-sections of the artifacts to determine the spatial extent of corrosion products in the interior and to investigate the selective corrosion of different phases of the bronze. Raman microscopy is shown to be a useful tool to complement more traditional characterizations such as scanning electron microscopy and x-ray energy-dispersive spectrometry in the analysis of metal artifacts. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Monumentality in Early Chinese Art and Architecture (review)

Features 35 ment ofthat change), which should, at the very least, raise some doubts in a historian's mind as to his memoryor veracity. No other interpretation—and there are others—is even acknowledged (pp. 440-450). In the end, it is hard to know whom this book is for. Since this is a summary ofwork done by others, specialists will not find it useful. For students, eighty dollars a pop seems considerably excessive. As for general readers, I suspect they will become bogged down in the details. For this group, there are more accessible alternatives ofofficial histories ofthe Dalai Lama's position, such as John Avedon's In Exilefrom the Land ofSnows (New York: Knopf; distributed by Random House, 1984). One cannot help but feel that this book, for all the prodigious amount of serious effort that went into it, was published largely because Tibet is "hot." A. Tom Grunfeld State University ofNew York / Empire State College A. Tom Grunfeld is a professor ofhistory specializing in the modern history ofEast Asia. Wu Hung. Monumentality in Early ChineseArtandArchitecture. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1995. xviii, 376 pp. 263 black-and-white photographs , 15 maps. Hardcover $75.00, isbn 0-8047-2428-8. Less than two decades ago, in his overview ofWestern studies of Chinese bronzes, Wen Fong noted that after the methodological debates of the late 1940s, "most younger scholars ofChinese art seem to have . . . turned to safer grounds ofdata gathering and research on [a] specific topic."1 But no sooner was this view raised than the flow ofimportant new finds, often coming from archaeologicallywelldefined contexts and handled with a sensitivity to the methodological and theoretical concerns that have been pervading art history at least since the early 1970s, began to show their impact in the field ofearly Chinese art. During the past decade , the Western scholarship on early Chinese art, as exemplified most notably in books by Robert Bagley, Lothar von Falkenhausen, Martin Powers, Jessica Rawson, and Audrey Spiro, has achieved not only an unprecedented sophistica-© 1998 by University tion> but in some mstances J135 ais0 cieariydemonstrated an ambition to reach awm ? ressbeyond the narrow confines ofscholars ofChinese art and culture. Among the memorable achievements of this revitalization in the history of Chinese art, Professor Wu Hung's previous monograph The Wu LiangShrine: TheIdeology of 36 China Review International: Vol. 5, No. 1, Spring 1998 Early Chinese Pictorial Art ranks high, being greatly acclaimed by the audiences for both sinology and art history. For all its new insights, however, this book was nevertheless remarkably traditional in its basic approach of using texts to expound the meaning ofimages and to reconstruct the significance of a given monument—an iconology at its best. In his more recent Monumentality in Early Chinese Art and Architecture,1 Wu Hung has presented us with an entirely different volume—much less orthodox and much more ambitious—which I have found very stimulating and challenging , but also irritating and in many ways provisional and unconvincing. Consisting of five self-contained essays, heterogeneous in the topic, organization, and method employed, and together spanning a time frame from the Neolithic period to the Northern and Southern Dynasties, this book strikes one by its combination of interpretative ambitions and the sheer scope ofmaterial and issues treated. To readers familiar with Wu Hung's scholarship, his arguments do not come out of the blue; substantial parts of the text of Monumentality were adapted from a series of previously published articles and lectures. Monumentality opens with an introductory chapter "The Nine Tripods and Traditional Chinese Concepts of Monumentality," in which the author defines his book as an examination of concepts of monumentality and the forms of monuments in the specific context of ancient China. Rejecting the conventional understanding of the monument in terms of grandiosity, permanence, and stillness, he insists that "there is absolutely nothing we can categorically label a standard 'Chinese monument'" because the tangible material properties of monuments, as well as the concepts and notions they signify, underwent constant change (p. 4). Consequendy , he proposes to support the identification ofvarious forms of ancient Chinese monuments and their historical relationship by a discussion of different conceptions of monumentality (the features that...

Ouzhou suocang Zhongguo qingtongqi yizhu (Chinese Bronzes: A Selection from European Collections)

Ouzhou suocang Zhongguo qingtongqi yizhu (Chinese Bronzes: A Selection from European Collections)

The Problem of Meaning in Early Chinese Ritual Bronzes

The Problem of Meaning in Early Chinese Ritual Bronzes

Investigation of the Altered Layer on Ancient Chinese Bronze Mirrors and Model High-Tin Bronzes

ABSTRACTMany ancient Chinese bronze mirrors have a smooth patina. An ingress of corrosion to a depth of approximately 100 μm is found beneath the patina. The corrosion selectively replaces the Cu-rich α phase leaving the Sn-rich σ phase intact. Previous work by x-ray diffraction has shown that the a-phase replacement product is poorly crystallized or nanocrystalline SnO2. Transmission electron microscopy was employed to further characterize the replacement product in both ancient mirror and replication samples. Nanocrystalline SnO, in the form of small spheroids has been found. Remnants of an original alloy phase appear to be interspersed with the tin oxide.

Selective Dissolution in Copper-Tin Alloys: Formation of Corrosion-Resistant Patina on Ancient Chinese Bronze Mirrors

AbstractMany ancient Chinese bronze mirrors have survived with a patina that leaves the delicate relief surface decorations intact. The microstructure of these ancient mirrors is two-phase and consists of acicular α-phase (Cu-rich) regions encased in a δ-phase (Sn-rich) matrix. At the surface, there is evidence of selective dissolution of the α-phase; the α-phase regions are replaced pseudomorphically by a mineral product with the δ -phase remaining metallic. Electrochemical polarization has been used to drive the copper dealloying process in modern, cast bronze. Synchrotron x-ray diffraction was employed to compare the ancient samples with those that were prepared potentiostatically. Poorly crystallized tin oxide (SnO2) was found in the α - replacement products of both sample types. The corrosion-resistance of the potentiostatically-treated bronze samples was tested by atmospheric exposure. Comparison with exposed, untreated samples indicated that the treatment was protective.

Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Volume III of Ancient Chines Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections

Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Volume III of Ancient Chines Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections

China's renaissance in bronze. The Robert H. Clague Collection of later Chinese bronzes 1100–1900. By Robert D. Mowry. pp. 256, 58 illus. in col. and bl. and wh. Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix Art Museum, 1993. US $40.00.

China's renaissance in bronze. The Robert H. Clague Collection of later Chinese bronzes 1100–1900. By Robert D. Mowry. pp. 256, 58 illus. in col. and bl. and wh. Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix Art Museum, 1993. US $40.00.

Jessica Rawson: Western Zhou ritual bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler collections. Vol. IIA: Ancient Chinese bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler collections. Vol. IIB: Catalogue. 208; 209–776 pp. Washington D.C.: Arthur M. Sackler Foundation and Cambridge, Mass: Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, 1990. (Distributed by Harvard University Press, $200 set.)

Jessica Rawson: Western Zhou ritual bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler collections. Vol. IIA: Ancient Chinese bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler collections. Vol. IIB: Catalogue. 208; 209–776 pp. Washington D.C.: Arthur M. Sackler Foundation and Cambridge, Mass: Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, 1990. (Distributed by Harvard University Press, $200 set.) - Volume 58 Issue 2

Roderick Whitfield (ed.): The problem of meaning in Early Chinese ritual bronzes. (Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia, no. 15.) 176 pp. London: Percival David Foundation, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, 1993. £18.

Roderick Whitfield (ed.): The problem of meaning in Early Chinese ritual bronzes. (Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia, no. 15.) 176 pp. London: Percival David Foundation, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, 1993. £18. - Volume 58 Issue 2

Spring and Autumn Period

In the history of chinese religions the Ch'un-ch'iu or Spring and Autumn period (eighth to fifth centuries B.C.E.) was a time of transition between the court rituals of the Western Chou gift-giving society and the private or local cult practices evident in the later Eastern Chou market economy (Cook 1993a). This was the time when the local lords usurped the Chou king's ritual “power” (te) to “charge” (ming) and the Chou lineage lost its authority. The transition is most evident in the speeches (yueh) of the kings and local rulers inscribed on the eating or striking surfaces of the late Western Chou and early Ch'un-ch'iu-period ritual bronze vessels and bells. These speeches or “spoken” liturgies of legitimation initially focused on the spiritually sanctioned right of the ruler to “charge” a gift recipient, but later simply focused on the right of the vessel-maker to charge himself. This shift is most evident after 771 B.C.E. when a western tribal group forced the Chou to flee their ancestral lands and altars. Local lords, originally on the periphery of Chou authority, called themselves kings and manipulated the Chou ideology to legitimate their own independent identities (see Cook on Chu in Cook and Major forthcoming). They relied on the guidance of ritualists (possibly descendants of the Western Chou shih and yin)whose knowledge of Chou liturgy and rites was a valued commodity at local courts (Cook 1993b).

Investigation and Replication of the Surface Microstructure of Early Chinese Black Bronzemirrors

Many ancient Chinese bronze mirrors have survived with their original surface decorationsintact, particularly those with “glassy” black surface coatings. The microstructures and compositions of cross-sectional samples from ancient mirrors have been analyzed with optical and electron microscopy and synchrotron x-ray fluorescence. The core has a two-phase metal structure while the surface shows evidence of selective dissolution of copper from the α (Curich) phase. The ci phase regions are replaced pseudomorphically by a mineral product with the δ (Sn-rich) phase remaining metallic. A fundamental study of the electrochemistry of the copper-tin system has given information on theconditions under which selective dissolution of copper takes place. Electrochemical polarization has been used to drive the copper dealloying process in cast high-tin bronze. Theresulting microstructure is similar to the dealloyed microstructure observed in the ancient samples.

Mirror, Death, and Rhetoric: Reading Later Han Chinese Bronze Artifacts

The paper starts by exploring the relationship between the millennia-old mirror metaphor and actual bronze mirrors. Early Chinese mirrors typically feature motifs involving the search for immortality with few moral overtones. The mirrors under study here, however, represent history by featuring a graphic suicide. Matching political circumstances, period terms, rhapsodic structures, and social practices with iconography, stylistic properties, and compositional structure in the mirrors' design, this paper reconstructs the rhetorical context underlying these mirrors, and demonstrates that the polysemy behind figurative decoration can be illuminated by the contemporary discursive pattern.

Mirror, Death, and Rhetoric: Reading Later Han Chinese Bronze Artifacts

Mirror, Death, and Rhetoric: Reading Later Han Chinese Bronze Artifacts

China's Renaissance in Bronze, the Robert H. Clague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900

China's Renaissance in Bronze, the Robert H. Clague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900

Ancient Chinese ritual bronzes: the evidence from tombs and hoards of the Shang (c. 1500-1050 BC) and Western Zhou (c. 1050-771 BC) periods

The great cast bronzes of China are today deservedly celebrated for their splendour and sheer size. By looking behind that surface impression, and into the characters of their find-contexts, one can - as for any class of artefact - see behind what they are for us towards what they were in their own time.