Throughout the societies of early China, ritual vessels had special significance to those in

possession of the objects. As essential elements in religious rituals, they were important enough

to be buried with the elite owners when they died. However, the vessels’ secondary roles within

the Chinese culture altered over time. By comparing and contrasting an example of a bronze

vessel from the Shang dynasty with a bronze vessel from the Eastern Zhou period, conclusions

can be deduced about the shift in Chinese political and societal structure. Also, evidence of

innovations in technology, economy, and religious practice can be found within the variations

between the two objects.

The first vessel dates from the Shang Dynasty, around the 11th century BCE. It is a

bronze tsun, or ritual wine vessel, and its acquisition number is 50.46.101. This bronze was

meant for ritual and for burial purposes, and was probably part of a larger set. It originally held

wine offerings to appease deified ancestors. The basic design on most of the surface of the

bronze is characterized by thick swirls in high relief which are surrounded by intricate, smaller

swirls that are carved into the vessel. Typically, the larger swirls make up motifs found on the

vessel, such as taoties and dragons. The eyes of animals and creatures are oval knobs with

circular indentations in the middle. Designs are placed symmetrically over each flange. Flanges

are decorated with a simple repeating pattern of a dot, a curved line, and a straight line.

The ritual vessel is roughly divided into three different sections. The shape of the vessel

begins as a funnel shape at the top, bows out in a convex rounded shape in the center, and then

slightly flares out in a concave shape at the bottom. The top section of the vessel flares out

farther than the rest of the object. The vessel has four equidistant flanges running from the top to

the bottom of the container. These flanges hide the seam leftover from the piece-mold casting

technique. Where two sections of the vessel connect, the flanges are absent.

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The funnel-shaped top section contains a dragon motif that is repeated three times in the

areas between the two flanges, appearing a total of twelve times on the top section. It is possible

that a taotie appears over the flange at the bottom part of the top section; however, this may be a

dragon. Or, this design could be an ambiguous zoomorphic motif that combines both the taotie

and the dragon; such combinations of animals and creatures are not uncommon. The middle

section contains a taotie symmetrically placed over each flange, as does the bottom section.

These two taotie are very similar but have a few variations in the thickness and curvature of the

lines.

The later vessel is from the Eastern Zhou period during the 5th and 4th centuries BCE.

The bronze vessel is a ritual offering vessel, or tou. (Figure 1) The acquisition number is

99.66.1a,b. The shape of this vessel is slightly more complicated than the tsun. The vessel is

actually in two removable parts. (Figure 2) When not in use, the top section functions as a cap

to the lower section. The top section is a bowl shape with tripod legs sticking out of the

underside of the bowl shape. The bottom piece of the vessel is a goblet shape; a bowl shape with

two rounded handles on either side is on top of top a high foot with a base extending downwards.

Much like the other vessel, the Zhou vessel was used to store wine for rituals. Wine would have

been held in the bottom section and poured into the top section.

The designs on the vessel include very fine linear swirls and motifs, both in low relief.

The structure of the design is in horizontal bands, with some of the same patterns repeating not

only around the same horizontal band but in different places on the vessel. This is evidence for

the use of pattern blocks. A motif that appears often on the vessel is the zoomorphic abstraction

of a cicada, which is represented as triangular shapes. Different variations of swirls are found

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throughout the vessel, as well as variations on the triangular shapes. However, designs on the

same horizontal band are always repeated exactly.

These two vessels share some similarities as well as some differences. The metal on the

Eastern Zhou vessel is thinner. Both vessels contain, at some point, similar small swirl patterns.

The taotie only appears on the Shang vessel. This motif slowly became abstracted over time and

has all but disappeared by the time the Eastern Zhou vessel was created. The designs of the two

vessels are organized horizontally. However, the individual sectioning found in the Shang vessel

is not found in the Eastern Zhou vessel, which has a smoother transition between component

parts. Some differences, such as the loss of the taotie motif, are probably related to changes in

culture or in religious worship. However, some designs are similar because makers of bronze

vessels during the Eastern Zhou period purposely borrowed designs from earlier styles.

Although not shown on the Shang bronze discussed here, the cicada motif was used during the

Shang period. Because of the borrowing of different motifs, the overall style of vessels found in

the Eastern Zhou period is eclectic.

Other differences resulted from changes in technology. The Shang used piece-mold

casting to create bronzes, whereas the Eastern Zhou Dynasty had different technology available,

including pattern blocks and lost-wax casting. Lost-wax casting caused vessels to lose the seams

and lessened the thickness of the metal.

Changes in economic structure also influenced ritual bronze vessels. Vessels were mass

produced in the Eastern Zhou period because of the presence of more sophisticated economies

and of organized labor forces. Therefore, larger numbers of vessels were available. Because of

the mass production techniques and because of the new technology, some vessels during the

Eastern Zhou were cloned, whereas during the Shang period all vessels had individual variation.

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The greater availability of the bronze vessels in Eastern Zhou period was a response to an

increase in their demand. In the Eastern Zhou period, especially during the Warring States

period, regional leaders began to accrue more power as the king lost his power. Therefore, larger

numbers of people were competing for social and political power. This competition of status

caused an increase in the significance of social status during the life of the person. As the

possession of bronze vessels had historically been associated with the wealthy elite, they were an

integral element for a person of high status to own.

The need to display wealth in order to gain power caused a morph in the function of the

bronze vessels between the Shang and Eastern Zhou periods. The Shang vessel described above

was used for rituals; the very elite owner had bronze vessels for religious sacrifices of wine.

They also wanted to have this vessel with them in the afterlife to perform important rituals and to

take wealth with them after death. Therefore, display of wealth in the afterlife and its religious

importance to honor ancestors was much more central to the Shang people than proving their

wealth and status to others. Shang elites had a much more stable role in society, and were seen

by the rest of society as a possible deity in the afterlife; their status did not need to be proven to

persons of similar status in the living realm by the display of wealth.

The Zhou vessel described above was used for ritual purposes, but it also served a more

decorative function. The increased significance of social display in rituals created less emphasis

on the spiritual or religious functions of the ritual. They became shows of wealth. Battling for

political power included displays of wealth, proving to others which person was higher up and

therefore more fit to be in power. Although vessels were still buried with the owners in order for

them to have the vessels in the afterlife, they had taken on a much more social and political

dimension during the time of the Eastern Zhou.

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During this time, the formation of Confucian thought began influencing Chinese society.

Confucian thought warns against excess, including excessive displays of wealth in rituals and

burials. This explains the decrease in decoration and the rise of lacquer vessels during the

Eastern Zhou period in comparison to the earlier Western Zhou and Shang dynasties. However,

during the Eastern Zhou period, larger displays of wealth were still present. The sheer number of

bronze vessels created and owned by noteworthy persons of the Eastern Zhou is massive. Also

during this time were examples of lavish and elaborate decoration on vessels. Therefore, excess

was still present. The rise of Confucianism was at odds with the desire to display wealth and

status.

Because of the political, societal, and economic changes in China between the Shang and

Zhou dynasties, the function, characteristics and designs of the vessels were altered,

demonstrated by the two vessels described here. These changes included more sophisticated

technology, more complicated economies, an organized workforce, and societal competition for

status and power. The latter point is especially significant, as the bronze vessels were seen in the

Zhou period as being a promotion of social status and political power more than in the Shang

dynasty, where the king had a more stabile position and was more focused on the bronze vessels’

ritual function.

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Figure 1

Figure 2