To understand the nature of the Shang and Zhou bronze art

Body are arranged on both sides have to start again the body, feet and tail and so on. There is a long handle on the bronze sculpture for the convenience of holding. It must be noted that the early Western Zhou bronze in the late Shang's Animal Mask feature is patterned, rather than realistic, and take a very exaggerated way, there is no body first, were only the head, there The first thinking you are also the prominent head, and body proportion is much smaller than the actual beasts. Of particular importance is that the head is significantly prominent in the eyes, the eyes are the window to the soul of life, prominent representatives of the inner spiritual life.

To use a static expression, resulting in the effect of giant eyes staring, and the early Western Zhou Dynasty in the late Shang, bronze in the Animal Mask often Youyi Yunlei Wen as to pattern, to take bronze bas-relief in the form of Animal Mask highlights bronze surface, while the giant is more protruding eyes, the so-called three flowers of artistic expression, to the mysterious, solemn, with a deterrent effect. There are small pieces of china bronze sculpture, weighing a few kilograms to more than ten kilograms. Mr. Ma Chengyuan in the Shang and Zhou bronze decoration, a book have pointed out, the Animal Mask bronze in a variety of animals actually contains the image, and a variety of animals, mainly in the difference between the angular head. Another example is of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Liangzhu Jade unearthed such as the above is also engraved with the bronze in the Animal Mask.

Mr. Ma Chengyuan According to angular Animal Mask will be divided into bronze in the volume within the angle, outside the roll angle, winding angle, ring column angle, horn, horns, bottle-shaped horn, double dragons corner, no angle (tiger-shaped), Long Snake cluster type. But there are also large sculpture in bronze. Therefore, we believe that talking about today's bronze in the Animal Mask actually includes many kinds of mysterious animal images. Again, from the archaeological perspective, the end of the Five Emperors in the era of primitive society, bronze in the Animal Mask has emerged such as the Longshan culture in Shandong Rizhao unearthed jade, its sides are inscribed in bronze Animal Mask.

However, Shandong Longshan Culture and bronze in the Liangzhu Animal Mask is different, they are on the Shang and Zhou dynasties Bronze Animal Mask bronze in one of the sources. General patterns on the bronze sculpture are made up of large beast faces and of deformation of dragon body surrounded by frames with carved inscriptions like fish, tiger and elephant. Therefore, we believe that the Five Emperors times and bronze in the Shang and Zhou dynasties Animal Mask contains a variety of mysterious animal pattern, Shang and Zhou bronzes bronzes on the Animal Mask is clearly multi-source, the idea that the bronze in the Animal Mask a source from a particular point of view of archaeological culture is clearly not in line with the actual ancient history.

To study the bronze in the Shang and Zhou bronzes Animal Mask of social function, you first need to understand the nature of the Shang and Zhou bronze art, which in turn is directly related to the social nature of the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The basic shape of the chinese bronze sculpture has not changed much but the handles may vary. For this period, the social nature of business over the past week is generally believed that the slave society, but since the reform and opening up, the pre-Qin many historians and scholars have questioned. According to ancient Chinese literature and numerous archaeological discoveries, Shang and Zhou dynasties by aristocrats and the community, primarily civilians (such as the Shang dynasty of the public, Zhou's common people), composed of two social strata, and further divided into nobility king, princes, Bureaucrats, who all levels. Society at that time the main production, especially agricultural production is mainly borne by civilians.