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People and their stuff: A history of China in objects now preserved in North America Main Menu

Wine Cup in the Shape of Addorsed Owls (Zhi)

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Precious Metals: Animal-Shaped Bronze Vessels in the Shang Dynasty Period During the Shang dynasty of early China (dating from approximately 1600 to 1050 B.C.[1]), artisans produced hundreds of bronze vessels, many of which still exist today, housed in North American art collections. These bronzes represent an intersection between the artistic, the mythological, and the sociopolitical in early Chinese history. They can be interpreted in many different ways - as aesthetic works, religious objects with both symbolic and practical functions, and as an economic resource for political power.
Chinese sculptures of mythical creatures from the Shang dynasty can be interpreted and analyzed as works of art. That is to say, one can view them as carefully-crafted displays of aesthetic form and detailed design. According to paleographer Sarah Allan in her book The Shape of the Turtle, the designs of these sculptures often arise from “the conjoining of unrelated animals to form a composite.”[2] In other words, the designs of mythical creatures portrayed in Shang-era sculpture were made by putting together the physical features of common animals, or a new creature.

This turquoise-inlaid Shang-era spouted wine ewer, or gong (also romanized as guang), pictured left, is just one example of such a composite creature. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s catalog entry describes it as having “the features of various fantastic animals,” such as “a small feline head on the handle,” “a large horned animal face over the spout,” and “a coiled dragon body on the lid.”[3] These design characteristics, borrowed from nature and transformed, are composed to form a new, fantastical creature. The turquoise inlay further accentuates the detailed design of the piece, speaking to the skilled craftsmanship of the artisans of the Shang dynasty.
However, Shang-era bronze vessels like the above gong were not only made as demonstrations of the artisan’s skills or expressions of aesthetic beauty. The aesthetics of these vessels had purpose; they were made to evoke an impression of something otherworldly, which is ever-changing and defies logical definition. Allan describes this continual transformation of motifs as creating “a sense of the other, that which is not limited by the physical realities of this world and which can never be precisely defined.”[4] In other words, the artistic motifs present on bronze vessels speak to a greater emphasis on the ideas of metamorphosis and natural change present in Shang religiosity.
Beyond aesthetic style, Shang bronzes depicting composite mythical creatures (as symbols of constant change, not representing specific real or imagined creatures) were also sacred objects, and had specific functions in religious practice, too. In another essay by Allan on the taotie motif present on bronze vessels, she describes the sacred function of vessels as “containers for wine and food offered to the ancestors and water used in ritual ablutions [washing], the weapons, for killing in warfare, sacrifice, or ritual performance.”[5] Moreover, Shang-era ritual vessels were highly diverse in both form and function: different vessels were designed with different shapes to fulfill different functions. The gong (or guang) above has a spout, which suggests that it was used for mixing and pouring wine at ritual banquets.[6] This is just one example of the ways that bronze vessels were used in the Shang dynasty.
Aside from the gong, there are many other different types of ritual vessels, which each have their own functions.

For example, the Wine Cup in the Shape of Addorsed Owls[7], pictured to the left, is known as a zhi-type vessel. Zhi vessels are cups designed to be drunk out of in ritual banquets.[8] The addorsed (back-to-back) owl design seen here also fits into the patterns and symbolism of Shang religious aesthetics at the time. In her work, Allan describes owls as “a symbol of death and an ill omen in many cultures including Chinese folk tradition”[9] and suggests that they “reinforce our interpretation of death and transformation as the major themes of this art.”[10]

Jiao vessels like this wine cup,[11] pictured to the right, were designed for warming wine[12]. Although the perched bird here does not appear to be a composite, birds figure prominently into Shang religion and myths. For example, according to Allan, the earliest creation myth of the Shang dynasty suggests that “they were born from the egg of a black bird.”[13] Susan Bush also identifies a “tradition of bird spirits as divine messengers bringing immortality.”[14] It makes sense, then, that the prestigious bird would be honored on a ritual vessel.

Another type of ceremonial wine vessel is the zun type, which is designed for containing and pouring wine.[15] The wine container pictured left is an example of such a zun, characterized by its four-legged base and broad, flared lip designed for pouring.[16] This vessel is also an example of animal-like features prominent in Shang bronze design; note the hoof-shaped base legs, the snout-shaped lid, and the smaller long-tailed creature resting on top of the vessel. All of these aesthetic traits play with the typical shape of the zun vessel and combine to create the impression of an unnameable, otherworldly creature.
These sculpted vessels were not only part of the religious sphere of the Shang dynasty, however. They also played a role in the sociopolitical world of the era. In fact, it is accurate to say that the two spheres - religious and political - were closely intertwined. In the Shang dynasty, the king acted as the head shaman, and according to Kwang-Chih Chang, he “was assisted by many religious figures, all of whom may not have been strictly ‘shamanistic.’”[17] In other words, shamans and other religious entities played key roles in the political administration. Faith could also be used to justify rule. Supernatural stories and magical, heroic feats were often ascribed to the king and his ancestors, lending credence to royal rule.[18] Moreover, according to Allan, “the focus of Chinese religion from ancient until modern times has been ancestor worship.”[19] The bronze vessels like the ones shown above were designed to appease royal ancestors in ritual, so the dynastic bloodline had power and influence even after death. Beyond the king’s family and the makeup of his administration, religious divination as a ritual was closely tied with making political decisions. According to Chang, “the Shang oracular activities took place largely at the royal court under the king’s direct supervision, for his ritual and political purposes exclusively.”[20] That is to say, the king exerted strong control over religious activities to guide and make political decisions, which bronze vessels functioned as a critical part of.
Additionally, aside from their religious and political functions, bronze vessels could also be treated as material resources collected for political gain. According to Chang, “amassing the means to control bronzes” was a “crucial question for aspirants to power in ancient China.”[21] In other words, controlling the means of production of these bronze vessels (such as minerals and mines) was one way for people to access political power in the Shang dynasty. Also, Chang describes the vessels themselves as powerfully symbolic, in terms of both religion and politics. They symbolized “the all-important ritual that gave their owners access to the ancestors; and they were symbols of the control of metal.”[22]
At first glance, bronze vessels may just seem visually appealing on a surface level, as works of impressive and imaginative design: jade-inlaid owl-shaped wine cups, birds perching on top of jars to form their lids. But they speak to the deep, rich history of the Shang as a religious people, and that religiosity had a complex interplay with regional politics. By examining these bronze vessels, we can gain a better understanding and appreciation for Chinese history.

References:
[1] Ying Wang PhD, Bronze Age China: Style and Material (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Pub, 2010), 119.
[2] Sarah Allan, The Shape of the Turtle: Myth, Art, and Cosmos in Early China (New York: State University of New York Press, 1991), 130.
[3] “Spouted Wine Vessel (Gong),” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accessed November 22, 2019. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/53949
[4] Sarah Allan, The Shape of the Turtle: Myth, Art, and Cosmos in Early China (New York: State University of New York Press, 1991), 131.
[5] Sarah Allan, “The Taotie Motif on Early Chinese Ritual Bronzes,” in The Zoomorphic Imagination in Chinese Art and Culture, eds. by Jerome Silbergeld and Eugene Yuejin Wang (Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2016), 29.
[6] Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), The Great Bronze Age of China: An Exhibition from the People's Republic of China (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1980), 14.
[7] “Wine Cup in the Shape of Addorsed Owls (Zhi),” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accessed December 1, 2019. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/61225
[8] Ying Wang PhD, Bronze Age China: Style and Material (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Pub, 2010), 89.
[9] Sarah Allan, The Shape of the Turtle: Myth, Art, and Cosmos in Early China (New York: State University of New York Press, 1991), 164.
[10] Ibid.
[11] “Wine Cup (Jiao),” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accessed December 8, 2019. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/61223
[12] Sarah Allan, “The Taotie Motif on Early Chinese Ritual Bronzes,” in The Zoomorphic Imagination in Chinese Art and Culture, eds. by Jerome Silbergeld and Eugene Yuejin Wang (Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2016), 38.
[13] Sarah Allan, The Shape of the Turtle: Myth, Art, and Cosmos in Early China (New York: State University of New York Press, 1991), 54.
[14] Susan Bush, “Labeling the Creatures: Some Problems in Han and Six Dynasties Iconography” in The Zoomorphic Imagination in Chinese Art and Culture, eds. by Jerome Silbergeld and Eugene Yuejin Wang (Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2016), 74.
[15] Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), The Great Bronze Age of China: An Exhibition from the People's Republic of China (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1980), 6.
[16] “Wine Container (Zun),” Smithsonian Institution, accessed December 8, 2019. https://asia.si.edu/object/S1987.65a-b/
[17] Kwang-Chih Chang, and American Council of Learned Societies. Art, Myth and Ritual: The Path to Political Authority in Ancient China (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009), 47
[18] Ibid., 45.
[19] Sarah Allan, The Shape of the Turtle: Myth, Art, and Cosmos in Early China (New York: State University of New York Press, 1991), 19.
[20] Kwang-Chih Chang, and American Council of Learned Societies. Art, Myth and Ritual: The Path to Political Authority in Ancient China (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009), 51.
[21] Ibid., 95.
[22] Ibid., 97.

Bibliography:
Allan, Sarah. 1991. The Shape of the Turtle: Myth, Art, and Cosmos in Early China. Suny Series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. https://muhlenberg.on.worldcat.org/oclc/42856159.
Chang, Kwang-Chih, and American Council of Learned Societies. Art, Myth and Ritual: The Path to Political Authority in Ancient China. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009. 2009. Accessed November 15, 2019. https://muhlenberg.on.worldcat.org/oclc/923112553.
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), Wen Fong, Robert W Bagley, Jenny F So, and Maxwell K Hearn. 1980. The Great Bronze Age of China : An Exhibition from the People's Republic of China. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Spouted Wine Vessel (Gong).” Metmuseum.org. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/53949 (accessed November 22, 2019).
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Wine Cup (Jiao).” Metmuseum.org. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/61223 (accessed December 8, 2019).
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Wine Cup in the Shape of Addorsed Owls (Zhi).” Metmuseum.org. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/61225 (accessed December 1, 2019).
Silbergeld, Jerome, and Eugene Yuejin Wang, eds. The Zoomorphic Imagination in Chinese Art and Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2016. 2016. Accessed November 15, 2019. https://muhlenberg.on.worldcat.org/oclc/958654473.
Smithsonian Institution. “Wine Container (Zun).” Freer Gallery of Art & Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. https://asia.si.edu/object/S1987.65a-b/
Wang, Ying, Ph. D. Bronze Age China: Style and Material. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Pub, 2010. 2010. Accessed December 2, 2019. https://muhlenberg.on.worldcat.org/oclc/847548617.