Bronze Casting and Decoration Technology
Some cultural relics, even after thousands of years have passed, we can still glimpse their magnificence and exquisiteness, and we can't help but sigh that my country's casting and decoration techniques have been so developed as early as thousands of years ago.
first stage
The Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties were the first and extremely important stage in the development of bronze wares in my country. Although it was still early, some bronze wares were already extremely well cast. During this period, the craftsmanship and decorative style of bronzes were significantly improved and developed.
In the Xia Dynasty (about 21st century BC-about 16th century BC), the bronze wares were mainly large-scale ritual vessels such as tripods, gui, and beans. Most of them were simple in shape and simple in decoration, and they were mostly used for sacrifices.
The bronze casting technology of the Shang Dynasty (about 16th century BC - about 11th century BC) reached a very high level. The bronze wares of the Shang Dynasty were more complicated in shape and finer in decoration, mainly in the types of tripod, zun, gu, jue, etc.
The bronzes of the Western Zhou Dynasty (approximately 11th century BC-771 BC) were richer and more varied, with more ornate decoration. The most famous ones are tripod and gui. During this period, a large number of large-scale bronze ritual vessels appeared, and inscriptions were engraved on the body of the vessels, reflecting the political, economic and cultural conditions of Zhou Dynasty society.
second stage
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period (770 BC-221 BC), ironware had already played a very important role in people's lives. Bronze was generally only used to cast ritual vessels and weapons, but bronze casting technology did not benefit from the iron smelting industry. It has further improved on the basis of Yin and Zhou smelting technology, mainly as follows: the proportion of copper and tin in bronze wares is more reasonable, and the new technology of making complex wares is used in addition to the original casting method, focusing on copper The fashion of utensil decoration promoted the improvement of metal fine workmanship.
casting
Mixed casting method:
That is to say, the method of integral pouring is suitable for simple implements such as tools and weapons. It has been a common method of making implements since the Xia and Shang Dynasties. It is a kind of block model method, which pours all parts of an utensil into a complete utensil at one time.
Split casting method:
Also known as "embedding method". The vessel-making process first casts the vessel body, attaches the molds of the ears, feet and other accessories to the vessel body and pours copper liquid, that is, pours the accessories in addition to the mold, so that they are cast with the vessel body as a whole. Or cast the accessories first, insert the pre-cast accessories into the mold of the body, and cast them into a whole when pouring the body
welding:
Welding technology was developed on the basis of the embedded method in the late Western Zhou Dynasty, and it was more mature and common in the Warring States Period. After the body and accessories are cast separately, the accessories are welded with copper, tin, lead and a small amount of zinc liquid. Since the mortise nails have been cast in the parts with accessories when casting the body of the vessel, and then other metal welding is used to bond the accessories to it, it is also called tenon-egg welding. The emergence of welding technology is of great significance in the ancient metal processing technology of our country. It reduces the casting process of many joint, mold and joint casting processes, improves the casting process and efficiency, and marks the responsibility of copper casting technology. improvement.
Mortise and tenon fighting method:
During the Warring States Period, on the basis of the mortise and tenon welding method, the mortise and tenon joint method of making utensils appeared. It applies the mortise and tenon splicing technology in the woodwork process to the manufacture of copper ware, casts each part of the vessel and reserves the mortise and tenon joints, and then inserts them into a whole, which is also very convenient to mark and unload.
Lost wax method:
Also known as the wax pulling method, the waxing method or the waxing method, the lost wax casting technology appeared earlier in the late Spring and Autumn Period. The meltable yellow wax is made into a wax mold of the required shape, and after the shape is set, it is poured with fine mud several times, and then coated with refractory material to harden it and make a mold. Baking makes the yellow wax melt and flow out, leaving the mud to form the cavity for casting. The lost wax method is suitable for casting hollow and curved complex shapes. It is an investment casting method. Bronze ware cast by the lost wax method, although complex in shape, has no standard seams, forging and welding marks, and is a seamless one. The Zun Pan unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng in the Warring States Period is the most exquisite utensil cast by the lost wax method so far. No trace of welding has been found in the lost wax casters found so far, instead of casting single parts and then welding or plugging them.
decorate
The decoration process of bronze ware mainly refers to metal fine workmanship, which appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, and was more common in the Warring States Period. Due to the flexibility and variety of decoration techniques, the bronze wares of the Warring States period changed the previous rigid style and broke through the symmetrical format of the traditional appearance. Some bronze wares appeared many scenes of war and labor and fragments of stories, which were rich and lively.
Gild:
Among various metal decoration techniques, gold pasting and gold cladding are the earliest decoration techniques. Hammering gold nuggets into thin slices or wrapping gold moorings on utensils according to needs has a strong decorative effect. Gold-coating is mainly used for small pieces of bronze wares such as chariots and horses, copper shells, etc. Gold-clad craftsmanship flourished in appreciation and flourished in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Due to the rise of the gilt craft, the gold-clad craft disappeared in the early Han Dynasty. The reason may be that the gilt saves gold compared with the gold-clad craft.
Gilt:
Utilizing the characteristics of mercury (mercury) that can dissolve gold and silver and is easy to evaporate when heated to 400 ° C, gold wire or gold flakes are dissolved in mercury, and then made into gold mud, which is evenly coated on the surface of copper ware, heated and baked to make the mercury Evaporate, leaving gold and silver firmly attached to the surface of the vessel, forming a gilt (silver) vessel. This kind of craft was developed on the basis of gold-clad craft, and it is mostly used for decoration of small objects. It was first seen in the late Spring and Autumn Period and early Warring States period. It was very common in the Warring States Period, Western Han Dynasty and Eastern Han Dynasty.
Misembedding:
The metal inlay process is divided into three types: red copper, gold and silver according to the different materials used. It is to engrave the negative line pattern on the surface of the copper ware, or cast the pattern groove of the utensil in advance, and then mix the red copper and gold Or silver wire is driven into the groove of the pattern, staggered and polished to form a decoration. It makes full use of the color difference between red copper, gold, silver and bronze, showing a striking and luxurious decorative effect, while the surface of the utensils remains smooth and flat due to misgrinding.
(Mismatched small knowledge)
gold and silver wrong
The red copper crafting process appeared in the Shang Dynasty, developed rapidly in the Spring and Autumn Period, reached its peak in the late Spring and Autumn Period to the early and middle Warring States period, and began to decrease in the late Warring States period, and was gradually replaced by gold and silver craftwork.
Inlaid silver may have appeared in the early Warring States period, but the simple silver inlaid craft was still rare throughout the Warring States period. It was generally used at the same time as inlaid gold, with gold threads as the main and silver threads as the auxiliary to create thunder pattern and flowing cloud decoration patterns.
Mixed gold, mixed gold is combined into mixed gold and silver or gold and silver mixed
mosaic:
Also known as inlaying jade and beads, it is a decorative process of inlaying jade and turquoise on the surface of bronze ware. In the Warring States period, jade and bead inlays were often combined with various techniques such as interlacing gold and silver to form a composite production process, which made the surface decoration more colorful.
Engraving:
That is, thin line engraving. The craft of engraving and decorating the surface of bronze wares appeared in the early Spring and Autumn Period, and was mostly seen in the Warring States Period. The lines of the engraved pattern are as thin as a hair, and most of the decorative utensils are yi (yi), plates, mirrors, cups and other utensils with thinner bodies.
Stencil:
Casting decorative patterns on bronze wares, in addition to engraving on clay molds in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties during the Warring States Period, stamped patterns on clay molds with pattern stamps, or attached the printed pattern clay pieces to the mold tires, Greatly saves casting time.
Fill paint:
Fill the grooves of bronze ware with colored lacquer, and polish it smoothly, which has a decorative effect similar to that of gold and silver, and is more convenient and economical than gold and silver. This decorative craft originated in the late Shang Dynasty and was more common in the Warring States Period.
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