The Political Significance of Bronze Etiquette
The meaning of the Bronze Civilization
The Bronze Civilizaton is outstanding for its rich amount of bronze wares.
The Bronze Age (or Bronze Age or Bronze Civilization) is a stage of human cultural development marked by the use of bronze in archaeology.
Bronze is an alloy of red copper and tin, named bronze because of its cyan gray color. Due to the relatively low melting point of bronze, it is about 800 ℃; High hardness, more than twice that of copper or tin, making it easy to melt and cast into shape.
At the beginning of the Bronze Age, the proportion of bronze ware was small, and even stone ware was the main form; In the middle and later stages, the proportion gradually increases. The invention of bronze casting, compared with the Stone Age, played an epoch-making role.
The earliest places in the world to enter the Bronze Age are the Lianghe River Basin and Egypt, which began in 3000 BC. China's Bronze Age China's Bronze Age is the Xia, Shang, Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn Warring States Periods.
The surviving Simuwu cauldron is a rare large bronze vessel in the world. According to archaeological discoveries, in the early Shang Dynasty, with Erligang in Zhengzhou as the center, sites from the Yin and Shang Dynasties, such as the Liuli Pavilion in Huixian and Donggan Gou in Luoyang, belonged to this era; In the late Shang Dynasty, centering on Xiaotun Village in Anyang, the upper layer of Zhengzhou Park and the Mount Taishan Temple site and tomb in Luoyang belonged to this era; In the early stage of the Zhou Dynasty (Western Zhou), the main representative sites were tombs from the Fenghao Village area in Xi'an and the Western Zhou period in Baoji; During the Spring and Autumn period, Luoyang Jianbin (Jianbin) was the center, Shangcun Lingguo Tomb, Xinzheng Zheng Tomb, and Shouxian Marquis Cai Tomb were the representatives of this period; During the Warring States period, Luoyang Jianbin was the center, Huixian Liuli Pavilion, Guwei Village, Changsha and Tangshan Warring States Cemeteries belonged to this era.
According to the latest excavation results, South China also entered the Bronze Age in the early Shang Dynasty. The most representative ones are the Panlongcheng in Wuhan, Hubei Province, the Tanheli in Changsha, Hunan Province, and the unearthed bronzes from the tomb of the Shang Dynasty in Oceania, Xingan, Jiangxi Province, which confirm that there is also a developed bronze civilization in the Yangtze River basin.
In the Bronze Age, China had established a country (Guo Moruo thought it was a slave country according to the Marxist view of history, which was controversial), developed agriculture and handicrafts, and developed Chinese characters. Bronze ware is a variety of utensils made of red copper and tin alloy, which was born in the Bronze Age of human civilization.
Due to the appearance of bronze ware in various parts of the world, it is also a symbol of global civilization. The earliest bronze artifacts appeared in the two river basins of West Asia between approximately 5000 and 6000 years ago.
The large bronze sword carved with the lion image during the Sumer civilization is the representative of early bronze. Bronze ware was gradually replaced by iron over 2000 years ago.
Chinese bronze ware is exquisite and has higher artistic value among bronze ware from all over the world. Chinese bronze ware represents China's advanced technology and culture during the pre Qin period.
Chinese bronze ware is a representative of China's culture and technology during the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. Chinese bronze ware began to appear 4700 years ago and gradually replaced by iron over 2000 years ago, spanning a history of about 3000 years.
Chinese bronze ware is also of high artistic value due to its exquisite craftsmanship.
Why did bronze serve as a symbol of civilization during the Xia, Shang, and Western Zhou dynasties？
The great event of the country lies in sacrificial ceremonies and wars. For the countries in the Central Plains of China before the Qin Dynasty, there was nothing greater than sacrificial ceremonies and foreign wars. As a representative of the more advanced metal smelting and casting technology at that time, bronze was mainly used in sacrificial ceremonies and wars. The bronze vessels discovered in the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties were all ceremonial tools and weapons, as well as auxiliary tools surrounding the two, which is different from bronze vessels from other countries around the world, A bronze culture system with traditional Chinese characteristics has been formed. The development of Chinese bronze culture is generally divided into three major stages, namely the formation period, the peak period, and the transformation period. The formation period refers to the Longshan period, 4500-4000 years ago; The heyday refers to the Bronze Age of China, which includes the Xia, Shang, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn, and early Warring States periods, lasting for over 1600 years. This is the Bronze Age of the traditional Chinese system; The period of transformation refers to the late Warring States period, during which bronze ware was gradually replaced by iron ware. Not only did the quantity decrease significantly, but it also transformed from ritual and musical weapons and important occasions such as ritual and sacrificial ceremonies, war activities, etc. into daily utensils. The corresponding types, structural characteristics, and decorative arts also underwent transformative changes. The peak period is the Chinese Bronze Age, which includes the Xia, Shang, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn periods, and the early Warring States period, The bronze vessels of this period lasted for about 1600 years. They were mainly divided into ritual instruments, weapons, and miscellaneous tools. Musical instruments were also mainly used in ancestral temple worship activities. Ritual vessels were used in ancient ceremonial rituals, such as being displayed in temples, used for banquets, washing, and some were specifically used for burial. Bronze ritual vessels have a certain degree of sacredness and cannot be used in ordinary daily life. Among all bronze vessels, the number of ritual vessels is the highest, ***It is also the most exquisite. The ceremonial instruments can represent a higher level of Chinese bronze craftsmanship. The types of ceremonial vessels include cooking utensils, food utensils, wine utensils, water utensils, and deities. During this period, the bronze ware was decorated with the most exquisite decorations, and there were also many types of decorations.
If want to learn more about bronze culture by material objects
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