2022-2023-1 《中国文化概论》作业

Essay

专业班级： 英语 2002
姓 名： 王艺蕊
学 号： 2017010214
指导教师： 曹砚黛

2022 年 11 月 20 日 分数 _________
 An analysis of the changes in artifacts between Zhou and Qin dynasty

1. Introduction
During the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, China was a turbulent era. This paper aims to
explore and analyze the changes of Zhou-Qin period artifacts. Generally speaking,
artifacts in Zhou-Qin period presents three characteristics: the weakening of the
hierarchical function, the enhancement of practicality ， the enhancement of
consistency . To some extent, these three trends represent the trend of the change of
Zhou and Qin Dynasties.
2. Analysis of characteristics
2.1 The weakening of the hierarchical function
"Etiquette is not for common people", so is the sacrificial vessel . The noble's
possession of ritual objects showed their prominent status, and within the nobility,
different social levels, political status and power were set up below the emperor . The
creation and use of artifacts also follow this principle. As stated in the Zhou Rites,
Spring Officials and Orders of Rites(《周礼·春官·典命》), princes have five orders,
and ministers have five levels.From the nine orders of the upper duke to the seven
orders of the marquis, to the five orders of viscount and baron, from the eight orders
of the three important officials to the six orders of the ministers, the palace, chariot-
flag, clothes and etiquette they have are all related to their orders and should not be
overruled.1 However, during the development of the Zhou Dynasty to the Qin
Dynasty, this principle was gradually broken.
In the field of utensils, the weakening of the classification function is mainly
manifested in the use of utensils. For example, in the tomb of Zeng, a vassal state of
Chu, a bronze ritual vessel weighing more than ten tons was unearthed, which was
also called "beyond the rules of etiquette(僭礼)". (Lu Ling, 2013) It should also be
pointed out that the weakening of hierarchical distinction was also reflected in the
king and his officials. It is recorded in Jin Yu that Wei Jiang of the Jin Dynasty was
1
《周礼·春官·典命》所载，诸侯有五仪之分，诸臣有五等之命，自上公九命到侯伯七命、再到子男五命，自三公八命到卿六命、
再到大夫四命，其拥有的宫室、车旗、衣服 礼仪皆与其命数为节，不容僭越。

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given "eighteen dancers and one chime bell" by Duke Dao for assisting him in
achieving hegemony and meritorious service. It should be pointed out that in theory,
as ministers, Qing could not enjoy chime bell , but Wei Jiang was rewarded with the
gifts of vassals. It can be seen that the function of the hierarchical differentiation of
chime bell as an instrument was greatly weakened.
2.2 The enhancement of practicality
After the hierarchical symbol of ritual ware gradually declined, the importance of the
ware to meet people's realistic needs became increasingly prominent. This feature can
be seen from three aspects: (1) in the combination of utensils, daily utensils gradually
become the mainstream, and new types of utensils constantly appear; (2) in the
material of utensils, the proportion of lacquerware is constantly increased; (3) in the
decoration of utensils, the characteristics of gorgeous and light gradually appear. In
brief, with the improvement of casting technology and the change of people's object-
making thoughts, object-making center gradually pays attention to the practical
object-making from the ritual object-worshiping.(Lan Juan,2014)
(1) Changes in objects to travel with (xing qi,行器)
In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the original purpose of the traveling instrument was to
go on hunting expeditions, and it was often used for ancestral temple sacrifices. The
chime bells unearthed from the tomb of Cai hou in Shouxian County, Anhui province,
have the words "Made by myself, to delight my father and brother". ". However,
"field pot" was also unearthed in the Yejiashan Tomb of Suizhou, and its function was
made for the tour of field hunting. Feng Shi (2014) think filed objects in order to
convenient tends to add an handle (ti liang or pan liu 提梁，鋬流） to distinguish the
general standard shape.

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 Fig.1 field pot

(2) Changes in lacquer ware

China uses lacquer ware earlier than many countries. In the Western Zhou Dynasty,
lacquer ware technology had been greatly developed, but in this period, lacquer ware
was mainly used as ritual ware. By the Spring and Autumn Period, the use of lacquer
ware had already shifted to practical objects. The number of lacquer ware in the tomb
of Zeng Houyi in the Warring States Period was much higher than before, and showed
two characteristics: first, the lacquer ware technology developed greatly; second,
lacquer ware is widely used in various practical fields. (Guo Dewei,1988) A large
number of living utensils were unearthed from the tomb of Zeng Houyi, including
holding food, shelving, decoration and entertainment.

Fig.2 lacquer box in the shape of a mandarin duck

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 Fig.3 drinking vessel from Zeng Houyi's tomb

2.3 The enhancement of consistency

The consistency here means that the objects show the characteristics of underlying
cultural convergence. Li Ling(2004) pointed out that the integration of local
differences and the gradual unification of cultures were the characteristics of the
Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Taking the study of Qin tombs in Guanzhong area (Fig. 1) as
an example, among the excavated artifacts, Guanzhong area shows great similarity. In
the production process, there are a number of imitation copper pottery.(Teng
Mingyu,1992)

Fig.4 Guanzhong Plain

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 Fig.5 Pottery of Guanzhong region

In Fig.5, the figures in the period column represent seven periods from the Spring and
Autumn Period to the late Warring States Period, while the figures in the table
represent the excavations of different tombs in the same period. As can be seen from
this table, the convergence of artifacts is constantly strengthening.
3. Conclusion
All in all, the characteristics of the artifacts from the Zhou Dynasty to the Qin
Dynasty complemented and achieved each other with the trend of "propriety
disintegration." and "unification". The trend of propriety disintegration greatly
increased the use of utensils, promoted the innovation of technology and the
communication between regions, and was conducive to the enhancement of the
practicality and consistency of utensils. The weakening of class distinction function of
utensils is just the external manifestation of propriety disintegration.

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