Erudition Acquired from the Past

Bronze Assemblages Understood and Recreated

To reinstate ritual practices, Emperor Qianlong once reassembled the bronzes as sacrificial vessels to be used at the Confucian Temple in the National Academy. Recent advancement in scholarship has transformed our understanding of bronzes tremendously. Rather than focusing on single pieces, a discussion on sets offers better access to patrons' status and circumstances. By reading inscriptions on bronze among Qianlong's court collections, we can identify objects from the same clan or commissioned by the same patron and associating them with excavated examples. As time goes by, a bronze object has been transferred from historical sites, court collection to modern museum. It accumulated layers of history not only of its own but of different times.

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Ritual vessels of Guozijian

The Guozijian (National Academy) was the central administration for educational institutions in premodern China. As Emperor Qianlong emphasized the reformation of rites in the Guozijian, he ordered sacrificial vessels made of wood and ceramic be replaced with bronze ones in the 14^th year of his reign (1749), and appointed Fu Heng, the Grand Secretariat, to renovate the Temple of Confucius in the Guozijian in the 33^rd year (1768). When the renovation was completed in the next year, Emperor Qianlong selected ten bronze vessels of the Zhou dynasty—in tribute to Confucius—from the imperial collection and placed them in the Dacheng Hall of the Temple of Confucius as ritual vessels, known collectively as Zhoufan shiqi (Ten exemplary vessels of the Zhou).

Xi washing basin
- Han dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE)
- Documented in Qinding Guozijian Zhi (Imperially Endorsed Records of the Guozijian), vol. 46, p. 16
Animal-shaped zun wine vessel inlaid with malachite and turquoise
- Mid-Warring States period (375-276 BCE)
- Documented in Qinding Guozijian Zhi (Imperially Endorsed Records of the Guozijian), vol. 46, p. 5
Square ding cauldron of the Marquis of Kang
- Early Western Zhou dynasty, c. 11^th-10^th century BCE
- Documented in Qinding Guozijian Zhi (Imperially Endorsed Records of the Guozijian), vol. 46, p. 3
You wine vessel with swing handle of Nei-yan
- Southern Song to Ming dynasty, 12^th-17^th century
- Documented in Qinding Guozijian Zhi (Imperially Endorsed Records of the Guozijian), vol. 46, p. 6
Jue wine vessel with Zi emblem
- Late Shang dynasty, c. 13^th-12^th century BCE
- Documented in Qinding Guozijian Zhi (Imperially Endorsed Records of the Guozijian), vol. 46, p. 15
Gu wine beaker with animal mask design
- Southern Song to Ming dynasty, 12^th-17^th century
- Documented in Qinding Guozijian Zhi (Imperially Endorsed Records of the Guozijian), vol. 46, p. 14
Gold and silver-inlaid hu jar with cloud décor
- Southern Song to Ming dynasty, 12^th-17^th century
- Documented in Qinding Guozijian Zhi (Imperially Endorsed Records of the Guozijian), vol. 46, p. 9
Fu rectangular grain vessel inlaid of Shao Zhong
- Southern Song to Ming dynasty, 12^th-17^th century
- Documented in Qinding Guozijian Zhi (Imperially Endorsed Records of the Guozijian), vol. 46, p. 10
Lei wine vessel with whorl design
- Late Shang to Early Western Zhou dynasty, c. 12^th-10^th century BCE
- Documented in Qinding Guozijian Zhi (Imperially Endorsed Records of the Guozijian), vol. 46, p. 8
Gui food container of Grand Preceptor Wang
- Southern Song to Ming dynasty, 12^th-17^th century
- Documented in Qinding Guozijian Zhi (Imperially Endorsed Records of the Guozijian), vol. 46, p. 12

Bronze assemblage in archaeological perspective Ⅰ

"" is an emblem of a clan in the late Shang period, generally reading as "Ya Chou." More than a hundred bronze objects inscribed with Ya Chou emblem are extant, most of which documented in the illustrated catalogues of Emperor Qianlong. Several Ya Chou objects have been unearthed at Subutun, in Shandong province, where the Ya Chou clan cemetery was probably located. The highest-ranking tomb there might belong to a local military chieftain from the Shang.

Square zun wine vessel of Zhe Hou with Ya Chou emblem
- Late Shang period, c. 12^th-11^th century BCE
- Documented in Xiqing Gujian (Illustrated Catalogue of the Xiqing Antiquities), vol. 8, p. 35

Bronze assemblage in archaeological perspective Ⅱ

The Rui state was a polity ruled by a lineage of the Ji clan during the Zhou period. A Count of Rui was known for his assistance during the reign of King Kang of Zhou (1005/3-978 BCE). Based on inscriptions and stylistic features, a group of early Spring Autumn period (770-671 BCE) vessels, including ding, gui, hu, and chime bell, have been identified as objects commissioned by a Duke of Rui. The bronzes commissioned by Duke Huan of Rui, found in Liangdaicun, Hancheng, in Shaanxi province, however, belonged to his descendants.

Ding cauldron of the Duke of Rui, Gui food container of the Duke of Rui, Gui food container of the Duke of Rui, Hu jar of the Duke of Rui, Chime bell of the Duke of Rui

Ding cauldron of the Duke of Rui
- Early Spring and Autumn period, 770-671 BCE
- Documented in Xiqing Gujian (Illustrated Catalogue of the Xiqing Antiquities), vol. 2, p. 8
Ding cauldron of the Duke of Rui
- Early Spring and Autumn period, 770-671 BCE
- Documented in Xiqing Gujian (Illustrated Catalogue of the Xiqing Antiquities), vol. 6, p. 1
Gui food container of the Duke of Rui
- Early Spring and Autumn period, 770-671 BCE
- Documented in Xiqing Gujian (Illustrated Catalogue of the Xiqing Antiquities), vol. 27, p. 9
Hu jar of the Duke of Rui
- Early Spring and Autumn period, 770-671 BCE
- Documented in Xiqing Gujian (Illustrated Catalogue of the Xiqing Antiquities), vol. 9, p. 4
Chime bell of the Duke of Rui
- Early Spring and Autumn period, 770-671 BCE
- Documented in Xiqing Gujian (Illustrated Catalogue of the Xiqing Antiquities), vol. 36, p. 6

Erudition Acquired from the Past

Bronze Assemblages Understood and Recreated

Square zun wine vessel of Zhe Hou with Ya Chou emblem