Shang Dynasty
1750 – 1100 BCE
Location
Centered in the eastern Yellow River Valley
From Legendary to Real
Probably preceded by the Xia dynasty (archeologists expect to discover remains)
Until the discoveries at the last Shang capital, Anyang, the Shang dynasty was also considered to be legendary by many western scholars
Background
Complex urban society
Social stratification dominated by the ruling elite (vs. Neolithic egalitarian society)
Beliefs:
Worshiped Shangdi (anthropomorphic supreme deity)
Venerated the spirits of their ancestors
Practiced divination
Written language was direct ancestor of modern Chinese
Visual culture, headed by bronze ritual vessels, includes bronze and stone sculpture, jades and ceramics
Oracle Bone Records
Used by the king to assist in significant decision-making
Important historical documents
Question and answer recorded
Record battles, decisions regarding agriculture
Burial Practices of the Elite
Large tombs include:
Elaborate tomb furnishings
Human sacrificial victims
Sacrificial animals and other offerings
Bronze vessels and implements important
Bronze Ritual Vessels
Imperial and aristocratic patronage
Magical, ritual function
Used in funerary and religious ceremonies
Piece-mold casting method; most highly developed bronze technology of the ancient world
Zoomorphic decoration
Major motif: taotie (imaginary animal mask)
Complex shapes and patterns
Piece-mold Casting
Bronze Ritual Vessels
Shapes
Bronze Ritual Vessels
Motifs
Zoomorphic motifs
Actual and imaginary creatures
Taotie (imaginary animal mask)
Spiral patterns, called a thunder pattern
Taotie
Zoomorphic pattern
Exact meaning unknown
Probably represents communication with the spirit world
Bilaterally symmetrical
Combination of horned, fanged, and winged creatures
Ritual Wine Vessel, ca. 1200 BCE
Square vessel
Architectonic (aesthetically related to architecture)
Decoration in registers
Vertical protruding flanges emphasize joins of piece mold
Taotie mask repeated on 4 sides
Other motifs include dragons, cicadas (resurrection)
Ritual Wine Vessel, ca. 1200 BCE
Zoomorphic shape: bear or tiger "swallowing?" a man
On surface, naturalistic and abstract motifs combine
The iconography is open to interpretation
Bronze Ritual Vessels
Other Examples
Other Tomb Furnishings:
Jades and Ceramics
Summary
Significance
Writing, historical records
Beliefs associated with Chinese culture (veneration of ancestors, belief in immortality of the soul)
Visual arts add to, continue, and advance Neolithic traditions
Major medium of visual culture: bronze