Characteristics of Bronze Decoration in Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period

1. Animal face pattern was called gluttonous pattern in ancient times (gluttonous is the name of the legendary gluttonous beast). The ancients thought that this beast possessed Kubinashi's body, which was very terrible. In fact, this kind of decoration is a pattern with the heads of various animals or imaginary beasts facing upwards. Later, it was called animal face tattoo, which was more accurate and clear than gluttonous tattoo. The main decorative object of the animal face pattern is the tripod, and besides being a practical appliance, the bronze tripod also has an important purpose, which is to be used as a ritual vessel. Animal face patterns mostly decorate objects with exaggerated animal faces and simple lines. I believe that this is closely related to people's religious beliefs and social patriarchal system at that time, and it is also the main basis for studying China's ancient society, economy and religion. Animal face lines are characterized by taking the bridge of the nose as the center line, highlighting the front shape and symmetrically arranging on both sides. The first row at the top is a corner with eyes under it. More specific animal facial lines have eyebrows on the eyes, ears on the eyes, most claws, and a few simple forms have bodies or tails extending left and right. It can be said that all animal facial patterns are basically shaped according to this model, but the expression and techniques are different with the development of the times. Also known as "animal face pattern". One of the common decorative patterns on bronzes. The pattern symbolizes the gluttonous face of a greedy and fierce beast in ancient legend, and there are many changes in the pattern. The word gluttony can be found in Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals: "Write gluttony, take it as your body, and cannibalism will not harm you." From the Shang Dynasty to the Western Zhou Dynasty, it was often used as the theme decoration on utensils, and was mostly lined with Yun Leiwen. After the late Western Zhou Dynasty, the prominent position of theme decoration gradually improved, and the decoration on the ears or feet of imitators was often used. This name has been used from generation to generation since it was called gluttonous pattern in Bo Gu Atlas in Song Dynasty. 2.3. Dragon patterns include Kuiwen and Longkui patterns. The "Kui" here was called an animal with one foot in a corner in ancient times, but it is actually a profile of a biped. The images of dragons in the eyes of the ancients are various, so the decorative patterns are also different. According to the pattern structure, there are climbing dragon pattern, rolling dragon pattern, intersecting dragon pattern, double dragon pattern and double dragon pattern. One of the decorative patterns on bronzes. Dragon is an ancient legendary animal in China. Generally, the frontal image is centered on the nose, with eyes on both sides and the body extending to both sides. If its side is taken as an image, it forms a long body and a claw. The image of dragon originated very early, but as a bronze decoration, it was first seen in Erligang period of Shang Dynasty, and then there were different forms of dragon patterns in the late Shang Dynasty, Western Zhou Dynasty, Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period. In Shang dynasty, it was mostly in the form of buckling; In the Western Zhou Dynasty, several dragons were intertwined, or their heads were in the middle and their tails were separated. Legend has it that the appearance of dragons is related to water, and "Kao Gong Ji Ai Huashi" said: "Water is a dragon, and fire is love." The image of the dragon is used to symbolize the water god, so there are many scrolls or three-dimensional images of the dragon in bronze water vessels. According to the knot type of dragon pattern, it can be roughly divided into crawling dragon pattern, tumbling dragon pattern, crossing dragon pattern, double-headed dragon pattern and catamaran dragon pattern. In the description since the Song Dynasty, all the patterns showing claws on bronzes are also called "Kuiwen" or "Solanum nigrum pattern". Kui Wen's design shows a legendary animal similar to a dragon-Kui, which mostly has horns and feet, an open mouth and a curled tail. In the description since the Song Dynasty, the reptilian objects on bronze wares are all called Solanum nigrum or Solanum nigrum, which is related to the record of "Kuiyi Foot" in ancient books. Say Wen Jianbu: "Hey, God is like a dragon's foot." Some poems have developed into geometric decorations, which have changed a lot. It is common that the body is divided into two parts, or the body is diagonal, with two heads at each end. Popular in Shang Dynasty and early Western Zhou Dynasty. 4. The phoenix in Feng Niaowen first appeared in The Book of Songs, which was originally the "phoenix emperor". In Han Dynasty, Mao Heng interpreted it as "the male is the phoenix and the female is the emperor". Phoenix and dragon were auspicious animals in ancient times. "The fate of the black bird leads to the birth of business", which shows that the black bird is the totem of business. In ancient times, phoenix bird was the representative of bird totem. Feng Niaowen is divided into long-billed bird pattern, bird body and long beak according to the composition image; Owl pattern, forehead, big round eyes, hairy horns and big wings prevailed in the middle and late Shang Dynasty; Goose pattern is a realistic image in bird pattern, which belongs to the northern style in the late Spring and Autumn Period. Feng Niaowen is mostly decorated on the neck, mouth, abdomen and feet of Ding, Gui, Zun, Jue, Gui, Yi and Hu. One of the decorative patterns on bronzes. A bird's long feathers hang down or its long tail rolls up to look forward or backward. Most of them are symmetrically arranged on bronzes. The jade cong unearthed from Liangzhu culture has clear bird patterns. The earliest appearance on bronzes was the deformed bird pattern in Erligang period. Bird pattern has always been the main decorative pattern of Yin Ruins. From the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period, bird patterns appeared in large numbers. There were many short tails in Shang Dynasty and many long tails and high crowns in Western Zhou Dynasty. Bird patterns include Feng Huangwen, Owl, Feng Huangwen and Goose. 5. There are nine sons born in dragon among the people, and there are patterns of flat rice. Jiao and Guo are both dragons, and flat rice means "bending over and falling". In ancient times, it represented the plain grain on bronze wares. Its body and legs are like dragons, and its face is like a beast. This pattern was found in Shang and Zhou Dynasties, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and it was the main pattern on jade articles in Spring and Autumn Period, Warring States Period and Han Dynasty. During the Warring States period, the pattern was flat, the eyes were round and the nose was big, and the fine eyebrows had two lines. The cat ears had a thick and curved neck, the leg lines were curved, and the claws were often upturned. Most of the body is outlined by a negative line, and the tail is a colloidal line. In the Han dynasty, the eyebrows were vertical and the eyes were slightly drooping, and thin lines were drawn on the bridge of the nose. Except that there are two rolls at the tail and only three legs, the body is no different from that of the Warring States period. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the eyes were slightly longer and curved, and there were many grooves on the mouth and cheeks. Some of them have long horns, others have no horns, and their legs are very short. Generally there is only one front leg, so it is also three legs. Sometimes, the front legs extend a little like the fourth leg, and the cirrus veins on the tail are wider than before. The biggest feature of the Song Dynasty is that there is a wide yinxian line under the nose, which is very stereoscopic. In Yuan Dynasty, the forehead was wide and high, and its eyebrows, eyes, nose and mouth were concentrated under the whole face, accounting for only one third of the face. The neck is very low, many places are covered with hair, rising, squatting and hovering, magnificent and beautiful. It was not until the Qing dynasty that there were unique decorative patterns that were not available in previous eras. 6. Decorative patterns on flat snake-shaped bronzes. It has a triangular or round triangular head, a pair of prominent big round eyes, a scaly body and curly strips. Snakes have obvious characteristics and are often reduced as accessories. Some people think it's silkworm grain. Some of them are main patterns, which are found in Shang bronzes. The snake patterns in the late Shang Dynasty and early Zhou Dynasty were mostly arranged in a single line. Most of the snake patterns in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period are small and twisted, so they are called "coiled patterns". One of the decorative patterns on flat striped bronzes. Form a geometric figure with the image of a small snake. Popular in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. 7. Yun Leiwen is a deformed line stripe, which is often used as a background pattern to set off the main pattern. Moire is composed of soft convolutions, and the plus square angle of convolutions is thunder, which prevailed in the middle and late Shang Dynasty. 8. Vortex patterns are also called fire patterns. As the name implies, it is similar to a water vortex, so it is a vortex pattern. It is characterized by a circle. The inner ring is decorated with a rotating arc along the edge. There is a small circle in the middle, which seems to represent the uplift of water. There are five semicircular curves next to the circle, which looks like water vortex stirring. Some people think that the vortex pattern is shaped like the image of the sun, also known as the fire pattern. The vortex patterns in the early Shang Dynasty were single and continuous, and generally alternated with dragon patterns, eye patterns, bird patterns, tiger patterns and cicada patterns from the middle and late Shang Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Vortex patterns are mostly used in the shoulders and abdomen of cans, ding, yi and bu, which were popular in Shang and Zhou dynasties. 9. The double-ring pattern consists of a slightly oval ring with one ring, two rings and three rings, and one side of the ring forms two right angles or acute angles. Sometimes it also appears with other decorative patterns. It prevailed in the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty. 10. Stealing pattern is a flat and long pattern composed of lines with hook or "S" shape at both ends, often filled with net pattern in the middle, which prevailed in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Kuiwen: It represents a legendary animal similar to a dragon, with horns and feet, an open mouth and a curled tail. Some kuiwen became geometric decorations. Mostly used as the main pattern on utensils. Dragon pattern: the pattern takes the image of the legendary dragon. There are basically three forms: flexion form, in which several dragons are intertwined and their heads are separated from the middle. Disc pattern: shaped like a spit, with the mouth open and the tail curled. The pattern consists of a small snake (scorpion) that is curved and flat. Bird pattern: some patterns have long feathers and drooping tails, while others have long tails rolled up and their heads look forward or backward. There are also birds with high crowns on their heads, which are carried or hung down on their heads. This bird pattern is also called Feng Niaowen. Bird patterns are often used as the theme decoration on utensils. Cicada pattern: Most of the patterns are triangular with cicadas, and there are no front and rear feet, and Yun Leiwen is filled around them. Some are very long, with front and back feet and Yun Leiwen in the middle. Silkworm grain: round head, prominent eyes and body flexion. Most of them are decorated on the mouth or feet of utensils. Image pattern: the pattern shows the shape of the image, which is characterized by a long nose and also takes the elephant's head and nose as the pattern. Fish pattern: the pattern appears in the form of fish, some of which are dull and some are vivid. One or two dorsal fins and one ventral fin. Fish patterns are often decorated in dishes, reflecting the close combination of vessel decoration and vessel shape. Fish patterns are also commonly used in bronze washing and mirrors. Tortoise pattern: its shape generally depicts the complete shape of a turtle, which is rarely seen in bronze wares and is mostly used in plates. Shell pattern: shell-shaped, connecting single shells to form a pattern. Yun Leiwen: Typical decorative patterns on bronzes. Its basic feature is a geometric figure composed of continuous winding lines. Some patterns make a circular continuous composition, called moire; Some patterns form a continuous square, which is called thunder pattern. Yun Leiwen often makes ground patterns of bronzes to set off the theme patterns. There are also those that appear alone in the neck or feet of the object. Hook-and-lightning pattern: It is formed by connecting T-shaped lines with each other. Nail pattern: one of the simplest decorative patterns on bronze wares. Nipples with convex patterns are arranged in a single line or a square matrix. There is also a pattern, that is, putting the breast nail in a diagonal square, which is called diagonal square breast nail pattern.