Religious Significance of Bronze Patterns in Shang and Zhou Dynasties

The bronze age in China was formed around 2000 BC, and it went through fifteen centuries in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. By the late Shang Dynasty and the early Western Zhou Dynasty, the technical level of bronze smelting and casting reached its peak. Bronze ware is consistent with the development of slave society in China. It appeared with the appearance of slave society and changed with the disintegration of slave society, which is the most direct embodiment of slave society and culture in China.

Under the condition of low productivity, people in slave society depend on the favor of nature to survive. At the same time, they face ruthless natural phenomena and have awe-inspiring ideas and mysterious understanding of all kinds of unknowable images. Under the control of this concept, people have constructed the image world of "animism". The art of the Bronze Age showed the tendency of theocracy to annex everything, and used power to strengthen the position of religious activities in social life, divining everything, asking God about everything, offering sacrifices to gods with bronze ritual vessels, offering sacrifices to the country and ancestors, singing and dancing in the name of wine, and "respecting ghosts and gods" (the Book of Rites movement). Therefore, the sanctification of religion and etiquette leads to the mysterious significance of bronze art modeling and decoration.

Bronze ornamentation and primitive religious bronze ornamentation, as the image symbols of the intermediary between God and man, have symbolic significance and can be recognized by the members of the same social group, the ancestors of the group and the ghosts and gods they worship. What people agree with can be a totem image or an animal god that people worship.

Totem mark

Totem is a kind of natural image, more of which is animal image. A primitive clan believes that this natural image has a special relationship with its own clan, or regards it as its ancestor, or as its relative or protector, so it worships it devoutly and worships it. Such as dragon pattern, real dragon pattern, Feng Huangwen, cicada pattern and so on. Dragon pattern is the most auspicious and sacred decoration of the Chinese nation, and it is also the most representative symbol of Chinese traditional culture. The dragon pattern in Neolithic Age was close to the image of lizard and gecko. In the Bronze Age, it gradually evolved into the legendary dragon, dragon, dragon, dragon and dragon-shaped animal. Most of them are corners, feet, mouths and tails, and the varieties of graphic decoration mainly prevailed in Shang Dynasty and Western Zhou Dynasty. Phoenix pattern belongs to the decorative pattern of totem origin, which began in Shang Dynasty and prevailed in Zhou Dynasty. This seems to be consistent with Qishan and Zhou Xing in Feng Ming. Feng Huangwen evolved from the mysterious bird on the primitive painted pottery, and the basic image of the Western Zhou Dynasty was pheasant. The main difference between early Feng Huangwen and bird pattern is that it has wings that fly upwards. Therefore, phoenix pattern is the most exquisite decoration in bronze ware.

Worship of God

The most religious decorative pattern of bronze is gluttonous pattern. The name "gluttonous" was first seen in Lv's Spring and Autumn Annals: "Cast a gluttonous body, be with it, and harm it." Therefore, having Kubinashi's body has become a feature of gluttony. There are two kinds of opinions about gluttony: one is that it is the legacy of totem concept in primitive society; One is that they are sacrifices to the ancestors of ghosts and gods, or they are extended to "bronze wares with all kinds of animal images working in heaven and earth." In the eyes of ancient humans, the whole world is full of all kinds of strange spirits, some are masters or friends of human destiny, and some are monsters who are only enemies of human beings. Ancient humans blamed demons for all kinds of natural or social disasters. Exorcism is one of the important activities of primitive people. This activity is usually called exorcism. For example, Simuwu Fang Ding, a fine bronze ware in the late Shang Dynasty, is decorated with fine moire patterns to set off the theme of animal face relief, and the overall appearance symbolizes the majesty of kingship with a symmetrical and ferocious animal face.

Drive away evil spirits.

In the decorative patterns of Shang and Zhou Dynasties, we can see deified animals eating people to ward off evil spirits. This image of using totem animals to hunt monsters to ward off evil spirits reflects the struggle between god and demons, and also reflects the struggle between man and nature in a tortuous way. Tigers eat people, and the bronze body looks like a tiger sitting and crouching, with the tiger's hind paws and tail as three support points, while the tiger's front paws are effectively grasping people with broken feet to eat, which is very vivid. This complex shape shows superb casting technology. We can understand it as evil spirits and embody the myth of "tigers eat ghosts"; It can also be said that man and beast embrace each other and practice witchcraft artificially; Some people think that tigers are sacred and that eating people by tigers is "the unity of man and nature".

Decorative function

The natural objects in bronzes are mostly represented by variation, the most common ones are Yun Leiwen, vortex pattern, water ripple, etc. They have been widely used to fill the circular decorative belt to be decorated and large-area "ground pattern", also known as "ground pattern". This "variation phenomenon" not only shows the way of thinking inherited by primitive ancestors who tried to transcend reality with the help of imagination, but also shows the fantasy inspired by social class and power consciousness in the slave age. Three-dimensional, embossed gluttonous patterns, poems, etc. Under the background of Yun Leiwen and other bright and dark patterns, dense and complicated patterns are formed. Strong religious feelings stand out on bronzes, which are mysterious, strange and magnificent.

The development of Chinese bronzes mainly experienced three historical periods: Xia, Shang and Wednesday. During this period, the style of bronzes changed from dignified and solemn artistic style to simple and clear style, and the social function of bronzes gradually changed from ritual vessels to practical instruments. The decorative patterns of bronzes range from solemn gluttonous patterns and literary works to the rhythmic patterns of stealing music and endless belts, and then to the vivid patterns of clams, banquets and fights, during which the fierce supernatural magic of animal decorative patterns gradually weakens until it disappears. This change of decorative patterns is not only caused by the improvement of manufacturing technology or people's aesthetic level, but also related to the improvement of human productivity and social changes.