As a splendid culture in ancient China, what are its main social significance and representative works?

The change of bronze culture reflects the change of social, economic and cultural connotation. Guo Moruo used the archaeological method of bronze iconology to study the artifacts in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and determined the criteria for judging the times. He divided the Bronze Age in China into five periods. He took the Yin, Zhou, Spring and Autumn and Warring States dynasties as classics, and the shape, ornamentation and inscriptions of bronzes as latitudes, looking for the similarities in the evolution of bronzes and examining the traces of their evolution. Thus, the stages are as follows:

Origin: Probably in the Xia and Yin Dynasties. The location may be in the lower reaches of Jianghuai Valley in southern China. The heyday: the times were in the late Yin and Shang Dynasties and the early Zhou Dynasty, when you were successful, Kang, Zhao and Mu. On utensils, Ding, Fang Yi, Zun, Zuo and Jue are the most. In terms of decoration, either the whole body is decorated with patterns or it is pure. Decadence period: from the age of self-respect, filial piety and exile to the middle of spring and autumn. The system of artifacts is simple and rash, but it has lost its original flavor and myth tradition, and has a free and unrestrained spirit. Zhongxing period: from the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period to the end of the Warring States Period. The artifacts of this period are light and applicable, but the style is refurbished, thin and ingenious, which shows that general bronzes have been commercialized. Decline period: Since the end of the Warring States Period, due to the arrival of the Bronze Age, all utensils have returned to simplicity, but they are more practical, light and simple. From then on, bronze art gave way to other arts, and after Qin unified the world, the bronze age turned into the iron age.

Bronze is a great invention in human history and the earliest alloy in the history of metallurgical casting in the world. Tin and lead are added to copper to become a new alloy. After thousands of years of chemical reaction, this alloy has a layer of blue-gray rust on its surface, so people call it "bronze" today, and the ancients called this alloy "gold". In the literature, "giving gold" and "receiving gold" both refer to bronze.

Bronze ware, on the other hand, is made of bronze through a very special process (now called bronze casting process) and is one of the carriers of ancient splendid civilization. Musi Wuding unearthed in Yin Ruins is a representative work of Shang bronzes. It is magnificent in shape, magnificent in momentum, gorgeous in decoration and exquisite in craftsmanship, which embodies a solemn and dignified style. With a height of 1.33 m, a length of1.65,438+00 m, a width of 0.78 m and a weight of more than 800 kg, Simu Wuding is the largest bronze ware found in the world. To cast such a large bronze ware, all parts must be cast separately and then combined into a whole. The process is very complicated, and it requires two or three hundred craftsmen to operate at the same time and cooperate closely to complete the casting. According to the determination, montmorillonite contains 84.77% copper, 2.79% tin 1 1.64% lead. The proportion of these three metals is reasonable, which reflects the wisdom of merchants and craftsmen. Simu Wuding was unearthed in Anyang, Henan Province in 1939. At that time, Japanese imperialism was invading China on a large scale. After the news of Dading's excavation came out, the Japanese army sent people to search everywhere in an attempt to take it away. In order to protect this precious cultural relic, local people buried it again. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Dading was dug up again. 1948, dading was first publicly exhibited in Nanjing, which immediately caused a sensation. As a precious gift from the people of China, the replica of Simu Wuding has been permanently collected by the United Nations.

1986 A large bronze statue unearthed in Sanxingdui, Sichuan, with a height of 2.62m and a weight of180kg. It is cast in sections. The bronze statue has big eyes, a straight nose, a perforated earlobe and stands barefoot on a square seat. This is an outstanding work of Shu culture in Shang Dynasty.