What is the aesthetics of the Four Sheep Square Zun's combination of movement and static?

The combination of static and dynamic

In ancient Chinese bronzes, there are a number of objects that are notable for their unique shapes, and the Four Sheep Square Dignity is one of them. Its modeling to the combination of static and dynamic, in the beauty of the majestic between, can be described as ingenious.

Integral

The four shoulders, abdomen and footrim of the Zun are designed as four large horned goats, adding variety and highlighting the sense of majesty in tranquility. The corners of the square zun and the center line of each side of the center line of the huanfan are long ribbed ridges, which are used to cover the possible misalignment of the decorations when the huanfan is closed. At the same time also used to improve the corners of the monotony of the object, enhance the momentum of the modeling.

Ram's horns are pre-cast and configured in the sheep's head of the ceramic model, and then pouring the model, because of the skill, so that the whole vessel has a sense of integration.

Four Sheep Square Zun

(Shang Dynasty)

Total height 58.3 cm

Excavated in Ningxiang County, Hunan Province, in 1938

Currently in the Museum of History of China

Representative of the square zun of the Shang Dynasty

Bronze zuns, prevalent in the Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou Dynasty, were a kind of drinking utensil. This four-goat square zun is China's largest existing Shang Dynasty bronze square zun, weighing 34 kilograms, coupled with its unique shape, deserves to enter the treasure trove of cultural relics.

Note: sì yáng fāng zūn

Si yang fang zun, late Shang dynasty early bronze. It is a ceremonial vessel and a ritual object. It is the largest surviving Shang dynasty bronze square zun in China, 58.3 centimeters high, weighing nearly 34.5 kilograms, and was unearthed in 1938 on the hillside of Yue-shan-pu Turn-er-lun, Huangcun, Ningxiang County, Hunan Province. It is now in the National Museum of China in Beijing.

The Four Sheep Square Zun has a square body, a square mouth, a large rim, and a neck decorated with an outwardly flaring rim, each side of which is 52.4 centimeters in length, the length of the rim almost approaching the height of the body of 58.3 centimeters. It has a long neck and a high footrim. The neck is elevated and decorated on all four sides with banana leaf motifs, triangular kui dragons, and animal-face motifs. The middle part of the vessel is the center of gravity. The four corners of the vessel are each molded with a goat. Shoulder corners are four horned sheep head, sheep head and neck out of the vessel, sheep body and legs attached to the Zun abdomen and feet. Zun belly that is the chest of the sheep, sheep legs are attached to the foot, bear the weight of the body. Sheep forehead and neck back decorated with scale pattern, both sides decorated with beautiful long crown phoenix pattern, foot on the kui dragons pattern. Square Zun shoulder decorated with high-relief carving of the snake body and claws of the dragon, Zun four sides of the center that the two sheep adjacent to each other, a two-horned dragon head probing the surface of the vessel, from the square Zun each side of the right shoulder meandering in the front of the middle of the residence. The whole is decorated with fine thunder pattern. The corners of the vessel and the center line of the four sides of the center line of the design of the long ridge, the role of which is to cover up the possible improperly fitted decoration.

According to archaeologists analyze the four sheep square Zun is cast with two times casting technology, that is, first the horns and the dragon head single casting, and then configure the configuration of the outer model, and then the whole casting. The entire object with a block of Fan casting method, a breath of fresh air, ghostly work of art, showing a high level of casting. Four sheep square zun set line carving, relief, round carving in a device, the plane decoration and three-dimensional sculpture integration, the vessel and animal shape combined, just right, with exceptionally high casting technology made. Among the bronze square zun of the Shang Dynasty, the dignity and elegance of this vessel is unparalleled. The shape of this vessel is simple, beautiful, and majestic, with movement and stillness. It is called "the ultimate bronze model".

The Four Sheep Square Dignitaries came from Ningxiang, Hunan Province, where a large number of bronzes were unearthed from the 1930s onward, and the unearthed bronzes are known as the "Ningxiang Bronzes Group". The Four Sheep Square Zun is a representative of the "Ningxiang Bronze Group", and is also the earliest bronze vessel unearthed in Ningxiang.　Most of these bronzes have the same characteristics as those unearthed in Yinxu. Four sheep square zun from the shape and casting characteristics of archaeologists believe that is a typical Shang dynasty bronze, but the land Hunan was "barbaric service" how will be unearthed so exquisite Shang dynasty bronze? It is generally believed that the southern boundary of Shang culture to the Huaihe River basin. Some experts speculate that the Ningxiang area may be a square country of the Shang Dynasty; some people suspect that it was later brought into the Hunan region, but such claims are the lack of relevant evidence.

"Zun" is a kind of wine container. Zun is generally round, bulging belly, large mouth, but there are also a few square Zun. Four sheep square Zun is one of the examples. "Zun", often with "Yi" and called a group of bronze ritual objects, such objects are mainly popular in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the basic shape is a wide mouth, high neck, round or square belly, high foot. Late Shang Dynasty to the early Western Zhou Dynasty is the bronze Zun casting period. To four sheep square Zun style square Zun and goblet type Zun, *** with the characteristics of the table in the ware of more than decorated with raised ridges, and the whole body carved full of sophisticated and elaborate cloud thunder pattern, animal face pattern, banana leaf pattern, the whole object to give a person with a sense of majesty and heaviness.　

Sheep in ancient times means good luck. The Four Sheep Square Zun demonstrates the supreme weather in wine ritual vessels with the shape of four sheep and four dragons opposite each other.

Most of the bronzes from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties like the Four Sheep Square Zun belong to the national cultural relics and are not allowed to circulate in the market.

De like a lamb - the cultural interpretation of the Four Sheep Square Zun

Hunan unearthed in the Shang and Zhou Dynasty bronzes, the sheep as the shape of the artifacts are not only more numerous, but also nearly perfect production, the most prominent is the famous Four Sheep Square Zun. The Four Sheep Square Zun is considered one of the most outstanding works in the history of Chinese bronze casting. This object is considered to be the pinnacle of the traditional clay modeling method of casting, and at one time it was mistakenly thought that a new casting process had been adopted due to the incredible level achieved by this masterpiece.

The fact that the sheep is the subject of so much attention in bronze has a unique symbolic significance.

First of all, sheep are second only to oxen in sacrificial rituals. A large number of sacrificial pits have been found in Xiaotun, Anyang, Henan Province, where the capital of the Shang Dynasty was located, and the most numerous are oxen, sheep, and dogs; one of the materials relating to the Shang royal family's sacrifices to Wuding during the period of King Wuding mentions that "one hundred dogs and one hundred sheep were used for divination," and another mentions that "fifteen sheep" and "fifteen dogs and one hundred sheep" were used to perform rituals. Another material mentions "fifteen sheep" and "fifty sheep", which shows that the amount of sheep used as sacrificial offerings was very large.

Sheep's personality also makes it a favorite object. In the pre-Qin period, there were two summaries of the sheep's personality: goodness and courtesy; and softness and firmness. Sheep "kneeling milk" habit, was regarded as good manners, and even by later generations interpreted as a model of filial piety and respect for parents; softness and internal rigidity has also been derived from many sacred nature, the legendary ancestor of Gaotao respect sheep, the "Poetry? Zhaonan", there is also "King Wen's administration, honest and upright, moral as a lamb", an ancient Chinese one-horned monster Xiezhi is also believed to be related to sheep, can tell whether people are guilty, can distinguish right and wrong. As a result, later generations used the unicorn to represent law and justice.

The most popular or folkloric symbolism of the sheep is "good luck", and since at least the Han Dynasty, the sheep has been associated with good luck, with inscriptions such as "Yihou Wang Daji Yang (Xiang)" found on wadangs and bronze mirrors during the Han Dynasty, and "good luck" sometimes written directly as "auspicious sheep", here, sheep and auspicious is not just the word of the passive, but the sheep is endowed with all the above characteristics.

Sheep are animals with horns. Horn is a lot of people, especially the primitive people worship things, human creation of God in many with horns, such as the ancient Chinese god of war Chi You is the famous with horns of God and ancestors.

The oracle bone in the Qiang character, the character is a person wearing a ram's horn on his head, the world's primitive peoples are accustomed to see the use of sheep's horns, cattle horns, antlers as ornaments, the meaning of:

1, the earliest head wearing horns, clad in animal skins is in order to tempt the beasts of prey needs;

2, clan festivals and festivities, to participate in the dance of the head of the person wearing a two-horned or horned masquerade;

3, After the class division, tribal chiefs and dignitaries wore ram's horns, which indicated power and honor;

4. Sorcerers wore ram's horns in their ritualistic practices;

5. The gods worshipped by the clans also had horns.

Sheep in the oracle bones in about forty kinds of glyphs, glyphs the most obvious **** with the same characteristics is to highlight the double horns.

The ancients had "the essence of the water for the jade, the essence of the earth for the sheep," said the sheep is the object of various forms of artistic expression. Neolithic era, there are ceramic molded sheep, Anyang Yinxu Shang dynasty women's good tomb, Shanxi Quwo North Zhao late Western Zhou Dynasty to the early Spring and Autumn period of the Jin Hou Lady's tomb unearthed a jade sheep, the Eastern Han Dynasty, there are a hundred plays auspicious portrait of stone, Eastern Jin Dynasty porcelain in the goat-headed pots. The Qing Dynasty liked to use three sheep to form artifacts, meaning "three sheep (Yang) Kai Tai".

There are three hexagrams in Yi: 〈兑〉, 〈夬〉, 〈resoluteness〉, 〈resoluteness〉, 〈returning to the sister〉, 〈returning to the sister〉, 〈peak〉, 〈peak〉, 〈peak〉, 〈peak〉, 〈peak〉, 〈peak〉. Sheep are used as a symbol of "Yang" in the study of the Yi masters. The first month of the summer calendar for the Thai hexagram, 64 hexagrams, "Thai" belongs to the three yang, "the first month of Thai hexagram, three yang was born under the winter and spring, yin elimination of yang long, there is the image of auspicious heng"; In addition, the three yang in the hexagrams in the first nine, 92, 93 lines, the same belongs to the "yang". "Yang". Therefore, traditionally, "three Yang Kai Tai" for the beginning of the year's auspicious language, the symbolism of all things new. Sheep is also a symbol of "and" culture, the ancient legend of "bell and the jade sheep see". Because sheep and yang in the ancient sound of the same sound can be used, coupled with the image of the sheep is lovely, soft and strong, so people use "sheep" as "yang" code words and figurative symbols, folk paintings, but also use the sheep to show the "three yang kaitai", "nine sheep", "nine sheep", "nine sheep", "nine sheep", "nine sheep", "nine sheep", "nine sheep", "nine sheep", "nine sheep" and "nine sheep". "

Guangzhou, China

Guangzhou's famous legend of the five sheep is very beautiful, and it is worth noting that the story links the five sheep with the five valleys, and Pei Yuan's "Records of Guangzhou" (广州记), which says "the five sheep and the five valleys were gathered in the court of Chu," may contain some ancient cultural codes that cannot be explored today.

It is interesting to note that sheep have played a special role in many cultural contexts, and that there are both differences and similarities in the symbolism of sheep in different cultures. In the Western tradition, the horns of the goat are the "sun" and the horns of the ox are the "moon", and there is a similarity between the sun and the connection between the goat and the sun as interpreted in the ancient Chinese "Three Sheep (Yang) Kaitai". In the Mediterranean civilization, the firstborns were born in the first year of life. In the Mediterranean civilization, the first-born lamb (or St. John's lamb), was regarded as a symbol of springtime victory. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the lamb is a sacrifice, especially the "Lamb of God" including the blood of the lamb, which has the symbolic significance of salvation and exorcism, and primitive Christianity even refers to Christ as the Lamb, as John said to Jesus, "The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. John said to Jesus, "The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. In Judaism, two male goats are used as "sin offerings", which are often referred to as "scapegoats".

Hunan unearthed to the four sheep square Zun as a representative of the effort to express the sheep of the bronze, on the one hand, retained the primitive totem worship, but also has a replacement for the sheep as a sacrifice to the gods, but also contains the sheep and other livestock breeding prosperity expectations, but also may be the germ of the later generations of the sheep about the concept of all kinds of ideas. For the owner of the sheep, not a piece of artifacts can not speak, but their own and their family's hope.