Development and Inheritance of Bronze Craft

Introduction: China is not the earliest place where bronzes appeared, but it is the most prosperous place where bronzes developed. Both the casting technology and art form of bronzes enjoy an excellent reputation in the world. Among the ancient works of art in China, only the value of bronzes has been generally recognized.

The earliest bronzes in China were mainly small objects. After the Xia Dynasty entered the Bronze Age, containers and weapons appeared. The Shang and Zhou Dynasties were the peak of the development of bronzes, with rich varieties, fine patterns and complex inscriptions.

The development of anything generally goes through three stages: early stage, middle stage and late stage, and so does bronze ware. Although we entered the bronze age as early as Xia Dynasty, Shang Dynasty was actually the heyday of the development of bronze civilization, so its position in bronze history was unique and unparalleled.

1, early Shang Dynasty

A large number of axes, saws, chisels, cones, hoes and shovels were found in the bronzes unearthed in the early Shang Dynasty, and there were also bronze weapons, but they were not the main ones, indicating that bronzes at that time were mainly production tools and were widely used in handicraft industry and agriculture.

There are no thunder patterns in the decorative patterns, mainly animal face patterns and simple geometric patterns. The lines are rough, mainly highlighting the eyes of animals, mainly flat carvings, supplemented by reliefs, and only a few inscriptions.

All these characteristics indicate that the smelting and casting technology of bronzes in the early Shang Dynasty has become more and more sophisticated, but the technology is still relatively simple. People take bronze ware as a tool and pay more attention to its practicality.

2. Mid-Shang Dynasty

Bronzes in the middle Shang Dynasty are typical between Erligang culture period and Yinxu culture period, which have some characteristics of early bronzes, but have undergone more evolution. Such as Jue, Zhang and Yi. Although the tail of the knight is highly similar to that of the previous period, there is a round knight that has not been seen before. In addition to the empty pyramid foot, the T-foot appears again, and most of the bottom will protrude downward.

Different from simple production tools, heavy and majestic bronzes began to appear in this period, such as dragon and tiger statues and animal face tattoos. The fixed format of the tripod-the symmetry of three legs and two ears also appeared at this time, but the method of hanging the core model during casting has not been completely solved, so the hollow tripod is still calculated by the abdomen of the object.

In terms of decorative patterns, there are two kinds of development, one is the improvement of animal patterns, and the other is the appearance of thunder patterns and feather patterns. For example, Bubu in Gaocheng and Daan in the Palace Museum show a very heavy and simple style in lines and lines, and also have high relief techniques in decoration. Inscriptions are still in a relatively stagnant state of development, and ethnic emblems have appeared, but there are not a large number of humanistic records.

3. Late Shang Dynasty

This period is the peak of the development of square vessels and large bronzes. The casting of wine vessels is mainly square, and rectangular trough-shaped Fang Ding has begun to appear. There are also new types of ships, such as Fang Yi, Fu, Fu, Shoulder-less Zun and Pingti Zuo.

At this time, the decorative patterns are very developed, so it can be said that the level of artistic decoration has reached a certain peak. Animals and monsters are the main bodies, such as man-eating monsters with heads and no bodies and snakes with two bodies. Began to distinguish between the main pattern and the shading, the main pattern is mostly relief, and the shading is mostly fine thunder. Decoration is not only applied to the container body, but also to some invisible places, such as the bottom of the container. The image of animal spirits is very specific and has a certain sense of reality.

Decorative patterns of bronzes are also very important in the development of bronzes. These decorative patterns not only enhance the aesthetic art of bronzes, but also reflect people's different lifestyles and ideas in different periods.

In the late Shang dynasty, the overall style of utensils was very strict, because bronzes were mainly used as ritual vessels. Inscriptions in the form of records also began to appear, and the foundry workers were very fine and rich, including family emblems, ancestor worship, rewards, conquest and other contents.

China has a large number of bronzes and a wide variety of vessels, including more than 20 kinds of wine vessels, which is very civilized. At the same time, different kinds of musical instruments have different styles, and the development of the same musical instrument in different regions is also different, which is really colorful.

Bronzes are mainly used for daily life, sacrifice, martyrdom and symbol, which can be roughly divided into several categories: food containers, wine containers, water containers, musical instruments, weapons, ritual vessels, heavy vessels and funerary vessels, and each category can be divided into several types of vessels according to its types and uses.

There are pots, pans, pans, baskets, sticks and bowls.

Wine vessels include Jue, cellar, Gou and Gou as drinking vessels, Gou as wine warmer and Gou, Gou and Gou as wine containers.

There is a cloud "eating the pith of a pot" in Mencius, which can hold both wine and water in bronzes, as well as "water jar", "bang" and "pot". "Dishes" are also used to hold or receive water. "Bowls" are similar to the pots we use now, but they can also be used to hold rice. The shape of a sword is similar to a basin, but it has many uses. It can receive water, hold water, and face each other as a mirror. Popular during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

Musical instruments include cymbals, chimes and cymbals, and the national treasure once showed Ceng Houyi's magnificent bronze chimes.

Weapons have a "graupel", which is mainly used to symbolize power and majesty. It consists of a bronze beryllium head and a handle. Beryllium head has a sharp edge and a flat stem, which has strong penetration. However, its lethality is not as good as that of Mao Ge, so it is emphasized that it is gorgeous and beautiful, and it is also used for the etiquette and decoration needs of kings.

Generally speaking, the characteristics of bronze ritual vessels are obvious, because they are mainly used for important ceremonial activities such as sacrifices, battles, banquets, funerals, etc., so they have the largest number and the most exquisite craftsmanship.

Heavy objects refer to large bronzes with inscriptions, which are used to record important events that have happened or to praise the morality of ancestors. Its style is not necessarily a bronze tripod.

As the name implies, funerary objects are funerary objects. During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, people believed in God and had another world, so slave owners and nobles attached great importance to funeral matters, that is, thick burial became a common practice. Bronze sacrificial vessels are generally Ding, Gui, Dou, Hu and Mao, and the number of bronze sacrificial vessels used by nobles of different grades has certain regulations.

The main production process of bronze ware is as follows:

1, fan casting method

Fan casting is the main method of casting bronze wares. The bronzes made by Fan Zhu method are all the same, so there are no identical works, which makes almost every bronze ware unique and unique. The technological process can be divided into five steps:

The first step is modeling, in which clay is used to shape the basic shape of bronze wares, and various needed patterns and inscriptions are carved out. The parts that need to protrude are made and pasted on the clay mold, and the parts that need to be recessed are directly carved.

The second step is to turn the model over, mix some uniform fine soil in advance, and then press it tightly on the surface of the clay mold, mainly to print the shape and style of the carved clay mold on the clay piece.

The third step is to combine the mud blocks, dry them in the shade and burn them into a ceramic mold, and then put them into the shape of the external cavity of the object, that is, the external mold. Cut off a thin layer of clay mold for the fan to rotate evenly to make it become the inner surface of the object, that is, the inner fan. The inside and outside are integrated, and the gap in the middle is the distance reserved for casting alloy.

Fourthly, pouring and melting the alloy, and injecting the alloy liquid into the prepared ceramic mold. After the alloy liquid solidifies, the internal and external ceramic molds are broken and the cast bronze ware is taken out.

The fifth step is to finish. The newly cast bronzes are very rough and need to be polished by craftsmen to become exquisite bronzes.

2, lost wax method

The lost wax method was invented in the late Spring and Autumn Period, and is usually used to cast bronzes with complex shapes. The bronze statue unearthed today is the earliest known bronze cast in this way.

The wax loss method can be divided into three steps:

The first step is plastic film, which is to make a wax mold with easily melted paraffin, and then pour fine mud into it many times to harden it into a clay mold.

The second step, the cavity is formed, and the clay sculpture is dried in the shade to make pottery. When the temperature rises, paraffin will naturally melt, so a cavity will be formed.

The third step is pouring, after melting the alloy, the alloy liquid is injected into the cavity, thus making the bronze ware.

3. Slurry pouring method, separation pouring method and overlapping pouring method

Muddy casting method refers to the method of casting objects at one time.

Separate casting method refers to the method that when the bronze model is too complicated, it is necessary to cast each part separately and finally splice it into a whole.

Stacking casting method refers to the method that multiple casting molds need to be stacked together, and alloy liquid is poured from one gate to cast multiple objects at one time. It is used in the case that multiple small objects or coins need to be cast.

Bronzes account for the highest proportion of metal cultural relics and last the longest. Many unearthed artifacts are damaged to varying degrees, so the repair and maintenance of bronzes are also very important.

There are mainly the following four aspects:

1, welding

Welding is mainly aimed at unearthed incomplete bronzes, which is a common link in traditional restoration technology. First flatten the welded joint with a hammer, and then melt and inject the metal with an electric soldering iron. It is necessary to adopt different welding methods according to its nature and damage degree, mainly "big welding" and "small welding".

2. Complement

Leak patching is an important technology to repair damaged bronzes. As the name implies, it is necessary to make corresponding supplements according to the damaged parts of the bronze ware, and then make it a complete bronze ware.

3. Plastic surgery

According to the deformation degree and texture of bronzes, different molding methods are selected, such as hammering, molding, sawing, heating and physical molding.

4, derusting

Buried bronzes have basically suffered from different degrees of corrosion, and there are two ways to remove rust from bronzes. One is that some corrosion products are not destructive, but they add artistic effects to bronzes without rust removal. The other is to destroy its artistic effect, cover its ornamentation and patterns, and need rust removal.

The concrete methods of derusting mainly include mechanical method, chemical method and electrochemical reduction method. In principle, the three methods cooperate with each other and are used appropriately.

Behind a bronze work of art that shocked the world, there is always too much wisdom of our ancestors. Even limited by the times, they can always create many works that amaze people today.