词条 | Shang dynasty |
释义 | Shang dynasty Chinese history Wade-Giles romanization Shang ![]() Musical (arts, East Asian) instruments had evidently come down from the Xia or whatever society preceded the Shang, for the early instruments of the latter were well developed and included a clay ocarina, tuned chimes of stone, and bells and drums of bronze. (Legend traces the origin of pipes of bamboo earlier, even before the mythical Xia.) The architects of the Shang period built houses of timber over rammed-earth floors, with walls of wattle and daub and roofs of thatch. Tombs were dug in clay, and their walls show traces of paintings that strongly resemble some of the ornamentation and animal shapes reflected in the outstanding bronzework of the period. The earliest bronzes of the Shang were primitive, but a course of development is evident that culminates in elegant ceremonial objects as well as a substantial range of cooking and serving dishes and various utensils and ornaments. There was a three-legged li for cooking, and upon it could be fitted a bronze zeng, a bowl with a pierced bottom to function as a steamer—together called a yan. Serving bowls were often stemmed, and pouring vessels, such as the gu, had long spouts; these and numerous other vessels were often richly decorated. Pottery objects were abundant, and Shang potters made fired-clay sectional molds for casting bronzes. They also used clay molds to imprint decorations into clay vessels—whose shapes in many cases clearly inspired designs in bronze. Some of the pottery gives evidence of possibly having been shaped on a potter's wheel. Pottery included dishes and bowls in a white glaze for ceremonial and ritual use, as well as black pottery and a rich brown glaze for more mundane purposes. Jade (Chinese jade) carving became quite advanced during the Shang dynasty; ceremonial weapons of jade were made, as well as jade fittings for actual weapons. Jade figurines included both human and animal shapes, carved in the round in careful detail. Many of these have been found in tombs of the period. Other funerary art ran a gamut in size from tiny objects of jade or carved bone and ivory (sometimes inlaid with turquoise) to chariots of lacquered wood. Larger sculptures in marble followed animal motifs. No literature as such survives from the Shang, but quite numerous records and ceremonial inscriptions and family or clan names exist, carved into or brushed onto bone or tortoise shells. Three kinds of characters were used—pictographs, ideograms, and phonograms—and these records are the earliest of writing in China. |
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