New Clues in the Study of the Pluralistic System of Shang Dynasty
Bronze Art: Art, Technology, Conceptions of Bronze Use, and Object
Usage Practices
Chen Fang-mei
Graduate Institute of Art History
National Taiwan University
Abstract
From the Erh-li-t’ou and Erh-li-kang periods to the early An-yang period, the
piece-mold casting process used in Yellow and Yangtze River drainage basis
diversified from one into three separate regional styles. In terms of their conception of
bronze use, the pits at San-hsing-tui reveal, in addition to casting weapons and tools, a
focus on casting possibly human (or god?) figures, images of trees, animals, and,
possibly, sacrificial altars; the site of Hsin-kan, Kiangsi emphasizes shapes of vessels
with a focus on the subjugation of man to thing; while the tomb of Fu-hao also
emphasizes vessels, but with a focus on man using things to overturn things. We
discover that, building on a common technological foundation – the use of piece-mold
casting – the three regions developed very different styles of separately casting and
joining primary and subordinate elements. These differences are based on three
fundamentally different conceptions of bronze use and on the distinct sets of demands
that these three systems of object usage practices placed on casters.
The present essay attempts to locate the technological evidence of San-hsing-tui
in Sichuan, Hsin-kan in Kiangsi, and the tomb of Fu-hao in Honan within the
development of bronze art. It also explores the possible relationship between art,
technology, concepts of resource usage, and practices of object use. The aim is to
provide a new perspective on the pluralization of bronze civilization during the Shang
period and the phenomenon and process of the subsequent unequal developments.
Key words: Conceptions of bronze use, object usage practices, pluralistic systems of
bronze art, separate establishment and competition, center and periphery