The Western Zhou Dynasty was the heyday of Chinese classical civilization. Its national political form and cultural system had a broad and far-reaching impact on the development of Chinese history. Therefore, many archaeological discoveries of the Zhou Dynasty became a bridge for us to appreciate the Zhou Dynasty's laws and regulations and their evolution.
The first section is an overview of bronzes of the Western Zhou Dynasty
The rule of Shang Dynasty collapsed under the impact of social contradictions and was replaced by Zhou Dynasty. The center of bronze craft also moved to Guanzhong area of Shaanxi Province, where the capital of the Western Zhou Dynasty was established. The bronze culture of the Western Zhou Dynasty developed on the basis of the bronze culture of the late Shang Dynasty. The Zhou people got the craftsmen and advanced smelting and casting technology of the Shang Dynasty, which made the bronze casting industry develop rapidly. With the consolidation of the political power and the continuous strengthening of the ritual system, the Zhou people, on the basis of inheriting the fine tradition of bronze craft of the Shang Dynasty, constantly reformed and updated the types of utensils, shapes, patterns and casting techniques, created exquisite artistic treasures, and pushed the bronze culture to its peak.
The types, shapes and patterns of the early Western Zhou Dynasty mostly follow the style of the late Shang Dynasty. This is because before the Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Shang Dynasty, although the pre Zhou culture had entered the bronze age and the casting technology reached a certain level, it was far less developed than the bronze casting industry of the Shang Dynasty. Up to now, there is no pre Zhou bronze ware with high artistic level in Zhouyuan and FengHao area.
Judging from the bronzes handed down and unearthed in the early Zhou Dynasty, the situation is more complicated. Among them, there are quite a number of Shang bronzes, some even in the middle of the Shang Dynasty. After the destruction of the Shang Dynasty, Zhou gave the slave owners of the Shang Dynasty and the slaves they owned to their nobles. Many of the merchant's treasures were also given to the slave owners of the Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, a large number of bronzes fell into the hands of the Zhou people. This is the reason why some Shang wares can still be found in the tombs of the early Zhou Dynasty. After the extermination of the Shang Dynasty, the Zhou people took over the bronze casting industry and craft slaves, and produced handicraft products for the Zhou people. For a period of time, it was still the original mode, so there were a number of bronze wares made by the Shang Dynasty. Therefore, when discussing the characteristics of bronzes in the early Zhou Dynasty, we must combine them with those with inscriptions in the early Zhou Dynasty. Some works call the artifacts with vague time boundary "the style of Yin Zhou", or set them at the end of Shang Dynasty and the beginning of Zhou Dynasty.
After nearly a hundred years of development, bronzes had reached a new stage in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty. The characteristics of the Shang Dynasty bronzes in the early period were gradually replaced by new art, which is mainly reflected in the shape design, decoration and composition of bronzes. In terms of utensils, wine vessels declined rapidly in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Jue, Gu, Chen, Gong, and Pu gradually disappeared. The variety of Zhu increased continuously. Realistic style of bird and animal bottles were very popular and lively. In the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, there were strict requirements for the combination of burial objects, especially bronzes, such as tripod and cudgel. In the aspect of decorative patterns, the decorative art of bronze ware in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty tends to be simple, simple and bright. The popular animal face pattern in the Shang Dynasty is no longer used as the theme pattern. In the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the pattern layout is mostly two-way continuous, and the whole body is rarely full of decoration. In the expression of decorative patterns, flat carving is the main method, and relief carving is less.
