Hello, I'm studying art in London and I'm very interested in Chinese ritual vessels. I was making a research on the vessels in the shape of animals, three animals combined in one vessel. I would really like to know where those vessels were used (what kind of temples) and for what purposes. The vessels I'm researching are from the Song Dynasty. Is there any books dealing with the subject of use of these vessels?

There are many kinds of ritual vessels in ancient China. Are you looking for those used for religious ceremony associated with Taoist, Confucian or Buddhist temple? OR are you looking for vessels used by the Imperial government for worship of heaven?

Well I'm not very familiar with the history of the use of the vessels but I started my research when I saw a bronze vessel in the shape of pig and with rabbit's head, "Zun in the Shape of Rhinoceros, ritual vessel, Song dynasty". It's a small bronze vessel with an openning on its back. I couldn't find any information what was poured inside and for what particular rituals the vessels can be used.

it could be much more easier to tell if you can upload a photo of it.

And while I don't disagree, it does beg the question...what separates 'ritual' items from every day ware. Like the china your mom only drags out for 'special' occasions.

Was it the material the item was made from that made it fit only for ritual? Like the impossibly small and unopenable torcs of the Celts. Or the terrifyingly large ear spools of the Mayans.

Was it the image being depicted? Like, would members of the Apis bull cult recoil in horror at a ceramic creamer shaped like a hurling cow? Or if our time periods were reversed, would they see it as a ritual item for pouring libations?

Just a thought. ^__^

Does your bronze look like these bronzes from the Shanghai Museum?:

Zun with Ox animal mask, late Shang Dynasty (13th - 11th century bc):



Ox shaped Zun, late Spring and Autumn Period (early 6th century - 476 bc):

If you are studying, is it through a university? If so, their library may have access to the JStor database and may be able to download files for free. Search for "bronze vessels," "Chinese bronzes," etc. There are many articles on the subject in PDF format with many pictures and scholarly descriptions.

Best,

It looks like Ox Shaped Zun on the photo. It's interesting that those photos say the exact period when the vessel was made. The one in the Burrel collection just states the period of the whole Song dynasty.
Do you know what those vessels on the photo were used for?

I’m sure that others know far more than I do, but I'll take a stab at answering your question. Also, are you sure that your bronze was made during the Song dynasty? A picture would be real helpful.

Bronzes are often described as ritual vessels and were used as containers for food and wine in ceremonies concerned with ancestors and nature worship, but what does that mean? I really didn’t find much information because there is much scholarly conjecture of what the animal designs and the zoomorphic images mean. Though they disagree on the specific meanings, there is general consensus that Shang bronzes have more symbolic meaning than Zhou bronzes, and your bronze was cast during the Spring and Autumn period and may have less symbolic meaning, though its symbolic origins may be traced to earlier bronzes. In other words, as Chinese society became decentralized and less stratified (i.e. during the Spring and Autumn periods and the Warring States period), there was less need for symbolic bronzes that served as physical representations of power, status, and the ability to maintain harmony among cosmic forces. (Li, 1980)


The tradition of the animal design on bronzes began in the Shang Dynasty. The most prevalent design is called the taotie design. Though there is much speculation over its exact significance, some scholars that it served as a link between the world of man and the world of the ancestor and the gods. As C.K. Chang, of Harvard University, said, “Divination in ancient China—that is, communication with ancestors—was made through bones of animals. Ritual bronzes were used in connection with ancestor rites and buried with dead lords who went to join their ancestors. It is then completely fitting that these objects were decorated with mythological animals, which served as agents between the world of man and the world of gods and ancestors” (529).

Now, how were these vessels used?

The analects contain apocryphal references to ritual vessels, but their exact meaning has not been agreed upon.

According to the Chu Yu section of the Kuo Yu (Narrative of the States, 4th century B.C.), the King of Chu wondered how people can ascend to Heaven (not the Christian Heaven) if Heaven was separated from Earth. Derek Bodde summarized the minister’s, Guan Shufu, response, indicating that ceremonies and sacrifices must be offered so “the spheres of the divine and the profane were kept distinct. The spirits sent down blessings on the people, and accepted from them their offerings. There were no natural calamities” (Bodde, “Myths of Ancient China”, 1969, p. 390). These sacrifices and ceremonies used ritual vessels, qi, and animal offerings, wu, to communicate between Heaven and Earth. Your vessel is both a ritual vessel and an animal, whose significance is noted in the Zuozhuan, where Ding ritual vessels were described:

“Ding tripods do not matter, virtue does. In the past when the Xia Dynasty was distinguished for its virtue, the distant regions put into pictures their distinctive wu [translated as animals], and the nine pastors sent in the metal of their provinces. The Ding tripods were cast, with representations on them of those wu. All the wu were represented, and of the preparations to be made in reference to them, so that the people might know between the helping and the harming spirits. Thus the people when they went among the rivers, marshes, hills, and forests, did not meet with the injurious things, and the hill spirits, monstrous things, and water sprites did not meet with them [to do them injury]. Hereby a harmony was secured between the high and the low, and all enjoyed the blessings of Heaven.” (based on the translation by James Legge, The Ch’un, with the Tso Chun, Vol. V fo the “Chinese Classics”)

This translation shows that animal ritual bronzes served as a symbolic link between earthly and heavenly forces, thereby legitimizing the owner of the vessel’s ability to attain balance among the cosmic order (and for the King or Emperor, keeping the Mandate of Heaven). Though compelling, this interpretation has been challenged by in Ladislav Kesner’s “Functions of the Shang Theriomorphic Imagery”, where he argues that the Shang artisans merely copied earlier jades with similar motifs and did not understand the symbolic significance, though the ruling elite later attributed significance to bind their legitimacy to rule.

Besides the taotie, Shang and Zhou bronzes included the taotie design composed of banana leaves, dragon with two tails, curling dragon, dragon, rhinoceros, water buffalo, owl, hare, cicada, silkworm, fish, turtle, bird, phoenix, elephant, deer, etc….

There are two types of animal designs: real animals, and mythical animals. These are further described by Chang in his “The Animal in Shang and Chou Bronze Art” (available on Jstor).

It was during the middle Zhou (around 900 B.C. – 600 B.C.) where the animal designs, such as the taotie, were used on zoomorphic motives, such as the water buffalo in the picture above. The bronzes around the 600 B.C. and onward had thinner walls, were less crude, and were more delicate. These bronzes retained “all the utilitarian forms of the Middle Chou [Zhou], but are covered with a wealth of ornament which almost completely disguises the vessel. The animal bands became so conventionalized that they appear as a geometric, interlace, although a recognizable head, here and there, indicates the source of the motive” (Davidson, 1938).

Of that zun from the Shanghai Museum photographed above, the Museum’s collection guide says this:

“This zun is modeled as a water buffalo. The belly of the buffalo is hollow and there are three holes along its back. Inside the middle one is a removable pot-shaped container which was used to hold wine. Hot water was poured into the hollow belly to heat the wine. Many ancient Chinese bronze vessels were modeled as animals. The nose ring shows that domesticated animals were used by this period. The piece is finely decorated in shallow relief with taotie designs formed from twisted dragons on the buffalo’s head, neck, body, and legs. There are tigers and rhinoceros around the neck of the buffalo and on the pot-shaped container” (Ma Jinhong, 2007, p. 42).
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Sources:
Chang, K.C. (Dec., 1981). “The Animal in Shang and Chou Bronze Art.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 41, No. 2, p. 527 – 554 accessed on 29/04/2008 from www.jstor.org/stable/2719054

Chen, Xiejun. (2007). Shanghai Museum. London Editions, Hong Kong.

Davidson, J. Leroy. (1938). “Some Great Chinese Bronzes.” Parnassus, Vol. 10, No. 6, p. 19 – 23 accessed on 29/04/2008 from www.jstor.org/stable/771537

Li, Chu-tsing. (1980). “The Great Bronze Age of China.” Art Journal, Vol. 40, No. ½, p. 390 – 395 accessed on 29/04/2008 from www.jstor.org/stable/776607