Bronze Culture Research

In human history, several of main ancient civilized countries went through the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age in turn. China is the only country continuing civilization from ancient times to the present day. The Chinese Bronze Culture mainly refers to the material and spiritual culture created by ancient people, which has been explored and revealed by the later generation through the work of archaeology and research. The study on the bronze culture is a cultural process centering on the specific object---the bronze, of which a variety of bronze wares are terminal products. These bronze wares embody the material and spiritual factors the cultural process contains and concerns. However, what genuinely displays the splendor of the bronze culture is bronze ware's status in aristocratic life. The bronze wares were not only the embellishment of aristocrats' luxurious life, but also indication of their identity, so that they finally became the mark of the whole set of aristocratic life in politics, ethics, religion and the etiquette system, and the symbol of human civilization.People's thoughts and ideas of that period were artistically manifested through the bronze art. During the Shang and Zhou Dynasty, its subject matter mainly circled around people's belief, expectation and entrustment to ghosts and forebears, full of mystery and solemnity. With the change of social structure and ideology in the Spring and Autumn period, some artistic pictures describing daily activities in life and some vivid artistic methods of manifestation began to spring up.Research on the bronze wares covers these aspects such as shape, texture, inscription, casting technology. What seems comparatively difficult is the study of the texture because of more uncertain factors and complicated variations. Therefore, for a long time, the research on the magnificence and mystery of the texture of the bronze has not reached to a new artistic height. However, the more such kinds of difficulties exist, the more significant and interesting the research work is.This dissertation gives a systematic and comprehensive statement of the texture of the bronze wares from two dimensions: time (dynasty) as the vertical axis and region as the horizontal axis, taking the present state of the study on the texture of the bronze wares as a starting point. And a great number of valuable pictures of historic relics are attached to clearly expound the role and significance of the texture of thebronze wares in the ancient Chinese culture and in the absorption and heritage of culture, and get the readers gain a good understanding of the history through them.This dissertation is composed of three main parts. The first part covers Chapter one, in which the bronze culture and its present state are briefly introduced and the author's research orientation and scope are put forward, and also the purpose, the significance and the methods of the research are given. The second part ranges from Chapter two to Chapter six. In this core part, the author systematically illustrates the source and branches of the texture of the bronze, the prosperity and evolution of the texture of the bronze, the comparison of the textures of the bronze in different regional cultures, the cultural connotation and aesthetic features of the texture of the bronze, the analysis of the pattern etc. And some new insights and implications are obtained. The third part covers Chapter seven and Conclusion. In this part, the calligraphy art related to the inscription of the bronze wares is discussed, and at the end of this article a brief account of the core part is made and hence the conclusion is drawn.The bronze art in the Bronze Age of China is a very valuable heritage handed down by our ancestry, embodying wisdom of the working people of the ancient times. A scientific attitude and method will help us gain more knowledge about magnificence and long history of the artistic tradition of our country and encourage us to create new great arts.