An Archaeological Study On The Early Golden And Silver Wares In China

The main objects of this paper are the golden and silver wares in the early stage ofChina, namely, the golden and silver wares unearthed on the ground in China from theXia dynasty to the Han Dynasty. In this paper, the development processes of the earlygolden and silver wares were made preliminary summary and carding by observing thetypes, shapes, crafts and developmental trends in various development stages of theearly golden and silver wares.This paper consists of the following six chapters.Chapter one: Introduction. The space-time range of the study objects weredefined, the purpose and significance of this paper were elaborated. It also introducedthe history and present situation of discoveries and studies on the early golden andsilver wares in China, summarized the achievements of previous research and existingdeficiency. On the basis, the research ideas and relevant methods of this paper wereexplained in the meanwhile.Chapter two: Introduction to the crafts of the early golden and silver wares inChina. According to the different role in the process of making the golden and silverwares, the crafts fall into two types, the manufacturing crafts and decoration crafts.The manufacturing crafts were a variety of process to take shape of the golden andsilver wares. The decoration crafts were a variety of process to reinforce and ornamentthe golden and silver wares, which has had their shapes. The decoration crafts can befurther separated into two types, one is the decoration crafts of the golden and silverwares themselves, the other is the decoration crafts that the gold and silver as rawmaterials attached to other objects.Chapter three: The golden and silver wares in the Xia, Shang and Western Zhoudynasty. First, the distribution of the golden and silver wares in the Xia, Shang andWestern Zhou dynasty were presented. According to the typological analysis, thegolden and silver wares in the Xia, Shang and Western Zhou dynasty were separated into three categories, decorations for human body, decorations for artifacts andsacrificial articles. Then the whole region can be divided into three areas, North area,Central Plain area and Southwest area and the similarities and differences on the typesand functions of the golden and silver wares in each areas were discussed.Chapter four: The golden and silver wares in the Eastern Zhou dynasty. First, thedistribution of the golden and silver wares in the Eastern Zhou dynasty were presented.According to the making crafts, the golden and silver wares in this period wereseparated into three categories, pure gold and silver objects, gilt and silvering objects,inlaying gold and silver objects, and then made the typological analysis of eachcategories. Based on the differences of the types and crafts, the whole region can bedivided into four areas, North area, Central Plain area, Western area and Southwestarea and the comparative study of the golden and silver wares in each area werediscussed. What is more, it is pointed out that the craftwork of inlaying gold andsilver and rolled gold and silver had made considerable headway in the Eastern ZhouPeriod. At the same time, the pure gold articles and silverwares also produced freshtype, such as vessels and coins.Chapter five: The golden and silver wares in the Qin and Han dynasty. At first,the distribution of the golden and silver wares in the Qin and Han dynasty werepresented. Then according to the differences of making crafts, the golden and silverartifacts during this period were separated into three categories, pure gold and silver,gilted-silver, and inlaying gold. Then each kind of golden and silver wares areanalyzed from a typological point of view.Besides that, based on the disparities in thetypes and crafts, these golden and silver wares were divided into four region includingThe North Region, The Center Of China, The South Region, and The South West.By comparing with the golden and silver wares excavated from dissimilar regions, it ispointed out that the regional boundaries was not as apparent as before during Qin andHan period owing to the large scale unification of political structure. The types,shapes and crafts of the golden and silver wares tend to be uniform gradually withinthe territory of Han dynasty. However, in the aspect of workmanship, the technologyof gilted-silver got rapid development, on the contrary, the craftsmanship of inlayinggold and rolled gold had gradually declined.The silverwares had obtained aconsiderable advancement until the Eastern Han dynasty. Chapter six: The disscussion on the early golden and silver wares in China.Based on the vertical and horizontal study for the golden and silver wares in the threestages mentioned above, the chronology and regional styles of the early golden andsilver wares were established. The complicated interaction between the golden andsilver wares in each area were displayed. It is pointed out that the development of theearly golden and silver articles has experienced the initial stage, preliminarydevelopment stage, formation phase, and reached the first boom in the history of thedevelopment of the early golden and silver products until the Qin and Han dynasties.At this stage, almost all types and crafts of the later golden and silver wares had beenappeared and obtained preliminary development. The function of the golden andsilver wares also evolved more and more embody on practicality and the symbolic roleof status from the original pure decorative. It laid a solid foundation for thedevelopment of the golden and silver wares within Sui and Tang period. In the earlydevelopment process of gold and silver, the northern nomadic culture and Qincultureplays an extremely important role in promoting.Chapter seven: Conclusion. Summarized the harvest of the study, and piontedout the dificiencies and the existed limitations.