A Study Of Ornamental Zoomorphic Images On Weapons Of Late Ba-Shu Culture

Weapons play an effective role in the late ba-shu history and culture, which have a huge number and distinctive feature among the remains of late ba-shu. Through summarizing the previous study on weapons of Ba-Shu, it is found that scholars usually focused on the shape of one category of weapons, or the symbol-ornament on weapons. To some degree, there are few study on the association of the both yet. Scholars paid little attention to distinguish the symbols and the ornaments. Meanwhile they devoted too much effect on the understanding and interpretation of tiger-image, but a large amount of images of bird and cicada have not received the scholarly attention that they deserve. Consequently, I intend to distinguish the ornamental zoomorphic images which contain tiger, bird, cicada as three main images, and some other sporadic, such as cattle, snake, lizard, from the whole Ba-Shu symbol-ornament.I will pay attention to the typology analysis on the three main images: tiger, bird and cicada, which includes generalizing the composition feature and the ornamental rule, as well as establishing their space time frame, associated with the shape of the weapons. I will summarize the combined forms of different parts, such as images for images, images for the shape of weapons, images for the space time, so that I can draw the outline of the images' changing track, and generalize the different character of production traditions between Ba and Shu(including Inner Shu) , and their interactional influence. Among these images, type A, B, Ca, Da, Ea of tiger-image,type A of bird-image and type AaI of cicada-image, appeared in the Chengdu Plain and the north around the Plain in about the early Warring State period. From the medium-term to the late Warring State period, type A and Ea of tiger-image, type A of bird-image and type Aa of cicada-image expanded to the area of xiajiang and the west around the Plain. Type Cb, Db, Dc, Dd of tiger-image appeared in the area of xiajiang about middle Warring State period, which were rare in the Chengdu Plain and the north around it. Type Cb and Db of tiger-image have expanded to the west around the Plain, since the late Warring State period. Some other images have few specimens, with scattered distribution and infirm disciplinarian. The limit between type A of bird-image and type AaI of cicada-image lead to two probable different traditions of making weapons in Inner Shu. Beside that, my study also refer to the exploration of the orgin of these images, and presume on the property of the weapons excavated from the cist-tomb and caves at Moutuo.