The Country With Ming Bronze Study

This paper focuses on chronological studies on inscribed bronze vessels of Ying Principality so as to establish a chronology of them and then to draw a genealogical chart of princes of the Ying Principality. It is divided into 5 parts as follows:Part one is an introduction of the paper, which explains why to select this topic, summarizes various viewpoints about it and defines concerned terms, scopes and purposes of this research.Part two (chapter one) is to sort these bronze vessels, centering on where, when and how they were found and collected, including their numbers, shapes, decorations and inscriptions, and on whether they are truth or not. It is concluded that these bronze vessels have three sources: unearthed from Ying Principality Cemetery and other areas,51 pieces; handed down from ancient times,20 pieces; recently bought by some organizations from markets,13 pieces, totaling 84 pieces.Part three (chapter two) is to distinguish the 4 counterfeits. The 4 counterfeits are the Yinggong sword and the Yinggong Ding with 16-character inscriptions, the Yinghou Gui in Shouyangzhai, and the Yinghoushigong Ding in Shanghai Museum.Part four (chapter three) is to determine ages of these bronze vessels through shape, decoration and calligraphic style analysis by using archaeological typological methods and further on to establish their chronology. The major conclusions are:First, among the handed-down Ying princes'bronze vessels, Yinggong Zun A is connected with King Cheng's reign of Zhou Dynasty, of which the owner should be YinggongⅠwho was the first prince of Ying Principality; Yinggong Gui A and B, Yinggong You A and B and Yinggong Ding A and B, as well as two Yinggong Ding with 16-character inscriptions are connected with King Zhao's reign, of which the owner should be YinggongⅡwhose relationship with YinggongⅠremains unascertained; and these three pieces of the Yinggong Square-Ding and Yinggong Zhi connected with King Mu's reign, of which the owner should be YinggongⅢwith a posthumous title Prince Xi, the father of Ying Cemetery M84's occupant Yinghou Cheng.Second, the dates of Ying princes'bronze vessels from Ying Cemetery mainly fall into time span from middle Western Zhou Dynasty to the beginning of Eastern Zhou Dynasty. According to inscriptions of the bronze vessels, ages of the tombs where the vessels unearthed and their occupants can be ascertained. The M84's occupant Yinghou Cheng lived from late King Mu's reign to King Yi'si(懿)reign of Zhou Dynasty. M104's and M105's occupant Yihu possibly was a marquis (Hou侯),whose living date may possibly be a little later than middle Western Zhou Dynasty and whose relationship with Yinghou Cheng remains unsettled. Most of Yinghou Shigong's bronze vessels are lost; nevertheless, it reaches a conclusion that this marquis might spend most of his life in the early period of King Li's reign, perhaps with an upper limit in King Yi's(夷)reign. M95's occupant Yinghou Wu may mostly have lived from late dates of King Li's to beginning of King Xuan's reigns; M13's occupant Yinghou Shugaofu in King Xuan's reigns; and M8's occupant Yinggong IV may mostly from late dates of King Xuan's to beginning of King Ping's reigns.Third, as to non-Princes'bronze vessels, the YingJian Yan unearthed from Jiangxi province belongs to a period of King Cheng's reign of Zhou Dynasty, i.e. the period of YinggongⅠ; the Zuobo Gui from M242 belongs to a period of King Zhao's reign, i.e. the YinggongⅡ; and the Pu He from M50 and M51 as well as the vessels of Yingshi's from M229 pertain to a period of King Mu's reign, i.e. the period of YinggongⅢ.Last, inducing features of shapes, decorations and calligraphic styles of the inscribed bronze vessels of Ying Principality, it reaches a conclusion that it was between a little later than the early period of the Western Zhou Dynasty and the late period of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Ying Principality had taken shape of its own bronze culture.The final part is a summary of this paper.