The Competitive Feast Of Shang Dynasty:

The western scholars started to pay attention to the feast and related archaeological remains in an early time, whereas the research from the domestic academia is still in the initial stage. There is a long cultural tradition attached importance to the feast in China. In the prehistoric society and each historical period, the feast at different social levels is a common social phenomena, as well as the competitive feast being significant in the daily life of the aristocracy.Based on the archaeological data and handed down literature, this paper re-examine the casting and use of Shang bronze ritual vessels with reference of the latest research both in and abroad. It divides the use of Shang bronze ritual vessels into three kinds:sacrifice, feast and funeral. It is argued that the competitive feast in Shang society also includes sacrifice and funeral in addition to the daily feast activity. The competitive feast is a kind of means by which the aristocracy and members of nobility rope their subordinate, consolidate the union and get the privilege in order to compete for the power, as well as the measure taken by the ruling class to maintain their own rule. The appearance of the competitive feast is an outcome of the complicated process of society and a result of the increasingly fierce social competition. Meanwhile, it is an important driving force of the bronze ritual system and bronze casting industry development.Shang dynasty is the earliest country confirmed to exist so far and one of the important transition periods in Chinese history. The Religious rituals, power system, means of domination, social customs during this period inherited right from the prehistoric time and opened the door of Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang dynasties. There is an important significance that through the research into the competitive feast and the casting and use of bronze ritual vessels during this period, we come to understand the the bronze casting technology and the reason and power of the development and prosperity of bronze culture in the pre-Qin period, the uniqueness of bronze culture worldwide and to restore the social life of pre-Qin period.