Study On The Bronze Vessels Of Late Shang Period In Guanzhong Area

As the representative of wealth,the embodiment of technology and the carrier of ritual system,the bronze vessels can directly reflect the communication of the upper class and the change of political situation.The long-term comprehensive study of the bronze vessels during the late Shang period in Guanzhong area is of great significance to discussing the rise of the Zhou ethnic group and the revolution of the Yin and Zhou dynasties.The study in this paper is divided into four principal parts.First,the typology of the bronze vessels during the late Shang period in Guanzhong area was studied,mainly solving the stage and dating of bronze vessels.Secondly,the style of the bronze vessels during the late Shang period in Guanzhong area was studied,focusing on the shape,decoration and casting technology.This paper divides the Shang culture style,Guanzhong style,Hanzhong style and the Yangtze River style.The style change can be divided into three stages.From the late stage of Erligang period to the early stage of the second phase of Yinxu culture,the style of the bronze vessels during the late Shang period in Guanzhong area is mainly belonging to the Shang culture style.From the late stage of the second phase of Yinxu culture to the early stage of the fourth phase of Yinxu culture,the Hanzhong style and the Yangtze River style were emerging,the Guanzhong style was texploring.From the late stage of the fourth phase of Yinxu culture to the Early Western Zhou Dynasty,the Guanzhong style through the selection and integration was fixation.The Guanzhong style’s formation of bronze vessels in the turn from Shang to Zhou Dynasty was not accomplished overnight,but through continuous improvement and selection.Thirdly,the combination of bronze vessels during the late Shang period in Guanzhong area was studied.Focus on the bronze vessels’ combination in tombs,cellars and ambiguous burial units.From the second phase of Yinxu culture to the third phase of Yinxu culture,the change of bronze vessels combination of Guanzhong area’s tombs always lagged behind that of Shang culture’s tombs,while the bronze vessels combination of Guanzhong area’s tombs in the fourth phase of Yinxu culture was synchronized with that of Shang culture’s tombs of the same period.The combination of Ding and Gui appeared and was gradually Strengthened in the western part of Guanzhong area,while the core combination of Gu and Jue in the Shang culture’s tombs was gradually weakened.The phenomenon of "gradational bronze vessels" of the third phase of Yinxu culture appeared in the western part of Guanzhong area,in which the gradational Ding and gradational Gui were more common,and the gradational Lei and gradational You were also found.The combination of bronze vessels in different hierarchies of tombs during the turn from Shang to Zhou Dynasty in Guanzhong area is mainly derived from the reference and improvement of the ritual system in the Shang Dynasty.Finally,take the historical records as the clue and the stage characteristic of bronze vessels as the framework to explore the rise of the Zhou ethnic group.In the second phase of Yinxu culture and before,the Guanzhong area was dominated by Shang ethnic group.After the second phase of Yinxu culture,Shang ethnic group withdrew from the west part of Guanzhong area,and the Zhou ethnic group expanded to the northwest on a large scale,hostile with the Rong ethnic group on the Shanxi and Shaanxi Plateau,allied with Jiang Rong in the west,and maintaining contact with the Hanzhong Basin since the second phase of Yinxu culture.In the fourth phase of Yinxu culture,the Zhou ethnic group established friendly relations with Jiang Rong in the west and the southwest area,and further attacked the Rong ethnic group in the northwest,and finally defeated the Muye battle with Shang ethnic group to complete the historical mission of the revolution of Yin and Zhou.