How inscriptions and style reflect politics: the bronzes of King Cuo.

Wu, Xiaolong

The Warring States Period (476-221 BC) forms a bridge between the archaic kingdoms of the Shang and Zhou and the highly complex Qin and Han empires. This period witnessed profound socio-political transformation, economic development and intellectual ferment. The Zhou (c. 1050-221 BC) feudal system collapsed, and the powerful Zhou court was eclipsed by numerous contending vassal states. One of these warring states, the Zhongshan, was known only in sparse historical records until the late 1970, when the excavation of the tomb of King Cuo (c. 313 BC) in present-day Hebei Province brought to light thousands of artefacts left by this enigmatic kingdom. The tomb (Figure 1) yielded several hundred bronze artefacts, including ritual vessels, utensils, horse and chariot fittings, weapons, and structural pieces of lacquer ware, screens, tents and coffins. Many of the bronzes, especially the ones with elaborate designs, have on their surface carved or cast inscriptions that record the year, workshop, overseer and artisan responsible for the manufacture of the artefact. Therefore we can put them into a chronological order, and observe the developments and changes of their styles over time.

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The artistic styles of these bronzes changed dramatically during the fourteenth year of King Cuo's reign, the year in which the state of Zhongshan achieved a great military success against a rival state, the Yan. New metallurgical technologies were used and new motifs were introduced into the iconographical vocabulary of the Zhongshan bronzes. This paper will identify these changes and discuss their significance in connection with the politics of their time.

The inscriptions on King Cuo's bronzes

The workshop inscriptions on the bronzes from the tomb specify the year of the king's reign, the workshop unit, the title and name of the overseer, and the title and name of the artisan (Figure 2). In some cases the weight of the completed artefact was also included. For instance, an inscription on a round bronze hu says "the tenth year, Youshi (workshop name), overseer Wu Qiu, artisan Zhou, weighs one shi and one hundred and forty-two dao." On ding, dou and li ritual vessels, workshop inscriptions were abbreviated and only included the workshop name and the artisan name. These inscriptions were added to bronzes for supervisory purposes in an effort to guarantee the quality of the final products (Liao Wenyuan1998: 49). Judging from the fact that writing styles of inscriptions which containing the same sefu, or overseer, but different gong, or artisans, are often very similar, the "workshop inscriptions" were probably written by overseers.

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The earliest year that appeared in these inscriptions is the seventh year (the year number in these inscriptions is considered the year number of King Cuo's reign). Only one bronze could be identified as being made during the seventh year according to its own inscriptions, a flat hu. A bronze basin and a bronze yi were made in the eighth year according to their inscriptions. The workshop in the seventh and eighth years was called Yeyun in these inscriptions. Bronzes with a tenth-year inscription include a multi-plate lamp shaped like a tree, a plate, a round box, a round hu, and a dustpan. In inscriptions of this year the workshop of Yeyun was replaced by two new workshop names, Zuoshiku and Youshiku. Two bronze artefacts were made in the eleventh year: a round hu vessel and a he vessel (Figure 3), and four were manufactured in the twelfth year: a he, a round box, a round hu and a flat hu. In the thirteenth year, a new workshop called Siku appeared in the inscriptions, and eight artefacts were made in this year (Figure 4). The fourteenth year is the last year in these workshop inscriptions. This year produced not only the largest number of bronze artefacts, but the most elaborate and luxurious examples, such as a ding and a hu with long inscriptions, a table with complicated design, four winged beasts, and three screen stands shaped like animals (Figure 5).

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Stylistic changes in the fourteenth year

By comparing bronzes made in the fourteenth year with these made before, we can see several clear changes in terms of both their style and type. One change is that ritual vessels were no longer the focus of production. Among the bronzes inscribed with a date earlier than the fourteenth year, ritual bronzes make up a major proportion, and hu vessels (e.g. Figure 3) were especially numerous. In the fourteenth year, luxury objects for daily use make up most of the bronzes with a dated inscription, such as a table with complex design and gold and silver inlay. Although the ding with iron legs and a fang hu were also made in the fourteenth year and both have long inscriptions, they could be seen as being made for political purposes rather than ritual needs, inlaid objects for secular purposes comprised most of the fourteen year bronzes.

The method of decor also changed dramatically in the fourteenth year. All bronzes inscribed with a date earlier than the fourteenth year have smooth, undecorated surfaces except for two pushou shaped as animal faces on some water and wine containers. Several new decorative technologies were first adopted by the Zhongshan workshops in the fourteenth year and changed the overall look of Zhongshan products. Gold and silver inlay were first used in this year. Inlay suddenly became the dominant decorative device for bronze artefacts, and the surface decoration of the bronzes gave up the various relief patterns and textures seen on earlier examples, and began to emphasise the contrasting colours on a smooth surface created by inlaid materials. For instance, on the surface of beasts, dragons and human figures are lines in intaglio representing skin or hair texture of these creatures; while in the case of the screen stands on Figure 5, patterns of gold and silver inlay replaced intaglio or relief lines for the representation of the fur patterns of tiger and deer.

Gold and silver inlay must have created a dazzling visual impression, and spoke out more clearly and directly of the power and sophistication of the owner than the monochrome surfaces of earlier bronzes. This new decorative device also required a change of the working process in bronze workshops. The preparation of gold foil and strips must be incorporated into the production process, and the mould for these bronzes had to be made in a different way: grooves had to be created on the surface of the bronze artefact when it was cast so that gold and silver strips could be filled in afterwards. The production process required that new knowledge had to be obtained by previous artisans or new artisans had to be brought into Zhongshan workshops.

Liang Shutai (2000) raised the possibility that the gold decoration on some Warring State Period bronzes was actually gold inlay. While restoring bronzes with gold "inlay," he found that modern inlay technique could not successfully conceal traces of the meeting points of gold wires and achieve the same smooth visual effect as the original gold decoration on these ancient bronzes. He suggested that instead of using gold wire or strip to fill up the prepared grooves, artisans of these bronzes used gold paste (gold mixed with mercury) and heated the bronzes to evaporate mercury as in the gilding process. Observations made by the author in the summer of 2002 suggest that the gold "inlay" on some of the Zhongshan bronzes, especially wide strips of gold, was actually gilded directly onto the bronzes. After the mercury-gold amalgam is applied evenly on the surface of bronzes, it is heated while being pressed against the bronze using a steel or agate tool; the mercury then evaporates and the gold stays on the surface (Jin Dayuan 1996). A silvery colour seen beneath damaged gold decoration on a Zhongshan bronze animal is probably remains of mercury resulted from this process.

The sudden adoption of these new decorative technologies is an issue worth more discussion. First of all, the absence of gold inlay before the fourteenth year could not be explained by lack of gold, because gold foil was already used in the thirteenth year to wrap bronze buttons, a traditional decorative technique called baojin, such as the example on figure 4. It seems that the Siku workshop was responsible for small objects made of gold or involving the use of gold as decoration, given that the only objects inscribed with characters Siku were three gold tubes, three bronze buttons wrapped with gold foil and a Che Hui with gold inlay. Gold foils were probably in use in the Zhongshan workshops earlier than the thirteenth year, although this year is the earliest in the inscriptions that appear on artefacts with gold decoration. When they arrive, bronzes with gold and silver inlay were made by several different artisans. It is therefore likely that the new techniques were owed to incoming metalworkers.

The State of Yan and the Zhongshan bronzes

The long inscriptions on the largest ding and a fang hu from Cuo's tomb report an event concerning the Zhongshan that has not been found in historical records. One inscription reads: "It was in the fourteenth year [of the king's reign] that King Cuo of Zhongshan commanded the Chancellor of State, Zhou, to select auspicious metals of Yan and to cast a sacrificial hu vessel" (Cook 1980: 22). According to these inscriptions, Zhongshan launched a military campaign against the Yan after the Chancellor of Yan, Zizhi, persuaded the King of Yan, Zikuai, to abdicate the throne to him. The Zhongshan were not alone. According to several different ancient historical documents, such as the Shiji and the Zhanguoce, the State of Qi invaded and devastated the Yan on the same pretext in 314 BC. According to the same records, the Qi army looted many precious state ritual objects of the Yan. It is clear that the Zhongshan had followed this example, and this also explains why the inscription on the fang hu begins with a statement that King Cuo ordered this hu cast using the auspicious metal acquired from Yan.

Two Yan bronze ritual vessels also supply evidence for the Qi invasion of Yan, and indicate the kind of bronzework that Cuo chose to emulate. One is the Chen Zhang fang hu at the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania (Figure 6a), which carries an inscription on its foot recording the abdication event of the Yan and the Qi invasion of the Yan in 314 BC. The inscription also reveals that this fang hu was looted from Yan by the Qi general Chen Zhang. Another hu vessel (Figure 6b), excavated from Xuyi, Jiangsu Province, has an inscription that reads: "obtained by Chen Zhang in the campaign punishing the Yan."

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These two hu vessels indicate the highly developed craftsmanship of inlay in the state of Yan. The interlacing angled and curved lines on the Chen Zhang fang hu form a pattern that was then inlaid with malachite. On the Xuyi hu vessel, a highly geometric design of gold and silver inlay covers its outer surface and the ring on its shoulder, which supports an outer shell formed by ninety-six serpents and five hundred and seventy-six florets (Zhongguo 1997: 42). The gold inlay pattern formed by diagonally arranged swirling lines with diminishing thickness on this hu can also be seen on the Zhongshan table frame.

There are other indications that Cuo's fourteenth year bronzes owe much to the Yan. Seventeen bronze hu were found in King Cuo's tomb. All hu vessels made before fourteenth year are round or flat, and all the three hu made in this year are fang hu; one of them is covered by a long inscription carved on its surface, and the other two were inlaid with copper, turquoise, and lacquer. Although the transcription of some characters in the fang hu inscriptions is still questionable, scholars who compiled the excavation report consider the name Bo Geng to refer to the overseer (Tomb of Cuo: 411). However, the name Bo Geng never appeared on earlier vessels. Considering the sophisticated technology and skill required to produce the inlaid fang hu, Bo Geng must had been an experienced artisan before the fourteenth year of Cuo. The absence of his name on earlier workshop inscriptions suggests that he was newly recruited from workshops elsewhere. In addition, the resemblance between the Cheng Zhang fang hu and the two Zhongshan inlaid fang hu also suggest that Bo Geng probably came from the State of Yan.

Conclusion

We can conclude that in King Cuo's fourteenth year, Zhongshan achieved important military as well as political success against the State of Yan, and may have acquired artisans from Yan. The style of bronzes made in the Zhongshan workshops changed dramatically. Gold and silver inlay, not seen on earlier Zhongshan bronzes, were adopted for the first time for personal utensils and ornaments. While the Zhongshan bronzes made before the fourteenth year were characterised by the purity of their colour and texture, and the beauty of their gently curving profiles, the fourteenth-year bronzes emphasised lavish surface decoration of contrasting colours created by gold, silver, copper, turquoise and lacquer.

The changes in the Zhongshan workshops in the fourteenth year, including the stylistic changes of bronzes and the appearance of new workshops and artisans, were probably inspired by Yan bronzes or helped by artisans who came willingly or unwillingly from the State of Yan. In the fourteenth year, when the Zhongshan king was capable of producing extravagant luxuries in his own workshops, he chose to decorate secular rather than ritual bronzes with gold and silver. He also favoured three-dimensional representations of natural and fantastic animals over other possibilities in the iconographic vocabulary of the period. This preference suggests that King Cuo of Zhongshan considered that real power and pleasure resided in possessing, displaying and viewing these beautiful secular luxuries full of vivid animal imagery, rather than ritual vessels in the Zhou tradition.

Acknowledgements

Financial support for my research project has been provided by the Metropolitan Center for Far Eastern Art Studies. My sincere thanks also go to Professor Katheryn Linduff for her encouragement and comments.

References

COOK, CONSTANCE A. 1980. Chung-shan Bronze Inscriptions: Introduction and Translation. MA thesis, University of Washington.

HEBEI PROVINCIAL INSTITUTE OF CULTURAL RELICS. 1995. Tomb of Cuo, the king of the Zhongshan State in the Warring States Period. Beijing: Wenwu Chubanshe.

JIN DAYUAN. 1996. "Woguo gudai de baojin, liujin, cuojin bi." Zhongguo qianbi 3: 64-65.

LIANG SHUTAI. 2000. Cuojinying zhiyi. Wenwu chunqiu 4: 71-72.

LIAO WENYUAN. 1998. Zhanguo zhidu tongkao. Chengdu: Bashu Shushe.

ZHONGGUO QINGTONGQI QUANJI BIANJI WEIYUAN HUI. 1997. Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji 9. Beijing: Wenwu Chubanshe.

Xiaolong Wu, Hanover College, Art and Art History Department, Hanover; Indiana 472473, USA (Email: xiaolongwu@yahoo.com)

Received: 3 January 2003; Accepted: 3 November 2003