Bronze Ware Seminar Held by Hunan Provincial Museum

During December 26 to 28 in 2013, the seminar on bronze ware of late period in Hunan history was by Hunan Provincial Museum in Changsha. Over 30 Experts and scholars from more than 10 institutions attended it such as Peking University, Chinese Academy of Science, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Shanghai Museum, and the Bard Graduate Center in New York.

At the beginning of the seminar, experts expressed their academic opinions on bronze ware, and presented relevant papers. Specific types of bronze ware were explored in depth through comparative and typology methods from a macroscopic view. Other papers, from a macro prospective, summarized the casting technique, social function, cultural connotation and the spread of the collections of the bronze ware as well as some problems encountered in related studies.

During the seminar, Deputy Director of Hunan Provincial Museum Li Jianmao expressed his hope that this seminar could reexamine the traditional views in this field prevailing at home, further study the bronze ware in Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and guide viewers to a higher appreciation level with a broader vision.

Professor Li Ling from Peking University stressed the significance of bronze ware study in the field of retro art. He also pointed out the existing problems, promising directions and effective methods of the study. The researcher Su Rongyu from Chinese Academy of Science stated his personal views on “retro art” and studies on utensils in Song and Yuan Dynasties. Besides, he made a good comparison among four Copper Beans (a kind of container in ancient China) in Song Dynasty, analyzing their similarity and differences. The researcher Lu Pengliang from the Bard Graduate Center mainly probed into the common bronze wares plated with gold or silver of late period in history. Ma Jinhong from Shanghai Museum demonstrated his results in the study on academies in Yuan Dynasty and sacrificial utensils in Confucious' temples in Ming Dynasty, holding that sacrificial utensils in Wen Jing academy(located in Liuyang county, Hunan province) were fine object specimens for relevant studies. Lian Meiping, also from Shanghai Museum took several bronze wares cast through dewaxing as examples, revealing some features of dewaxing casting, making comparisons among artifacts in the pre-Qin period as well as their modern manufacturing technologies. Professor He Guozhi from East China Normal University took the bronze Buddha statues of late period in history as cases, discussed the origins of Buddha and Bodhisattva, pointing out obstacles in differentiating images of the above two and the probable causes. Wang Mu, from Historical Relic Identification and Verification Institution in Zhejiang province, introduced the copper bottles with multi-layer patterns during Song and Yuan Dynasties, summarizing the similarities and differences in their patterns. Apart from those, many experts also expressed their own opinions on some certain topics.

During the seminar, the experts also visited the exhibition on the bronze ware of the late period in Hunan history, speaking highly of the pieces and design of the exhibition as well as the important role the Hunan Provincial Museum played in inhering and carrying forward Chinese bronze culture.