Symposium on Excavated Bronzes of Late Period from Hunan

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

At the conference hall of the symposium

The topic of the symposium was “bronzes of later period in hisotry”. In this favorable academic environment, experts on bronzes from both home and abroad expressed their academic points 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. These papers fully reflected the strong academic strength and innovation of th experts. They also showcased the focuses and fruitful research results in the field of studying bronzes of late period in history. 

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 Sciences 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 Confucian temples in Ming Dynasty, holding that sacrificial utensils in Wenjing 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 experts, Wang Yifeng, researcher from Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Fu Juliang, associate researcher from Hunan Provincial Museum, Xu Yahui, assistant professor from National Taiwan University, Yuan Quan, lecturer from Capital Normal University also expressed their own opinions on certain topics.

Professor Li Ling is being interviewed by the media

Experts spoke highly of this symposium as it was the first of its kind in China. This was a big event held by Hunan Provincial Museum. In terms of the research on and application of the bronzes from late period in history in China, Hunan Provincial Museum achieved three firsts: the first symposium held on bronzes of late period in China, the first exhibition of bronzes of late period launched in China, and the first exhibition catalog of bronzes of late period from Hunan in China. 

Catalog of The Revival of Bronze Art: Excavation of Late Period from Hunan