Bronze Dou (Food Container) of Qing Dynasty
Bronze Dou (Two Sets)
Qing Dynasty（1636—1912AD）
Height: 28.2cm, Diameter at Mouth: 16cm; Weight: 4.2kg
Collected from Zhuzhou, Hunan Province
Dou is a kind of food container and an important ceremonial vessel according to historical records. These two bronze Dou, both consisting of a round belly which can hold more water, a lid, a rope-like handle and an up-side-down-plate-shaped foot, are similar in shape and decorated with various patterns such as animal faces, circles, Chinese character “吉”(spelled as Ji, means auspiciousness) , etc. Near the ring foot there is a rectangle area for inscription, which shows when, where and for whom the Dou were created.
深入探索
Bronzes and Ritual System in Ancient China
In the ancient Chinese Li-yue (respectively refers to rituals and music) system, Li (rituals) is aiming at “differentiating” the high and low social status and clarifying the position, responsibilities and obligations of every one. Yue (music) is used for “seeking for harmony”, balancing the inner feelings and coordinating the interrelationship of different members and guiding them to love each other. Li plays a dominant role in the Li-yue system, while Yue is subordinate to and is dominated by Li. The actual purpose of Li and Yue is to limit and rule the behaviors of human beings who are dominated by their desires and instincts, so as to lead them to a world that is civilized, orderly and harmonious.
Bronzes in ancient China were crowned as the symbolic objects for rituals and carrier of ancient Li-yue system. According to the records of Rituals, people with different social status should use different numbers of bronzes. For example, Gongyang Zhuan of Spring and Autumn Period says that the emperor uses nine Bronze Dings (refers to a kind of ancient cooking vessel), feudal lords use seven, ministers use five and scholar-bureaucrats use three or one and common people were not allowed to use any bronzes.
Since Eastern Zhou Dynasty, some bronzes such as aroma burners, bronze mirrors, etc. with practical applications had came into being, which can be used both by nobles and common people. The bronze-focused ritual and musical system thereupon gave place to new ritual and musical system.
Bronze Dou (Food Container) with Cloud Designs
Warring States Period (475—221BC)
From the collection of Hunan Provincial Museum
Bronze Nao (bell-shaped percussion musical instrument) with Elephant Patterns
Shang Dynasty (1600—1046BC)
From the collection of Hunan Provincial Museum
