Some bronzes were handed down to sons and grandsons, others were buried with their owner in the tomb where contact with soil and water corroded their surfaces, creating a thick green patina. These ritual bronzes of ancient China testify to a sophisticated Bronze Age culture that flourished between two and nearly four thousand years ago.

The Chinese measure historical time by dynasties, a period in which a succession of rulers from the same family governed, sometimes for hundreds of years. The Great Bronze Age encompasses the two earliest-known dynasties in Chinese history, The Shang Dynasty (c.1700-c.1050 B.C.E.) and the Zhou Dynasty (c1050-256 B.C.E.).

Around the year 1900, farmers plowing their fields outside the city of Anyang discovered pieces of bone carved with ancient forms of Chinese characters. Digging deeper, other items were unearthed, such as bronze vessels, carved jade, and human and animal skeletons. By the late 1920's, archaeologists were systematically examining these burial sites. Both textual and archaeological evidence reveals that Bronze Age China was a time of elaborate rituals, stratified social classes, and a strong centralized government.

The Beginnings of Bronze

How did this great bronze industry begin? Clues come from the Neolithic period (c. 5000-c.2000 B.C.E.) that preceded the Shang. Neolithic potters of early China fired their ceremonial wares at high temperatures, allowing them to produce relatively strong vessels. The extremely high temperatures of the kiln were also hot enough to melt metals from stone, such as copper. For this reason, scholars believe Chinese artisans were able to develop bronze without the influence of other cultures.

The shapes of early Bronze vessels mimicked the forms previously made with clay, indicating that the object's function remained the same, only the material had changed.

This jue, or ritual tripod, was probably used for heating and serving wine. It resembles the simple and unadorned bronzes found at Erlitou, a site dated to between 1900 and 1700 B.C.E., just preceding the Shang Dynasty. It was a time when bronze casting appears to be somewhat tentative and experimental.