Art from China's Bronze Age and Cultural Innovations

Advancements in Agriculture in the Bronze Age

Wells - In ancient Mesopotamia, farmers dug wells and lowered buckets to draw water that could then be carried to fields to water crops. This allowed farmers to grow crops away from natural water sources like rivers. Canals - Canals are man-made waterways that direct water to specific locations. Farmers in early civilizations dug canals to direct water from rivers and streams to their fields. Scales - Farmers in the Indus River valley developed a tool to measure weight, which we call a balance. Knowing exactly how much items weighed made trade much easier. The Wheel - The first wheeled vehicles were invented in Mesopotamia in the early Bronze Age. Wheeled carts allowed farmers to carry large quantities of supplies to their fields and crops to markets. Wheels also helped people travel large distances faster.

What does the intricate decorating of the ritual food container tell us about Zhou culture at the time it was created and used?

Zhou culture enjoyed pretty but functional items. While art was appreciated, function was more valued.

Bronze Age

(3300 - 700 BCE) A period in Europe and Asia characterized by the use of copper to harden metals for weapons and tools. It ended when technology allowed the use of iron.

Spouted ritual wine vessel

(Guang), 13th century BCE, Shang dynasty, early Anyang period (ca. 1300- ca. 1050 BCE) Bronze; height, 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm); width, 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm); length, 13 in. (33 cm) This jug has many parts and was using several molds. This would be an examples of high-quality bronze casting that took a long time to complete. These vessels would have been used to pour wine during ceremonies for leaders of the Shang Dynasty. Decorated with animal markings like tails, wings, beaks, etc.

Covered Ritual Wine Containers

(Hu), late 9th century- early 8th century BCE. Bronze; height, 21 5/8 in. (55 cm); width 14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm)

Ritual Food Container

(dui), ca. 4th century BCE. China. Bronze inlaid with composition of bone black and lacquer; height, 5 3/8 in. (13.7 cm); diameter 8 1/4 in. (21 cm) Comes from the Zhou Dynasty. The black color comes from a lacquer the fills the indentation in the piece, which gives the design depth and contrast. During the late Zhou dynasty, bronze vessels were symbols of wealth in society. The more ornate the bronze piece, the more expensive it would be to make and buy.

What Developments Were Made by Ancient Artists and Scientists?

- Bronze - City Planning - Architecture - Agriculture - Math - Writing

Bronze zun (ritual wine vessel)

13th - 12th century BCE. Possibly from Hunan province, southern China, Shang dynasty. Bronze; height, 43.2 cm. This bronze wine jug shows a pair of rams supporting the main jar. Decorated to taotie's.

By ____________ BCE, Chinese artisans had mastered the art of smelting copper and tin to form bronze.

1500

Taotie

A design with a dragon or animal-like face common as a decorative motif in Chinese art

Pictogram

A written character that resembles the object it represents.

____________________________ are items left over from earlier civilizations that help us understand history today.

Artifacts

Writing during the Shang dynasty moved from ____________ to _____________.

Bones, Bronze

What is a common benefit of writing and the wheel?

Both made trade easier

The ____________________________ is the time period directly following the Neolithic Revolution in which people in early civilizations developed the ability to smelt metal. This led to improvements in the quality and durability of tools and weapons. Bronze items could be used many times without breaking or needing repair.

Bronze Age

Ancient Ritual Food Vessel

Bronze ding (ritual food vessel), 12th-11th century BCE, China, Shang Dynasty. Bronze; height, 20.3 cm. This container, called a ding, was cast during the Shang Dynasty, around the 12th or 11th century BCE. It would have been buried with its owner rather than used to actually serve food. Decorated with taotie's.

Two Early Forms of Writing Systems

Cuneiform - A type of writing used by the Sumerians. It is the oldest known example of written script. By 3000 BCE, the Sumer civilization had developed cuneiform. Cuneiform began as a system of pictograms. By the third millennium BCE, the Sumerians had simplified the pictorial symbols of the language, making them more abstract. Cuneiform symbols no longer resembled the physical objects they represented. Hieroglyphics - The ancient writing system that used picture like symbols to record and communicate information. During the same time period that Sumerian cuneiform became more simplified, Egyptians developed their writing system of hieroglyphics. More than 700 hieroglyphic symbols have been discovered. Most have been found on the walls of temples or in tombs. Egyptian hieroglyphics were pictures, but some also symbolized phonetic syllables of words.

How is cuneiform similar to English?

Cuneiform appears to be read horizontally rather than vertically. It seems to be arranged into horizontal rows with lines separating them. The letters also seem abstract, like English letters, rather than looking like drawings of animals of objects.

The Bronze Age marks the ______________________ of labor in society and led to __________________ in many civilizations.

Division, Urbanization

Architecture

During the Bronze Age, the scale of architecture grew as people developed tools that allowed them to make large-scale, or monumental, stone buildings with complex designs.

Agriculture

Farmers grew a surplus of food each year as the science of agriculture became more refined and more advanced farming equipment was invented.

What type of belief system do you think the ancient Chinese valued, based on the many animal inspired decorations found in their act pieces.

Given that some of these art pieces were used for rituals, the Chinese may have valued nature and animal figure in their belief system.

What are the key differences between cuneiform and hieroglyphics?

Hieroglyphics have more variety in the appearance of the characters, while cuneiform seems to just use different arrangements of wedge shapes.

The development of sanitation by ________________________ civilizations helped resolve problems caused by increases in ___________________________.

Indus Valley, Population

Advanced ____________________ techniques allowed farmers to direct water to fields that were far from rivers.

Irrigation

In 20 words or fewer, do you think there would have been a greater variety of occupations during the Stone Age or Bronze Age? Why?

More kinds of jobs would be available during the Bronze Age because metalworking requires special skills.

During the _________________________________, artists used new techniques for firing clay to create decorative pottery.

Neolithic Revolution

Writing in China first developed as a way to tell fortunes through ___________ bones. These bones were carved with questions and then cast into a fire. The cracks in the bones were interpreted to find the answer.

Oracle

____________ peoples used crude stone tools to chip away at pieces of rock to create simple figures

Paleolithic

What Are the Challenges of Running a City?

Population Growth - A city might face problems such as overcrowding, a lack of food, and the spread of disease. Sanitation - In the Indus river valley, for example, leaders addressed this issue by centrally planning cities. Leaders ordered the construction of housing in organized grids near rivers or streams. Residential areas had access to sanitation systems that directed any waste into the water beyond the cities.

How do the covered ritual wine containers illustrate the artistic values of the Zhou dynasty?

Simple and abstract. People of the Zhou dynasty preferred there art to be simple and neat.

Difference between the Stone Age and the Bronze Age

Stone Age: Wooden canoes Thatched Hut Carved Spear Bow and Arrow Flint Bronze Age: Copper Vase Metal Sword Tin Cup Nails Potter's Wheel

Bronze

The Bronze Age gets its name from the development of bronze smelting around the world. Beginning in around 3000 BCE, civilizations in Mesopotamia, Africa, and Asia developed methods for creating bronze and fashioning it into tools and art.

City Planning

The Bronze Age saw the rise of enormous cities. Leaders had to figure out new ways to house their citizens and keep waste from building up in cities.

Writing

The earliest writing systems appeared during this era, although people had been using spoken language long before then.

What were the benefits and drawbacks of growing populations in early civilizations?

The growing populations benefited early civilizations by providing larger workforces that could complete impressive projects. They caused problems, however, by creating more garbage and waste than ever before.

Why do you think the spouted ritual wine vessel was created? Refer to the object's specific characteristics to support your answer.

The spouted ritual wine vessel makes pouring wine easier with a spout

Math

There were numerous advances in mathematics during this era, like this early multiplication table. Advanced math helped architects plan better buildings. It also allowed for more complex record-keeping.

Smelting

he process by which metal is extracted when ore is heated beyond the melting point