| The bronze Jue is a kind of wine vessel popular in the Xia,Shang and Zhou dynasties.It not only appeared at an early stage and gained popularity in a large region,but also the vessels unearthed and handed down exist in a large number,playing an important part in the development of bronze ritual vessels.Over the past years,the denominations,the functions,especially the functions of the pillars standing on the brim,and its relationships with the pottery Jue have been wildly discussed by the former scholars,but they have not yet reached a satisfactory consensus,which poses a handicap for the study of bronzewares and the history of the Shang and Zhou dynasties.One of the important reasons is that the materials collected are not comprehensive enough and there is no systematic collection and collation of the bronze Jue.In order to solve these problems,this paper systematically collects and collates the published materials of more than 3000 unearthed and handed down pieces.On this basis,the paper comprehensively combs and studies the bronze Jue from six aspects:the denominations and functions,types,dating,ritual vessel combinations,regional distributions,origin and decline of the bronze Jue with the methods of archaeological typology,cultural factors analysis and statistics.The introduction mainly summarizes the academic recordings and a brief research history of the bronze Jue,which can be divided into three stages:from the Song Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty,the Republic of China,and after the founding of the People's Republic of China.This paper makes a comprehensive introduction and comments on the recordings and researches of the bronze Jue inscriptions and shapes involved in each stage in the order of time.?.The denominations and functions of the bronze Jue.This chapter analyzes the denomination of Jue from the aspects of self-names,oracle bones and the evolution and usage of the word "Jue" in the inscriptions,and discusses the relationship between the traditional bronze Jue and the cup-shaped Jue represented by the Bogongfu Jue unearthed from the Western Zhou Yuntang hoard in Fufeng County.The author believes that it is reasonable to name the three-legged ones as Jue.After the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty,the three-legged Jue was replaced by the cup-shaped Jue,but the name "Jue" was retained.This paper discusses the functions of the bronze Jue from the aspects of its ritual properties,shapes,funerary bronze ritual wine vessel combinations,inscriptions and residues,and holds that Jue was mainly used as a wine injection vessel among the specialized ritual vessels,which was used for the "Guan" ceremony,pouring the sacrificial wine on the ground.It also has the function of warming and heating.A small number of lidded bronze Jue have the function of offering sacrifices,which is similar to the commonly known Gong.This paper discusses the function of bronze Jue pillars from the aspects of the emergence and position changes of the pottery Jue and the bronze Jue,referring to the position changes of the Jia pillars,and holds that the appearance of the pillars is due to the need of enhancement,which is used to strengthen the junctions of the spout and body.With the pillars gradually becoming higher and larger and caps added to them,it has a certain decorative effect.After the late Shang Dynasty,due to the thickening of the walls of the bronze Jue,there was no need to enhance the junctions.The Jue pillars began to develop from the position of the spout brim to the ear,which mainly played the role of decoration and balancing the vessel.Its function also thus changed.?.The types of the bronze Jue.Using the method of archaeological typology,this chapter mainly takes the unearthed bronze Jue as the research objects.According to the characteristics of the belly,as well as the changes of the constituent elements such as the spout,the tail,the ear,the double pillars and the three legs,the author divides the bronze Jue into two categories:the flat bottom Jue and the round bottom Jue,and each category is further divided into four types,among which the flat bottom Jue is divided into:the ones with contracted waists,the ones with folded bellies,the ones with straight bellies,and the ones with square bellies.The round bottom Jue can be divided into:the hanging belly Jue,the bulging belly Jue,the straight belly Jue and the contracted belly Jue.Thus,the bronze Jue is divided into eight types,12 subtypes and 52 small types.The shapes of each type are described,and their evolutions are also summarized and analyzed.?.The dating of bronze Jue.In this chapter,according to the overall evolution of the bronze Jue from flat bottom to round bottom and the characteristics of each stage,together with the researches of different stages of the same objects,the evolution of the bronze Jue is divided into five stages and 13 sections.This paper discusses the general characteristics of each period and its positions in the development of the bronze Jue,and divides it into five stages:the beginning stage,the development stage,the transition stage,the peak stage and the decline stage.?.The ritual vessel combinations of the bronze Jue.This chapter mainly takes the intact tombs with the bronze Jue as the research objects.According to the size of the burial rooms and the number of the bronze Gu and Jue,the tombs are divided into three grades:large,medium and small.According to the main line of five stages and 13 sections,the author investigates and combs the changes of the combinations of the bronze Jue in different periods and different grades.The levels of the usage,its status changes in the ritual vessel combinations and the reasons behind are also summarized and analyzed.?.The regional distributions and characteristics of the bronze Jue.The temporal changes of the shapes of Jue are insignificant,however there is obvious differences of the distribution centers,which highly overlaps with the political centers of various stages.As the most representative ritual vessels,its temporal and spatial distribution is closely related with the development of the Shang influence and the closeness of cultural relationships among the Shang people and the surrounding regions.Thus,the regions of the unearthed bronze Jue are divided into five areas:the Central Plain,the northern China,the region between the Bohai Sea and the Mount Tai in Shandong Province,the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River,the central Shaanxi plain and its surrounding areas.This paper analyzes the overall space-time characteristics and some representative bronze Jue unearthed in the various regions.?.The origin and decline of the bronze Jue.This chapter discusses the origin of the bronze Jue from the aspects of the origins of the bronze Jue and the pottery Jue,the relationship between the pottery Jue and the pottery Gui,and the relationship between the pottery Jue and the "primeval pottery Jue".It holds that the bronze Jue was originated from the pottery Jue,which was originated from the "primeval pottery Jue" in Longshan era.The "primeval pottery Jue" was a new kind of ritual vessel created in the middle period of Longshan Culture in Henan Province,which was based on the needs of small-scale ritual vessels for the "Guan"sacrifice and adopting the shapes of Gui and Hu.The decline of the bronze Jue is due to the background of the "restraining wine drinking and emphasizing food consuming"trend in the Zhou Dynasty,the different sacrificial ways in the Shang and Zhou dynasties,and the reform about rites system of the Zhou dynasties.The conclusion part summarizes the denominations,functions,evolution,dating,funerary bronze ritual vessel combinations,regional distributions,the origin and decline of the bronze Jue as well as the related social and historical backgrounds. |
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