A Study Of Luoyue Bronze Culture

This paper attempts to take a preliminary generalization and analysis on the existing archaeological and ethnologic data from Luoyue region and then to research on the cultural characteristics and phase, the social attribute, and connections with the adjacent bronze cultures.Firstly, this paper reviews the researches on the explanation of the Luoyue, its ethnic origin, geographical location, bronze vessels, relations of Luoyue with Xiou and other adjacent polities, it social attribute, religion and burial and other issues. Secondly, this paper try to summarize the characteristics of the Luoyue Bronze culture by typology, and analyses the collected data such as bronze vessels, pottery, jade, stoneware and burials which were unearthed in Luoyue region. Thirdly, Luoyue Bronze Age has been divided into three phases. The first phase is from Shang to Western Zhou Dynasty, the second phase in the Spring and Autumn Period, the third phase from the Warring States Period to the early Han period. Furthermore, two local culture types are divided through the characteristics of the Luoyue region bronze culture. One is Southwestern Guangxi Tye and the other is Vietnam Dong Son culture type. Finally, this paper points out the characteristics of Luoyue bronze culture. The stone models had been used in the bronze metallurgy and it showed that bronze industry has reached a certain level. Pottery evolution is from sandinclusion ware to clay ware, the ornamentations of the sandinclusion pottery evolve from cord string, basket strip, and trellisdesign to geometric impression sculpture, imprint lines, bore spine lines etc. It is the feature of existing popular pit tomb cavern burials about the burial types in Luoyue region.There are four development stages in Bronze Age:beginning phase, development phase, prosperity phase and decline phase.The beginning phase at Shang and the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Spring and Autumn Period is the development phase, it is prosperity in the Period of Warring States and earlier stage of the Western Han Dynasty, declining phase at the Period from middle and late stage of Western Han to Eastern Han Dynasty.This paper analyses the ethnic origin, social structure, social development, belief and worship in the Bronze Age according to the artifacts, burials, etc. Luoyue belong to the BaiYue ethnic groups, the social hierarchy has come forth in the Bronze Age, there may be a certain scale of religious worship ritual, its social development stage of social development probably come into the early states.LuoYue Bronze culture contacted with not only its immediate neighbors Xiou and Yunnan but also distant Central Plain and Chu region bronze cultures. The Luoyue of the Bronze Age, not only with the Central Plain, Yunnan, Chu, Wu Yue, exchanges, furtherly it maybe have a particular link with the cultures in Southeast Asia and Austronesian family on the Pacific Islands. These can be observed from the unearthed relics and tombs.