Study On Bronze Bath Fou Unearthed From Chu Tomb

The bronze bath fou,which appeared in the tombs of Chu in the middle of spring and Autumn period,prevailed from the late Spring and Autumn period to the Warring States period,and gradually declined to the late Warring States period.The bronze bath fou was widely unearthed in chu tombs in Henan and Hubei provinces,and also found in Anhui,Jiangsu,Hunan,Sichuan,Guangdong and other provinces.There are many types of bronze bath fou,from flat bottom to round foot,and the fou covers can be divided into handle fou and ring fou.The handle fou covers change from petal shape to trumpet shape,the ring fou covers change from single ring to symmetrical ring,and the ears change from ring ears to beast shaped ring ears and ring ears.This is the overall development of the evolution of the bronze bath fou unearthed in Chu tombs.According to the development of the shape evolution of the bronze bath fou,the fou can be divided into four types: flat bottom fou,false circle fou,circle fou and three feet fou.As one of the important bronze ritual vessels in chu tombs during the Spring and Autumn Period,scholars have made a lot of discussions on its name,shape,function,category,origin,shape evolution and so on.Great achievements have been made,but there are still some differences.In this paper,the fou of the bronze bath unearthed from the Chu tombs is mainly studied from the following aspects.Firstly,we discuss the name of fou,shape of fou and the age of the unearthed fou.As for the name of the fou which is used as a water boiler,the earliest fou of chu,which is named after itself,is regarded as the name of the fou.As for the style problem of the bronze bath fou,it is evident that we distinguish it from the style,style period,style area and cultural attribute of the two types of stalls.As for the age of the chu tombs of the bronze bath fou,we dated the bronze bath fou samples used in the later stages of the fou according to the archaeological reports and the typical utensils with clear age.Secondly,we made a comprehensive collection of published excavations of Chu tombs and reports,and made statistical collation of the bronze bath fou unearthed from Chu tombs,and conducted a typological study based on previous research results.According to the different bottoms of the bronze bath fou,it can be divided into four types: flat bottom fou,false circle fou,circle fou and three feet.Then it can be divided into subtypes and subtypes according to the different covers and ears of the fou.Finally,it can be divided into different types of the fou,shoulder,belly and ears.On the basis of type classification,the cultural characteristics of the bronze bath fou unearthed from the Chu tombs are comprehensively analyzed.This paper holds that the bronze bath fou unearthed from the tombs of Chu existed from the middle spring and Autumn period to the late Warring States period.There are some differences in the shape,ornamentation,tomb orientation and the combination of funerary objects in different stages of bronze bath fou.The distribution of Chu tombs with bronze bath fou were mainly concentrated in Henan and Hubei provinces.At present,the status of the tomb owners of the bronze bath fou unearthed from the Chu tombs ranges from the rank of the feudal Lord and the rank of the official to the rank of the yuan scholar and the junior scholar.At the same time,the research also shows that there are some differences in the time,region and grade of each type of the bronze bath fou.Finally,based on the archeological typology analysis of the age,grade and regional characteristics of the fou in chu tombs,this paper discusses the characteristics and reasons of the rise and decline of the fou in Chu,and shows that the rise and decline of the fou in Chu is closely related to the influence of politics,economy and culture at that time.