Study On Tiger Shape Decoration Of Shang Bronzes

Shang,an important part of the Bronze Age,is the main pillar of the ocean and the main peak of the majestic mountains.The dazzling early Chinese civilization of the Shang Dynasty has left valuable material and cultural relics for future generations.As a representative product of the Bronze Age,the bronze ware is a piece of exquisite artifacts that combines the brilliance and tears of the Shang Dynasty for more than 500 years,and the bronze material,shape,and decoration are all like the deeply engraved inscriptions,reproducing the thoughts and feelings of the Shang ancestors.The study of bronze ornamentation has been emphasized by scholars since the Northern Song Dynasty,and after the 1950 s,scholars in China and abroad have conducted more systematic and in-depth research on the categories,origin,connotation and function of bronze ornamentation.Bronze ornaments can be divided into flat patterns and three-dimensional ornaments according to different decorative positions;flat patterns can be divided into animal-shaped patterns,human-shaped patterns and geometric patterns according to different subjects;animal-shaped patterns can be divided into fantasy animal patterns and realistic animal patterns.In the past,scholars have paid more attention to flat patterns in the study of bronze flat patterns and three-dimensional patterns,and more attention to fantasy animal patterns such as animal faces and phoenixes in the study of animal patterns,and less attention to three-dimensional decoration and realistic animal patterns.This paper differs from the previous studies,and tries to turn to the image of the tiger,which is taken from the reality,more numerous and easily recognizable,and subdivides it into two subcategories: flat tiger motifs and three-dimensional tiger decorations,and divides the discovered Shang Dynasty bronzes with tiger-shaped decorations by region.Although tiger decoration is not used as the main bronze decoration,it appears in many regions of the country and seems to express different cultural meanings."By comparing the unique tiger-shaped elements in the bronze tiger ornaments with those in the oracle bones and Jin inscriptions,some exclusive features of the tiger motifs can be extracted,and by comparing the exclusive features of the tiger motifs with the animal face motifs in the fantasy animal motifs,it is found that the basic elements of their composition may be borrowed from the animal face motifs,according to which a number of deformed tiger motifs containing distinctive tiger-shaped elements can be identified from the animal face motifs,which can provide a basis for It is possible to identify a number of deformed tiger motifs with distinctive tiger elements from the beast-faced motifs,and to provide some reference for clarifying the distinction between beast-faced and tiger motifs and exploring the origin of beast-faced motifs.