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| The Bronze Tripod or Cauldron |
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The bronze ding, a cooking utensil in remote times, was used like
a cauldron for boiling fish and meat. At first, about 5,000 to 6,000
years ago, the ding was made of fired clay,usually with three legs,
occasionally with four that is why it is loosely referred to as
"tripod" in English. It stands steadily and has a nice
shape.
With the advent of the slavery system, China entered the bronze
age, and the earthern ding was gradually replaced by the bronze
one. In time, it assumed the role of an important sacrificial
vessel used by the slave-owning aristocrats at ceremonies of worship.
Leading among the bronze ding that have been discovered to date,
and by far the largest, is the "Si Mu Wu" ding which
dates to the late Shang Dynasty(c.17th to 11th Century B.C.).
Weighing 875 kilograms, it is 133 centimeters high and rectangular
in shape, standing on four legs. It was made for the King of Shang
to offer sacrifices to his dead mother Wu. Exquisitely cast, it
is considered a rare masterpiece of the bronze culture the world
over. The ding of this historical period have a unique shape and
are often decorated with patterns of animal masks and other distinctive
features characteristic of animal masks and other distinctive
features characteristic of the period. They are important material
objects for the study of the ancient society concerned.
Towards the end of the slave society, the ding became a vessel
which, by its size and numbers, indicated the power and status
of its aristocrat owner. At rites, the status of its aristocrat
owner. At rites, the emperor used a series of 9 ding, the dukes
and barons 7, senior officials 5, and scholarly gentlemen 3. From
the number of ding yielded by an ancient tomb, one can tell the
status of its dead occupant.
Today visitors to palaces, imperial gardens and temples of the
Ming and Qing courts can still see beautiful arrays of bronze
tripods which were, in their time, both decorations and status
symbols. In the periods when Buddhism was the predominant faith
in the country, the ding was also used as a religious incense-burner.
Such burners, made of bronze, iron or stone in various sizes,
can still be seen in many old temples. In Yonghegong, the famous
Beijing lamasery, there is a large bronze ding with an overall
heigh of 4.2 meters, cast with the inscription "made in the
12th year of Qianlong(1747). It was in this ding that Qing Emperors,
which they went to the temple for worship, were believed to have
offered bundles of burning joss sticks.
Bronze tripods and cauldrons have always fascinated people with
their heirachical associations and their simple but stately forms.
So there has always been a thriving craft devoted to the making
of copies or imitations of them. Normally they are miniatures
for table-top decoration often made of other materials such as
jade, agate, lacquer and so on. They represent an important branch
of Chinese arts and crafts. |
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