CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

vessel. 5 The decoration consists of rows of stylized
dragon heads with angular, interlaced bodies executed
flush with the surface. Such decorations
evoke the style of the sixth century. They can be
contrasted with the more dynamic schemes
of curling relief elements seen on the hu (cat. 96)
and;ian-/ou (cat. 97). CM
1 Excavated in 1978 (C 96); reported: Hubei 1989,1:189 -193,
figs. 91, 92:1, and 2: pi. 50:1. Inscribed on the interior wall
of the vessel, on the rings of the lifting handles, and on
the bowl of the spoon: "Marquis Yi of Zeng commissioned
[this vessel]; may he possess it and use it for eternity."
2 Such vessels are identified asyu ding on their inscriptions;
twoyu ding were found in Tomb M i (mid-sixth century
BCE) at Xiasi, Xichuan, Henan province. See Henan 1991,
55-57, figs. 44-46 and pi. 23:1. A list of grave contents
inscribed on bamboo slips found in a Chu state tomb at
Baoshan near Jiangling, Hubei province (Tomb 2, late
fourth century BCE) describes the vessels as huo ding.
See Hubei 1991,1:98. For a full discussion of the nomenclature
of ding, see Yu and Gao 1978-1979.
3 For the hooks (C 155), see Hubei 1989 1:193, n 2:
§- 94-
an(^
pi. 50:1. Other hooks were found at Xinyang Changtaiguan
Tomb i (see Henan 1986, pi. 37:2), and Shanxian
Houchuanzhen (see Guo Baojun 1981, pis. 94:1-2 and
86:3). Four lifting hooks, identified as mu [?] in the lists of
the tomb's contents, were found in Baoshan Tomb 2. See
Hubei 1991,1:102, fig. 59, and 2: pi. 29:4.
4 For the ladle (C 183), see Hubei 1989,1:215-216, fig. 114:2
and 2: pis. 60:1-2. Sheng ding were used for serving rather
than cooking. For a discussion of sheng ding, see Yu and
Gao 1978 -1979.
5 Handles were often cast-on during the Shang dynasty —
legs only rarely so. See Bagley 1987, 42.
93
Bronze gui vessel with pedestal
gui: height 31.8 (12 'A), diam. at mouth 22.2 (8 3 A)
pedestal: height 10.0 (3 7 /g), width 23.2 feVa),
depth 23.0 (9)
Warring States Period (c. 433 BCE)
From Leigudun, Suixian, Hubei Province
Hubei Provincial Museum, Wuhan
Whereas ding were ritual vessels for meat and fish,
gui served as containers for serving grain. This
example 1 is one of a set of eight matching gui found
in the central chamber of the tomb next to a row
of nine sheng ding with flat bases. Starting in the
Middle Western Zhou period, gui and ding were
made in closely matched sets (probably inspired by
the already established fashion for chimes of bells);
the number in each set indicated the rank of their
owner. 2 Nine ding and eight gui are said to have
been an entitlement reserved for the Zhou ruler,
but archaeological evidence shows that by the end
of the Western Zhou period the rulers of some of
the increasingly independent states had usurped
this right. 3
The reappearance of the pedestaled gui is one
instance of a revivalism that pervaded Eastern Zhou
culture beginning in the fifth century BCE. GUI with
square pedestals had been introduced at the start
of the Western Zhou period and enjoyed intermittent
popularity during the remainder of the period;
by the Early Eastern Zhou period, however, the form
had become rare (except in the east and southeast),
and by the eighth and seventh centuries BCE, it had
gone into complete eclipse within the Chu-Zeng
sphere. Its appearance in Marquis Yi's tomb may
reflect eastern influence. A set of eight pedestaled
gui discovered in the tomb of Marquis Zhao of Cai
(r. 518-491 BCE) at Shouxian in Anhui province
suggests a roughly contemporaneous intermediary
source for the form, for the Cai state had ties to
states further east. The Cai and the Zeng vessels
share specific features — in particular, the square
opening on the pedestal and the petaled knob on
the lid; the traditional masked handles of the Cai
gui, however, are replaced in this example by ser-
279 ZENCHOU Yl TOMB AT LEICUDUN