Five years in the making, Phoenix Kingdoms: The Last Splendour of China’s Bronze Age explores relics from the southern frontier of the Zhou dynasty (circa 1050-256 BC). This important project focuses on material remains of both the Zeng and Chu states to explore the significant contribution of the peoples of the middle Yangzi River region in the formation of early Chinese art.
Dr Fan J Zhang writes in the accompanying catalogue, ‘This territory along the middle Yangzi River was associated with beliefs and rituals that were considered uncultivated by the ruling Zhou elites of the Central Plains, called “southern barbarians” (nanman) in historical sources, these indigenous peoples practised shamanism, worshipped their own deities, and conducted lavish ceremonies that differed markedly from orthodox Zhou traditions. The cultures and customs of this region are best represented by archaeological finds from Zeng (circa 1040-after 400 BC) and Chu (circa 1030-223 BC), two vassal states that thrived in the area between the Yangzi and Han Rivers known today as the Jiang-Han Plain’.
Zeng and Chu States and the Dawn of the Qin Empire
Conquered by the First Emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi (259-210 BC), in a brutal country-wide unification, the Zeng and Chu states eventually became mere footnotes in the chronicle of the nation’s development, their stories buried beneath 2,000 years of imperial history. Yet as the remarkable artefacts in this exhibition attest, these southern kingdoms were in fact technologically and artistically far more advanced than scholars had assumed before the rise of modern archaeology. Their extraordinary material culture reflects a shamanistic spirituality, including belief in human-animal communication, a fascination with river and mountain deities, rituals filled with bell and drum music, and a proliferation of magical phoenix totems. Ubiquitous in the art and design of this region, the phoenix reflects an abiding interest in transcendence and immortality.
Chu culture was a rich amalgamation of these diverse cultures and groups. Over a century of archaeological investigation has yielded their influence over a large zone that includes the present-day provinces of southern Henan, Hubei, Hunan, and Anhui. Signature finds from the kingdom include lacquerware, textiles, and bronzes and the objects represent the contents of burials identified and charts the emergence of a developing Chu style.
Over 150 artworks represent these lost Bronze Age cultures, on loan from five major museums in China, and explore the artistic and spiritual landscape of the multistate Zhou dynasty, which was obliterated in 221 BC by the mighty Qin Shi Huangdi, the legendary first emperor and founder of the Qin dynasty, who unified China and commanded the creation of the ‘Terracotta Warriors’ for his burial tomb in Xian.
Archaeological Finds of Bronze Age China
The remarkable archaeological finds in this exhibition were unearthed from aristocratic tombs and help reveal the material culture of the ancient Zeng and Chu worlds, two phoenix-worshipping states that were powerful during the Zhou dynasty, thriving along the Yangzi River. Little known in the West, these lost kingdoms were significant power players before the rise of the first empire under the Qin dynasty, which ruthlessly suppressed the history and culture of subjugated states, burying scholars and burning books in an infamous spasm of violence and destruction
Through a series of galleries, the exhibits exploring Bronze Age China are arranged in six thematic displays: jades, bronze ritual vessels, musical instruments, weapons, lacquerware for luxury and ceremony, and funerary bronze and wood artefacts. Surface patterns on these objects include images of sacred birds, mythical creatures, and elaborate patterns. The oldest artwork on view is the ornament with a design of two raptors on a mask (circa 2200 BC). This Neolithic jade with intricate carving predates the Zeng and Chu kingdoms, but demonstrates how long-standing motifs, symbols, and forms – back-to-back spirit guides, powerful flying creatures, ritual face-coverings – continued to inspire artisans in the Yangzi valley heartland after more than thousand years.
Ancient Chinese Jades
Other jades in the exhibition cover a wide range of styles created during this period. The earliest jades of the Jiang-Han Plain are associated with the late stage of the Shijiahe culture (circa 2600-2000 BC), a Neolithic culture that thrived in the middle Yangzi River region. Despite the relatively small quantity that survived, these jades exerted a significant influence on later jade work in the region, especially that of Zeng and Chu cultures. In the middle of the 6th century BC, a Chu style began to emerge at Xiasi and Xujialing in southern Henan, one characterized by knobbly relief consisting of packed curls derived from dragon heads. Although similar fields of curls are known elsewhere, the writhing energy of Chu jades distinguishes them from varieties in other regions. At these Chu sites, incised designs of dissolved dragon heads with areas of cross-hatching occur on pendants and disks.
The jades from the tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng mark a further advance. In addition to tiger pendants and traditional arc-shaped huang pendants, which had been the standard component of jade pendant sets since the Shang dynasty (circa 1600-1050 BC), S-shaped pendants in the form of dragons appeared and became a popular element of pendant sets in both Chu territory and the north. The most dramatic innovations among the Marquis Yi jades are openwork linked ornaments. Along with serpents and birds, new types of dragon, with heads shown from above rather than in profile, became characteristic of Chu jades. In many cases, the animal designs echo styles current in woodcarving and lacquer painting, two art forms for which Chu artisans were renowned.
Gold in Ancient China
Another precious material, gold, seems to have been traded across long distances and highly valued, as it does not tarnish and therefore seems indestructible. Possibly influenced by local elites of the Yangzi region, Zeng lords valued gold vessels for personal use in their palaces and made sure these treasured objects accompanied them into the afterlife. Such unbelievably rare metal, in Bronze Age China, thus played a role in the development of the cult of immortality in China, and the benefits of being imperishable were likely believed to flow from the object to its owner. A gold cup in the exhibition is seen as being a treasured possession of Marquis Yi, who probably reserved it for his personal use. Given that bronze lidded cups of the time have a similar form, it appears that a new taste was emerging among some Chu aristocrats who were accustomed to more intricate surface ornamentation in ritual and everyday vessels. This piece is among the earliest gold vessels yet unearthed in China. The thick wall of the cup suggests it was made by piece-mould casting, a process very different from the forging and hammering techniques commonly used by goldsmiths in the West at that time.
Numerous highlights from later Zeng and Chu bronze-working masters include the 16 writhing ‘dragons’ resembling snakes that forms the base of a drum from the tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng (circa 433 BC). This large piece depicts a naturalistic tangle of bodies, which is indecipherable in photographs. The pleasure of discovering which tail belongs to which head is reserved for viewers able to move around the actual object and hints at the obvious delight – and the associated costliness – such an extravagant artwork would bring.
Another intriguing object is the bronze double-walled square jian-fou ‘wine cooler’ also found in the Marquis Yi’s tomb, a cleverly engineered vessel-within-a-vessel that could keep refreshments, like millet ale, cool for lavish festivities during warm months – perhaps the first metal refrigerator in recorded history. Feasting was often accompanied by entertainment.
Music in Bronze Age China
The large lacquer-on-wood painted drum with pedestal design of phoenixes on tigers’ backs (circa 300 BC) represents the Chu’s distinctive tradition of sculpture and music while alluding to their worship of mythical beasts and wild animals, as well as to the importance of rhythm (drums) and melody (bells) in rituals. Like the drum pedestal in the exhibition, it would not have been possible to be exhibit such objects without the recent scientific advances allowing archaeologists and conservators to safely excavate and preserve these fragile organic materials. The waterlogged, and therefore relatively anaerobic atmosphere of the ancient tombs means decaying bacteria or chemically reactive oxygen are sealed off from the precious silks, lacquers, and woods. While various other forces might crush or tear, new techniques mean intricately painted garments and other fragile luxury wares are now resilient enough to leave the ground and travel overseas.
Until 22 July, 2024, Bronze-Age China at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, asianart.org
