From the mythic Xia [also spelled Hsia] to the Zhou [also spelled Chou, Shou]: 200 years of history
A first dynasty, the Xia, allegedly was established around 2200 BCE. Since no written trace has been found to confirm this, it remains in the realm of the mythic. But certain relics unearthed near Luoyang - the foundations of two palaces or temples at Erlitou, bronze knives and vases in imitation of pottery - bear witness to techniques on a more skilled level than the Neolithic. The first recorded dynasty is that of the Shang or Yin (1600-1100).
This civilization had settled in the basin of the Yellow River, where they based their power on bronze metallurgy (tin and copper were plentiful at the nearby sites of Yanshi, Erlitou and Zhengzhou). They were ruled by kings and warriors, but soothsayers apparently also played an important role, as can be deduced from thousands of oracle tablets since discovered. These tablets - bones and tortoise- shells - tended to crack when put into contact with red-hot iron, and the direction of the cracks, or the gaps between them, were subjected to interpretation for the purposes of divination. Thus, the question asked of a soothsayer and the reply given to it were both transcribed onto the support itself. These "documents" have provided invaluable data on the era, and, in particular, a list of the eleven Shang sovereigns.
The royal tombs delivered jade objects, earthenware, and even a good number of zoomorphic statuettes in white marble. But, mainly, they abounded in the bronze pieces - ritual vases, bells, cavalry accoutrement, mirrors, halberds, axes, arrowheads - that are the hallmark of this era. As objects of worship from the 10th century on, and collected and copied during the Ming Period, the vases were for a long time attributed to the Zhou Dynasty (ca. 1100-256 BCE), because it seemed inconceivable for such perfection to be the fruit of a still earlier time. Their true origin (12th and 13th centuries BCE) was not attested until research on the site of Anyang (the last Shang capital) was carried out by the Academia Sinica of Peking (Beijing) in 1928. Casting methods varied depending on the objects: arms were cast in ceramic bivalvular molds, while the ritual vases were subjected to a complicated process involving sectioned molds only to be found in China.
The vases unearthed at Anyang mark the apex of this art, which has never again been equaled, while the years have added a patina that excludes their imitation. But it is the symbolism of their designs that presents far greater interest - and mystery! - than their technique. We distinguish two styles: the surface ornamentation in one consists of animal motifs (cicadas, snakes, dragons, unicorns, etc.) applied in relief over a background of angular spirals; the other resorts to the same iconography, but linked to an abundance of geometric forms difficult for the eye to follow. In some cases, one element will stand out on its own and compose it own motifs. But the most enigmatic of all is the formal device taotieh - described by J. L. Borges as a `formal monster inspired by the demon of symmetry" - which is a sort of mask with enormous eyes, lacking a lower jaw, and whose component parts are the specific representation of something (for instance, the nose as a crayfish or a cicada; on all sides, birds and dragons confront each other). As Jacques-Edouard Berger explained, this terrifying design motif was meant to ward off bad spirits and keep them from poisoning with their miasma the food contained in the vases. The taotieh masks, depicted at times in abstract patterns and at times with frightening realism, can be found throughout Chinese art, in trinkets dating as late as the Qing Period (1644-1911). The various types of vases themselves have remained standards in Chinese art. To men- tion but a few: the ding and li, sorts of three-legged cauldrons with straight handles, which can be distinguished from each other only by the shape of their feet; the jue, wine ewers; the guang, ewers with a cover; the kouei, large offering bowls on a support, and more. Their production in jade, a material already used during the Neolithic Period, shows great mastery (although one wonders what the Shang lapidary artists used as drills). Other than a few sculptures in the round, it is mainly knives, axe blades, pendants, and animal-shaped plaques that have been found.
The Shang Dynasty was replaced by a tribe of the Shanxi Province, the Zhou, who established the longest-lasting (900 years) dynasty in the history of China, from 1100 to 256 BCE. Such a long term of power of course had its share of upheavals. In the early 8th century, the thrust of the tribes from the Northeast forced the Western Zhou, who had set up their capital near today's Xi' an, to withdraw to the Henan Province, to the site of Luoyang (Eastern Zhou). Between 770 and 473, in what is named the Spring and Autumn Period, the rivalry between the principalities born of the fiefdoms created by the Zhou led to endless infighting, ending in the creation of ever larger political units. The latter gave rise to those who would become involved in the Warring States Period (early 5th century to 221), which covered a turbulent but intellectually effervescent era. While Zhou art first derived from Shang production, it could soon boast its own trademark features. The motifs on its bronze vases gradually grew more abstract; their decoration gradually took the form of bold reliefs, often in imitation of other materials (rope, leather, fabrics). This civilization's glazed stonewares are forerunners of the first celadons. The tomb furnishings expanded to include secular pieces destined to accompany the deceased in the afterlife (notably, polychrome wood statuettes of soldiers), and many of the sites are treasure troves of ceremonial and funerary jade pieces: symbols of rank and pieces destined to protect the deceased's body, in particular the famous pi disk, symbol of heaven. And, finally, with the advent of Confucius (early 5th century BCE), a new spirit came into being, that would leave its imprint on the entire development of Chinese thought.