China's recorded history begins with the Shang (1766-1122 B.C.) and Chou (1122-221 B.C.) dynasties. But the fragment of pre-Shang pottery pictured on this page attests that a high level of culture had been attained long before. The rich cloy of the Yellow River basin provided the row material and from the fertile ingenuity of the Chinese people come inspiration for the first works of a great art.
Early Chinese were concerned with after-life and practiced ancestor worship. As with many other primitive peoples, the phallus, carved out of stone and etched with decorative patterns, was used as a religious symbol. Archeologists and etymologists say this led to the ideogram tsu, which means ancestor.
China's pre-dynastic peoples and their descendants had self-preservation on their minds. Bronze, in wide use long before the appearance of iron, was wrought into spearheads, axes and lances. Self-defense in a more elaborate form is seen in the dagger pictured at the bottom, probably used by a chief. If the wielder found himself outnumbered, he had only to blow a concealed whistle in the pure gold handle to call reinforcements.
As their culture advanced, Chinese developed the written word. Favored material for inscription were ox bones, deer horns and tortoise shells. Letters and records were preserved in this way. Priests mode prognostications on a basis of fire-induced crocks in the carved oracle bones from the ox.
With civilization come trade. Earlier forms of currency were sea shells, valued for their scarcity in inland Honan. Bronze coins later were found to be more practical, and were pierced so they could be tied together for portability. Jade transported from distant Sinkiang subsequently become the most precious of possessions. A single disk might be worth a couple of cities and all they contained.
As time went on, bronze passed from the utilitarian to the decorative stage. The early crude utensils become objects of art. Some urns were used in a game. Spears or lances thrown from a distance were supposed to fall into the container without toppling it.
Intricate fretwork and geometric designs brought bronze workmanship to its ornamental height. Bronze also was used in such musical instruments as ceremonial bells.
With the complications of highly organized society came ritualistic religious ceremonies involving wine. Bronze vessels were often employed, including tiger-shaped pots in which the mouth formed a spout. Slender and lovely were the tall chalices, giving promise of ceramic masterpieces yet to come.
Photos by Dowson Ouyang.
Courtesy of Academia Sinica and National Historical Museum