Periodization
Human Representation

Alain Thote, of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Paris), has published in the journal Res (#35, Spring 1999, 10-41), an article entitled Intercultural Relations as seen from Chinese Pictorial Bronzes. The first two paragraphs [here slightly adapted to the editorial conventions prevailing at this site] state the case for a striking and not previously explained transition in cultural mentality:

Chinese art of the Bronze Age (c01500-0221), at least as it is known through the innumerable vestiges excavated by archaeologists, offers a striking contrast with Western art of the same period: until the 06c [the end of the 06c; see below], representations of the human figure are very rare. Certain single-figure depictions exist as exceptions to the rule, but there is a complete absence of representations of human figures or anthropomorphic deities engaged in activities within a natural or architectural setting. The reasons for this are difficult to gauge with any certainty. . . . In a civilization as important and rich as the Chinese, this very unusual situation never ceases to astonish. In ancient Greece, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, by contrast, figural representations abound, illustrating the world of legend no less fully than human society.

From the Chinese bronze age until the 06c, there is a cruel lack of iconographic data that would permit a precise idea of costume, hairstyles, temple architecture, or domestic architecture. In fact, archaeologists have found only a few representations of the human figure, most of which are highly stylized. In the current state of scholarly knowledge, therefore, the pictorial vessels on which the human figure constitutes the main decorative element have no prototype. They make their appearance suddenly, at a date that has not yet been determined with any accuracy, but can be estimated to be about 0500. They are also innovative in another important way: by not only taking human beings as their principal subject matter, but also showing them engaged in all sorts of activities - hunting and warfare, for example - sometimes within a specific environment. This latter innovation is all the more curious given that these figural representations appear on bronze vessels, traditionally considered to be ritual objects. Previously, on such vessels, only real or imaginary animals had been depicted, either independently or, from the 08c onward, interlaced. They had always been depicted without any natural setting, without reference even to an environment, and with a certain degree of idealization.

After noting some similarities between the portrayals on two groups of Jin and Wu/Ywe vessels, the author concludes:

At the same time, our comparisons have revealed, in the details of the scenes, notable differences between the societies from which these aristocrats [the patrons of the vessels] came and which they dominated. In particular, the decoration of the incised vessels reflects the existence of a separate culture, distinct from that dominant in central China. The clearest proof of its specific character lies in the representation, alongside the civilized world, of a wild one inhabited by supernatural creatures. The culture that produced these highly unusual images is one in the process of Sinicization. We can see under our eyes the acculturation taking place in the lower Yangdz region in the 05c. Apparently, this process was far from completed at that point in history. The regional society retained pronounced local traits, while the ruling class, that is, the aristocracy of Wu and Ywe, had partly adopted the customs, rituals, and numerous other practices specific to the states of the central Chinese plain. In these images produced by the aristocracies of Jin and Wu/Ywe in two different cultural contexts, there is the presence of two milieux, one of which is on the road to Sinicization.

Such changes help to define the transition from Spring and Autumn to Warring States.

4 August 2000 / Contact The Project / Exit to Results Page