Editing Chinese art (section)

=== Bronze casting ===
{{Main|Chinese ritual bronzes}}
[[File:商 青銅方鼎-Rectangular Cauldron (Fangding) MET DP140736.jpg|thumb|left|Rectangular cauldron (fangding); 12th–11th century BC; bronze; height: 22.9 cm, width: 15.2 cm, depth: 17.8 cm; [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] (New York City)]]

[[File:Bronze Square Table Stand Decorated with Dragon-and-phoenix.jpg|thumb|left|Bronze square table supported by dragons and phoenix, [[Warring States]]]]
The [[Bronze Age]] in China began with the [[Xia dynasty]]. Examples from this period have been recovered from ruins of the [[Erlitou culture]], in Shanxi, and include complex but unadorned utilitarian objects. In the following [[Shang dynasty]] more elaborate objects, including many ritual vessels, were crafted. The Shang are remembered for their bronze casting, noted for its clarity of detail. Shang bronzesmiths usually worked in foundries outside the cities to make ritual vessels, and sometimes weapons and chariot fittings as well. The bronze vessels were receptacles for storing or serving various solids and liquids used in the performance of sacred ceremonies. Some forms such as the ''ku'' and ''jue'' can be very graceful, but the most powerful pieces are the ''[[ding (vessel)|ding]]'', sometimes described as having an "air of ferocious majesty".{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

It is typical of the developed Shang style that all available space is decorated, most often with stylized forms of real and imaginary animals. The most common motif is the ''[[taotie]]'', which shows a mythological being presented frontally as though squashed onto a horizontal plane to form a symmetrical design. The early significance of ''taotie'' is not clear, but myths about it existed around the late [[Zhou dynasty]]. It was considered to be variously a covetous man banished to guard a corner of heaven against evil monsters; or a monster equipped with only a head which tries to devour men but hurts only itself.

The function and appearance of bronzes changed gradually from the Shang to the Zhou. They shifted from being used in religious rites to more practical purposes. By the [[Warring States period]], bronze vessels had become objects of aesthetic enjoyment. Some were decorated with social scenes, such as from a banquet or hunt; whilst others displayed abstract patterns inlaid with gold, silver, or precious and semiprecious stones.

Bronze artifacts also have significant meaning and roles in the Han dynasty as well. People used them for funerary purposes which reflect the aesthetic and artistic qualities of the Han dynasty.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Zebin|first=Li|date=September 2013|title=FASHION AND RITUALS OF THE HAN DYNASTY: Cultural Relics of the Royal Houses of Jiangsu.|journal=Orientations|volume=44|pages=5–7|via=Ebscohost}}</ref> Many bronze vessels excavated from tombs in Jiangsu Province, China, have various shapes like Ding, Hu, and Xun which represent traditional Chinese aesthete.<ref name=":2" /> These vessels are classical representations of Chinese celestial art forms which play a great role in ancient Chinese's communication with spirits of their ancestors.<ref name=":2" /> Other than the vessels, bronze weapons, daily items, and musical instruments are also found in royal Han families' tomb in Jiangsu. Being able to put a full set of Bianzhong in ones tomb signifies his or her status and class in the Han dynasty since this particular type of instrument is only acquired and owned by royal and wealth families.<ref name=":2" /> Apparently, Bianzhong and music are also used as a path for the Han rulers to communication with their Gods.<ref name=":2" /> The excavation of Bianzhong, a typical and royal instrument found in ancient China, emphasizes the development of complex music systems in the Han dynasty.<ref name=":2" /> The set of Bianzhong can vary in many cases; for example, a specific excavation of Bianzhong from Jiangsu Province include different sets of bells, like Niuzhong and Yongzhong bells, and many of them appear in animal forms like the dragon, a traditional Chinese spiritual animal.<ref name=":2" />

Shang bronzes became appreciated as works of art from the [[Song dynasty]], when they were collected and prized not only for their shape and design but also for the various green, blue green, and even reddish patinas created by chemical action as they lay buried in the ground. The study of early Chinese bronze casting is a specialized field of art history.

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File:CMOC Treasures of Ancient China exhibit - black pottery goblet.jpg|[[Longshan culture|Longshan]] goblet; circa 2500–2000 BC; Excavated at [[Jiaoxian]] in [[Shandong]], 1975)
File:青铜人头像Aa.jpg|[[Sanxingdui]] bronze head, 2nd millennium BCE

File:Ⅰ号大型青铜神树.jpg|Sacred bronze tree, [[Sanxingdui]]

File:MET DP219959.jpg|Altar set; late 11th century BC; bronze; overall (table): height: 18.1&nbsp;cm (7{{fraction|1|8}} in.), width: 46.4&nbsp;cm (18{{fraction|1|4}} in.), depth: 89.9&nbsp;cm (35{{fraction|3|8}} in.); [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] (New York City, U.S.)
File:Min Er Quan Bronze Square Lei, Shang dynasty, Hunan Museum, picture2.jpg|Square ''Lei'', Shang dynasty, 2nd millennium BCE
File:Square zun with four sheep 01.jpg|Square zun with four sheep-head ornaments, Shang dynasty 
File:HouMuWuDingFullView.jpg|[[Houmuwu ding|Houmuwu ''ding'']], the largest ancient bronze ever found; 1300–1046 BCE; [[National Museum of China]].
File:Liu Ding.jpg|Ding with Taotie engravings from the late Shang, 2nd millennium BCE
File:Da He ding 1.jpg|[[Da He ding|Da He ''ding'']] ({{zhi|c=大禾方鼎|p=Dà Hé fāngdǐng}}); Shang dynasty; [[Hunan Museum]]. This ritual bronze is one of the very rare vessels that is decorated with human faces
File:Chinese ritual wine server (guang).jpg|[[Ritual wine server (guang), Indianapolis|Ritual wine server (guang)]]; 1100 BC; [[Indianapolis Museum of Art]].<ref name="IMA">{{Citation|publisher=[[Indianapolis Museum of Art]]| title =Ritual wine server (guang)|year = 2012 |url =http://www.imamuseum.org/collections/artwork/ritual-wine-server-guang| access-date = 21 May 2012}}</ref><ref name="handbook">{{cite book|last=Mino|first=Yutaka|author2=Robinson, James |title=Beauty and Tranquility: The Eil Lilly Collection of Chinese Art|publisher=[[Indianapolis Museum of Art]]|pages=100–101|location=Indianapolis|year=1983|isbn=978-0-936260-14-3}}</ref>
File:Taibao Ding.jpg|Taibao Ding from the Western Zhou, unearthed in [[Shandong]]; c. 10th century BCE
File:大盂鼎 Da Yu ding.jpg|The [[Da Yu ding]]; 1054 BC (Western Zhou); height: {{convert|101.9|cm|in|abbr=on}}, width: {{convert|77.8|cm|in|abbr=on}}; discovered in 1849, [[Mei County]], Shaanxi.
File:Da Ke ding.jpg|[[Da Ke ding|Da Ke ''ding'']]; Western Zhou dynasty; height: {{convert|93.1|cm|in|abbr=on}}, width: {{convert|75.6|cm|in|abbr=on}} (bore) & {{convert|74.9|cm|in|abbr=on}} (inside diameter); discovered in 1890, at Famen Town ([[Fufeng County]], Shaanxi); [[Shanghai Museum]]
File:Dinastia zhou occidentale, campana (lai zhong), da meixian (shaanxi), 800-700 ac ca.jpg|Bell (lai zhong); 800–700 BC (Western Zhou dynasty); 70.3 × 37 × 26.6&nbsp;cm (27{{fraction|5|8}} × 14{{fraction|9|16}} × 10{{fraction|7|16}} in.); from Meixian, Shaanxi); [[Cleveland Museum of Art]]. In ancient China music and ritual had political significance and were linked inseparably to the power of states
File:Bronze jin from Henan.jpg|A bronze stand for ceremonial vessels; excavated from the tomb of the son of [[King Zhuang of Chu]] (r. 613–591 BCE)
File:Bronze Shi (wild boar) Zun, Shang dynasty, Hunan Museum, 2018070601.jpg|[[Shi zun|Shi ''zun'']]; 1600–1046 BC; height: {{convert|40|cm|in|abbr=on}}; discovered at Chuanxingshan ([[Xiangtan County]], Hunan); Hunan Museum
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