The content of inscriptions on Shang bronzes is also relatively simple, and generally does not contain important significance. The purpose of casting inscriptions is mainly to mark the owner's surname. The name, purpose and place of use of utensils are generally cast in inconspicuous places. For example, "Ge", "Tian" and "Yu Zi" are the clans or casters who mark the casters; "Father B" and "Mother C" are symbols made to sacrifice father B or mother C; The "bedroom bowl" is used to identify the place of storage and use. But more content is to show the surname of the ritual producer and the title of the ancestor who was the first to worship in the ancestral hall. For example: "(son) father B", "son" is the manufacturer's surname, and "father B" is the temple number of the inspected (his father). Inscriptions are cast in hidden places, such as the shadow of Wang Ni, the outer bottom of the venerable man and woman, the inner wall of the tripod and the woman, and the belly bottom of the GUI and the woman.
The inscription style of inscriptions on bronze inscriptions in the late Shang Dynasty is characterized by vigorous brushwork, sharp front and back, and obvious waves, which is called "wave style". Moreover, a long and memorable inscription began to appear during this period, and more than a dozen articles were discovered. For example, Yu Xizun, a junior minister, has a 27-word inscription at the bottom: "(Si), Wang Shengkui and Wang Yi (give) Yu Kuibei, a junior minister, but Wang Laizheng (recruit) people, but Wang Wu is five days old." This inscription tells the story of Shang Wang's visit to Quidditch on the fourth day. On the way, he rewarded Yu with Quidditch shells. "Ding Si" was probably held when (Di) conquered barbarians (barbarians) for fifteen years, so this passage should be part of the historical facts of Di (the father of Zhou)' s conquest of barbarians for fifteen years, which provided important historical materials for studying the relationship between businessmen and barbarians.
Bronze inscriptions in Shang dynasty can be roughly divided into two styles: one is plump and vigorous, the strokes are always exposed from beginning to end, and the fat pen is occasionally used. The representative works are Si Dingming and Yu Zunming, which laid the foundation for the future development trend of calligraphy. The other is vigorous brushwork, although thin, but most of the strokes are tall and graceful, and there are few fat pens, which is in sharp contrast with the first style. Calligraphy looks tall and straight, indicating that the work is guarded by the heir. The Western Zhou Dynasty was a period of great development of bronze inscriptions. Because Zhou people paid more attention to etiquette than businessmen, with the sudden increase in the number of inscriptions, the contents of inscriptions became rich and colorful. Not only the calligraphy style of inscriptions on bronze in the late Shang Dynasty has been inherited and developed, but also the nature, content, form and quantity of inscriptions on bronze have changed greatly. In a large number of bronze inscriptions, there are important materials reflecting the social politics, economy, military affairs, legal system and etiquette at that time, such as the political planning of the royal family, the deeds of kings of past dynasties, sacrificial edicts, banquets, hunting, conquest of the country, political turmoil, book awarding, slave trading, land transfer, criminal proceedings, oath contracts, family history and so on. These precious materials can prove ancient history, make up for the shortcomings of historical books, promote the development of calligraphy art, and are also of great significance to our study of ancient history and ancient sayings. One of the most prominent points is the increase of inscriptions in long books and long histories, so this period is called the long inscription period of inscriptions.
Why did the bronze inscriptions in the Zhou Dynasty change so much? This is related to the political purpose of consolidating the dominant position and strengthening the construction of etiquette system in the early Zhou Dynasty. In the final analysis, it is also the embodiment of ceremony. They praised Zude with a large number of bronze sacrificial vessels engraved with long inscriptions, carved Ji Gonglie, recorded the life given by Zhou Wang and passed it on to future generations. Among the unearthed bronzes, it is not uncommon to describe the ceremony that the nobles accepted Zhou Wang's instructions and registered their lives with long works such as He Zun and Da Zhanding. The purpose of this is to emphasize the formation of the aristocratic authority of slave owners and strengthen the patriarchal clan system. In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, most nobles made contributions to the royal family by assisting Wen and cracking down on merchants. With the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty, they were also conferred titles and became Zhou officials.
In order to have this advantage of showing their identity and status for a long time, they carved their own contributions or their ancestors' contributions to the royal family and the inscriptions given by Zhou Wang on bronze ritual vessels. In addition, the patriarchal clan system is an important part of Zhou rites and a means for Zhou people to maintain internal stability, consolidate and strengthen their rule. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, officials were all officials, and they all gained their status and privileges under the protection of their ancestors. In bronze inscriptions and sacrificial activities, they recalled the achievements of their ancestors and made sacrifices for their own honor to strengthen their position in the clan system. The Book of Rites says: "Fuding has an inscription, and the inscription is named after it. Since Ming preaches the beauty of ancestors, but later generations are also clear. "
In order to facilitate reading, inscriptions are often cast in obvious parts such as the insole of easily visible objects; There are relatively fixed sentence patterns and words, and there are quite consistent formats and writing methods; In the reading method and order of inscriptions, a reading rule from right to left or clockwise has been formed.
Judging from the style of inscriptions, the calligraphy style in the late Shang Dynasty and the early Zhou Dynasty mostly adopted "wave style": thick strokes, fat pens at intervals, and sharp edges at the beginning and end. Font structure also has its own characteristics, such as Bao, Zong, Shi and Jia's head folded obliquely on both sides, or the four strokes on the roof look like side views; The next two strokes of the word "Bei" are relatively upward or connected; The hand of the word "obstacle" is unitary, and the two vertical strokes on the unitary word cannot stand out; The two strokes on the word "Qi" are perpendicular to the strokes on both sides; The word "Yu" is generally traditional; The word "treasure" comes from "jade"; There is a heart in the middle of the word "Wen"; Wen Wang and his special words "Wen and Wu" mostly come from the side of "Wang".
Calligraphy styles in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty can be subdivided into three different styles.
The first style is gorgeous and dignified. Calligraphy is simple and quaint, majestic and tall, with a fat pen in the structure and no sharp ends. The size of the word is tailor-made for the body, which is very suitable. Represented by He Zun and Kang Hougui in the reign of king, and represented by Ding Qi and Ding Yu in the reign of Kang Wang. Da Ding Yuming has lines of *** 19 and words of 29 1. His inscriptions are massive, dignified and Zhuo Wei, and magnificent in Tong Qi. This is the highest calligraphy accomplishment in the bronze inscriptions in Cheng Kang era, and his rubbings and manuscripts are still treasured by calligraphers. It records Kang Wang's recollection that he was ordered to go to Jianbang, and the Yin people lost their country because of drinking in the ruling and opposition parties.
The second style is unrestrained. Some are slightly gorgeous and have more freedom of movement; Others are written casually and are not bound by the usual rigorous model. Human-shaped characters, such as people, clothes, weights, clothes and pages, and hieroglyphics with human shapes, all highlight their shapes with fat pens, and the wave phenomenon is also obvious, so calligraphers call it "wave body", which is developed from the calligraphy style in the late Shang Dynasty. Other characters, Yan, and Shi are also used in thick pens. In an inscription, the same words are often written in different ways, and their weight and size are deliberately changed. Typical works of this kind of inscriptions include Baoqi in the King's World, Dafang Ding in Kang Wang, Tianxia, and so on.
Compared with the first two styles, the third style is simple in quality. The font is simple and simple, the structure does not need a fat pen, and there is no or little exposure. In the early Western Zhou Dynasty, this kind of calligraphy was rare, but it was easier to be accepted by people because of its simple and convenient writing, which represented the direction of calligraphy evolution in a certain sense. The inscription on the vessel is represented by Li Chan and Tian Wuchan in the period of King Wu.
The inscriptions in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty are very different from those in the early Western Zhou Dynasty: the jade pillars with flat and cylindrical ends are popular, also known as "jade bodies". This kind of inscription has regular font, horizontal and vertical lines, stretched lines, slender and soft. Some even draw squares on the model and then fill in the text.
In the mid-Western Zhou Dynasty, bronze inscriptions developed into characters. Many stone inscriptions in the Mu Wang period still retain the phenomenon of rough brushwork from beginning to end, which is closer to "wave body". * * * The Queen completely broke away from the early rigorous style and dignified Tong Qi atmosphere, and gradually formed a soft and mellow style. From the perspective of font structure, the lower part of the word "Wang" increased in the middle and early period; "Mi" made a sharp shrug on both sides of his head with a slight radian; The horizontal lines of numbers one to four are thick before and thin after; The word "qi" is still a flat pen; The two vertical pens on the upper part of the word ""are the early heads; The two strokes below the word "Bei" are either inside or above the left and right strokes; The word "Yu" no longer has the shape of "". * * * The word "Gong" in the Wang Dynasty was separated from the oral word. In the second half of the middle period, the fat pen at the bottom of the word "Wang" is not obvious, or even absent; The prefix "meter" is round and has arc shoulders; The last two strokes of the word "Bei" are moved out, or sealed or unsealed; The two strokes on the word "Qi" are oblique kills on both sides; The two strokes on the unit word from which the word ""originated changed from the head to the eight-character, separated from the mouth word, and the mouth word became round or oblate.
The calligraphy styles of inscriptions in the mid-Western Zhou Dynasty can also be divided into three categories.
The first one has the characteristics of the early Western Zhou Dynasty, that is, the thick pen is faintly visible in the handwriting, the pen strength is stretched, and the font shelf is more natural, but the early majestic style has disappeared. The most typical inscriptions are Ding, Gui, Deng Zun, Deng Thirty and Thirty.
The second category is what calligraphers call "jade-shaped calligraphy", which is the most popular inscription calligraphy in the middle of Western Zhou Dynasty. Its style is simple and dignified, with no waves in strokes and even circles at both ends. Appeared in the * * * king period, has been used until the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period. * * * Wang Zhishi's wallboard, Yong Yu, Yi Shi Hu Pass, and small Keding are all outstanding in this kind of inscriptions. The siding is a ritual vessel of the historian Wang. The inscription is simple and elegant, the font is simple and elegant, the lines are neat and neat, and the brushwork is round and heavy. Wei Qi's inscription is flexible and appropriate, and the lines are patchy. The inscription on Dakeding is rectangular, vertically and horizontally bound, each with one word, ***28 lines and 290 words.
The third is sloppy and loosely structured. Representative works include the inscriptions of Ding Bo, Bo Gui and Cao Ding in the 15th year of Mu Wang. Cao Ding's inscription is not only scrawled in font and sparse in lines, but also has three inscriptions with less than 60 words.
In the late Western Zhou Dynasty, the inscriptions on bronze tended to be standardized, and the horizontal strokes of the word "Wang" were even. Two oblique strokes on the prefix "qi" and the writing of "?" appeared; The first line of "meter" is smooth; The lower part of the word "North" is sealed.
The calligraphy styles of bronze inscriptions in the late Western Zhou Dynasty can also be divided into three categories.
The first type has neat handwriting, convenient writing, rounded strokes and harmonious structure. This calligraphy style is the continuation and development of the second inscription style in the middle period, and it is the most mature form of Da Zhuan. The most famous inscription is "Human Hair" by Li and Zhong He. Gui is a heavy weapon of the royal family, and the inscription glyph is the standard text used by the royal family in the late Western Zhou Dynasty, which is thicker and more magnificent than the inscription of Dakeding.
The second kind of calligraphy is vigorous, well-proportioned, balanced, eager to work, and has a brand-new artistic style, which is what calligraphy lovers call essays. The inscriptions of Qin Gonggui, Qin Gong and Shi Guwen in the Spring and Autumn Period are directly related to this style of writing. Represented by the inscription on the white plate of Mickey in Wang Xuan's reign.
The third category is similar to the style of writing in the mid-Western Zhou Dynasty, and it can be concluded that it evolved from that time, when the shelf was loose and the writing was sloppy. The inscription on the representative object is 1975, the inscription "Zhegui" unearthed in Qishan, Shaanxi Province.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, due to the eastward movement of the Zhou Dynasty and the rise of the five tyrants, the centralization of the Zhou Dynasty was gradually dispersed to the hands of governors of various countries, so the inscriptions also showed obvious regionality. Generally, its content is mostly fellowship marriage and boasting about ancestors.
The literary style of the Western Qin Dynasty has a strong color, which is due to its prosperity in the hometown of Zhou people and its direct inheritance from Zhou culture. In the early Spring and Autumn Period, Qin people created a new font with both ornamental and practical value on the basis of Wang Xuan's Essays, which is characterized by its fine style and convenient writing. The typical works of this book are the inscriptions of Zong Fuding, Qin and Qin Gonggui. The Kanto countries followed the script of Da Zhuan in the late Western Zhou Dynasty, with little change.
Bronze inscriptions in southern countries are popular with a slender body different from that in the East, which was written by calligraphers at that time, not ordinary calligraphers. Some strokes pretend to be crooked and loosely written, such as bells; Some strokes are slender and casual, gradually opening the end of the grass seal, such as the inscription of Wang He and Wu; Some fonts are slender, the strokes are strong, the lines are vertical and horizontal, and they are neat and beautiful, such as Cai Houzun and Cai Houpan. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, there appeared artistic figures decorated with birds, animals and insects, the so-called Book of Birds and Insects. This writing has been popular until the early Warring States period, and it is very strange and changeable, and it is extremely difficult to distinguish and interpret. Representative works include Ding, Gou Jian, Ge and other inscriptions.
From the late Spring and Autumn Period to the early Warring States Period, a hundred schools of thought contended. At this time, the bronze inscriptions are strange and colorful, which is a grand view. Countries such as Qi, Lu, Zhongshan, Xu and Xu in the lower reaches of the Yellow River are popular for their slender bodies, simple characters, fresh and beautiful calligraphy, and their representative works include inscriptions such as Su, Zhuang Chai and Wang Sun's Clock. There is a pen like a needle, such as the inscription of Chen Manchai; There are hieroglyphs and decorative authors, such as Zhong Ming; Some of them are sharp and beautiful, inheriting the beautiful form of plain inscriptions, and absorbing the sharp characteristics of inscriptions at both ends of the hairpin, as well as the decorative arts of bird prints such as Zhongshan and Hu Mingwen. Contracts are documents and contracts used as evidence in ancient times.
April in Qiu Guan, Zhou Li: "Where contracts are written in Zong Yi, small contracts are written in Dantu." So there is the so-called "covenant of governing the people" and "covenant of governing the land". These things are all major events related to the property rights of individuals and families. The "covenant of governing the people" is related to taxation, trade and litigation. "Land management agreement" is about the use, ownership, distribution and transfer of land. Operator, section and imperial edict
Inscriptions belonging to foreign ships include bugles, festivals, biographies and imperial edicts. The tiger symbol is the token of the ancient monarch's dispatch; The Oroqen Banner Festival unearthed in Shouxian County, Anhui Province is a tax-free certificate awarded by Chu Huaiwang to Oroqen Banner for transporting goods. The imperial edict of Qin Huang is the imperial edict of unified measurement, the imperial edict of Qin Shihuang. Wu Le Gong Ming
The characteristics of bronze inscriptions in the Warring States Period, Qin and Han Dynasties are "taking things as names to test their sincerity". The inscription format of the object name includes the owner, foundry officials, engineers, craftsmen and a few places, capacities and weights of the object.