Common bronze inscriptions

Bronze inscriptions are commonly called bronze inscriptions, and they can be either cast or carved. Inscriptions are also one of the important criteria for dating bronzes. Below I have compiled common bronze inscriptions, I hope it will be helpful to you!

Bronze inscriptions in the late Shang Dynasty

The most common forms of bronze inscriptions in this period are:

< p> First, there is only the so-called clan inscription, that is, the name of the family, which is used to indicate the affiliation of the author. Some of them belong to the so-called compound clan names, that is, the author not only signs his family name, but also signs the name of the higher-level family to which his family belongs, thus showing a genealogical relationship of the clan organization. This kind of clan name is often combined with the sub-glyph, either inside or outside the sub-glyph. Current researchers have different opinions on the meaning of subglyphs.

Second, in addition to the clan name, there are also the names of the deceased ancestors of the family: (Ten stems, namely A, B, B, Ding, Wu, Ji, Xin, Ren, and Kui. followed by the personal names (ancestor, father, father, dagger, mother, etc.), or only the Japanese name and the personal name omitted, which indicates that this kind of artifact is specially used for sacrifice by the nobles of the family. A sacrificial vessel for ancestors of the Japanese name.

Three, only the name of the day is inscribed. This seems to be seen as an omission of the second form above.

Fourth, only the name of the author is inscribed. Since the personal name of the head of the family is often used as the family name, although this form of inscription may only be the personal name of the author, some individuals (such as? Zi Mou?) may also be the name of a family. Number. [2]

Since most of the inscriptions in the late Shang Dynasty fall into the above content, the number of inscriptions in this period is generally only a few words. In some bronze inscription books, such as "Three Dynasties Ji Jin Wen Cun", "Shang and Zhou Bronze Inscriptions Records" and the "Yin and Zhou Bronze Inscriptions Collection" published in recent years, the number of characters in various types of vessel inscriptions is as few as two, three, three or four. Most of them are bronze inscriptions in the late Shang Dynasty, which shows that they are quite large in number and account for a large proportion of the bronze inscriptions in the Shang and Zhou dynasties. This kind of Shang Jinwen can be said to be short in words but profound in meaning. From the above explanation of the meanings of several common forms, we can also know that they reflected important issues such as the family form, family system and religious concepts of the merchants at that time. Although many people have done research on it, there are still some profound connotations that have not been known so far, and it will still be an important topic in the study of bronze inscriptions in the future.

There are also a few bronzes of the Yin Dynasty with longer inscriptions, but they have reached the late Yin Dynasty. Among them, the inscription with the largest number of words is our Fangding inscription, which has forty-one words excluding the end of the inscription, Yaruo, which is the representative of the long inscription. There are also long inscriptions on Bi Qi's three urns now in the collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing. For example, the inscription on the four sacrificial urns has forty-two characters. The content of these longer inscriptions mostly involves important wars in the late Shang Dynasty, royal sacrificial activities, the relationship between the royal family and the nobility, etc. However, the meaning of some words in the inscriptions and the conditions of the system reflected at that time are still weak points in research so far.

The bronze inscriptions of this period have distinctive characteristics of the times. It is manifested in the following aspects: 1. The characters representing the human body, animals, plants, and utensils have a strong pictographic meaning in the glyphs. Text that takes the image of the human body, often with thick dots on the head. The legs are in a kneeling shape. This glyph does not indicate that the writing was still in its primitive stage at this time (this can be known from the contemporaneous or earlier oracle bone writing), but is just a beautification method and a solemn expression. 2: Most of the strokes are thick and vigorous, with sharp edges at the beginning and end, and many twists and turns at the turning points. Three: The size of the fonts is not uniform, and the layout of the inscriptions is also irregular. Although the vertical lines are basically in rows, the horizontal ones are not.

Since the study of the dating of Western Zhou bronzes has been conducted in depth, the appearance of Western Zhou bronze inscriptions in various stages throughout the Western Zhou Dynasty has been roughly clarified. In view of the fact that the development stages of bronze inscriptions do not seem to be completely synchronized with the staging of bronzes mainly based on shape and decoration, and at the same time, in order to have a clearer impression of the staged changes in bronze inscriptions in the Western Zhou Dynasty, the following is as follows: The development and evolution of bronzes are summarized in the order of the early, middle and late phases of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Although within a certain period of time, bronze inscriptions will have certain popular and contemporary styles. However, this does not exclude the expression of some unconventional personalities in the style of inscriptions, because the authors who wrote the inscriptions at that time may not all have the same style. Therefore, the following introduction to the characteristics of the inscriptions at each stage is only a general discussion.

The early Western Zhou Dynasty bronze inscriptions can be summarized in two stages:

The first stage is mainly the period of King Wu and King Cheng, but there are still some artifacts in the period of King Kang (approximately earlier). Ming has the characteristics of this stage. In terms of content, there are still many clan inscriptions with few words and inscriptions that are combined with the names of ancestors. Most of the bronze vessels with such inscriptions belong to the survivors of the Shang Dynasty who surrendered to the Zhou people after the fall of the Shang Dynasty. However, since this stage, there have been more long and longer inscriptions, the contents of which are related to many important historical facts of the early Western Zhou Dynasty and the official and military systems at that time. Generally speaking, the bronze inscriptions at this stage retain many of the characteristics of the late Shang Dynasty bronze inscriptions. First of all, the layout is not regular enough. It is still arranged vertically in rows but not horizontally. Font sizes are still uneven. The iconicity is quite strong. The writing style is also bolder, and the strokes are thicker and more solemn. Some strokes are thick and fat in the middle, with sharp tips at the beginning and end, and the strokes are full of twists and turns. All of these are similar to Shang Jinwen. The above characteristics can be known from the inscriptions on Li Gui of the Wu period, Baoyou and Zhou Ding of the Cheng period, and Dafang Ding of the Kang period (approximately earlier).

The second stage is the period of Kang and Zhao kings.

Most of the inscriptions in this stage are longer or longer, and their content scope is similar to the longer inscriptions in the first stage. They are also related to important historical facts such as wars, politics, and grants at that time. Clan inscriptions are rare. Different from the inscriptions in the first stage, most of the inscriptions are arranged more regularly than in the first stage, not only in vertical rows, but also in horizontal rows. However, there are still some inscriptions that show individual irregularities even though the overall order is relatively orderly because the number of words in each vertical line and the size of the characters are not consistent. There are two types of fonts for the inscriptions at this stage.

First: the strokes of the font are still thick and have obvious twists and turns, and some strokes are still thick in the middle and pointed at both ends. Such as the inscription on the large pot in the 23rd year of King Kang's reign.

Second: The font has changed from the more vigorous and bold calligraphy style in the past to a regular and restrained one. Most of the characters have even strokes, but there are still some characters with thick and fat strokes, such as the upper stroke of the word "天", the lower stroke of the character "王", the intersection of the horizontal stroke and the vertical stroke of the character "cai", etc. In addition, some characters There are still twists and turns on the right pen. This form of inscriptions roughly appeared during the Zhao Dynasty, such as the Yuzhengwei Gui and Qiyou inscriptions.

The above two fonts belong to the mainstream at this stage. However, the inscriptions at this stage also have a looser form. The number of characters in each vertical column is basically the same. However, because the characters are of different sizes, the horizontal rows are basically uneven, and the character shapes are also twists and turns, it seems that they still have the legacy of the first stage. However, the strokes are thin and mostly round.

Bronze Inscriptions of the Middle Western Zhou Dynasty

In this period of bronze inscriptions, the inscriptions recording the Zhou king's appointment ceremony in the palace began to appear and gradually became a set. Phrases such as "Prosperity for descendants and eternal treasures for thousands of years" became popular. There are only a few inscriptions in this issue with clan names at the end. The font form can be roughly divided into three stages:

The first stage is mainly the period of King Mu, and some inscriptions of the King of *** still have the characteristics of this stage. The inscriptions basically follow the small, regular and restrained fonts that appeared during the Zhao Dynasty mentioned above, and overall show a neat style. The pictographic nature of the characters has become very weak. Most of the characters that represent the human body no longer kneel down but instead extend the lower limbs downward.

The second stage was from the time of King *** to King Yi. Some of the inscriptions still retain some characteristics of the previous stage in terms of the regularity of the inscription layout and the structure of the characters, but the strokes have become consistent in thickness and have further developed towards linearization. The twists and turns and thick strokes no longer exist. This is obviously It is to make writing more convenient. The glyphs have also changed from the rigid form of the previous stage and appear looser. Inscriptions of this style can be seen in the wall inscriptions of the King of Japan. At this stage, there are some other inscriptions with a more unique style and a relatively loose layout. Although there are no twists and fat pens, the fonts are more open and thick.

From the above, it can be seen that the inscriptions in the second stage of this issue also have two styles: regular and rough, with the former being the mainstream. However, at the end of this period, when Ye Yue was King Xiao, the form of bronze inscriptions of the late Western Zhou Dynasty had appeared again.

Bronze Inscriptions of the Late Western Zhou Dynasty

This period refers to the period from King Yi to King You. There are many long inscriptions in this issue, and the content is mostly a set of imperial rituals and fortune-telling. There are also many contents about wars, land and prison litigation, etc. The longest inscription on Mao Gong's tripod appeared during the reign of King Xuan of the Western Zhou Dynasty. It is a 499-word inscription that records King Xuan's edict to Mao Gong. In addition, there are many formulaic phrases at the end of the inscriptions in this issue, and phrases such as "Ten Thousand Years Without Borders" are popular. In particular, there are many inscriptions in verse in this issue, which are also very distinctive. The layout of the inscriptions in this period is neat and standardized, with horizontal rows and vertical columns. Clear rectangular grids can be seen on a few rubbings of the inscriptions, indicating that when making the inscriptions, the method was to first draw the grids and then write according to the grids. The characteristics of the fonts in this issue are obvious: First, they are generally rectangular, with similar font sizes; second, most of the strokes are thin and uniform lines, with only a few characters, such as "天" having a horizontal line above it, and "dan" under it. One horizontal line is still written in the shape of a dot, and the character "ding" is still mostly written with a dot. This type of inscription font was formerly known as "Yuchi font". Due to the elegant fonts and neat rows, the inscriptions in this issue generally appear solemn and solemn. As mentioned above, this kind of "jade chopstick style" actually originated in the late middle period, but it became popular only in this period. For example: the inscriptions on Shi Songding from the period of King Yi, the inscriptions on Dake Ding from the period of King Yi or King Li, etc.

Bronze wares during the Spring and Autumn Period were mainly made by various vassal states and ministers and officials of various countries. Therefore, the bronze inscriptions of this period mostly reflected the social activities and regulations of the princes and officials, both in content and form. Strong regional character, thus forming an unprecedented rich and colorful situation. This situation is consistent with the political situation in which after the decline of the Zhou royal family, countries competed to develop their own power with a sense of self-reliance, and the domestic ministers, officials, and families gradually prospered. In addition, due to the above-mentioned changes in the historical background, since the early Spring and Autumn Period, the inscriptions related to court rituals and fate registration that were commonly seen in bronze inscriptions in the late Western Zhou Dynasty have no longer been seen.

Early Spring and Autumn Bronze Inscriptions

Because the early Spring and Autumn Period was close to the Western Zhou Dynasty, the bronze inscriptions of various countries during this period retained some characteristics of the late Western Zhou Dynasty bronze inscriptions to varying degrees, which are reflected in the text structure and calligraphy style. superior. Among them, the bronze inscriptions of some important vassal states are similar in shape to the bronze inscriptions of the late Western Zhou Dynasty. The characters are rectangular, dignified and solemn, and the layout is neat and standardized. Such as: Jin Jiang Ding, Qi Hou Xi Yi Yi, Lu Bo Hou Fu Pan, Zeng Hou Yan, etc.

The Jin inscriptions of the Qin State in the early Spring and Autumn Period and the white plate inscriptions of Guo Jizi in the late Western Zhou Dynasty are very similar in glyph structure and style. This can be seen from the comparison of the later Qin Gongpo inscriptions in the early Spring and Autumn Period and the white plate inscriptions of Guo Jizi unearthed in Taigong Temple, Baoji in 1978. As mentioned above, this shows that the characters of the Qin Dynasty inherited the characters of the western region in the Wangxian area in the late Western Zhou Dynasty. However, the bronze inscriptions of various countries in this period also show certain differences from the bronze inscriptions of the late Western Zhou Dynasty. The main manifestations of this are:

(1) The layout of some inscriptions is scattered, not arranged horizontally, and the glyphs are irregular and different in size. Zheng Jiangbai. This type of font may be closer to the popular secular style, or handwriting style, at that time, and the regular characters mentioned above, which are similar to the bronze inscriptions of the late Western Zhou Dynasty, must be a specially processed, more solemn regular style.

(2) Some of the Huaihe River, Han River Basin and the countries between the Han and Huaihe Rivers clearly showed different styles from those in the late Western Zhou Dynasty in the early Spring and Autumn Period. For example, Chen Boyuan's inscription and Chu Ying's inscription have characters of different sizes, many curved strokes, and a tendency to deliberately lengthen the strokes.

Blockwork Inscriptions in the Middle and Late Spring and Autumn Period

By the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period, the bronze inscriptions of various countries had formed relatively distinct characteristics of the times in form. Different geographical regions, and even different countries adjacent to the region, There is also a big difference in the bronze inscriptions between the two. However, there were many large and small countries at that time, and the bronze inscription materials available today are not enough to carry out detailed research on each country. Based only on the existing data, the following is an overview of this stage of bronze inscriptions roughly divided into four regions. These four regions are Qilu in the East, Jin in the Central Plains, and the southern states. Guanzhong (Qin).

Qi and Lu bronzes and inscriptions

This area has relatively rich data on Qi bronze inscriptions. From the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, two styles of Qi Jinwen appeared. The first style: the glyphs are long and neat, the strokes are smooth, and the vertical strokes are often long, hanging and tortuous, making it appear solemn and elegant. For example, the inscriptions on the so-called four vessels of the Marquis of Qi (ding, dun, pan, and 匜) were unearthed in Yi County. However, the font of the inscription on the Qi Hou vessel is very similar to the inscription on the Qi Hou vessel produced in Yi County.

At the same time, Qi’s bronze inscriptions had another style. The character shape is relatively square, the strokes are relaxed, and the style is relatively bold. For example, the Guochai inscription, and the inscription "Da Xie" of Huanzi Meng Jianghu that has been handed down from ancient times can also be classified into this form, but the layout is more sloppy. Although the two forms of bronze inscriptions of the Spring and Autumn Period and Qi State mentioned above are different in calligraphy, the glyph structure is consistent. This can be seen by comparing the above Qihou inscriptions, Jinbo inscriptions and Guozhao inscriptions. Of the two forms, the former is a deliberately processed artistic font, while the latter is close to the popular handwriting, or popular font.

The State of Lu is adjacent to the State of Qi. However, the bronze inscriptions of the State of Lu in the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period rarely have the slender, neat and multi-pendled fonts of Qi's inscriptions. Most of the inscriptions on the vessels still have more calligraphy. The style of bronze inscriptions of the late Western Zhou Dynasty is retained, which is steady and honest. This may be related to the fact that Lu State preserved the most Zhou rites. However, the sizes of the gold characters at this stage are no longer the same. Compared with the late Western Zhou Dynasty, the strokes of individual fonts are also circuitous, and the layout is often looser. Reflects the style of the times. More typical fonts, such as the Yuanpu inscription of Situ Houshi of Lu Da, and the white inscription of Zhongbai of Situ Zi of Lu Da.

At this stage, Qi and Lu Jinwen not only had certain differences in calligraphy style, but also in the customary glyph structures. Of course, there were ***similarities in some characters. , more special writing methods, such as the upper strokes of the character "Shou" (the prefix of "老"), this point has been noticed by scholars. However, the difference in the font structure of Qilu bronze inscriptions is more eye-catching. For example, compare the Baiqi inscription of Lu Da Situzi and the Qihou Yu inscription. The difference in font structure can be seen by the way of writing. The above differences in the Qilu bronze inscriptions illustrate that the increasing political independence and regional separatism of various countries have deepened the cultural gap, even if they are geographically close.

Jin Bronze Inscriptions

In the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period, the political center of the Jin State was still in southern Shanxi, and the land could belong to the Central Plains. Not many inscriptions belonging to the Jin Dynasty at this stage have been found. The Luan Shu fou now in the collection of the China History Museum, because the name "Luan Shu" in the inscription appears in "Zuo Zhuan", it was a person of Jin Jinggong and Jin Ligong, and was active in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, so it is generally believed that this fou is Luan Shu. made. In recent years, some scholars have proposed that the shape of this vessel is Chu, and the writing also belongs to the Chu system. Those who hold this theory have two theories about the age of the vessel: the Warring States Period and the late Spring and Autumn Period.

The inscription on the belly of this vessel is in gold. When the inscription is inscribed, the eight characters are written in Yin.

Among the vessels of this stage that can be seen so far, there are inscriptions on the Jin Dynasty. Jin Gong laid the vessel as the late Spring and Autumn Period. Among the vessels inscribed on Jin Gong, there are Ping Gong (557 BC to 532 BC) and Ding Gong (511 BC). 1 former 477) and other statements. The layout of the inscription is scattered, with no rows of horizontal lines, and the characters are of different sizes. However, the strokes are thin, strong and folded in many directions. The style of the inscription is close to that of the Houma League script, so it should belong to the popular handwriting style at that time and was not deliberately processed. The bell, which dates back to the late Spring and Autumn Period, is a weapon of the Wei family. Its inscription style is close to that of Jin Gongdian, but with more round pens. In addition, there is the eldest son Gouchen Yan (Wenwu, Issue 7, 1964). The eldest son belonged to the Jin Dynasty in the Spring and Autumn Period. The layout is loose and the font still has the style of the late Western Zhou Dynasty, but there are also many round pens and the style is softer. Another famous inscribed artifact from the Jin Dynasty in the late Spring and Autumn Period is the Zhao Mengxu teapot unearthed in Huixian, Henan, and is now in the British Museum. The inscription records the meeting between Jin Dinggong and Wu King Fucha in Huangchi in 482 BC, and it is known that the utensils were made in the late Spring and Autumn Period.

The inscription is obviously different from that of Jin Gongdian. The characters are long and slender, and the strokes are neat and smooth. It is obviously a solemn and artistic font.

From the several inscriptions mentioned above, it can be seen that the styles of Jin Dynasty's inscriptions in the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period are more complex, but they can be roughly classified into two types: handwriting (or popular style) and artistic style. The former has Differences between square fold pens and round pens.

The so-called southern countries here mainly refer to the countries in the Jianghuai River Basin or adjacent to the Jianghuai River Basin at that time, including Cai, Xu, Xu, Chu, Wu, Yue and other countries. The Song Dynasty is relatively far north, but judging from the shape of its inscriptions, it can also be included in this introduction. There are roughly three forms of bronze inscriptions in this area:

First, the more casual font, which can also be called handwriting or vulgar style. Characteristics are that the characters are rectangular or slender, with more round pens, which are slightly rough, and the strokes are mostly elongated with curved ends. This style of calligraphy is probably derived from the above-mentioned style of inscriptions by Chen Boyuan and Chu Ying in the early Spring and Autumn Period. The size of the inscriptions in this form is not uniform, and the layout is not very regular, such as the following inscriptions on the vessels: Xu Wangyi Chu Yun, Song Gong Luan Yan, Chu Prince Shen Zhan.

Second, a neater artistic font. The character shape is long and thin, the strokes are thin and vigorous, the vertical strokes are straight and many twists and turns, and the parallel strokes tend to be parallel and meandering, which is highly decorative. For example, the inscriptions on the vessels are as follows: Wu Wangsun Wu Ren Ding, Cai Gongzi Yi Gong Wei, Xu Zizhuang Wei. The inscription on the bell of the grandson of the King of Chu is a bit sloppy, but it can be roughly classified into this form.

Thirdly, special patterned fonts, the so-called bird and insect scripts, often appear in the form of gold inlays. They are noble and gorgeous, rich in decorative effects, and were popular from the late Spring and Autumn Period to the early Warring States Period. This type of calligraphy can be subdivided into two types: insect script and bird script, but sometimes they are both used in the same inscription. Bird script is also called bird seal script. The strokes are drawn in the shape of a bird, that is, the words and the bird shape are integrated into one, or bird shapes are added next to the words and above and below the words for decoration, such as the sword inscription of Yue Wang Goujian and the Goujian inscription of Yue Wangzhou. They are mostly found in weapons, and a few are found in containers and seals. They can still be seen on ritual vessels and seals in the Han Dynasty, and even on the foreheads of steles in the Tang Dynasty. The strokes of insect calligraphy are deliberately winding and winding, with the middle part bulging, the head and tail pointed, and the long legs hanging down, just like the curved body of an insect, hence the name. In the late Spring and Autumn Period, Prince Wu of Chu's inscription, except for a few words in the "Niao" script, most of them belong to the "Chong script". Prince Wu and Yu Geming also wrote about birds and insects. Chongshu can be found not only in containers and weapons, but also in ancient seals of the Warring States Period, bronzes, seals, and tiles of the Han Dynasty. Its name is also listed as one of the "Eight Types of Qin Shu" in Xu Shen's "Shuowen Jiezi Xu", which shows that it is also Traveled in the Qin Dynasty. Regarding the development and changes of the Bird and Insect Book, please refer to Rong Geng's "Niao Shu Kao" ("Journal of Sun Yat-sen University", Issue 1, 1964) and Ma Chengyuan's "Niao and Insect Book Review" ("Ancient Character Research" No. 10).

Qin Bronze Inscriptions

Few Qin inscriptions from the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period have been found. Judging from the existing data, it is similar to the bronze inscriptions of the eastern and southern countries at that time in terms of glyph structure and calligraphy. There are obvious differences in body. The early mid-Spring and Autumn Period Qin Gong Gui inscriptions unearthed in Tianshui, Gansu Province in 1919 are representative of Qin bronze inscriptions at this stage. Comparing this inscription with the inscriptions of Duke Qin in the early Spring and Autumn Period, we can see that the Qin bronze inscriptions at this time inherited more of the characteristics of the early Qin bronze inscriptions in the Spring and Autumn Period, that is, they still have the legacy of the late Western Zhou Dynasty bronze inscriptions. Qin Gong Bo, Qin Gong Gui Inscription and Shigu Wen are similar in both glyph structure and calligraphy style. Scholars have different opinions on the age of the Shiguwen, but most scholars still believe that its time range is within the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period. The text structure and style characteristics of Qin Gonggui are closer to those of Shigu inscriptions than those of Qin Gongbo.

The Qin Gongbo characters are more stretched and rounded, while the Qin Gonggui characters, like the Shigu characters, appear to be more rigorous and square in structure. It is a circular pen, which shows that the Qin Jin script began to be further transformed in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, becoming more standardized and gradually approaching Xiaozhuan.

Warring States Bronze Inscriptions

After the chronological turbulence and differentiation in the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period, by the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the evolution of social, political and economic forms had undergone a leap, and the traditional aristocrats Politics transformed into a new centralized politics, the emerging landlord class entered the political stage, and all aspects of the social structure took on a new look. This situation was reflected in the bronze ware. Not only did the ritual system undergo certain changes, but the connotation of the bronze inscriptions also underwent great reforms compared to the Spring and Autumn Period.

In terms of the content of the inscriptions, there are still formulas on copper containers in the Spring and Autumn Period that praise ancestors and wish family unity and prosperity, but they have become much less common since the early Warring States Period. Such inscriptions that are seen today only lasted for a long time on Tianqi bronzes, and can still be seen in the middle of the Warring States Period. Not many artifacts from other countries have been found. Generally, most of the copper vessels simply record the reason and the reason for the casting. The owner of the vessel. After the middle period of the Warring States Period, with the further development of centralized politics, the government strengthened its control over the handicraft industries related to weapons and weights and measures, which greatly expanded the carrier of inscriptions. At the same time, "Wule Gongming" ("Notes. Monthly Order") appeared in the inscriptions. 》), recording the official title of the person responsible for supervising the production of bronze wares, the name of the foreman and the name of the craftsman who directly cast the wares, which is mostly seen in weapons, measuring instruments, etc. For other wine vessels and food vessels, the place of use and the official position of the person in charge are recorded. The measuring instrument records the capacity, weight and place of use.

Due to the lack of data on the inscriptions on the wine and food utensils in the copper containers of the Warring States Period, the changes in fonts cannot be systematically explained. We can only give a general introduction to the characteristics of bronze inscriptions in several countries (or regions).

The bronze inscriptions of the Qi State in the early Warring States Period have some characteristics of the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period, but they have been modified. For example, the Chen Manfu inscriptions retain the slender and neat style of the Qi bronze inscriptions in the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period. Form, but the kind of deliberately long, circuitous and graceful strokes is rare now, and the strokes are full of twists and turns. By the middle period of the Warring States Period, the calligraphy style of Qi Jinwen had undergone major changes compared to the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period. Although the arrangement of the bronze inscriptions on the copper wine and food utensils is relatively regular, and the fonts are rectangular, the calligraphy style is close to handwriting (a popular secular style), with thick and simple strokes, and many characters already have the richness of this period in their glyphs. local color. The inscription of Chenhou Wudun in the 14th year of the Warring States Period is a typical font found on bronze ritual vessels of the Qi State in the middle and late Warring States Period. For example, Chen Chunfu, Zihe Zifu, etc. have similar inscriptions to this one.