Bronze Cauldrons from ancient Greek and ancient China

This essay aims to compare bronze cauldrons from ancient Greek（7-8c BCE）and ancient China（1500-221 BCE）.Attachments of Greek cauldrons got great influences from Near East and were affected by Homeric epics.Bronze cauldrons were dedications for the gods，or prizes for the games;while motifs on Chinese cauldrons are also mythical but more abstracted，emphasizing on the communication with ancestors，or a record of feudalism.Also they were for ancestor worship instead of glorifying gods.The idea that bronze cauldrons could be the emblems of legitimizing court power is unique to ancient China.While for Greek cauldrons，they were probably more like a flaunt of social status，or a political statement of regional leaders who tried to be favored by the gods.The interesting part is，in both cultures，cauldrons died out after the decentralized political system replaced by a centralized power.

In the context of Shang and Zhou China，bronze tripods participate actively in history to determine the legitimacy of the current ruler.In Shang，the majority of the ritual vessels were for wine.The majority of the vessels made in Zhou，however，were made for food.That is to say，bronze cauldrons（ding）were not always the most popular ritual vessels before Zhou.Possibly after the need of legitimizing power became more crucial，bronze cauldrons mushroomed.According to Constance Cook，bronze inscriptions produced during the Western Zhou period（1059-771 B.C.）document the wealth given and exchanged as part of gift-giving and exchange cycles that suggest an early autocratic redistributive economy disintegrating by the eight century B.C.into autonomous units.In the inscribed records a shift can be seen in the inalienable nature of goods authenticated by the power of the Western Zhou ruling lineage.

In ancient Greek，especially Geometric period，during the eighth century sanctuaries like Olympia and Delphi gradually transformed themselves from a rural shrine into Panhellenic sanctuaries.Thus，the numbers of votive offerings increased enormously.For Olympia specifically，as Kyrieleis chaptered in his book，cauldrons became noticeable as part of Geometric votive offerings based on Homeric epics，which probably means bronze tripod cauldrons were not only valued household objects but also emblems of the world of heroes as described by Homer.A primary aspect of Greek art during the eighth and seventh centuries B.C.is its exposure to and assimilation of influences from the East.Bronze cauldrons were apparently made in home communities of their donors for distant dedication.Thus they served a social purpose，asserting status，both when seen on home ground and when viewed in a faraway sanctuary.These prestige items reflected the wealth of their donors by their size，material and workmanship.Donors bragged claims to leadership by this kind of flaunty display.

In conclusion，the notion that persons should be fed many and take care of many actually happened in Shang cauldrons too.This idea of satisfying needs of ancestors probably is the reason why tripods were valued even more in Shang Dynasty.Different from what Shang persons intended to achieve，cauldrons as dedications to gods in ancient Greek sanctuaries are unlikely to connect with afterlife of decedents，but are strong statements of regional power.At this point，bronze cauldrons in Zhou are more likely to share the same purpose with ancient Greek ones.

Bibliography

[1]Carter，John.“The Beginning of Narrative Art in the Greek Geometric Period.”

[2]The Annual of the British School at Athens 67（1972）：25-58.

[3]Cook，Constance A.“Wealth and the Western Zhou.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies，University of London 60，No.2（1997）：253-294.

[4]Feng，Li.“‘Feudalism and Western Zhou China：A Criticism.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 63，No.1（Jun 2003）：115-144.

[5]Guralnick，Eleanor.“A Group of Near Eastern Bronzes from Olympia.” American Journal of Archaeology 108，No.2（Apr 2004）：187-222.

[6]Kyrieleis，Helmut，Olympia：Arch?ologie eines Heiligtums.Darmstadt/Mainz：Philipp von Zabern，2011.

作者簡介：潘彥霖（1987--）女，漢，重慶人，重慶鐵路投資集團有限公司，碩士研究生，歷史學藝術史方向。