Bronze was a very important part of ancient Chinese religiosity. In many temples all over China, bronze was the only metal used to cast ceremonial implements used in the worship of Chinese deities. Other than this, bronze was also used to make utensils and implements for important Chinese occasions such as weddings, funerals, and festivals. Chemistry has it that bronze is a very durable metal and despite the heat applied to it and the processing used to make certain bronze items, the metal did not loose its malleability hence, its ability to withstand breakage. This quality of bronze made it the material of choice for items that were regarded by the Chinese as items that held historical or cultural significance, so, it was used to make representations of emperors, kings, and other very important members of society.
For this particular paper, we take in consideration the world-famous Mo Kung Ting, which is a bronze tripod on display at the National Palace Museum in Taipei (Chinavoc) It was an artifact that was commissioned by the emperor some time in the Ting dynasty for use in the royal court. It is a cauldron- tripod with its interior inscribed with 497 characters in length, divided into 32 lines and two halves, extending from the mouth of the vessel to the bottom interior. The inscription is the imperial mandate for the casting of the vessel, written in a stately and powerful tone. The inscription on this particular vessel is the longest among bronzes that have been unearthed so far. (Chinavoc)
On ocular perusal the vessel looks like it is a plain ordinary vessel, however, it was actually used for ceremonial purposes like the burning of incense and offerings like fruits and food, and in particular, it was used for the imperial altar where offerings of great significance was interred as offering to the deities of Buddhism.
The stylistic qualities of this item border on being more functional than artistic. However, because the Chinese were known for their abilities to combine the two the artistic quality and the functionality of an object the tripod, therefore, passes off to being artistic and at the same time functional. Inspecting the object, one will notice that it is indeed, a tripod, meaning, it is an implement used to heat items and it stands on three legs. The significance of this comes from the fact that the Chinese believed in the importance of the number 3, hence the division of the Chinese horoscope into periods that are divisible by 3. The significance of this number has its roots in the ancient Buddhist belief that Buddha had to go through three levels of endeavors to reach his divinity. So, the creation of a vessel that has three legs directly represent the possibility of whatever is being offered on the vessel reaching the direct recipients the divine. On closer inspection of the legs of the vessel, it would become obvious that the vessel seemed to have been crafted separately and welded or fused with the tri-legs.
While it is easy to conclude that this technique of joining separate elements to the main implement would be a result of the technological advances of the Chinese, it still does not exclude the possibility that this style is a result of the belief of the Chinese of the significance of Buddhas conquests being important pillars of Chinese faith. Hence, if the item is considered closely, one would notice that the bowl of the tripod seems to be resting on the three legs instead of the three legs being inevitably fused to the bowl in consideration of functionality.
Another element to be noticed in this particular tripod is the presence of two, huge, tripod ears. Considering the nature of bronze, these two ears being attached to the object for the purpose of having something to hold on to would be futile, because bronze is a very good conductor of heat. Now, if these two ears would have been meant for the offerer to hold on to, despite the presence of live coals within the vessel as would be necessary to burn offerings, such a function would have been very strange because the offerer would have burned hisher fingers holding on to these handles because of the conductive nature of bronze. A more plausible explanation for the installation of these two ears is the fact that Buddha is always pictured with oversized ears representing his ability to listen to the prayers of those who pray to him. In contemporary Chinese culture, wide and large ears represent long life. So, these considered, it is easy to deduce that the apparent handles were installed so that the ears of Buddha would be closer to the offering and hence, Buddha would easily hear the prayers of the offerers. In a different light, considering contemporary Chinese culture, the ear-like handles may also have been representations of the sustainability of the offering or the length of time that the offering would have been offered. Consider that the Chinese were very empirical, and so, the length of time that their offerings remained burning translated into the significance of the offering and how it was accepted by the deities.
Regarding the shape of the tripod, we notice that it is a very ordinary bowl however, it should be considered that the circle or the sphere had very important relevance to Chinese folklore. The Chinese regarded the cosmos to be round or spherical, and this represented equality and balance. The bowl, being a half of a sphere, represented the incompleteness of the offering. In other words, the bronze half of the tripod represented what man could do, and the other half of the sphere which is absent in the tripod represents the unforeseen response of the deities, The inscriptions on the rim of the tripod feature, again, a circle, representing equality, and a spiral, that represents the enigma of the gods or the unpredictability of their responses to the offerings. Note also that the spiral is representative of chaos in Chinese culture, so the combination of harmony as represented in the circle, and chaos in the spiral denote the required existence of good and bad, side by side that good, in the absence of bad, cannot be possible, or the other way around.
The two dimensional etchings on the tripod are by no means an indication that the Chinese bronze-smithing industry was way behind in technology. It is important to recall that the Chinese were the first to be able to work with metals in the history of the world, and at the period when this tripod was created, the inscriptions or designs on the body of the tripod are by no means behind existing technology in fact they are so advanced that if the Egyptians were asked to make something like this in the same period they would ultimately fail. The Egyptians were only able to work with metals four decades after the Chinese first used metals in their weaponry and everyday tools.
Going back to the truth that the Chinese did not sacrifice function for artistry and vice-versa, it will be noticed that this particular tripod has a very thick wall measurement, so it is easy to conclude that this item was made to last a very long time and it did.
The Chinese were so advanced in their technology that in considering what they have already made and created we find that most of the items they made are actually even more functional than the ones that are invented now. The exquisiteness of Chinese bronze work is unparralled, not because of the technology, but because the Chinese were always able to fuse aesthetics with functions.
For this particular paper, we take in consideration the world-famous Mo Kung Ting, which is a bronze tripod on display at the National Palace Museum in Taipei (Chinavoc) It was an artifact that was commissioned by the emperor some time in the Ting dynasty for use in the royal court. It is a cauldron- tripod with its interior inscribed with 497 characters in length, divided into 32 lines and two halves, extending from the mouth of the vessel to the bottom interior. The inscription is the imperial mandate for the casting of the vessel, written in a stately and powerful tone. The inscription on this particular vessel is the longest among bronzes that have been unearthed so far. (Chinavoc)
On ocular perusal the vessel looks like it is a plain ordinary vessel, however, it was actually used for ceremonial purposes like the burning of incense and offerings like fruits and food, and in particular, it was used for the imperial altar where offerings of great significance was interred as offering to the deities of Buddhism.
The stylistic qualities of this item border on being more functional than artistic. However, because the Chinese were known for their abilities to combine the two the artistic quality and the functionality of an object the tripod, therefore, passes off to being artistic and at the same time functional. Inspecting the object, one will notice that it is indeed, a tripod, meaning, it is an implement used to heat items and it stands on three legs. The significance of this comes from the fact that the Chinese believed in the importance of the number 3, hence the division of the Chinese horoscope into periods that are divisible by 3. The significance of this number has its roots in the ancient Buddhist belief that Buddha had to go through three levels of endeavors to reach his divinity. So, the creation of a vessel that has three legs directly represent the possibility of whatever is being offered on the vessel reaching the direct recipients the divine. On closer inspection of the legs of the vessel, it would become obvious that the vessel seemed to have been crafted separately and welded or fused with the tri-legs.
While it is easy to conclude that this technique of joining separate elements to the main implement would be a result of the technological advances of the Chinese, it still does not exclude the possibility that this style is a result of the belief of the Chinese of the significance of Buddhas conquests being important pillars of Chinese faith. Hence, if the item is considered closely, one would notice that the bowl of the tripod seems to be resting on the three legs instead of the three legs being inevitably fused to the bowl in consideration of functionality.
Another element to be noticed in this particular tripod is the presence of two, huge, tripod ears. Considering the nature of bronze, these two ears being attached to the object for the purpose of having something to hold on to would be futile, because bronze is a very good conductor of heat. Now, if these two ears would have been meant for the offerer to hold on to, despite the presence of live coals within the vessel as would be necessary to burn offerings, such a function would have been very strange because the offerer would have burned hisher fingers holding on to these handles because of the conductive nature of bronze. A more plausible explanation for the installation of these two ears is the fact that Buddha is always pictured with oversized ears representing his ability to listen to the prayers of those who pray to him. In contemporary Chinese culture, wide and large ears represent long life. So, these considered, it is easy to deduce that the apparent handles were installed so that the ears of Buddha would be closer to the offering and hence, Buddha would easily hear the prayers of the offerers. In a different light, considering contemporary Chinese culture, the ear-like handles may also have been representations of the sustainability of the offering or the length of time that the offering would have been offered. Consider that the Chinese were very empirical, and so, the length of time that their offerings remained burning translated into the significance of the offering and how it was accepted by the deities.
Regarding the shape of the tripod, we notice that it is a very ordinary bowl however, it should be considered that the circle or the sphere had very important relevance to Chinese folklore. The Chinese regarded the cosmos to be round or spherical, and this represented equality and balance. The bowl, being a half of a sphere, represented the incompleteness of the offering. In other words, the bronze half of the tripod represented what man could do, and the other half of the sphere which is absent in the tripod represents the unforeseen response of the deities, The inscriptions on the rim of the tripod feature, again, a circle, representing equality, and a spiral, that represents the enigma of the gods or the unpredictability of their responses to the offerings. Note also that the spiral is representative of chaos in Chinese culture, so the combination of harmony as represented in the circle, and chaos in the spiral denote the required existence of good and bad, side by side that good, in the absence of bad, cannot be possible, or the other way around.
The two dimensional etchings on the tripod are by no means an indication that the Chinese bronze-smithing industry was way behind in technology. It is important to recall that the Chinese were the first to be able to work with metals in the history of the world, and at the period when this tripod was created, the inscriptions or designs on the body of the tripod are by no means behind existing technology in fact they are so advanced that if the Egyptians were asked to make something like this in the same period they would ultimately fail. The Egyptians were only able to work with metals four decades after the Chinese first used metals in their weaponry and everyday tools.
Going back to the truth that the Chinese did not sacrifice function for artistry and vice-versa, it will be noticed that this particular tripod has a very thick wall measurement, so it is easy to conclude that this item was made to last a very long time and it did.
The Chinese were so advanced in their technology that in considering what they have already made and created we find that most of the items they made are actually even more functional than the ones that are invented now. The exquisiteness of Chinese bronze work is unparralled, not because of the technology, but because the Chinese were always able to fuse aesthetics with functions.
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