The most dramatic find, a bronze statue (FIG. 7-4) more than
eight feet tall, matches anything from Anyang in masterful casting
technique. Very different in subject and style from the Shang
bronzes, it initially shocked art historians who had formed their
ideas about Bronze Age Chinese aesthetics based on Shang material.
This figure—of unknown identity—is highly stylized, with elon-gated proportions and large, staring eyes. It stands on a base com-
posed of four legs formed of fantastic animal heads with horns and
trunklike snouts. The statue tapers gently as it rises, and the figure
gradually becomes rounder. Just below the neck, great arms branch
dramatically outward, ending in oversized hands that once held an
object, most likely one of the many elephant tusks buried with the
bronze statue. Chinese representations of the human figure on this
scale are otherwise unknown at this early date. Surface decoration of
squared spirals and hook-pointed curves is all that links this gigantic
statue with the intricate Shang piece-mold bronze vessels (FIG. 7-3).
Systematic excavations and chance finds will probably produce more
surprises in the future and cause art historians to revise once again
their picture of Chinese art in the second half of the second millen-
nium BCE.Zhou and Qin Dynasties
Around 1050 BCE, the Zhou, former vassals of the Shang, captured
Anyang and overthrew their Shang overlords. The Zhou dynasty
proved to be the longest lasting in China’s history—so long that
historians divide the Zhou era into two periods: Western Zhou
(ca. 1050–771 BCE) and Eastern Zhou (770–256 BCE). The dividing
event is the transfer of the Zhou capital from Chang’an (modern
Xi’an) in the west to Luoyang in the east. The closing centuries of
Zhou rule include a long period of warfare among competing states
(Warring States Period, ca. 475–221 BCE). The Zhou fell to one of
these states, the Qin, in 256 BCE.ZHOU JADE Under the Zhou, the development of markets and
the introduction of bronze coinage brought heightened prosperity
and a taste for lavish products, such as bronzes inlaid with gold and
silver. Late Zhou bronzes featured scenes of hunting, religious rites,
and magic practices. These may relate to the subjects and composi-
tions of lost paintings mentioned in Zhou literature. Other materials
favored in the late Zhou period were lacquer,a varnishlike substance
made from the sap of the Asiatic sumac, used to decorate wood fur-
niture and other objects (see “Lacquered Wood,” Chapter 27, page
724), and jade (see “Chinese Jade,” page 185). The carving of jade
objects for burial with the dead, beginning in Neolithic times,
reached a peak of technical perfection during the Zhou dynasty.
Among the most common finds in tombs of the period are bi disks
(FIG. 7-5)—thin, flat circular pieces of jade with a hole in the center,
which may have symbolized the circle of Heaven. Bi disks were status
symbols in life as well as treasured items the dead took with them to
the afterlife. After a battle, for example, the victors forced their de-
feated foes to surrender their bi disks as symbols of their submis-
sion. The disks also had a high monetary value.THE FIRST EMPERORDuring the Warring States Period,
China endured more than two centuries of political and social tur-
moil. This was also a time of intellectual and artistic upheaval, when
conflicting schools of philosophy, including Legalism, Daoism, and
Confucianism, emerged (see “Daoism and Confucianism,” page
186). Order was finally restored when the powerful armies of the
ruler of the state of Qin (from which the modern name “China” de-
rives) conquered all rival states. Known to history by his title, Qin
Shi Huangdi (the First Emperor of Qin), between 221 and 210 BCE
he controlled an area equal to about half of modern China, much
larger than the territories of any of the earlier Chinese dynasties.
During his reign, Shi Huangdi ordered the linkage of active fortifica-
tions along the northern border of his realm to form the famous
Great Wall. The wall defended China against the fierce nomadic
peoples of the north, especially the Huns, who eventually made their7-4Standing male figure, from pit 2, Sanxingdui, China, ca. 1200–
1050 bce.Bronze, 8 5 high, including base. Museum, Sanxingdui.
Excavations at Sanxingdui have revealed a Chinese civilization
contemporary to the Shang but with a different artistic aesthetic.
This huge statue has elongated proportions and large, staring eyes.184 Chapter 7 CHINA AND KOREA TO 12791 ft.