Western Zhou bronze sculptures don’t follow complicated patterns. Its relief patterns present a new style. Some Shang deterrent patterns—including sharp and kui patterns—are replaced by round and gentle patterns in the Zhou, including a curled pattern, which is one of the major ones.
According to Master Lu’s Spring and Autumn Annals, Zhou’s Ding has the long curled patterns with curled ends. It means that a kind of long style of patterns with curled ends is present in Zhou bronze wares. In fact, it further simplifies the early animal patterns.
Zhou patterns don’t follow the Shang style of straight lines but adopt S-shaped curves. Zhou curled patterns integrate both round and square forms. Moreover, the relief decoration patterns of Zhou bronze wares have a sense of rhythm, while quadratic sequence patterns show a sense of order closely connected with the Zhou ritual system.
Considering the growth of Chinese sculpture, Western Zhou Dynasty was relatively backward but it is an important turning point.
The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period—Slim and graceful luxury
Various ideological and cultural trends as well as artistic forms thrived during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Though sculptural arts hadn’t freed themselves from crafts and architecture, the utilization of sculptural expressions became mature. The Spring and Autumn Period is regarded as a peak in Chinese sculpture, with more practical factors than in any previous dynasty.
Various materials were widely used during that period, including bronze, gold, silver, lead, pottery, jade, stone, and teeth and bones from animals. The comprehensive utilization of multiple materials also began during this period. Coloring becomes popular. Sculptural techniques also grow along with various materials. Some techniques such as lost-wax casting and gold and silver inlaying push bronze sculptures into a new stage of luxurious style. The style presents the aesthetic orientation of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period and is full of an easy and vigorous feeling.
The Eastern Zhou’s animal sculptures display a high level of artistic merit and bear the signs of the times. The representative masterpiece is a square-shaped pot with lotus and crane designs from Xinzheng, Henan Province. The 122cm-high pot has dragon-shaped ears and beast-shaped feet with a double layer of lotuses on the cover. The lotus petals splay out to support a vivid immortal crane about to take flight in the center. This pot produces an agile feeling and the style has a lot to do with the social state free from the ritual system.
One typical masterpiece is the double-wing bronze divine beast inlaid with gold and silver unearthed from the Tomb of the King of Zhongshan Kingdom. The 40cm high sculpture integrates features of various animals—the noble quality of the dragon, the grace and power of the tiger and leopard. The divine beast is so vigorous that it seems to fly to the clouds. The sculpture is full of a sense of rhythm and vitality. It integrates motion and quietness, a traditional Chinese technique. Another similar masterpiece is the gold and silver inlaid pedestal designed with tigerdevouring-dear pattern. It is vivid and gorgeous and produces a feeling of unrest and strength, which is also a symbol of the social unrest and thought contention that marked the times. The gold and silver inlaying makes the sculptures more luxurious and unreal.
An important masterpiece of the late Warring States period is the gold and silver inlaid bronze rhinoceros zun with cloud patters from Xingping County, Shaanxi Province. It presents a new high for animal-shaped bronze wares of the Warring States period and displays the unique practical style of the Qin people. Horizontally, the cultures of the Shang and Zhou dynasties underline the differences between different regions and interact with each other. Vertically, the cultures present the heritage and cultural growth of features from different periods. Sculptures of this period mark the beginning of the history of Chinese sculpture. As it matured, Chinese sculpture established its ethnic characteristics and exerted important influence on sculptural concepts and techniques that emerged later.