scholarly journals THE BEGINNING OF CULTURAL MEMORY PRODUCTION IN CHINA AND THE MEMORY POLICY OF THE ZHOU ROYAL HOUSE DURING THE WESTERN ZHOU PERIOD

Early China ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 19-108
Author(s):  
Maria Khayutina
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Memory ◽  
Social Memory ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Eighth Century ◽  
Founding Fathers ◽  
General Logic ◽  
Zhou Dynasty ◽  
Bronze Vessels ◽  
Western Zhou ◽  
Corporate Integrity

AbstractThis article explores how the memory of the conquest of Shang and the rise of the first Zhou kings was transmitted during the early centuries of the Zhou dynasty, specifically as it was reflected in inscriptions on excavated bronze vessels and bells from the Western Zhou period (ca. mid-eleventh to early eighth century b.c.e.). Approaching these inscribed objects and their texts from the perspective of the theories of social memory and cultural memory reveals that commemorating the foundational past of the dynasty became part of an intentional policy of the Zhou royal house as early as the first half of the tenth century b.c.e. It demonstrates that by the mid-tenth century b.c.e., a stable narrative emphasizing Kings Wen 文 and Wu 武 as the founding fathers of the Zhou dynasty was established at the expense of King Cheng 成, whose role was gradually downplayed following the general logic of lineage organization, according to which the commemoration of the earliest common ancestors serves as the foundation of corporate integrity in a network of patrilineally related families. It shows that most of the men who included such commemorations in inscriptions indeed belonged to the royal patrilineal network, wherein they occupied the highest positions. It further exemplifies that the royal house cultivated the memory of the first kings using various media, including rituals, utensils, royal speeches, and inscriptions. From the analysis of such inscriptions, we can infer that that the foundational memory of the Zhou dynasty was usually reactivated in the context of political negotiations, some of which included addressing lineage outsiders. Finally, it shows that both the royal house and other metropolitan lineages modified the foundational narrative according to their current needs. This article thus contributes both to tracing the roots of the early Chinese historiographic tradition and to understanding memory production in a society as an ongoing process of negotiations and adaptations.

The excavation of the tomb M1017 at Dahekou Cemetery of the Western Zhou Dynasty in Yicheng, Shanxi

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-95
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
Musical Instruments ◽  
Shanxi Province ◽  
The West ◽  
Zhou Dynasty ◽  
Bronze Vessels ◽  
Western Zhou ◽  
Western Zhou Dynasty ◽  
Grave Goods

Abstract The tomb M1017 is located in the southwest of the Dahekou Cemetery of the Western Zhou Dynasty in Yicheng County, Shanxi Province. It is a rectangular vertical earthen pit tomb equipped with one wooden coffin chamber and one wooden coffin. The occupant (estimated to be a male) is interred with the head to the west, underneath whom is a waist pit. The grave goods unearthed from this tomb are made of bronze, gold, tin, pottery, shell, etc. Bronzes take the bulk of the grave goods, including ritual vessels, musical instruments, weapons, tool, chariot and horse fittings, and so on; the 50 bronze vessels are concentratedly set between the coffin chamber and coffin in front of the occupant’s head. The bronze ritual vessels include 13 ding-tripods and fangding-quadripods, seven gui-tureens, one li-cauldron, four dou-stemmed bowls, two basins, one yu-basin, two spoons, seven jue-cups, two gu-goblets, three zun-vessels, three you-wine jars, zhi-cup, jia-wine vessel, lei-wine jar, pot, ladle, pan-basin and he-pitcher, one of each of them. Many bronzes bear inscriptions of “bo 伯 (earl)” or “Ba Bo 霸伯 (Earl of the Ba State)”, hinting that the occupant of this tomb might be a lord of the Ba State. The date of this tomb is the early stage of the mid Western Zhou Dynasty.

Experimental dissolution of lead from bronze vessels and the lead content of human bones from Western Zhou dynasty tombs in Hengshui, Shanxi, China

2015 ◽  
Vol 64 ◽  
pp. 22-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Qin ◽  
Haomiao Li ◽  
Xiaoyong Yang ◽  
Huang Huang ◽  
Ya Qin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lead Content ◽  
Human Bones ◽  
Zhou Dynasty ◽  
Bronze Vessels ◽  
Western Zhou ◽  
Western Zhou Dynasty

Beneventan (South Italian/Langobardic) Script

2020 ◽  
pp. 119-142
Author(s):  
Francis Newton
Keyword(s):  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Southern Italy ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Eighth Century ◽  
Important Center

This chapter surveys Beneventan script, the distinctive hand of southern Italy which is particularly associated with the most important center of its use, the Abbey of Monte Cassino. Beneventan arose in the late eighth century and continued in common use through the thirteenth--and even later in isolated instances. Distinct calligraphic high points were achieved in various cities, regions, or centers at different periods, including Naples in the tenth century, Monte Cassino in the second half of the eleventh century, and the region of Bari at the same time. Caroline script was used side-by-side with Beneventan at some centers, until Caroline and Gothic scripts finally replaced Beneventan as the standard bookhand in southern Italy.

Scribes, Cooks, and Artisans: Breaking Zhou Tradition

Early China ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 241-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constance A. Cook
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
The Other ◽  
Political Control ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Bronze Vessels ◽  
Western Zhou ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Bronze Inscriptions ◽  
Eastern Zhou

Bronze Inscriptions of the Western Zhou period show how ritualists were once dedicated to maintaining the ritual apparatus supporting the divine authority of the royal Zhou lineage. Bronze and bamboo texts of the Eastern Zhou period reveal, on the other hand, that ritualists able to manipulate local rulers reliant on their knowledge subsequently subverted power into their own hands. Ritualists such as scribes, cooks, and artisans were involved in the transmission of Zhou “power” through the creation and use of inscribed bronze vessels during feasts. The expansion and bureaucratization of their roles in the Chu state provided economic and ultimately political control of the state. This was particularly the case as the Chu, like the Zhou before them, fled east to escape western invaders.

On the origin and formation of the early Qin Culture

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Liang
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Group ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Shang Dynasty ◽  
Musical Culture ◽  
Autumn Period ◽  
Zhou Dynasty ◽  
Spring And Autumn Period ◽  
Western Zhou ◽  
Western Zhou Dynasty

Abstract The early Qin Culture refers to the Qin Culture from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the early Spring-and-Autumn Period. Considering its cultural composition, we will realize that it has three main sources, namely the Shang, Zhou, and Western Rong (Western Barbarian) Cultures. The elements derived from the Shang Culture comprised the furniture of waist pits and the custom of dog burial in graves, the use of human sacrifice, the interment of chariots and horses, the Shang-style pottery wares and the tradition of constructing huge-scale mausoleums. These elements reflect that the Qin people initially came from the east and had strong ties with the Shang Dynasty and were deeply influenced by the Shang Culture, and belonged to the Yin people (after the fall of the Shang Dynasty) in the broader sense. The elements absorbed from the Zhou Culture comprised the architectural types of ancestral temples and palaces, the adoption of the ritual vessels, the suspended musical instruments, the Zhou style pottery wares and the writing system. These elements indicate that the Qin people adopted the ritual and musical culture of the Western Zhou Dynasty, which had a great political significance at the early stage of Qin’s history. The factors derived from the cultures of the Western Rong ethnic group or the northern steppes included the flexed burial position, the golden body ornaments and chariots and horses, iron wares, animal motifs on utensils, recesses on the walls of the burial pits and the ditches around the graves, the use of bronze cauldrons and swords (daggers). Such elements reflect that during the development process in the Longyou region, the Qin people absorbed the cultures of the adjacent Western Rong ethnic group, the Eurasian steppes and farther beyond. The first kind of elements continued to predominate the Qin Culture down to the middle Western Zhou, then the second and the third ones arose from the late Western Zhou to the early Spring-and-Autumn Period, and simultaneously, the first were only present in the aristocratic burial activities. Based on the remnants of the Shang Culture, the early Qin Culture came into being by widely absorbing elements of the Zhou and Western Rong Cultures.

scholarly journals Symbolism of decorative design of ancient Chinese bronzes

2021 ◽  
pp. 215-223
Author(s):  
Светлана Николаевна Шаповалова
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Art ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Religious Worldview ◽  
Art Objects ◽  
Bronze Vessels ◽  
Western Zhou ◽  
Decorative Design

Статья является продолжением семиотического анализа декоративно - орнаментальных элементов, украшающих древнекитайские предметы искусства. Личина Тао-те (Tao-tie (饕餮) и входящие в ее состав фигуры дракона Куй до сих пор не имеет научного определения, так как ни в одном письменном источнике нет упоминания об изображенном иконостилистическом персонаже. Исследование опирается на анализ пиктографических изображений (иероглифических надписей) на бронзовых сосудах эпохи Шан, раскрывающих семантику некоторых специально подчеркнутых деталей узора. В результате исследования объясняется значение изображенных элементов: символа гуй (возвращение) и знака «уха» (эр) , подтверждающих принадлежность образа Тао-те к описанию божественного первопредка и способствующих в осмыслении религиозного мировоззрения государств Ся (2017 -1765 г. до н.э.), Шан-Инь (1554 - 1046 г. до н.э.) и Западное Чжоу (1045 - 770 г. до н.э.). The paper is a continuation of the semiotic analysis of ornamental elements decorating ancient Chinese art objects. The mask of Tao-tie (饕餮), including the figures of the dragon Kui making it up, still has no scientific definition, since there is no mention of the depicted, iconostylistic character in any written source. The study is based on the analysis of pictographic images (hieroglyphic inscriptions) on bronze vessels of the Shang Era, revealing the semantics of some specially emphasized details of the pattern. As a result of the study, the significance of the depicted elements is explained: the hui symbol (return) and the "ear" sign (er), confirming the belonging of the image of Tao-tie to the description of the divine primacy and contributing to the understanding of the religious worldview of the dynasties of Xia (2017 -1765 BC), Shang-Yin (1554 - 1046 BC) and Western Zhou (1045 - 770 BC).

scholarly journals „Čia pas mus“ – kraštietiškumas Pietryčių Lietuvoje: Šalčininkų rajono atvejis

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (29) 2020 ◽  
pp. 81-104
Author(s):  
Vidmantas Vyšniauskas
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Cultural Memory ◽  
Social Memory ◽  
Regional Identity ◽  
Cultural Boundaries

‘Here with us.’ Regionalism in Southeast Lithuania: The Case of the Šalčininkai District The different ways in which inhabitants of the Šalčininkai district identify with their land are analysed in this article. It is argued that the socio-cultural memory has the biggest impact on constructing and maintaining a regional identity. Some different ways in which local inhabitants construct cultural boundaries are researched. Theoretical connections between social memory, narratives and regional identity are presented and discussed in the article. Local inhabitants use two identification strategies: 1) identifying oneself as ‘local’; 2) identifying oneself as ‘local’ and possessing one clearly defined ethnic identity. Key words: regional identity, social memory, narrative, regionalism.

The Western Zhou cemetery at Dahekou in Yicheng County, Shanxi

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joint Archaeological Team Of Shanxi
Keyword(s):  
Supine Position ◽  
Shanxi Province ◽  
Vertical Shaft ◽  
Zhou Dynasty ◽  
Western Zhou ◽  
Western Zhou Dynasty ◽  
Grave Goods

AbstractSince 2007, the excavations to the Dahekou Cemetery of the Western Zhou Dynasty located in Yicheng County, Shanxi Province have found over 600 burials and 20 chariot-and-horse pits, over 300 burials of which have been excavated. All of these burials were vertical shaft pit tombs in rectangular plan, most of which had waist pits containing dogs, some of which even had recesses on the walls. The burial furniture assemblages were single coffin, one outer coffin and one inner coffin or one outer coffin and two inner coffins. Most of the tomb occupants were in extended supine position; the grave goods of large

Harald Wezler som erindringsforsker: En viderefører af Halbwachs-Assmann-traditionen?

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Eric Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Cultural Memory ◽  
Social Memory ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
The State ◽  
Memory Research ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Memory Work ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Theoretical Analyses

Bernard Eric Jensen: Harald Welzer’s Approach to Memory Research An analysis of the approach to memory research found in the writings of Harald Welzer is presented. At the present time, Welzer is head of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Memory Research at Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut in Essen, Germany. He has contributed both empirical surveys and theoretical analyses to memory research during the last decade. At a first glance, Welzer’s approach appears to belong neatly within the tradition of memory research that was originally founded by the French sociologist Maurice Halbwachs, and which Aleida and Jan Assmann have been seeking to revive and develop since the 1980’s by introducing concepts such as “communicative and cultural memory” as well as “storage memory” (Speicher-Gedächtnis) and “use memory” (Funktions-Gedächtnis). On closer inspection, however, it transpires that Welzer’s approach cannot be characterised as a mere refinement of the approach taken by the Assmanns. This is partly because Welzer is attempting to develop an interdisciplinary approach, focused on the intricate relationships between biological, psychological and social factors in ongoing memory work. Apart from focussing of the work of Welzer, this article also seeks to highlight the state of “terminological anarchy” that characterises memory research at the present time, making it next to impossible to make direct comparisons between different theoretical approaches. This state of anarchy becomes transparent as soon as one begins to scrutinize the meanings of those adjectives, which nowadays are fixed to the term memory – for instance, “communicative”, “cultural”, “historical” and/or “social” memory. 

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