Hello everyone, in the last two issues, we introduced to you the wine container and drinking vessel in the bronze ware collection of Shanxi Museum. Today, let's talk to you about the cooking utensils in the bronzes.
First of all, let's talk about what is a cooking device? Cooking utensils are the utensils used by ancient princes and nobles to hold rituals when they carried out sacrifices, feasts and expeditions.
As a ceremonial heavy vessel, bronze ware of different specifications, different sizes, and different uses represents the different status levels of its owners.
Ding, originally a cooking utensil for ancient cooking, is equivalent to a modern rice pot. Since there is the legend of "Yu casting nine tripods", the tripod has developed from an ordinary cookware to a national heavy weapon. When the ritual music culture was gradually formed, the tripod became the main instrument of sacrifice.
In the slave society, the number of tripods directly reflects the status of the user, and the weight of the tripod indicates the size of the user's rights. It can be said that the tripod is one of the important utensils used by slave owners and nobles to "don't go up and down, and be noble and cheap".
In addition, according to the use of the tripod, it can be divided into wok, sheng and shame. Among them, the wok-ding is the largest and is used to cook whole white meat. Shengding is to hold cooked meat cooked from the wok ding. The shame ding is a vessel with condiments or meat soup, which is used in conjunction with the shengding, so it is also called "accompanying the ding".
In ancient times, there were strict regulations on the use of tripods, which basically appeared in odd numbers, generally nine tripods for the son of heaven, seven tripods for princes, five tripods for the emperor, and three tripods for scholars.
Like Ding, in addition to having the function of a food container, it also has the function of a ritual vessel. During the sacrifice, the rice bowl filled with millet is often placed together with the tripod containing cooked meat, which is used to worship ancestors and gods.
In the Western Zhou Dynasty, Gui was another important ritual vessel that marked the identity, rank and status of the nobility in addition to the tripod. During sacrifices and feasts, the gui will be used in combination with the odd number combination of tripods, which is the "Liding Liding Liwei system".
Specifically, the tripod and the gui are divided into four levels during the banquet sacrifice: the nine tripods and eight tripods of the Son of Heaven, the seven tripods and six tripods of the princes, the five tripods and four tripods of the princes, and the three tripods and two tripods of the scholars.
It can be said that the Liedin Liedin system is the core of the ritual music system, which distinguishes social status by the number of tripods and gui, reflecting the strict hierarchy of ancient society.
Derived from pottery, the bronze mustache is a cooking utensil with the main function of cooking food. As an important type of bronze ritual vessels, bronze mustaches first appeared in the early Shang Dynasty.
After the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the system of "Lieding and Liegui" gradually took shape. At the same time, the phenomenon of "columns" began to appear. When the identity of the tomb owner does not reach the use of the tripod, the mustache can be used as a substitute for the tripod and accompany the tomb owner to the burial.
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, a large number of food utensils became the main burial utensils, which further reflected the heavy food culture of the Western Zhou Dynasty.
Judging from the archaeological data, our ancestors have successfully fired pottery in the Neolithic period about 7,000 years ago. He became the first in the world to know how to use steam to cook food.
During the pre-Qin to Han dynasties, bronze rings were not only practical cooking utensils, but also had the role of ritual utensils. Especially from the Western Weekend period to the early Spring and Autumn Period, it was also combined with other bronzes such as ding, gui, bean, pot, and plate to become a complete set of noble burial goods.
In addition, the shape of the rings is divided into round and square, the Shang Dynasty has the characteristics of standing ears, extravagant mouth, girdle and bag-like abdomen, while in the Western Zhou Dynasty, there was a form of attached ears and the upper and lower parts can be separated.
Bronze beans first appeared in the late Shang Dynasty, prevailed in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and became popular in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
In ancient times, bronze beans were not only used as a container for meat sauce, condiments or millet grass, but also as an important ritual vessel. In "The Book of Rites: Ming Tang Position", there is: "Xia Hou's beans, Yin Yu beans, and Zhou Xiandou." ".
It is said that in the sacrificial rites, the Xia Dynasty used beans without decoration, the beans inlaid with jade used in the Yin Shang period, and the beans carved with patterns in the Zhou Dynasty.
In addition, there is also in the "Book of Rites and Rituals": "There are six out of twenty beans of the Son of Heaven, six out of ten princes, two out of ten princes, eight for the upper doctor, and six for the lower doctor." ".
It can be seen that the number of beans represents the high and low status of the nobility. The higher the status, the more equipment it uses, which is the same as Ding.
Okay, that's all for today, I'm Xiaoshu. In the next issue, we will bring you the washbasin in bronze. It's not easy to be original, welcome your attention, likes and comments in the comment area, and we'll see you next Monday.