The Shang dynasty existed from 1750 to 1046 B.C.E., was located in the Yellow River valley of China. The dynasty was lead by King Tang the Victorious, or for short King Tang. One historian described the Shang as followed, “The Shang was an aristocratic culture — brilliant, luxurious, and savage.” To be aristocratic means to be related to the aristocracy, highest class. A definition of brilliant is impressive and successful, remarkable, display of intelligence. An example is A definition of luxurious means elegant, serene, indulgent pleasure. Lastly, the definition of savage is violent, fierce, pugnacious. These four terms really describe the Shang Dynasty as a whole. Like the historian stated, “ The Shang was an aristocratic culture — brilliant, …show more content…
Both the Shang and their artistic actions were brilliant. Something brilliant about the Shang culture was their bronze work. The Shang Dynasty produced some of the most impressive bronze ever. One of the most impressive bronze piece made by the Shang was their bronze vessels. To make bronze vessels was a long and tiring process, but each time they turned out to be magnificent pieces of art. The bronze vessels were treated as sacred objects, “since they had been ‘magically’ transformed from molten metal into solid objects.” (Art, pg. 21) Many vessels had a monster face, taotie, which was to ward away evil spirits. Along with the vessels, the Shang made many other things out of bronze. The noble members of the Shang, local tribal chiefs fought with bronze weapons. Some of these weapons were bronze daggers, spear points and arrowheads and halberds. They also wore bronze helmets. The Shang’s bronze work shows brilliance. The Shang dynasty bronzesmith created a method, method of piece-mold casting to make their bronze work. The Shang dynasty was not only figured out the “formula” for creating bronze masterpieces, but they continued to create ravishing pieces of …show more content…
The Shang dynasty was a very luxurious time period. Higher ranked nobles and kings were buried with many luxuries such as bronze, stone, jade, ceramic and jade objects. The Shang people believed that, “their souls would continue to enjoy the comforts they had known in this world, as long as they were buried properly.” (Art, pg. 26) These people were buried in wooden coffins like the Longshan. They were buried with an abundance of luxury items in the ground. Many people sacrificed themselves such as the higher ranked nobility's wives, servants and sometimes soldiers. A considerable example is Lady Hao, Wu Ding’s favorite wife. Lady Hao was a very powerful women, “...Took charge of certain religious rituals (a role usually reserved for men). She even led several military campaigns… (Art, pg 27). Lady Hao surrounded herself with luxury throughout her life and when she was dead in the ground. She was buried with manifold amount of luxuries some of them were: jade objects, stone sculptures, weapons and mirrors. Lady Hao was also buried with 7,000 cowrie shells, their ancient form of currency. She was an fascinating women who deserved to be buried with all these
(page 13) Intelligent 1. “The first emperor of china, Qin Shi-huang, is buried under a huge tumulus” (page 4) this was from the beginning part of the book where he talks about how he loves history and gave a few facts about china. 2. “The Qin dynasty was in power from 221 to 207 B.C” (page 4) 3.
The Tang and Song dynasties' innovations during the Golden Ages had an impact on other regions and later periods in history. The innovations were not only used in their lives but are still being used to this day. The Tang and Song dynasties' interests in different cultures allowed them to attain innovative ideas which made advancements in art, music, literature, and technology. From advancements in agriculture and manufacturing to breakthroughs in poetry and printing presses, the Tang and Song dynasties were a time of progress. An innovation during the Tang and Song dynasties which impacted the world was the use of gunpowder.
It consisted of two emperors. Usually, a dynasty is more than 2 leaders. Qin Shihuang was the first emperor. He lived from 260-210 BC and ruled from 221-210 BC until he died, and then his son, Qin Er Shi, ruled from 210-206 BC. Qin Er Shi was overthrown and replaced by of Liu Bang, otherwise known as Emperor Gaozu, of the new Western Han
Qin Shihuangdi was a lavish ruler. For example, he didn´t spend money on the empire. Instead, he used the money building palaces and a gigantic tomb for himself for his death. To put inside his tomb Qin had people build an entire army. The building of the army took 30 years to complete.
Hephaestus crafted much of the magnificent equipment of the Gods,and almost any finely-wrought metalwork imbued with the powers in Greek myth is said to have been forged by Hephaestus.he designed Hermes,winged helmet and sandals
Almost every early historical civilization or dynasty has specific characteristics that make it unique from many others. The Qin Dynasty, for example, has a few characteristics that helped strengthen the dynasty during a very divisive period in Chinese history. Their transition from a period of anarchy to an efficiently operated society was truly remarkable. The Qin dynasty was quickly born after the aftermath of the end of the Zhou dynasty. The Qin Dynasty, ruled by their emperor, Qin Shi Huang-di, recognized that China was too unstable and divisive due to anarchy and disorganized chaos.
Largely in connection with their religious and funeral rituals, Mississippian artists produced highly sophisticated work in clay, stone, shell, copper, wood, and other materials.
Or did they? - Notice that completely whole terracotta army was armed with bronze weapons. There were about 10000 copies of various weapons. The main mystery is that this weapon is still sharp and shiny even after 2000 years. Accordingly, metallurgy and weapons production of that time were at a very high level.
After 600 CE there were many different adaptions of trade. First there is the the Silk road, maritime networks of the Indian Ocean, as well as the straights of Malacca and Sunda straights. The Silk Road was the general term for a web of overland routes. These roads were not the same as the type of roads one would think of when thinking of Roman roads. These roads that were comprised within the Silk Road were in fact worn paths.
The decoration on Shang bronzes seems to say some- thing interesting about Shang culture, but scholars do not agree about what it says. In the art of ancient Egypt, Assyria, and Babylonia, representations of agriculture (domesticated plants and animals) and of social hierarchy (kings, priests, scribes, and slaves) are very common, matching our understandings of the social, political, and economic development of those societies. In Shang China, by contrast, images of wild animals predominate. Some animal images readily suggest possible meanings. Jade cicadas were sometimes found in the mouths of the dead, and images of cicadas on bronzes are easy to interpret as images evocative of rebirth in the realm of ancestral spirits, as cicadas spend
Ultimately, those who were considered as elites in society had a better quality of life. During the Shang Dynasty, the king and the elites lived very comfortable lives. To become part of the highest group in their social hierarchy, you had to be related to the king or your family had to be one of a high ranking. At the bare minimum to be verified as a superior in their culture it was necessary to have “control of superior armaments like bronze dagger-axes and horse-and-chariot teams” (De Bary and Bloom, 16).
Adam Sedgeman Introduction The Gupta Empire has many achievements, and their greatest achievement was metalwork. During the Gupta Empire period 240 to 550 CE, metals, iron, copper, gold, and silver played a vital role in boosting the poor economic condition of the region. Items made from silver could only be afforded by the rich. Some of the most famous items made by the metal workers were the coins. The Gupta rulers were engraved into the gold and silver coins.
It is suggested that it serves as practical purpose. It is suggested that the artifact underwent four series of making processes. First, Skillful craftsmen made the white porcelain in Jingdezhen. Then the white porcelain was delivered to imperial court to paint falangcai enamel, and later it goes to craftsman to inscribe poem and finally apply iron-red seal and reign mark at the base of artifact. From the complex making procedures, it could infer that the well organized bureaucratic systems and advanced technique developed.
The elites were over-represented from today’s perception of the formation of a society, with a more bottom-up approach with social interaction as the corner stone of society and bearing in mind the larger population of commoners. Yet, the social hierarchy of the Han Dynasty, and most traditional monarchies after Shang, the elites, especially the royal lineage, had a dominance position in society and this makes the disproportional emphasis seemingly more plausible. 2) Sources of artifacts. This exhibition highly relied on display of artifacts, for which they are mostly evacuated from mausoleums such as Han Yangling(漢陽陵)and Chu Tomb(楚王墓).
They used clay not only to make pots but also to make bronze sculptures. They would start with a clay shape and put wax on the outside of the clay, then they would layer more clay on top of the wax. Next they would fire the sculpture to melt the wax and pour the bronze into the clay mold that was left over. Lastly they would break the clay and be left with the bronze statue.