Chinese History | National Treasures

TIME: The Neolithic Age (7000-5000 BCE)

PURPOSE: This is the cover of a child's pottery coffin. In Yangshao culture, there was a custom to put the remains of dead children in pottery urns.

The human face and fish pattern painted pottery was used as a cover for the urn. After depositing the dead child's remains, the urn and cover would be interred in a place near the family house.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (3072x2304) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

TIME: The Neolithic Age (7000-5000 BCE)

PURPOSE: A kind of reservoir used in a water-pumping system.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality image!

TIME: New Stone Age (5000 BCE)

PURPOSE: Carrying water

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (3072x2304) image!

TIME: New Stone Age (6300-4500 BCE)

PURPOSE: Drinking vessel

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (2852x2028) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

TIME: New Stone Age (6,300 to 4,500 BCE)

PURPOSE: Used in religious ceremonies to facilitate prayer.

NOTES: About 100 of these items were found in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, & Shanghai. Many scholars believe they were used as musical instruments. It stands 49.7 cm high and is 6.4 cm tapering to 5.6 cm wide.

Used in the Liang Zhu civilization. The colour is dark green, and it is composed of 9 sections, each section having 4 corners, with primitive engravings of the faces of animals and people on them. Each item has 76 of these engravings, and each one represents a god. The exterior surface is square shaped, representing the earth, and it has a hollow circular interior, representing the sky. The lines engraved on the surface represent the rays of the sun and the moon.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (2304x3072) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

TIME: The New Stone Age (6,000 to 5,000 BCE)

PURPOSE: This item was used for sacrificial ceremonial purposes and was found on the chest cavity of a cadaver. Its dimensions are 7.2 cm H X 5.2 cm wide, white C-shaped item with yellow flecks.

This item was found in the 1980's. It has a lifelike pig's head and a dragon's tail. The mouth is slightly open and it has a prominent snout and big eyes. The pig represented strength and wealth in ancient society.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (3072x2304) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

IMAGE: Shang Dynasty Ceremonial Turtle-back!

TIME: Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BCE)

PURPOSE: Used for auspicating (to begin or inaugurate with a ceremony intended to bring good luck) as in the Ceremonial Ox Bone, below.

Notes: During the Shang Dynasty, people usually used the Turtle-back to auspicate. The pictographs carved into the Turtle-back are thought by archaeologists to be the earliest used Chinese characters.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (2304x3072) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it. This will allow you to view the pictographs engraved into this object!

TIME: Shang Dynasty (1600~1046 BCE)

PURPOSE: Auspicating (to begin or inaugurate with a ceremony intended to bring good luck).

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link!

Notes: People who lived in the Shang Dynasty usually sacrificed horses, oxen, goats, dogs and pigs when they auspicated. They even practised human sacrifice. The number of animals or people they sacrificed varied from one to several hundred! This ox bone has pictographs carved into it, showing that they should sacrifice five oxen.

IMAGE: Dragon-tiger Bronze Cameo Ware!

TIME: Shang Dynasty (1600~1046 BCE)

NOTES: In ancient China, the Zun was used as a wine container, as was this one.

It has three dragons and three androphagous (cannibalistic) tigers on its body. Some experts say, the pattern on it is like three Taotie (a kind of legendary beast that loved eating human beings in ancient China) eating people. This bronze Zun is very rare and priceless.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (3072 x 2304) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

TIME: Shang Dynasty (1600~1046 BCE)

PURPOSE: an unusual three-legged or four-legged ancient Chinese cooking vessel.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality image!

IMAGE: Fuhao's Bronze Square Drinking Cup!

TIME: Shang Dynasty (1600~1046 BCE)

NOTES: The Jia was a kind of bronze vessel that belonged to Fuhao. This Jia was not only used for drinking, it also could use for heating wine. During the Shang Dynasty, a Jia was only for use by royalty.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (3072 x 2304) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

IMAGE: Fuhao's Bronze Owl Wine Vessel!

TIME: Shang Dynasty (1600~1046 BCE)

PURPOSE: A type of wine vessel used in this period. It is shaped like an owl, which was treated as a holy bird during that time. It belonged to a woman called Fuhao, the wife of an emperor of the Shang dynasty.

This is a masterpiece of the art of Chinese bronze during the late Shang Dynasty, and is one of the Top Ten National Treasures!

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (2304x3072) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

IMAGE: Fuhao's Bronze Square Vessel!

TIME: Shang Dynasty (1600~1046 BCE)

NOTES: A special wine container that belonged to a women named Fuhao.

Fuhao was a great woman who was King Wuding's wife in the Shang Dynasty. She also was a great politician and militarist during her time. IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (3072 x 2304) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

IMAGE: Jade Man With Wide Weapon!

TIME: Shang Dynasty (1600~1046 BCE)

PURPOSE: Jade artwork used for ornamental purposes.

This artwork is made of the highly prized Hetian Jade, mined from the Kunlun Mountains in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of North-Western China. It is said that the jade man was a nobleman in the Shang Dynasty. IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (3072 x 2304) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

IMAGE: Shang Dynasty Gray Jade Bowl!

TIME: Shang Dynasty (1600~1046 BCE)

PURPOSE: Bowl used for processing grains.

The bowl was filled with rice, broomcorn millet and grain sorghum during the Shang Dynasty. IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (3036 x 2248) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

IMAGE: Shang Dynasty Tiger-patterned slate!

TIME: Shang Dynasty (1600~1046 BCE)

PURPOSE: One of a series of musical stones. These were struck with an iron rod to create a euphonious sound.

NOTES: The Qing is a kind of Chinese ancient musical instrument. This slate is a component part of the Qing. This instrument was used when holding religious ceremonies, and was only used by royalty. IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (3072 x 2304) image. Click on the picture to enlarge!

IMAGE: Zuoceban's Bronze Turtle!

TIME: Shang Dynasty (1600~1046 BCE)

PURPOSE: This rare bronze ware was made during the late Shang Dynasty.

In ancient China, the yuan was a kind of huge turtle which was very strong. One day, the Shang Emperor came to the banks of the Huan river and found a turtle. He shot four arrows into it, and not one missed. The Emperor gave it to Zuoceban, the official historian of Shang at the time, and commanded him to make a bronze image to honour this event. This bronze turtle is the result.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (3072 x 2304) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

TIME: Shang Dynasty (1600~1046 BCE)

PURPOSE: A percussion instrument in ancient China. It was popular during the late Shang and Zhou dynasties. Compared with a bronze bell, it didn't have a clapper but was much larger.

In those times, a drum was usually used for conducting an army forwards, but a bronze phosphoriser was used for telling the army to stop. IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (3072x2304) image. Click on the picture to enlarge!

TIME: Shang Dynasty (1600 - 1046 BCE)

PURPOSE: Used as a wine vessel, for storage and ceremonial applications. It is 58.6 cm in height and is decorated with 4x sheep heads.

The zun was uncovered in Hunan Province in 1938 at "Ning Xiang Yue Shan Pu" (village) which is now known as "Huang Cai Zhen Long Quan" (Dragon Bridge village). IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (2852x2028) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

IMAGE: Extrusive-eyed Bronze Mask "Heaven's Favourite Son"!

TIME: Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BCE)

PURPOSE: This mask was made in memory of a king of the Shu state called Cancong. Cancong had a pair of extrusive eyes. Experts guess maybe Cancong had struma disease, or he wouldn't have had such eyes.

Excavated in 1986 from the Sanxingdui archaeological site, located about 40 kilometres north-east of Chengdu in Sichuan Province, 10 kilometres east of the city of Guanghan. This mask, 82.5 cm in height and 78 cm in width, is U-shaped in cross-section. The pupils and ears were pre-cast. The dragon-shaped flange, measuring 68.1 cm in height, was cast onto the centre of the forehead.

At the time of excavation, the eyes and eyebrows still retained a black pigment while the lips were painted red. Mysterious and gorgeous, this mask is one of the most impressive Sanxingdui images. The protruding pupils and flange rising above the mask are striking. The eyes of the mask are related to the legend of Cancong, the progenitor of the ancient Shu people.

Alternatively, it is proposed that the eyes are the "straight eyes" associated with the God Zhulong. Yet another theory argues that the legends describe a vertical eye in the middle of the forehead. The evidence of the excavation shows this artefact is probably from the late Shang (16th - 11th century BC) Period.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (2852x2028) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

IMAGE: Western Zhou Dynasty Bronze Quadrate Vessel!

TIME: Western Zhou Dynasty (1046~771 BCE)

NOTES: This is a kind of vessel used for holding wine.

This was used as a wine container, but the ancient Chinese also carved inscriptions on its inside to record important events. A bronze vessel from the Western Zhou period. IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (3072 x 2304) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

IMAGE: Ji Zibai's Guo State Bronze Tray!

TIME: Western Zhou Dynasty (816 BCE)

NOTES: This is a kind of vessel used for holding water.

Ji Zibai was a soldier of the Guo state during the Zhou Dynasty. The King of the Guo state rewarded Ji Zibai for his battle achievements, so Ji Zibai had this tray made in commemoration. There is epigraph on the bottom of the tray, and it's a very famous and precious bronze vessel from the Western Zhou period.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (3072 x 2304) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

IMAGE: Wang Ziwu Tripod!

TIME: Spring and Autumn Period (770~476 BCE)

PURPOSE: A mortuary object belonging to nobleman, Wang Ziwu, the son of an emperor in the Chu State.

This artefact was found in the Xi county of Henan province. In 1977, a boy stumbled over a hard object in the dried-up Danjiangkou reservoir when he was grazing cattle. That was the Wang Ziwu tripod. There were seven tripods found there that day, but this one was the biggest and most famous one.

In ancient China, a vessel with two loop handles and three or four legs was called a ding, and was used for cooking meat soup. There was a code of etiquette in the Zhou dynasty, which stipulated that the king could use nine tripods when he had meals, a vassal could use seven and a minister could use five. The number of tripods that they could used indicated their social class. So, according to the number of tripods excavated, archaeologists believe that Wang Ziwu was a vassal.

On the base of the tripod there is an inscription that narrates Wang Ziwu's political achievements and his family precepts. The inscription was written in a kind of letter-form that was China's earliest artistic calligraphy.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (2948 x 2240) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

IMAGE: Ice basin belonging to Wu Emperor, Fuchai!

TIME: Spring and Autumn Period (770~476 BCE)

PURPOSE: This large basin belonged to Fuchai, a famous emperor of the Wu state.

The basin was used for storing ice to freeze food in the Spring and Autumn Period.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (3036 x 2248) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

IMAGE: Bird-Shaped Copper Tripod!

TIME: Spring and Autumn Period (770~476 BCE)

PURPOSE: A cooking vessel (Ding) used to cook or hold meat in ancient China.

This tripod was found to be buried in the manor of the ancient Yan states, from the Spring & Autumn Period.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (3072 x 2304) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

IMAGE: Big Copper Crock!

TIME: Warring States Period (475~221BCE)

PURPOSE: Holding water or wine. This huge copper crock-pot shows the exquisite level of skills in metals manufacturing that had been developed in China up to the Warring States Period. Follow the links to view the finer details.

The Fou was a kind of a crock, with a narrow opening, used to hold water or wine in ancient China, usually made of copper or clay. But later, the Fou was used to play music on big ceremonial occasions, usually with another music instrument called a Yun.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (2304x3072) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

IMAGE: Man-Shaped Copper Oil Lantern!

TIME: Warring States Period (475~221BCE)

PURPOSE: This is a kind of oil lantern, used during the Warring States Period.

The plates were used for holding oil and were dismountable. The copper scoop in front of it was for adding oil into the plates. This artefact is one of China's national first-level cultural relics.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (3072 x 2304) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

TIME: Warring States Period (475~221 BCE)

PURPOSE: A kind of percussion instrument used in ancient China. This specimen originates from the Lu state. It's said that Confucius was good at making stone chimes.

Ancient Chinese people made jade or stones into a special shape then hung them on a wooden stand, that made up a set of Stone Chimes. They were played with a small wooden mallet. They were usually performed with the bronze chimes.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (2852x2028) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

TIME: Warring States Period (475~221 BCE)

PURPOSE: A kind of percussion instrument used in ancient China. Earlier, in the Shang Dynasty, ancient Chinese knew how to make these Chimes.

Chimes were made of bronze, the bells hanging on it were arranged in sized order. They were played with small sticks or T-shaped mallets. They were usually performed with the Stone Chimes.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (2852x2028) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

TIME: Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE~25 CE)

PURPOSE: This is a kind of wine container, used in grand ceremonies. It was like a real rhinoceros, not only in appearance but made to scale.

Thousands of years ago, there were herds of rhinoceroses located in China. Many states used their skin to make armour for war. In that period, many kings equipped their armies with this armour. As a result, the rhinoceros became extinct in ancient China.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (2852x2028) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

TIME: Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE)

PURPOSE: This model was used for display purposes.

The model has intricate detail, and was discovered in Guangdong Province in 1955. It is 54 cm in length and 15 cm in height.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (2852x2028) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

IMAGE: Celadon Ware Cavalrymen!

TIME: Western Jin Dynasty (265~317CE)

NOTES: Funerary objects for the wealthy elite during this period.

These artefacts have dimensions as follows: LHS length 24.0 cm and height of 23.5 cm | RHS length 37.4 cm and height of 37.5 cm

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (2852x2028) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

IMAGE: Lotiform Celadon Ware!

TIME: Northern Dynasties (420~589CE)

PURPOSE: The Zun Was a kind of drinking vessel in ancient China, but this one was made for burial with the dead. Buddhism prevailed in the Northern Dynasties and celadon ware objects were often made into lotus shapes.

This large zun was the magnum opus of celadon ware in the early Northern Dynasties. It has a height of 61.5 cm and width of 16.4 cm.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (2304x3072) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

IMAGE: Gilded Silver Plate with Lion Pattern!

TIME: Tang Dynasty (June 18, 618 - June 4, 907 CE)

NOTES: Used for decoration in the home of a wealthy individual.

This ornamental plate has a diameter 40.0 cm and height of 6.7 cm.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (2852x2028) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

IMAGE: Man Taming Horse - Tang Dynasty Figurines!

TIME: Tang Dynasty (June 18, 618 - June 4, 907 CE)

NOTES: Many historians regard this period as a cultural high point in China's civilisation.

The craftsmanship in these items is evidence of the care that was taken by the artisans of the time. The figurine of the man stands 36.8 cm in height and the horse is 40 cm in height.

IMAGE CLOSE-UP: For more detail, follow this link to a high quality (2852x2028) image, and click on the picture to enlarge it!

Sunny is a student of mine, from Hainan Middle School, who wants to be a translator one day. She is interested in reading books, listening to music and enjoys badminton and tennis.

The details on this page would not be available in English, for your enjoyment, if Sunny had not devoted her spare time to translating the difficult passages provided by the Hainan Provincial Museum in a handbook about the National Treasures Exhibition.

Should you wish to have any Chinese language documents translated, for a small fee, please contact me. I will make an enquiry with Ms Guo on your behalf ~ drs2biz.