(>2 



rill-: .\Mi:iac.\.\ misi-jm .ioihsal 



BRONZE H I LL - CENSER" 17 IN. HIGHI 



Fii'st t.\|)i' of Ciiincse censer made. JIan 

 dynasty 



(tilt torcijiii iiiHiicncc. .\iicc.sT(tr 

 worsliip, always the Icailin;: feature 

 of all I'cli^ioiis Keiief aiiKiii^ the 

 ( liincsc, (lc\cl()])C(| its liiulily clalxt- 

 ratcd (•(■rciiionials (liiriiifi these dy- 

 nasties. The rilnal nf the >aei'i- 

 ficial sei\ ice increased in niinute- 

 iicss of detail and atVeded pnMic 

 and |)n\ ate life licfoi-e the ( lion oi' 

 last of the Ancient Dynasties, wlien 

 it reached its hi<ihest de\'elopiiient ; 

 while the hroii/e hell^ and saci'i- 

 (icial \e.ssels of manifold forms, 

 eaeli devoted to especial pur])(tses 

 and decorated with a ureal \ai-iety 

 of symholic ornament, heai- witness 

 to the cultnre and crealixc ten- 

 dency of the Shan y or middlepei-iod. 

 Following' the Three Ancient l)\tiasties came the time of the |-',mperor 

 Shi-lman^-ti (255 to 2()() B.C.) wlio hiiilt the >;feat Chinese wall, (nder 

 the cruel law of this emperor anticjuities had to he concealed li'->t they he 

 destroyed. WwX after this the Han jH'riod (2()(i B. ('. to 25 A. D.) proved 

 a very productive time marked by external influences comhiiied with nnic-h 

 nati\-e originality. .\nd still nmch later than the Han period, dnrinu the 

 late Sung period (9(10 to 1 12(i A. D.) there was a great art renaissance, when 

 hronzes hidden in ancient times were diseovered and studied from a critieal 

 ])oint of \iew. 



It should he recalled that the art of hronze easting had reached perfec- 

 tion at the earliest ])eriod of the .Vueient Dynasties. The Emperor ^'ii 

 (2205 to 2H)S 15. ('.) is said to ha\'e cast the "Nine 'I'rijxtds"' fi-om hronze 

 contributed from the nine ])rovinees, ui)()u which majjs and records of the 

 nine (li\isions of his em])ire were engra\-ed. These tripods passed from 

 dynasty to dynasty as emblems of the imperial power for o\'er two thousand 

 years. 



The |)eriod of the manufacture of the bronzes in the Museum extends 

 from the eighteenth century Ix'fore ( hrist to the scNcnteenth century after. 

 The collection therefore allows the unusual pri\ilege of comparing original 

 e.\ami)les of the early Shang and ( "hou periods and of the somewhat less 

 early Han ])eriod with those of the later Sung and Ming periods. This 

 comparison j)ro\es the forms similar in the ancient and later work, but 

 shows changes in detail, ornament and utility. Among the oldest pieces 



