Dragon and Taotie Motifs on a 12th-Century B.C.E. Fangyi Bronze Ritual Wine Vessel

Crossman, Emma

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Dragon and Taotie Motifs on a 12th-Century B.C.E. Fangyi Bronze Ritual Wine Vessel Open Access Deposited

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Date Uploaded: 08/29/2023
Date Modified: 08/29/2023

This 12th Century B.C.E. Bronze Wine Vessel comes from the Anyang Province in China, dating to the Shang Dynasty, one of the earlier dynasties that ruled in ancient China. The shape of the vessel is a rectangular prism with a square base and 4 thick legs. The lid of this Fangyi is a roughly pyramidal shape with a knob that echoes the shape of the lid. This wine vessel was used for ceremonial purposes, most likely for ancestral worship. Not particularly used for only wine, these vessels also held cooked and raw meat, and grains or other foods, as an offering to the gods and ancestors. Alcohol held in the Fangyi was a liquor, made out of a grain called millet. Comprised of three registers each face of the vessel the same, the bronze is cast and carved to have dragon motifs, taotie masks, and a consistent thunder pattern spiral across the body of the Fangyi. The lid of the Fangyi also has taotie masks on each of sides. The dragons on the body of this vessel represent many things, but most importantly, a harbinger of good luck, prosperity, and consistent success. The taotie masks are elusive in Chinese culture- their original meanings have been lost, but they are thought to represent “animalistic energies… to heal and to offer solace in a world full of diffuse and supernatural forces,” or the finality of death. The spiral pattern is meant to emulate clouds and rolling thunder, symbolizing life-giving rain and abundance.

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