Valerie Henriquez, TC ’27

Three thousand years ago, bronzes like this gui vessel played a central role in both daily life and the afterlife of the elite in China. This serving vessel dates to the second half of the Western Zhou dynasty, around 800 B.C.E. It features an intricate serpentine design. This type of vessel was used throughout the Shang and Zhou dynasties. It features a rounded base, handles, and animal motifs. Such vessels were made to hold ritual food offerings, such as grain, and placed in ancestral tombs.

You can see that the wide-mouthed bowl sits on a cylindrical base that flares outward, giving it a balanced form. The gui contains two handles on its sides. The handles take the shape of birds’ heads, with long beaks and feathered crests. From the side, the vessel has two flamelike ridges on the upper portion of the bowl and two serpentlike designs on the lower half. The bowl’s exterior is also decorated with two symmetrical circles that look like the eyes of an animal. The left and right sides carry symmetrical spirals and cane-shaped designs.

Beyond its elegant form, a 104-character inscription on the inside of the bowl dates the vessel to around 800 B.C.E and suggests that this vessel was cast as a set. It was created during property negotiations involving an elite man, Diao Sheng, and his relatives following his father’s death. The text records a lawsuit in which the family’s matriarch decided the dispute. Such inscriptions emphasize Zhou-dynasty values of respect, order, and hierarchy, showcasing the importance of ancestor worship.

Through its zoomorphic motifs, its form, and its enduring bronze material, this vessel gives us a glimpse into Zhou-dynasty understandings of spirituality and the afterlife. The placement of vessels like this one in tombs also highlights the importance of ancestors and the belief in a life beyond death. During the Zhou dynasty, elites invited spirits of deceased ancestors to ceremonial meals, treating them as if they still required food and drink. This vessel created a material bridge between the living and the dead. Bronze is more durable than perishable materials like wood. To the Zhou elite, vessels like this one symbolized a lasting connection between the living and the spirits of their ancestors.