Ancient Chinese Bronze Casting Technology

In ancient China, bronze tripod vessels were the official symbols of a kingdom’s authority.

This bronze tripod, measuring 1.13 metres high, was unearthed from a Chu king’s tomb.

Chu Kingdom (1115BC-223BC), located in the southern Yangtze River around today’s Hubei and Anhui, was one of the vessel states of the Zhou Federation and later became one of the seven most powerful kingdoms during the Spring-Autumn Period & the Warring States Era until First Emperor Qin reunited China as a centralized country in 221 BC.

A Money Tree Grows for 2,000 Years

This is a 2,000-year-old Chinese money tree true to its name, as each of its bronze leaves is in the shape of a coin.

The tree was discovered in 1990 from an East Han tomb set up in a cave on a cliff face in Sichuan Province.

This might be one of the secrets to the longevity of Chinese prosperity, temporarily halted only during a period between the late 17th and the early 20s, that is to produce your own money trees. 🤑

Two Dancers Frozen in Time for 2,000 Years

A bronze sculpture of the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD)

2,000-Year-Old Bronze Hinges

Various hinges made of bronze 2,000 years ago during the Han Dynasty.

Clearly, they can only be the products of sophisticated machines.

A 2,200-Year-Old Bronze Table Frame

The leg of the more than 2,200-year-old bronze low table frame, the Warring State Period, unearthed in 1974 from Hebei Province. The table leg has four deers at the bottom supporting four dragons that hold up the tabletop frame.

A 2,300-Year-Old Chinese Bronze Charcoal Pan

The pan was unearthed from a Warring States tomb in Hebei Province.

A 2,500-Year-Old Bronze Crossbow

Bronze crossbow, used in China before the Warring States era (475 BC – 225 BC)

A 2,800-Year-Old Bronze Wine Vessel

A bronze wine vessel unearthed from a tomb dating back to the West Zhou Period (1046 BC–771 BC)

A 3,00-Year-Old Bronze Dagger

A more than 3,000-year-old bronze dagger engraved with a double-headed centipede, a product of the Shang Dynasty, unearthed in 1964 from Shaanxi Province.

A 3,000-Year-Old Chinese Bronze Pan

The pan, with words inscribed on the bottom narrating the state and family histories, was meant to be used at a state ceremony as a symbol of power and authority.

It was unearthed from a West Zhou tomb in Shaanxi Province.

COMMENTS FROM GOOGLE PLUS

Aug 1, 2017
L Bear
Early humans were able to discern on their own all their capabilities and the infinite possibilities of their creative mind for they were closer to perfection than where we are. But then again we might be on the road to achieving it sooner than what those early ones were.

All Things Chinese
That is very true. Modern humans have lost a lot of natural abilities because we’ve subcontracted a great portion of tasks to external forces, such as machines.

Lawrence Kedz
Metalwork like this from three thousand years ago? It’s a bit difficult to digest..! Or maybe accept???

P.S., I must inform others that this should be taken in jest, as I am well aware of how far ahead of the rest of the world, I believe the Chinese were. I believe they could have been in the United States some three thousand years ago. So making a metal statue should be considered child’s play.

Michael Cannon
The Chinese craftsmen perfected bronze casting, lacquered wood, and glazed pottery at least 3000 years BC. By 500 BC they were experimenting with iron and steel, which was perfected by around 200 BC. They used blast furnaces to reach the critical heat required for carbonising iron to make steel.

As it happens, the Chinese builders of wooden structures were using mortice and tenon joinery, in the Neolithic period before metal tools.

They carved jade, an incredibly hard material, before metal tools.

In the later periods, the Tang and Song dynasties, the Chinese invented paper, moveable type printing, the compass, gunpowder, guns and rockets.

They also produced the most accurate star charts, were the first to use maps, stern hung rudders on ships…

The Chinese were light years ahead of the rest of the world for almost the entirety of existence since the Neolithic period, up until the Ming Dynasty.

And we can know all this to be true because they have 5000 years of writing. The early writings on Oracle bones can be read by contemporary scholars, as the system has remained much the same over that time span.

Most incredible history and culture

Lawrence Kedz
Hello Micheal, there is little to nothing that will surprise me about the accomplishments of the Chinese people.

I have befriended the person who runs this site and had informed her that through the course of my primary studies, I have found convincing evidence that the Chinese were in the U.S.A. over two thousand years ago! Possibly, even as many as three. And my studies ended almost twenty years ago. Recently, some possible evidence is now being analyzed for verification. However, I do believe you are acquainted with the misgivings on much of how history is, (ahem) interpreted!

Thank you for your information.

All Things Chinese
Hi, Michael, what a wonderful introduction to ancient Chinese technology.

Michael Cannon
I’m a bit of a fan of all things Chinese!! Can you tell All Things Chinese? : )

All Things Chinese
You must be, you’re so knowledgeable. I’m a fan of most things Chinese (not all) ;-))

Michael Cannon
Well yes, not all things. But in terms of history, culture, art, poetry and calligraphy, and just pure innovative creativity in metallurgy, pottery and ceramics, timber work, philosophy, hydro-engineering, shipbuilding…
Probably the most impressive thing is the continuance of the Wà Xia connection to the ancient kings; Huang Di, Yan Di, Chiyuo, Da Yu…
Figures of myth and legend, but who no doubt was much as described by Sima Qian.

It is an endlessly fascinating history, and because it is so well documented since Qin, it is easily accessible to people such as myself, who see parallels with contemporary and historical events and try to draw some useful perspective in terms of how to solve pressing issues; good governance, economic and fiscal management, problems arising in society, foreign relations…

The Chinese have experienced every possible low and high period, due to every possible cause or condition, over several millennia, and back still further several millennia before writing.

The Chinese are truly amazing people. It’s a shame that the dynastic periods didn’t end with Qing…

Or an even greater shame might be that Ming didn’t continue with the Treasure Fleet… That would have made an entirely different world history than the one of carnage and conquest the West created.

All Things Chinese
I agree with what you said. May I add one more aspect? The yin side or the hidden side of the Chinese culture, known in the West as Chinese mysticism.

This is the theoretical base of Chinese culture, from which all those practical applications grow; just like yin is the root of yang and yang is the fruit of yin.

So far, few Western scholars have touched on this topic, let alone the media guys and the politicians.

And when a few who talk about it, they do it from a philosophical or religious point of view.

But this is not philosophy, nor is it a religion. It is a theoretical foundation, a metaphysical framework and a practical application.

On the other hand, few modern Chinese scholars know much about it, let alone Chinese media guys and Chinese politicians.

Yet, if you ask me, I would say this is the most vital and interesting part of Chinese culture and have the potential to fundamentally change the viewpoint and the mindset of humanity.

Ancient Chinese Silver Inlaid Bronze Technology

A 2,400-Year-Old Silver Inlaid Bronze Cattle

This bronze cattle statue was created during the Warring States Era when China disintegrated into 7 major states fighting among each other.

A 2,500-Year-Old Silver Inlaid Bronze Wine Vessel

This wine bottle was produced during the Spring and Autumn Periods when Confucius and Lao Tzu lived.

Ancient Chinese Gilt Bronze Technology

A 2,000-Year-Old Gilt Bronze Horse

A gilt bronze horse, West Han Dynasty (206 BC – 8 AD)

A Tiger Roaring at the Sky for 2,500 Years

Chinese gilt Bronze object of the Spring & Autumn Period (770 BC – 476 BC)
Collection of British Museum

COMMENTS FROM GOOGLE PLUS

Mile HsiangYang Lee:
Why is this not in China? 😮 In the British Museum? Stolen? Plundered? Pilfered? Ransacked? Smuggled out? Sold?

All Things Chinese:
There are numerous priceless Chinese relics in the UK, US, France, Japan and other countries kept either by museums or private collectors.

At the turn of the 20th century, the troops of the Eight-Nation Alliance led by a German general entered Beijing in response to the deaths of Western Christian missionaries.

The Manchu rulers who occupied the Forbidden City fled Beijing, leaving the palace that houses numerous relics from the Ming Dynasty in the hands of the Eight-Nation Alliance officers and soldiers who just took whatever they could carry and brought them back home as war trophies.

Then after the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, which ended the Manchus’ backward and alien rule in China, the pathetic Republic Government allowed the so-called “last emperor” and his number of stepmothers to live in the rear quarter of the Forbidden City for a decade. The bastard stole and sold the treasures to art dealers from the West to support his lavish lifestyle.

A 2,500-Year-Old Double Headed Tiger

A tiger with two heads heading in opposite directions
Chinese gilt Bronze object of the Spring & Autumn Period (770 BC – 476 BC)

2,500-year-old gilt bronze belt buckle

Ancient gilt bronze belt buckle, Spring & Autumn Period (770 BC – 476 BC)

COMMENTS FROM GOOGLE PLUS

Renato Silva Abanches: 

Segurando o Dragão pelo rabo. 😊
Interessante conceito de dominar os instintos.

Milr HsiangYang Lee:
I’m sure, the slitheren from Harry Potter would love it.

All Things Chinese
The creature in The Hobbit is a different species from the Chinese dragon. Western-style dragon is a dinosaur-like giant fire lizard from a monster world associated with Western mythology, while Chinese Loong is water by nature and from a celestial domain, according to Chinese mythology.

BTW, all mythologies have some truth in them.

A 2,000-year-old gilt bronze Traffic Seal

The Seal, unearthed from a West Han tomb, allowed military commanders to access government vehicles when mobilising military forces.

2,500-Year-Old Dagger with Golden Handle

Ancient Chinese dagger and its golden handle inlaid with turquoise, Spring & Autumn Period (770 BC – 476 BC)

The details of the golden handle with turquoise stone inlay

COMMENTS FROM GOOGLE PLUS

Mile HsiangYang Lee:
This is just an ornamental piece, right? It can’t possibly be used in combat, can it? Looks to be too decorative to me – It’s just ostensible + just a showpiece, I suppose.

All Things Chinese:
I agree that must be the case. It could be used as a gift between the kings.