Rhinoceros’s animals or symbol of power?
Why would a Rhinoceros be so important to anybody? I mean all they are, is simply an animal. We see animal’s every day in our lifetime, maybe not as big as a Rhino but still. Animals are animals. Well apparently not so much to the Shang Dynasty. They were so much more than that. A Rhinoceros was a very sacred symbol that showed great power. Only the emperor was allowed to own them. The Shang Dynasty was the very beginning of the Bronze Age, they had made many food and wine vessels made of gold used for ancestral offerings. These traditions still continue in China, considering there is still and Emperor.
The Artifacts that have been found in The Shang Tomb such as the disc, the chariot etc. it represented a strong government. Obviously, if you were buried with the vessels you were very high in power. The Vessels were often given to thank military officials, or people that were high in power and had done something very good for the emperor. These were very rare.
The Rhinoceros’s were actually very rare in ancient China. They used to live in China until the 14th century but then disappeared because they were used for many reasons, such as armor for the armies: they used the skin for its thickness, they used the horns for vessels to hold medicine etc. Archeologists have found the evidence of rhinoceros’s bones in many Neolithic relics. The bones may have been found in that area because the rhinos were sacrificed to the ancestors. The people believed that if the Rhinos weren’t sacrificed something bad would happen.
The first recorded history of China is from the Shang Dynasty. In the late 1920s and early 1930s a plethora of artifacts itself have been found...
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...thout any machinery, that’s impressive.
My artifact is still important to World History because the Emperors in China still practice these rituals. Also we study the Dynasty’s of China and one of the biggest achievements that had happened to China was the Bronze Age. The Bronze Age actually was such an advancement because the civilization learned how to smelt and make armor, and weapons, and vessels etc. so it was easier to mine, collect food, fight in wars, kill animals to get armor etc..
So the Rhinoceros after all isn’t just an animal according to The Song Dynasty. It is much more than that. It is a symbol of great power and achievements. It was even buried with the Emperor that owned it. It was such an honor to have a Vessel made for you. It meant that you were somebody everybody respected. You were in power of China. Which is a huge deal.
Boorstin’s bias against the Chinese is initially difficult to detect because, early on, he is constantly singing their praises; they are lauded for the organization of their government, their astronomical endeavors, their cartography, and other technological advances such as Su Sung’s astronomical clock. Later, however, they are portrayed as increasingly oblivious, naïve, and literally self-centered. On their otherwise-excellent maps, China was the central and largest figure, which accurately depicts what the Chinese thought other countries and their discoveries to be – insignificant. Regarding the invention of the clock, Boorstin stated that “Tradition, custom, institutions, language, a thousand little habits . . . became barriers,” which was why the “drama of the clock in the West was not reenacted in the East.” (Boorstin, 56) He believed that China’s barriers of the mind – their zealous nationalism and insistence that theirs was the best way – caused them to lag behind in discovery. One example of the degree that their egomania extended can be seen in their reaction to a giraffe being brought from Mozambique to the Imperial Court. Believing it to be a mythical animal signifying that all was perfect under heaven, it brought “an orgy of self-congratulation,” (Boorstin, 196) showing that “’the world’s curiosities had become mere symptoms of China’s virtue. So was revealed a Chinese Wall of the Mind
Surely, it was easily recognizable during the Early Zhou dynasty that it was a ritual wine vessel and for the wealthy to use for their offerings. But today, at first glance, it may look intimidating with its sharp points from top to bottom. The vessel has a unique shape and green patina color that catches the eye whether looking disgusting or elegant. It is also not very inviting with its rough looking texture, long spout, and awkward handle. Right where the rim of the cup starts and the spout ends are a pair of capped posts rising from the rim. Opposite from the spout is a sharp leaf-shaped rim, which could be easily mistaken as the spout, since wine could be poured out from that end too, technically. The design was modeled after a bird in flight. However, with a closer look, the detailed work on the vessel shows. This one has a somewhat thin braided or grid-like design imprinted around the whole cup, which makes it unique from other bronze vessels. Most Shang bronze vessels have a dominant motif of a frontal monster or animal-like mask known as a taotie. It typically had horns, eyes, nose, upper jaw, fangs, horns, eyebrows, and ears; therefore, sometimes could be known as opposed animal profiles or split representation as well (Cantor). Some versions include legs and a tail. With the closer look, the strong structure is more apparent as well. It is a unique one resembling a camera's tripod, though pointier and could actually be real sharp. Developed from the gu which was a goblet used for a single drinker, this jue was considered a small ewer on legs. It was a wine cup that only ancestor spirits could "hold and touch", not to mention its large size. This specific Ritual Wine Vessel measures a little over eight inches in height and a little over six inches in width due to
The dynasty was a complex, war-like society, occupied by city states. Each city state had their own rulers, but were tied to the dynasty by allegiance or kinship, creating political unity. Historians know more about the Shang society because of the written records and documents that were found in the capital, Anyang. The Shang society was divided into a class system. At the top of the system was the king and his warrior nobles, followed by the artisans, then the peasants, and at the bottom was slaves and prisoners of war. The Shang Dynasty focused their religion on ancestor worship, a belief system based on spirits of dead ancestors helping the living relatives. This religion involved sacrifices of both animals and slaves to achieve divine favor. By the 12th century, Shang leaders became oppressive and corrupt. The Shang society was dominated by the
...y extraordinarily beautiful, it was also a wealth of information about the people and culture of ancient China during his reign.
The Great Wall of China, one of the world’s eight wonders, is one of the most famous feats of human architecture in the history of the world. This ancient marvel is not only a great spectacle, but is also significant in the shaping and molding of the China everyone knows today. The Great Wall of China allowed China to possess some of the longest lived governmental structures in the world by providing a means of protection against hostile nomadic groups and other warlike peoples. This allowed the lifespans of the dynasties-- lines of hereditary rulers who rule over a country for a long period of time-- inside the wall to be prolonged. This massive structure is therefore a key part of China’s history, influencing nearly every dynasty that ruled the region, since the rise of the first emperor.
Chinese Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses is a significant sculpture that represented the armies of Qin Shi Huang (the first Emperor of China). It is also known as the eight wonders of the world. It described a strong personality and specific characteristics from that era. This amazing artwork not only shows the remarkable historical value, but also the great artistic achievement. Qin Terracotta art is a great success in both sculpture and architecture.
Overall, putting the truth about Cranes above Kaifeng aside, this hand scroll containing a painting and a poetic inscription shows how Huizong with his control over art can dictate the meaning and message an art can convey. This will lead to a manifestation of certain belief to the people of Song dynasty, which in this case is a belief that it was a Mandate from Heaven.
I visited the Oriental Institute of Chicago Museum, which contains various artifacts, I choose a Model Hippopotamus from Egypt. The hippopotamus is dated to Egypt’s Middle Kingdom, circa 1878 BC. According to wall text at the Oriental Institute of Chicago, hippopotamuses in Egyptian culture represented the enemies of the ruler. I was attracted to the Model Hippopotamus based on its size/shape, lines, texture, and the color.
Chang, Kwang-chih 1968 The Archeology of Ancient China Yale University Press, New Haven & London
and history. Many of the animals were found on the four different mountains in the world and
The twelve animals were designed in an unusual way. Normally, the twelve zodiac animals would be depicted vividly so that they can well resemble the actual animal (or the dragon in imagination). However, in the Chinatown Square Zodiacs, some of the animals have awkward square shapes in their body parts, which might even cause confusion to the visitors. For instance, other than a design of a spiral silhouette of a snake body, the Snake statue in Chinatown Square Zodiacs has a square shape for the body part. At first glance, visitors could only tell that this is the statue of Snake by the relatively precise depiction of a snake head on the top of the statue, while at the same time confused by the weird pose and shape of its body part. This kind of design could also be seen in the Ox's horns, Monkey's tails, Dragons' body part, etc. Overall speaking, some of the animals' body parts that are smooth and unwrinkled in nature are designed to have a square and aggressive shape that generates strong visual impact. Visitors could recognize each animal when observing them, while at the same time acknowledge that they all have different shapes from their prototypes in the real world. This special design exerts a sense of holiness onto the twelve zodiac animals, implying that all of the zodiac animals are sacred creatures that should not be
...u wavered between an essentialist reduction of their nature to those aspects of it that the Chinese found particularly shameful and a more favorable appreciation of their intelligence and flexibility. Likewise, some Xiongnu customs, such as their preference of the young over the elderly, are depicted as simple reversals of Chinese customs. The description of the political organization of the Xiongnu, for example, gives an impression of efficient government rather than backward tyranny. In fact, its sophisticated combination of centralized control and decentralized administration seemed well suited to provoke the admiration of Sima Qian’s Chinese readers, many of whom were critical of the unwieldy governmental bureaucracy of the Han. His descriptions of the Xiongnu underlined the limits of the expansion of Han civilization in the steppe regions of northern Asia.
Chinese dragons do not have the same physical features as western dragons. In ancient Chinese art the look of the dragon went through various changes. "Snake – like figures have been found painted on pottery dating to the Shang d...
Modern-day genetic technology has granted mankind with the opportunity to bring back extinct species from the dead. If humans have come to possess the DNA from an extinct animal population, it is possible to create an identical clone of the animal in question, effectively “bringing it back from the dead”. Many ethical dilemmas surround the practice of de-extinction, and rightfully so. Recreating an extinct species could produce groundbreaking scientific breakthroughs, generating exciting opportunities for future genetics-based research. However, there could also be monumental consequences: the newly revived, once-extinct species might destroy the ecological equilibrium of modern Earth
In our world today we have approximately 26,021 endangered species. Endangered species are organisms that may possible become extinct. The term 'endangered species' refers to all species that fits this description. However some conservation biologists and scientists normally use the term ‘endangered species’ to refer to species that are put on the IUCN(International Union for Conservation of Nature)Red List. Many factors can be looked at when considering the conservation status of a species. Factors such as human threats or environmental threats can cause a species to become endangered.