The Bronze Age Revisited

In the western world people do not generally think of bronze sculpture as a fine material to create incredible works of art.  However, when you consider the history of ancient China it is a very different story.  Chinese bronze are of the second and first millenia BC was one of the most incredible discoveries made in the whole scope of world art.  It all began a long, long time ago with the invention of a fascinating new material.  This material was "bronze."  It proved to be a very useful alloy made of copper and tin.  Through the careful mixing and melting of certain ores in different proportions, bronze was carefully created.  It turned out to be more hard, more lasting, and more colorful than anything else.

Today, we are not really a hundred percent sure if the secret of making bronze was brought to China from the West and Central Asia.  It is certainly a possibility that this happened, but it is very difficult to prove from the archeological evidence at hand.  In these regions, the material bronze seems to have appeared earlier than it did in China.  No matter where it originated, the Chinese used bronze differently than in other places.  In the West bronze was used for weapons and production tools.  However, in the Middle Kingdom bronze was employed for rituals and made into elegant vessels.  This fact itself might give the West a very different perspective on the subject of the "Bronze Age!"

Harlan Urwiler

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