Résumé Une centaine de bronzes de styles très divers ont été découverts dans une tombe à cistes et dans trois dépôts funéraires situés à Moutuo, dans le district de Mao (Maoxian) au Sichuan. D'un caractère hétérogène sans précédent, cet assemblage comprend 1) des vases et des cloches provenant des États de la Chine des Zhou — l'un d'eux, un tripode ding dans le style de Chu, porte une inscription — ; 2) des objets provenant d'ateliers situés dans le bassin du fleuve Bleu en dehors de la sphère culturelle des Zhou ; 3) un nombre considérable d'armes de « Ba-Shu » fabriquées dans le bassin du Sichuan ; et 4) un ensemble composé d'armes et d'ornements dont l'origine est difficile à préciser, mais qui montrent des ressemblances particulières à la fois avec des objets relevant des traditions steppiques et avec des bronzes de Dian. L'ensemble de ces bronzes permet de poser de nouvelles questions quant au caractère de la « culture des tombes à cistes » des montagnes du Sichuan occidental à la fin de l'Âge du Bronze, et plus généralement de s'interroger sur les échanges qui s'établissaient avec des régions écartées, situées à la périphérie de la Chine des Zhou. Avant de poser des questions de portée plus large, il convient d'établir la chronologie de tous ces objets. Cette tâche soulève de nombreux problèmes, en partie parce que la chronologie générale des découvertes archéologiques du Sichuan qui est communément acceptée de nos jours souffre de graves lacunes et présente des contradictions. Comme, dans l'assemblage de Moutuo, aucun vase ni aucune cloche relevant de la sphère culturelle des Zhou ne semble postérieur à la période des Printemps et Automnes (770-481 avant J.-C), on peut penser qu'il en est de même pour le reste du mobilier, bien qu'il soit encore impossible de le définir sur le plan archéologique dans le contexte du bassin du Sichuan. Si cette hypothèse est correcte, il en résulte que : 1) la datation sans distinction de toutes les armes de « Ba-Shu » (et de tout contexte archéologique associé à ce type d'armes) ramenée à la période des Royaumes combattants (481-221 avant J.-C.) ne tient plus aujourd'hui ; 2) les objets difficiles à identifier sur le plan culturel à Moutuo seraient représentatifs de la production métallurgique du Sichuan occidental et formeraient un jalon, en raison aussi bien de leur datation que de la position géographique du site, dans la diffusion souvent postulée — mais qui jusqu'à présent n'avait pu être démontrée faute de sites — d'éléments culturels de la steppe eurasiatique vers le Yunnan au cours de l'Âge du Bronze. Ce phénomène, d'une portée historique importante, annonce la genèse de la culture de Dian.

Lothar von Falkenhausen Unhersity of California, Los Angeles Department of Art History 405Hilgard A\enue Los Angeles, Ca. 90024-1417, USA

The Moutuo Bronzes :

New Perspectives

on the Late Bronze Age in Sichuan

The Late Bronze Age cemetery at Moutuo(1), Mao Xian(2), in the Aba(3) Tibetan and Qiang(4) Autonomous District of western Sichuan, has yielded the most startlingly heterogenous archaeological assemblage in East Asia to-date1. A single tomb and three caches at this site, all apparently interred within a short span of time, contained more than 100 bronze objects of different geographical origins, suggesting far-flung ties to various parts of China, Inner Asia, and Southeast Asia (map 1). These bronzes open a new perspective on the Late Bronze Age (very roughly, in this region, 1000-100 BC) archaeological chronologies and cultural processes of the Sichuan area, as well as raising some general issues concerning the significance of prestige goods in their specific local contexts.

Problems With the «Ba-Shu»(5)

Cultural Sequence

Sichuan, self-contained and geographically remote from the dynastic centers of the early Chinese states, has only recently come into focus as an area of importance to the study of the Bronze Age. Archaeological work undertaken since the middle of the century has identified indigenous regional cultures that differ markedly, both from the Shang and Zhou court traditions, and from other contemporary regional bronze-producing cultures. Great interest has been aroused especially by the spectacular and highly distinctive bronze statues and ornaments from two sacrificial pits at Sanxing- dui(6), Guanghan(7)-2 datable to the second half of the second millennium BC — the time contemporary with the Shang dynasty. While the statues and much of the utilitarian pottery from the surrounding area are unparalleled elsewhere, other kinds of objects found at Sanxingdui — bronze vessels, ritual ceramics, and jades — do show links to contemporary or slightly earlier Bronze Age cultures further to the east. It appears probable that metropolitan Shang bronze-casting technology, together with some awareness of Shang élite culture and its paraphernalia, was introduced into the Sichuan Basin during the Erligang(8) period {ca. 1550-1350 BC), perhaps by way of some cultural intermediary in the Middle Yangzi(9) and/or the Upper Han(10) river systems. These

vations were accommodated into a cultural milieu very distinct from that of the Shang, and after the initial diffusion, local developments followed along their own trajectories. It was only after its conquest by Qin(11) in the late fourth century BC that the Sichuan Basin was gradually assimilated to an emerging unified Chinese culture.

Even before the Sanxingdui discoveries, sundry finds from early Bronze Age sites in the Sichuan basin (formerly referred to as the «Guanghan Culture»3, a term recently replaced in some writings by « Sanxingdui Culture »4) had prompted scholars to suggest that the bronze-casting tradition in that area owed its initial stimulus to an «Erligang impact»5. That connections with the dynastic centers in the Yellow River system continued during later epochs is attested by the often- noted similarity of some much later locally-produced bronze weapons from Sichuan to Shang and Western Zhou products. These weapons, customarily assigned to the so-called « Ba-Shu Culture » and dated, for the most part, to the fifth to third centuries BC, must have been derived in a continuous line of typological development from Zhou imports ; closely-related antecedents for the major dagger-axe, dagger, and spear types have been found at the important Western Zhou cemeteries of Zhuyuangou(12) and Rujiazhuang(13), Baoji(14) (Shaanxi), which are located near one of the likely early routes of communication into Sichuan6. The Western Zhou prototypes continued to be followed by Sichuan casters long after they had become obsolete in their areas of origin. At the same time, the pottery inventory of the «Ba-Shu Culture» suggests local continuity with Sanxingdui and contemporary sites.

But in spite of claims by local archaeologists, many of whom see the Sanxingdui finds as an early manifestation of the local polity of Shu(15) of the Warring States period, such cultural continuity remains so far archaeologically unverified. The Sanxingdui finds are still virtually isolated in their period, relatable only to a small number of sites of approximately contemporaneous date. By all indications, they represent a flo- rescent Early Bronze Age culture, which, besides high-level bronze casting, featured large walled settlements comparable in size and construction to the Shang capitals, with large buildings of timbered construction. Yet the seven centuries or so separating it from the « Ba-Shu Culture » of the Late Bronze Age are almost devoid of finds. The only discoveries usually dated to that timespan are two caches of bronze weapons, tools, and ritual vessels from Zhuwajie(16), Peng Xian(17)7. The

Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996 29

T \ f <-* .-•> U A/^ LIAOMNG

Map 1 : Map of China with place names occuring in the text. Carte 1 : Carte de la Chine mentionnant les noms qui apparaissent dans le texte. Anhui : 1 Dongzhi. 2 Shou Xian, 3 Su Xian, 4 Tunxi Beijing : 1 Changping Gansu : 1 Lingtai Guangxi : 1 Binyang, 2 Gui Xian, 3 Lipu, 4 Luchuan Henan : 1 Hui Xian, 2 Shaan Xian, 3 Xichuan, 4 Xun Xian, 5 Zhengzhou Hubei : 1 Jiangling Hunan : 1 Ningxiang Jiangsu : 1 Dantu Liaoning : 1 Lingyuan Inner Mongolia : 1 Xingcheng Shaanxi : 1 Baoji Shandong : 1 Tengzhou Shanxi : 1 Houma, 2 Hunyuan Sichuan : 1 Baoxing, 2 Chengdu, 3 Ganzi, 4 Guanghan, 5 Luhuo, 6 Mao Xian (Maowen), 7 Peng Xian, 8 Puge, 9 Shimian, 10 Wenchuan, 11 Xichang, 12Xide, 13 Xindu, 14 Yingjing, 15 Yanyuan Yunnan : 1 Chenggong, 2 Deqin, 3 Jianchuan, 4 Jiangchuan, 5 Jinning, 6 Midu, 7 Ninglang, 8 Xiangyun

Early Western Zhou date usually given for these finds is based on the style of the vessels only, which were long regarded as products of Zhou metropolitan workshops, though the possibility that they might have been produced in Sichuan has also been raised8. It appears to have disturbed no one that the bronze weapons and tools from the same caches are extremely similar stylistically to «Ba-Shu» items found in the area that are conventionally dated to the Warring States period. Contemporaneous evidence that could help contextualize the Zhuwajie assemblages is completely lacking; and, perhaps because of the different nature of the deposits and of the objects buried, stylistic or typological continuities with the earlier finds from nearby Sanxingdui are not pronounced.

After Zhuwajie, synthesizing accounts of archaeology in Sichuan invariably jump immediately to the «Ba-Shu» finds of the Warring States period9. Some local fieldworkers have admitted the possibility that finds datable to the timespan between the Middle Western Zhou (ca. 950-850 BC) and the end of the Springs and Autumns period (ca. 450 BC) may have been made, but remain «unrecognized» to-date10. The Moutuo finds provide some evidence that may begin to fill this gap.

Springs and Autumns Period

Bronzes from the Sichuan Basin

Before turning to the Moutuo finds, however, it seems useful briefly to reexamine the «Ba-Shu» archaeological record as well as the rationale behind the current habit of dating all of it — except for the Zhuwajie hoards — indiscriminately to the Warring States period. Various Late Bronze Age sites in Sichuan have, in fact, yielded bronzes that are datable to the problematic timespan between the Middle Western Zhou and the end of the Springs and Autumns period — bronzes imported from areas within the Zhou realm as well as objects locally manufactured in imitation of such imports. Some of them had been deposited a long time after their likely time of manufacture. This is true, for instance, of eight vessels from Jiulian-dun(18), Xindu(19) (Sichuan), found in a rich tomb that can be dated to the first half of the fourth century BC, based on, inter alia, its similarity in layout to Middle Warring States Chu(20) aristocratic tombs, and its imported Chu-style bronze tripods (some of which bear Chu-related inscriptions)11. The vessels enumerated below,

30 Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996

however, contrast stylistically with the other objects in the assemblage, suggesting that they may have been made in an earlier time :

1. and 2. A chain-handled/oM(21) and ajiani22) are decorated with patterns of jagged relieved hooks12, closely resembling the ornamentation style of the bronzes from the tomb of Marquis Shen of Cai(23) (d. 491 BC) at Ximen- nei(24), Shou Xian (25) (Anhui)13. Most of the Cai(26) vessels are products of Late Springs and Autumns period Chu palace workshops, and the same may be true of the Jiu- liandun fou and jian, although their poor casting quality has prompted the speculation that they were produced in Sichuan in imitation of Chu models. 3. A yan(27\ consisting of a stout-legged tripod bottom and a wide-bodied steamer top, features ornaments of bands of interlaced dragons separated by cord-shaped ridges, flanked by narrower bands of spiral-filled triangles14. The idiosyncratic, geometricized character of the ornamentation (as well as the alternation of large and small triangles on the band closest to the rim — a feature never observed on vessels from within the Zhou culture area) make it appear probable that this is a local Sichuan product, made in imitation of a Late Springs and Autumns period object

imported from the Zhou realm. 4.-8. Five /e/(28) have decoration in high relief, consisting of whorl-decorated shoulder plaques and downward-pointed lancets, the latter being filled with a pattern of juxtaposed dragons whose bodies merge at the tip15. Each vessel's two handles are ornamented with bovine heads. This is a well- known vessel-type produced at metropolitan workshops during the Middle and Late Western Zhou period (see figs. 3 a-b and 4)16. Again, the somewhat abbreviated treatment of the decoration on the Jiuliandun specimens suggests the possibility that they were made in imitation of an imported model.

Another rich «Ba-Shu» tomb, at Baihuatan(29), Chengdu (30) (Sichuan)17, a terminus post quern for which is furnished by an imported Early Warring States period hiPX) with pictorial decor, also yielded a ding(22) with laterally-attached handles, lacking its cover18. The vessel's surface ornamentation consists of multiple small, interlocking, though not interlaced, dragon-derived units — a fairly generic pattern that was produced at a number of workshops throughout the Zhou realm during the sixth and early fifth centuries BC. Again, the lack of sharp definition of the decoration, as well as the awkward joining of the handles to the vessel-body, suggest the possibility that this ding may be a local imitation rather than a Springs and Autumns period Zhou import, though the possibility that these features are due to protracted use and incompetent repairs should also be considered.

Whether imported or made locally, the objects so far enumerated show at least indirectly that Middle to Late Western Zhou to Springs and Autumns period bronze vessels produced in the Zhou realm were present in the «Ba-Shu» culture area during the Late Bronze Age. In other archaeological contexts, a Warring States period deposition date is not as clear as at Jiuliandun and Baihuatan. Some bronzes of Late Western Zhou to Springs and Autumns period date were discovered by themselves, without associated artifacts — such as a lei vessel

from Jinma(33), Chengdu19, which represents the Middle to Late Western Zhou type already seen at Jiuliandu, and a z/mn(34) from Wuxiandianjixie Xuexiao(35), Chengdu20. This zhan basically resembles mid-sixth century Chu vessels of the same class {cf. fig. 11), but the banded, dragon-derived ornaments on the cover of this vessel show greater similarity to Chu prototypes than do those on the vessel body, which is rather poorly cast, suggesting that the cover of an imported vessel might have been fitted onto a locally manufactured container.

In other contexts, bronzes of Late Western Zhou or Springs and Autumns date have been found in association with objects of local, «Ba-Shu» manufacture. Instances include the assemblages from the badly-damaged tombs no. 1 and 2 at Qingyang Xiaoqu(36), Chengdu21. Tomb no. 1 yielded a lei (fig. 3 b) similar in shape to the specimens from Jiuliandun and Jinma, as well as a covered ding with interlocking-dragon decor (fig. 10 a) resembling the above-mentioned specimen from Baihuatan, but of better-quality execution. Tomb no. 2 yielded the cover of a similar ding. Both tombs, as well as two others in the same locality, also yielded «Ba-Shu» weapons and bronze implements. Closer to Moutuo, a lei identical in shape and ornamentation to the specimens from Jiuliandun, Jinma, and Qingyang Xiaoqu was found in the mountain village of A'er- cun(37\ Wenchuan(38) 22. This vessel contained a dagger blade of a type widespread in the southwest and also seen at Moutuo (see below, section G, nos. 8-9).

The A'ercun lei was reported — correctly, I believe — as a Western Zhou piece, though its date of interment may be considerably later. All the other discoveries just enumerated, on the other hand, were dated by their excavators to the Warring States period — based entirely on the logic that, since vessels such as these also occur in contexts such as Jiuliandun and Baihuatan, which are incontrovertibly of Warring States date, other contexts yielding such objects must date to the same period. The presence of «Ba-Shu» weapons is often taken as an additional indicator of such a date. But the placement of virtually all «Ba-Shu» weapons (except for those from Zhuwajie, mentioned above) in the Warring States period reposes, in turn, solely on their occurrence in contexts such as Jiuliandun and Baihuatan, datable to that period on the basis of other associated evidence23. Such circular reasoning is obviously fallacious. When evidence positively datable to the Warring States period is absent, it should be admitted that contexts yielding Late Western Zhou and Springs and Autumns period vessels in association with «Ba-Shu» weapons (such as the Qingyang Xiaoqu tombs) can, in principle, pre-date the Warring States ; and contexts where « Ba-Shu » weapons occur by themselves without other chronological indicators may date anywhere between the Western Zhou period and the end of the Bronze Age. The stylistic seriation of such weapons remains a task for future research24. While many of them may have been manufactured during Warring States times, treating them as diagnostic for that period date seems inappropriate.

Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996 31

Neighbors of the «Ba-Shu» Culture

The foregoing discussion is of relevance because the preliminary report on the Moutuo finds, as well, proposes a Warring States period date based principally on the presence of «Ba-Shu» weapons — even though, as we shall see, many objects from that site are probably earlier in date. What complicates the situation is that Moutuo is not a site of the « Ba- Shu» culture. It belongs to a distinctive, as-yet incompletely known local phase that flourished in the valleys of the Min(39) river and its tributaries in the high mountain ranges on the western flanks of the Sichuan Basin. The term « Lifan(40) Culture», used for related remains in some older accounts25, seems to have dropped from usage; Michèle Pirazzoli-t'Ser- stevens has coined the term «Stone-Cist Building Culture», distinguishing it from the subtly different (though possibly related) «Dolmen-Building Culture» further to the south and southwest26. From coins and other datable objects found in tombs of both cultures, it is evident that the chronology of both cultures extends into the Han dynasty; their origins in the Bronze Age are still hazy27.

Moutuo is by far the richest, as well as possibly the earliest, site of the « Stone-Cist Building Culture » discovered to-date. Though only about 100 kms. upstream from the famous Dujiangyan(41) weir, where the Min river was diverted in the early third century BC to irrigate the Chengdu Plain, the area seems worlds apart from the bustling, sweltering Sichuan Basin. The narrow valley, separated from the Basin by the 5000-meter high mountains of the Chapingshan(42) range, and bordered by the Tibetan highlands on the west, has a dry, cool climate ; culturally-mixed to this day, it is still predominantly inhabited by non-Han populations (Qiang, Tibetans), who practice herding in conjunction with farming. The Moutuo discoveries intimate that this area was a crossroads of cultures in ancient times, as well.

No settlements have been excavated that might document the lifeways of the ancient populations who built cist tombs of thinly-cut slabs of a slate-like stone that is abundant in the region. These tombs are clearly distinct, not only from tombs in the Shang and Zhou core areas, but also from those of the contemporaneous archaeological cultures in the nearby Chengdu plain and elsewhere in Sichuan. Connections with burial customs to the north seem evident: stone-slab tombs are widespread across north-central and northeastern Eurasia, and the pottery, which has its closest parallels in Chalco- lithic and Bronze Age cultures in Gansu and Qinghai, evinces broad Siberian and Mongolian similarities28. As we shall see below, such affinities extend to the bronze inventory as well. Whether they indicate anything with regard to the ethnic affiliation of the cist-tomb builders cannot now be verified. Certainly, however, the presence of such remains in western Sichuan during the first millennium BC attests to general cultural, and quite possibly geopolitical, alignments. By contrast, the «Ba-Shu» culture in the Sichuan Basin, as well as the preceding Sanxingdui culture, were much more strongly oriented towards the Bronze Age cultures of the Yellow and Yangzi river systems.

Map 2 : The site of Moutuo, MaoXian (Sichuan). After Wenwu 1994.3 : 6, fig. 2. Carte 2 : Le site de Moutuo. district de Mao Xian (Sichuan). D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 6. fig. 2.

The Moutuo Tombs

Moutuo is located on a terrace overlooking the Min river. The excavated area (map 2) comprises one piled-stone tomb (robbed empty before excavation and not reported on at any detail), one stone-cist tomb (Ml ; see fig. 1), as well as three funerary caches, labelled Kl to 3 (fig. 2) ; they were undoubtedly part of a larger cemetery, which seems largely to have eroded away. Kl probably belonged to the same funerary complex as Ml; K2 and K3, which had been disturbed before excavation, may have been connected with another tomb, now destroyed.29

Ml was found intact. The stone-cist, which measures 2.74x0.71 m, comprised three narrow head-compartments where pottery storage vessels filled with meat, grains, fruits, and tubers stood in orderly rows30. Other funerary goods were spread throughout the coffin chamber, including 69 items of bronze, 35 of stone and jade, and one bamboo arrow. The coffin-chamber was laid out with bamboo mats, which in turn were covered with seventeen layers of textile fabric. 362 agate, turquoise, and glass-frit beads had probably once been affixed, like sequins, to the deceased person's clothes. The excavators argue that, given the complete absence of preserved human remains, the tomb might have been a warrior's cenotaph31, but this seems uncertain.

While the pottery and the stone implements are likely to have been of local manufacture, the vast majority of the bronzes were imported, some from the nearby Sichuan Basin, others from further away. By relating them to known specimens from other areas, one may obtain an idea about the extent of contact networks involving the «Stone-Cist Building Culture, » as well as about the date of deposition. At a

functional level, the bronzes may be classified as vessels (numbering 14), bells (13), ornaments (22), and weapons (53). The

following discussion will, however, follow a somewhat less systematic order of presentation.

32 Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996

Fig. 1. Tomb no. 1 at Moutuo. Mao Xian (Sichuan). Late Bronze Age (late sixth-early fifth century BC?). a) Plan. After Wenwu 1994.3 : 7, fig. 3. b) Section. After Wenwu 1994.3 : 8, fig. 4. Fig. 1. Tombe n° 1 de Moutuo. district de Mao Xian (Sichuan). Fin de l'Age du Bronze (fin \f -début Ve siècle av. J.-C?) a) Plan. D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 7, fig. 3. b) Coupe. D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 8, fig. 4.

a Q 509*

Fig. 2. Cache no. 1 at Moutuo. Mao Xian (Sichuan). Late Bronze Age (late sixth-early fifth century BC?). a) Plan. After Wenwu 1994.3 : 9. fig. 6.1. b) Section. After Wenwu 1994.3 : 9. fig. 6.2. Fig. 2. Fosse de dépôt n° 1 de Moutuo. district de Mao Xian (Sichuan). Fin de l'Age du Bronze (fin \f -début Ve siècle av. J.-C?) a) Plan. D'après Wenwu 1994. 3 : 9, fig. 6.1. b) Coupe. D'après Wenwu 1994 3 : 9, fig. 6.2.

Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996 33

Fig. 3. Bronze lei vessels a) Shanghai Museum (?) (probably from Shaanxi). II. unclear. Middle to Late Western Zhou (tenth- ninth century DC). After Ma Chengyuan, Zhongguo qingtongqi (Shanghai: Shanghai Guji chubanshe, 1988). p. 239. fig. 5. b) From tomb no. 1 at Qingyang Xiaoqu, Chengdu (Sichuan). II. 23.5 cm. Possibly imported from Shaanxi, Late Western Zhou (ninth century DC), or a local imitation of later date. After Wenwu 1989.5: 33, fig. 4.4. c) From tomb no. 1 at Moutuo, Mao Xian (Sichuan). 11. 32 cm. Middle Yangzi river regional culture, eighth-sixth century DC. After Wenvvu 1994.3: 12, fig. 14.1. (see also infra fig. 4). d) From Lipu, Limu (Guangxi) (rubbing of decoration detail). II. 54 cm. Middle Yangzi river regional culture, eighth-sixth century DC, or local imitation of slightly later date. After Kaogu 1984.9: 803. fig. 6.1.4. e) Enlarged impression from a bronze seal excavated at Jiuliandun, Xindu (Sichuan). L. 3.5 cm. Fourth century DC. After Xu Zhongshu, éd., Ba Shu kaogu lunwenji (Deijing : Wenwu. 1987), cover. Fig. 3. Vases en bronze de type lei. a) Musée de Shanghai (?) (provenant probablement du Shaanxi). IL non donnée. Phase moyenne ou tardive des Zhou Occidentaux f^-ix" siècle av. J.-C). D'après Ma Chengyuan, Zhongguo qingtongqi (Shanghai: Shanghai Guji chubanshe, 1988), p. 239, fig. 5. b) Découvert dans la tombe n" 1 de Qingyang Xiaoqu, municipalité de Chengdu (Sichuan). II. 23,5 cm. Probablement importé du Shaanxi, phase tardive des Zhou Occidentaux (i\e siècle av. J.-C.) ou imitation locale de date postérieure. D'après Wenwu 1989.5 : 33,fig. 4.4. c) Découvert dans la tombe n° 1 de Moutuo. district de Mao Xian (Sichuan). IL 32 cm. Culture régionale du cours moyen du fleuve Dieu. \vf-\f siècle av. J.-C. D'après Wenvvu 1994.3 : 12,fig. 14.1. (voir aussi ci-après ftg. 4). d) Provenant de Lipu. district de Limu (Guangxi) (estampage d'un détail de la décoration). II. 54 cm. Culture régionale du cours moyen du fleuve Dieu, \uf-\f siècle av. J.-C, ou imitation locale de date un peu plus tardive. D'après Kaogu 1984.9 : 803, fig. 6.1,4. e) Empreinte agrandie d'un sceau découvert dans la tombe de Jiuliandun, district de Xindu (Sichuan). L. 3,5 cm. ne siècle av. J.-C. D'après Xu Zhongshu, éd.. Ba Shu kaogu lunwenji (Beijing : Wenwu, 1987, 1987, couverture.

34 Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996

fig. 4. Bronze lei vessel from tomb no. 1 at Moutuo, MaoXian (Sichuan). II. 32 cm. Middle Yangzi river regional culture, eighth- sixth century DC. After Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji v. 13 (Ba Shu), Beijing : W'enwu chubanshe, 1994, pi 82 (see also supra fig. 3 c). Fig. 4. Vase en bronze de type lei découvert dans la tombe n° 1 de Moutuo, district de Mao Xian (Sichuan). II. 32 cm. Culture régionale du cours moyen du fleuve Bleu, \nf-\f siècle av. J.-C. D'après Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji v. 13 (Ba Shu), Beijing : W'enwu chubanshe, 1994, pi. 82 (voir aussi supra fig. 3 c).

The Moutuo Bronzes

A. Lei Containers

Possibly the oldest object found at Moutuo is a large lei from K332, which represents the Middle to Late Western Zhou metropolitan type observed above in the specimens from Jiu- liandun, Jinma, Qingyang Xiaoqu (cf. fig. 3 b), and A'ercun. A second, somewhat different lei (figs. 3 c and 4) was found placed atop the stone cist of Ml33. It contrasts with the first specimen in its slightly distorted proportions, its crudely-executed ornaments, and its exaggerated, awkwardly-shaped handles, which have upward extensions ending in animal heads. Moreover, the surface decoration of this vessel — consisting of bands of abstract, dragon-derived units {qiequwen *43') on the neck and foot, a single band of horizontal scales around the shoulder, and, on the vessel-body, triangular

downward-pointed lancets filled with a pattern of juxtaposed dragon bodies similar to that seen on the lei from K3 — is not raised in relief, but fiat and defined by double sunken-line contours.

To judge by their relatively wide distribution, lei of the first type appear to have been a metropolitan Zhou export article of choice to the southern peripheries. Lei of the second type are characteristic for the regional bronze-casting cultures that flourished between the eighth to sixth centuries BC in the

Middle Yangzi region and adjacent areas, e.g. in Hunan and Guangxi (fig. 3 d)34, where they were manufactured in imitation of prototypes imported from the Zhou realm35. In the Sichuan Basin, a local preference for lei can be traced back to the early part of the Bronze Age: vessels of this class are predominant at both Sanxingdui and Zhuwajie, possibly because were easily assimilable in function to locally-current ceramic vessel types. By the time of the «Ba-Shu» culture, there are indications that lei were regarded as more than merely useful objects: a seal excavated at Jiuliandun (fig. 3 e) conspicuously depicts a lei flanked by bells and other objects in what seems to be a ritual context, intimating that these vessels must have been endowed with symbolic significance, perhaps as lineage treasures whose possession connoted power and legitimacy36. Too little is known about the use of such seals, and about « Ba- Shu » ritual customs in general, to allow inferences about the precise meaning of the motif; and it is even more uncertain whether participants in the «Stone-Cist Building Culture» conceived of lei in the same way as their « Ba-Shu» neighbors. Still, it seems likely that the Moutuo lei, notwithstanding their different areas of origin, had been obtained by way of the Sichuan Basin.

Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996 35

Fig. 6. Bronze bo bell in the Musée Guimet, Paris (accession number CO 1260).

II. 62 cm. Eastern part of Zhou culture sphere, second half of seventh century BC. Photo : Thierry Ollivier / collection

of the Musée Guimet. Fig. 6. Cloche en bronze de type bo,

Musée Guimet, Paris (n° d'inventaire CO 1260). II. 62 cm.

Partie orientale de la sphère culturelle Zhou, deuxième moitié du \if siècle av. J.-C.

Photo : Thierry Ollivier / collection du Musée Guimet.

Fig. 5. Bronze bo belt from cache no. 1 at Moutuo. II. 22.7 cm. Castern part of Zhou culture sphere, second half of seventh century BC. After Wenwu 1994.3, -32. fig. 51.3. Fig. 5. Cloche en bronze de type bo découverte dans la fosse n° 1 de Moutuo. II. 22,7 cm. Partie orientale de la sphère culturelle Zhou, deuxième moitié du \if siècle av. J.-C. D'après Wenvvu 1994.3 : 32, fig. 51.3.

-fer %r*7

• 1 ' ' fgS^JÎi^

Opposite : Fig. 7. Bronze yongzhong bells, a) From tomb no. 1 at Moutuo. II. 52 cm. Middle Yangzi river regional culture,

eighth-sixth century BC. After Wenwu 1994.3 : 14, fig. 21. b) From Ya'erzhou. Guangji (Ilubei). II. 52.2 cm. Middle Yangzi river regional culture, eighth-sixth century BC. After Jiang Han kaogu 1984.4 : 39, fig. 2.

c) From cache no. 2 at Moutuo. II. 27.5 cm. Middle Yangzi river regional culture, eighth-sixth century BC. After Wenvvu 1 994.3 : 34, fig. 53.4. d) From Guishuwo, Xingning (Guangdong). II. 52.5 cm. Lingnan regional Late

Bronze Age culture, late sixth-third century BC. After Guangdong wenwu pucha chengguo tulu (Guangzhou : Guangdong Keji chubanshe, 1990). item no. 72.

Ci-contre : Fig. 7. Cloches en bronze de type yongzhong. a) Découverte dans la tombe n° 1 de Moutuo. II. 52 cm. Culture

régionale du cours moyen du fleuve Bleu, \nf-\f siècle av. J.-C. D'après Wenvvu 1994.3 : 14, fig. 21. b) Provenant de Ya'erzhou, district de Guangji (Ilubei). II. 52.2 cm. Culture régionale du cours moyen du fleuve

Bleu, \vf-\f siècle av. J.-C. D'après Jiang Han kaogu 1984.4 : 39, fig. 2. c) Découverte dans la fosse n° 2 de Moutuo. II. 27,5 cm. Culture régionale du cours moyen du fleuve Bleu, \uf-\f siècle av. J.-C. D'après Wenwu

1994.3 : 34,fig. 53.4. d) Découverte à Guishuwo, district de Xingning (Guangdong). II. 52,5 cm. Culture régionale du Lingnan, \vf-\f siècle av. J.-C. D'après Guangdong wenwu pucha chengguo tulu (Guangzhou :

Guangdong Kefi chubanshe, 1990), n° 72.

36 Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996

B. Bells

Moutuo yielded the greatest variety of bells ever found in one place in Sichuan : one yongzhong *44\ three bo *45), and one clapper-bell from Ml ; one yongzhong and one bo from Kl ; and four yongzhong and two zheng *46* from K2. Bells of all these classes are known from the Zhou cultural sphere, where zheng in all likelihood functioned as signal-giving objects in warfare, whereas yongzhong and bo were made in chimed sets and used for playing musical tunes. (Curiously, specimens of niu- zhong^7\ the third major class of Eastern Zhou musical bells, are absent.)37 The yongzhong and bo from Moutuo are, however, all single items38, hinting at differences in usage vis-à-vis contemporaneous contexts within the Zhou realm. Several bells were found filled with bronze weapons or stone tools, and at least one of the yongzhong had been deliberately rendered unusable. Similar to other regional cultures along the Zhou southern peripheries39, the primary function of the Moutuo bells was quite possibly not a musical, but perhaps a magical or apotropaic one.

As in the case of the lei, some of the Moutuo bells were made in the Zhou culture area, whereas others are products of Middle Yangzi regional workshops. The bo from Kl (fig. 5),

Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996 37

which has a suspension device of abstract shape, shows decoration of dragon-bodies that are reduced to wriggling lines, with joins and bends accentuated relieved dots — a motif sometimes referred to as «Star-band pattern» (xingdai- wen ^48*) (for a bell with almost identical decoration in the Musée Guimet, see fig. 6)40. Readily identifiable as a product of a workshop in East-Central China dating to around the middle of the seventh century BC41, this is the earliest musical bell so far found in Sichuan.

The six yongzhong from Ml, Kl, and K2 all seem closely similar to specimens of Middle Yangzi regional provenience, dating to the eighth to fifth centuries BC (fig. 7 b). They differ from mainstream Zhou yongzhong in that the decoration on their verso is far simpler than that of their recto faces, and in that they feature different numbers of bosses {mei (49J) on the two faces. The decoration on the showface differs slightly from bell to bell. On the single yongzhong from Ml, for instance (fig. 7 a), it consists of highly-abstracted dragon-derived motifs that are defined by double contours (raised-line contours in the upper portion and sunken-line contours in the lower portion of the bell-face) ; this decoration extends into the central portion of the bell-face, as well as onto the shank42. The emphasis on one face indicates that yongzhong of this type were most probably produced primarily for purposes of display. This impression is corroborated by the fact that the Mou- tuo specimens are asymmetrical in cross-section, with the front bulging forth and the back nearly flat — a bell-shape never previously observed in bells from the Chinese Bronze Age. One rationale for this may have been to save material, and the greater upward tilt of the suspended bell resulting from such a shape may also have been deemed desirable ; but one shudders to think what the acoustic effect might have been.

One of the four yongzhong from K2, instead of the dragon- derived spirals seen on all the others, features a severely geometric pattern of concentric triangles (fig. 7 c)43. The lateral suspension ring is attached directly to the unornamented shank, rather than to a bulging ring-shaped protrusion {xuan (50)). Yongzhong with similarly simplified suspension devices have been discovered in Guangxi and Guangdong (fig. 7 d) ; like the Moutuo specimen under discussion, they can be linked to Middle Yangzi regional workshop traditions44.

Fig. 8. Bronze bo bells. a) Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. Washington (probably from Hunan), Accession no. V-49. II. 31.3 cm. Middle Yangzi river regional culture, twelfth-ninth century BC. After Ma Chengyuan, Zhongguo qingtongqi, p. 286, fig. 14. b) From tomb no. 1 at Moutuo (no. 2). II. 23.4 cm. Late Bronze Age (exact date unclear). After Wenwu 1994.3 : 16, fig. 22.2. c) From tomb no. 1 at Moutuo (no. 1, recto/ H. 26.4 cm. Late Bronze Age (exact date unclear). After Wenwu 1994.3 : 16, fig. 22. 1 right (see also infra fig. 9 a) d) From tomb no. 1 at Moutuo (no. 1, verso/ //. 26.4 cm. Late Bronze Age (exact date unclear). After Wenwu 1994.3 : 16, fig. 22.1 left (see also no. 9 b). e) From tomb no. 1 at Moutuo (no. 3). II. 17.5 cm. Late Bronze Age (exact date unclear). After Wenwu 1994.3 : 16. fig. 22.3

Fig. 8. Cloches en bronze de type bo. a) Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington (provenant probablement du Hunan), n° d'inventaire V-49. H. 31,3 cm. Culture régionale du cours moyen du fleuve Bleu, xit°-i\e siècle av. J.-C. D'après Ma Chengyuan, Zhongguo qingtongqi, p. 286, fig. 14. b) Découverte dans la tombe n" 1 de Moutuo (n° 2). H. 23.4 cm. Fin de l'Age du bronze (date indéterminée). D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 16, fig. 22.2. c) Découverte dans la tombe n° 1 de Moutuo (n° 1. recto/ //. 26.4 cm. Fin de l'Age du Bronze (date indéterminée). D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 16, fig. 22.1 droite (voir aussi infra fig. 9 a). d) Découverte dans la tombe n" 1 de Moutuo (n° 1. verso/ //. 26,4 cm. Fin de l'Age du Bronze (date indéterminée). D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 16. fig. 22.1 gauche (voir aussi infra fig. 9 b). e) Découverte dans la tombe n" 1 de Moutuo (n° 3). H. 17.5 cm. Fin de l'Age du Bronze (date indéterminée). D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 16, fig. 22.3

38 Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996

The three bo from Ml diverge radically in both shape and decoration style from specimens made within the Zhou realm. The presence of flamboyant lateral flanges points to Middle Yangzi river area prototypes dating to the time contemporary with Late Shang and Early Western Zhou, where such flanges rendered the end-feathers of long-tailed birds perched on the bells' flat heads (fig. 8 a). One may still discern such birds on the top of bo no. 2 (fig. 8 b), typologically the most archaic-looking of the three. But the suspension devices of the bo from Ml at Moutuo differ in many details from those of their early Middle Yangzi area prototypes, and the decoration of their bodies is boldly original ; all of this may indicate a difference in geographical origin as well as in date. The decoration on the three specimens may be briefly described as follows :

Do no. 1 shows, on one face (figs. 8 c and 9 a), an irregular arrangement of round whorl ornaments (resembling the traditional «yin-yang» symbol), four-petalled flowers, and cross-shaped ornaments around a central oval boss; the reverse (figs. 8d and 9 b) is dominated by a crudely-delineated, asymmetrical dragon with inward-spiralling tail, which carries on its back an abstract, three-peaked motif that the excavators (probably inspired by its similarity to the Oracle-Bone inscription character for shan^) somewhat dubiously identify as a «mountain. »45 Do no. 2, on its recto face (fig. 8 b), has three rows of large bosses, separated by pronounced, straight and angular dividers; the middle boss in the central row and all three bosses of the lower rows are ornamented with spirals, the others are unornamented.46

(.^'■:

I'ig. 9. Bronze bo bells a) From tomb no. 1 at Moutuo (no. 1. recto;. //. 26 4 cm. Late Bronze Age (exact date unclear). After Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji v. 13 (Ba Shu), pi. 190 (see also supra fig. 8 c). b) From tomb no. 1 at Moutuo (no. 1, \ erso/ //. 26.4 cm. Late Bronze Age (exact dale unclear). After Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji v. 13 (Ba Shu), pi. 191 (see also supra fig 8 d). Fig. 9. Cloches en bronze de type bo a) Découverte dans la tombe n" 1 de Moutuo (n° 1. recto/ //. 26,4 cm. Fin de l'Age du Bronze (date indéterminée). D'après Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji v. 13 (Ba Shu), pi. 190 (voire aussi supra fig. 8 c). b) Découverte dans la tombe n° 1 de Moutuo (n° 1, \erso/ //. 26,4 cm. Fin de l'Age du Bronze (date indéterminée). D'après Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji v. 13 (Ba Shu), pi. 190 (voir aussi supra fig. 8 d).

Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996 39

Bo no. 3, on its recto face (fig. 8 e), also features three rows of bosses; those of the upper and lower rows are decorated with star pattern, those of the central row with spirals. A zigzag line running across the bell-face between the central and lower row.47

While the presence of large bosses on the bell-faces reminds of the above-mentioned Middle Yangzi area specimens, their distribution is idiosyncratic, as is their execution; moreover, the dragon motif on bo no. 1 verso is unique. Similarities to Middle Yangzi area workshop traditions are much less prominent than in the case of the yongzhong, or of the second lei from Ml. Instead, the crude execution and poor casting quality of the bo (which led the authors of the Moutuo preliminary report to argue that they were non-functional mingqfi52^) remind of some yongzhong-\ike objects from Jiu- liandun, which are greatly simplified, reduced, and distorted by comparison to their Zhou prototypes48. One wonders whether such bells might have been made in a local workshop in Sichuan, where artisans were relatively unfamiliar with bell manufacture. While the casters must have had access to Middle Yangzi area specimens contemporary with Late Shang and Western Zhou, or to dérivâtes thereof, it seems unwise,

given the considerable stylistic differences, to assume that the Moutuo bells themselves date to that epoch. Their dating poses a problem analogous to that of the «Ba-Shu» weapons.

The two zheng from K2 are both unornamented49. Their shape closely parallels that of an inscribed specimen from Lugu Chengzi(53), Su Xian(54) (Anhui), representing a late sixth-century BC type that may have its origin in the Lower Huai region50. Like the above-mentioned six yongzhong, and like the bo from Kl, they were most probably traded up the Yangzi.

The small clapper-bell from Ml, finally, differs in shape from functionally equivalent objects seen in the Zhou culture area51. Specimens of closely similar shape have, however, been found in areas further to the south. Of significance is the parallel to two pieces from tomb no. 157 at Aofengshan(55), Jianchuan*56' (Yunnan)52, an important cemetery which, besides additional bronzes that will be referred to below, also yielded ceramics similar to those seen at Moutuo. The strati- graphically-superimposed pit-tombs have been dated to the timespan from Middle Springs and Autumns through Early Western Han ; unfortunately, as the published report is unspe- cific as to the dating of individual tombs, the exact chronological placement of the clapper-bells remains unclear.

Fig. 10. Bronze ding tripods. a) From tomb no. 1 at Qingyang Xlaoqu, Chengdu (Sichuan). II. 19.2 cm. Zhou culture sphere (possibly Chu kingdom), sixth century BC. After Wcnvvu 1989.5 : 33, fig. 5. b) From cache no. 3 at Moutuo. 11. 25.5 cm. Chu kingdom, middle of sixth century BC. After Wenvvu 1994.3 : 39, fig. 57.2. c) From tomb no. 7 at Xiasi, Xichuan (Henan). II. 32 cm. Chu kingdom, shortly before 550 BC. After Xichuan Xiasi Chunqiu Chu mu (Beijing : W'enwu chubanshe, 1991), p. 29, fig. 21. Fig. 10. Vases tripodes en bronze de type ding. a) Découvert dans la tombe n° 1 de Qingyang Xlaoqu, municipalité de Chengdu (Sichuan). II. 19,2 cm. Sphère culturelle Zhou (éventuellement royaume de Chu), VIe siècle av. J.-C. D'après Wenvvu 1989.5 : 33, fig. 5. b) Découvert dans la fosse n° 3 de Moutuo. II. 25,5 cm. Royaume de Chu, milieu du \ Ie siècle av. J.-C. D'après Wenvvu 1994.3 : 39, fig. 57.2. c) Découvert dans la tombe n° 7 de Xiasi, district de Xichuan (Henan). II. 32 cm. Royaume de Chu, un peu avant 550 av. J.-C. D'après Xichuan Xiasi Chunqiu Chu mu (Beijing : W'enwu, 1991), p. 29. fig. 21.

40 Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996

Fig. 1 1. Bronze zhan vessels. a) From tomb no. 7 at Xiasi, Xichuan (Henan). H. 18.3 cm. Chu kingdom, shortly before 550 BC. After Xichuan Xiasi Chunqiu Chu mu, p. 37, fig. 30. b) From tomb no. 1 atMoutuo. 11. 19.7 cm. Possibly Chu kingdom, middle to late sixth century BC, or a local imitation. After Wenvvu 1994.3 : 13, fig. 18. c) From cache no. 2 at Moutuo. H. unclear. Possibly Chu kingdom, middle to late sixth century BC, or a local imitation. After Wenvvu 1994.3 : 31, fig. 50.1. Fig. 11. Vases en bronze de type zhan. a) Découvert dans la tombe n° 7 de Xiasi. district de Xichuan (Henan). H. 18,3 cm. Royaume de Chu, un peu avant 550 av. J.-C. D'après Xichuan Xiasi Chunaiu Chu mu p. 37. fig. 30. b) Découvert dans la tombe n" 1 de Moutuo. H. 19,7 cm. Éventuellement royaume de Chu. milieu afin du \f siècle av. J.-C. D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 13, fig. 18. c) Découvert dans la fosse n° 2 de Moutuo. H. non donnée. Éventuellement royaume de Chu, milieu afin du \f siècle av. J.-C. D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 31, fig. 50.1.

C. Tripodal Vessels

The only inscribed vessel from Moutuo is a flat-covered ding from K3 (fig. 10 b), decorated with bands of endlessly- repeated small units of abstract interlaced motifs and, on the vessel-body, a band of small triangles filled with small sunken- line curls.53 The inscription runs :

Given in the eighth moon, Beginning Auspiciousness [i.e. first quarter of the moon], day ding-hai(57). I, X Zi Gong[?](58), for myself made this fanding{59) , may I enjoy longevity without end, may sons and grandsons forever treasure and use it. Even though the donor cannot be identified with certainty,

the presence of such an inscription indicates that the vessel must be an import from within the Zhou culture sphere. In all likelihood, it is a Chu product: for the designation fanding (which appears to signify that this object was part of a set), as well as the shape, ornamentation, and inscription style of this object exhibit close parallels to bronzes from tombs no. 7 and 8 at the Chu aristocratic cemetery at Xiasi(60), Xichuan(6ï) (Henan) (fig. 10 c)54. These tombs, as well as their contents,

can be dated with some precision to the second quarter of the sixth century BC.

Other vessels of likely Chu provenience at Moutuo include eight zhan (two from Ml and three each from Kl and K2) (fig 11 b-c)55 : covered bowls with three short feet, which have concentric handles on their covers and, usually, two ring-shaped handles on the vessel walls (lost in some instances) ; additional ring-shaped handles appear on the covers of some specimens56. Cumulatively, these eight zhan constitute by far the largest assemblage of such vessels found anywhere ; in Chu, zhan usually occur singly or in sets of two, and they are by no means seen in all bronze-yielding tombs. While most of the Moutuo specimens feature the typical sixth-century BC Chu- style ornamentation of endlessly-repeated tiny rectangular units, bordered in some cases by curl-filled triangles, they all show slight differences in shape and execution; no two of them appear to have been made as a set. One specimen from Ml (fig. lib) is virtually interchangeable with the one from Wuxiandianjixie Xuexiao, Chengdu, mentioned above ; others are more closely comparable to the zhan excavated at the Xiasi necropolis (fig. 11 a).

Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996 41

0 A-

Fig. 12. Bronze dui vessels. a) From tomb no. 10 atXiasi. H. 23.5 cm. Chu kingdom, late sixth-early fifth century BC After Xichuan Xiasi Chunqiu Chu mu, p. 256, fig. 191. b) From cache no. 2 at Moutuo. H. unclear. Possibly Chu kingdom, late sixth-early fifth century BC. After Wenwu 1994.3 : 31, fig. 50.2. Fig. 12. Vases en bronze de type dui. a) Découvert dans la tombe n° 10 de Xiasi. H. 23,5 cm. Royaume de Chu, milieu du \f -début du Ve siècle av. J.-C. D'après Xichuan Xiasi Chunqiu Chu mu, p. 256, fig. 191. b) Découvert dans la fosse n° 2 de Moutuo. H. non donnée. Éventuellement royaume de Chu, milieu du \f-fin du Ve siècle av. J.-C. D'après VVenwu 1994. 3: 31, fig. 50.2.

Among Chu bronzes, zhan are notable for being chronologically sensitive : at Xiasi and elsewhere, zhan went out of fashion shortly before the turn of the fifth century BC, indicating a possible terminus ante quern for the exportation of the specimens found at Moutuo. After that time, they were replaced by a new class of vessel: globular rf«^62' with either columnar or ring-shaped feet (fig. 12 a). Significantly, one-half of such an item — with three ring-shaped feet that have short hook-shaped protrusions, plus two ring-shaped lateral handles — was found in K2 at Moutuo (fig. 12 b)57. As it lacks surface decoration, the exact chronological placement of this

vessel presents some difficulty, but it dates probably no later than ca. 450 BC ; it is the latest among the ritual vessels in the Moutuo assemblage58. The predominance of zhan and the relative dearth of dui may adumbrate an approximate window of time for the exchange relationship through which these objects were transmitted into Sichuan and eventually into the « Stone-Cist Building Culture » area.

The typological and functional distinctions between ding on the one hand, zhan and dui on the other, though important in terms of the Zhou ritual system, may have carried little meaning for the participants in the « Stone-Cist Building Culture», who may well have used them all interchangeably. It seems possible that objects of these types were coveted because they were roughly equivalent in size and shape to round-bottomed ceramic bowls of types long established in the Sichuan Basin.

D. Cups

The only other kind of bronze vessels found at Moutuo are three cups from Ml, of conical shape, some 16 cm in height, and devoid of ornamentation (fig. 13 a)59. No significant typological parallels appear to exist in the repertoire of the Shang and Zhou bronze industries60; but there is a hint of a southern — more exactly, Southeast Asian — connection: six cups of similar shape and size, but fitted with elaborate covers featuring fully-sculptural representations of bulls (fig. 13 b), were excavated at Lijiashan(63\ Jiangchuan*64) (Yunnan), in tombs of the Dian(65) culture, cross-datable by coin finds to Western Han61. Whether such parallels can be taken as indicative of the date of the Moutuo cups seems, however, questionable as formal and stylistic similarities are by no means close.

Fig. 13. Bronze cups. a) From tomb no. 1 at Moutuo. II. 16 cm. Late Bronze Age (late sixth-early fifth century BC?). After VVenwu 1994.3 : 13. fig. 19. b) From tomb no. 11 at Lijiashan, Jiangshan (Yunnan). H. ca. 30 cm. Dian culture, fourth-first century BC? After Kaogu xuebao 1975.2: 129, fig. 34.1. Fig. 13. Coupes en bronze. a) Découverte dans la tombe n" 1 de Moutuo. H. 16 cm. Fin de l'Age du Bronze (fin \f ou début \e siècle av. J.-C.?). D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 13. fig. 19. b) Découverte dans la tombe n° 11 de Lijiashan, Jiangshan (Yunnan). H. ca. 30 cm. Culture de Dian. /ve-ier siècle av. J.-C? D'après Kaogu xuebao 1975.2: 129. fig. 34.1.

42 Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996

Fig. 14. Bird representations. a) Bird-shaped bronze ornament from tomb no. 1 at Moutuo. H. 12.5 cm. Date and place of manufacture unclear. After Wenwu 1 994.3 : 24. fig. 36. 1. b) Bird representations on Western Zhou bronzes (tenth through eighth centuries BC). After Chen Gongrou and Zhang Changshou, «Yin Zhou qingtong rongqishang niaowen de duandai yanjiu». Kaogu xuebao 1984.3 : 268-69. c) Bird-shaped bronze finials from Zuli, Midu (Yunnan). H. 5.6-9.2 cm. Early Dian culture (sixth-second century BC I?]). After Wenwu 1986.7 : 27, fig. 7.6-8. Fig. 14. Beprésentations ornithomorphes. a) Ornement en bronze en forme d'oiseau découvert dans la tombe n° 1 à Moutuo. H. 12,5 cm. Date et lieu de fabrication inconnus. D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 24, fig. 36.1. b) Représentations d'oiseaux sur des bronzes de l'époque des Zhou Occidentaux (x^-uif siècles av. J.-C). D'après Chen Gongrou et Zhang Changshou, «Yin Zhou qingtong rongqishang niaowen de duandai yanjiu», Kaogu xuebao 1984.3 : 268-69. c) Embouts de bâtons en bronze découverts à Zuli, district de Midu (Yunnan). H. 5.6-9.2 cm. Phase antérieure de la culture de Dian (VIe -IIe siècle av. J.-C.l?]) D'après Wenwu 1986.7 : 27, fig. 7.6-8.

E. Bronze Ornaments

Ml yielded two unusual items that are of obviously ornamental character, though their exact function is unclear. One is the sculpture of a bird, some 12.5 cm in length, its head adorned with a forward-curved crest feather, its wings pointing vertically upward, and its tail trapezoidal in shape and almost level (fig. 14 a)62. The claws are unnaturalistically extended, probably serving to attach the figure to some other object, now lost. Each component of the bird's body is accentuated by sunken-line decoration, strongly resembling analogous ornaments in bird representations on Shang and Zhou bronzes and jades (fig. 14 b).63 While fully three-dimensional representation of birds is rarely seen in the Shang and Zhou repertoire, it does occur at Sanxingdui. Though somewhat different in shape and ornamentation from Sanxingdui bird renderings, the Moutuo bird ornament may constitute, in however indirect a manner, an iconographie (as well as, possibly, ideological) survival from the earlier local Bronze Age culture of the Sichuan Basin.64 Much later, staff-handles featuring small bird sculptures of bronze are pervasive in tombs of the Dian culture (for some relatively early instances, see fig. 14 c)65. The ornamentation style of those much later examples does, of course, differ

drastically from that of the Moutuo specimen, the place of manufacture of which remains difficult to pin down at present.

Easily the most enigmatic object in the Moutuo assemblage is a so-called «plaque ornament» from Ml, which features rich openwork decoration (fig. 15)66. It is trapezoidal in shape with concave lateral flanks ; the presence of a strut in the center of the base would suggest that it might have been the tip of a hairpin, but such a function seems dubious in view of its large size (H 13.5 cm). On the level top, two symmetrically- arranged groups of four ducks (or geese) stride toward the center. The trapezoidal openwork panel below is framed by a double-ridge border featuring a single band of tiny round bosses. Within the panel, rows of larger bosses, accentuated by concentric sunken-line rings, enclose and define three tiers of animal decoration; of particular prominence are the three bosses of the second row from the bottom, which measure twice the diameter of the others and have two, rather than one, concentric rings. From top to bottom, the openwork animal decoration consists of one tier of seven antlered creatures (stags or antelopes); one tier of three long-tailed animals, which, to judge by the shape of their large heads, are probably horses, though their striped bodies might suggest tigers; and one tier of three S-shaped snakes. All heads are turned to the

Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996 43

f/^r. 75. Bronze «plaque ornament» from tomb no. 1 at Moutuo. 11. 13.5 cm. Late Bronze Age (late sixth-early fiflh century BC?). After Wenwu 1994.3, cover. Fig. 15. «Plaque decorative» en bronze découverte dans la tombe n° 1 de Moutuo. II. 13.5 cm. Fin de l'Age du Bronze (fin \f -début \e siècle av. J.-C.?). D'après Wenwu 1994.3, couverture.

viewer's left, differing from the symmetrical arrangement of the ducks at the top.

Stylistically and typologically, this well-executed object is exceedingly difficult to place. I am unaware of a direct parallel from anywhere in East Asia; some vague comparisons may be drawn as follows.

1) Relatively close by, in the mountains of western Sichuan, a tomb at Lietai(66), Xingjing(67) (Sichuan), datable on the basis of seals to the time contemporary with the Warring States period, yielded a tiny circular pendant ornamented with concentric rows of horses and fish surrounding a central double-circlet, executed in stencil-like openwork mounted over a flat bronze surface (fig. 16 a)67. This object is, however, technically less-well executed than the Moutuo plaque, and the two objects differ considerably in the rendering of their animal subjects. 2) The intricate openwork animal decoration of the Moutuo «plaque ornament» might once again suggest connections with the Dian culture. Various «circular buckle ornaments » from the above-mentioned tombs at Lijiashanand from the even more famous tombs of the kings of Dian at Shizhaishan(68), Jinning(69) (Yunnan), which feature sculptural and openwork rows of animals as well as round bosses inlaid in turquoise, might be pointed to as vague

mal parallels (fig. 16 b)68; but such connections should not be overemphasized duo to obvious stylistic differences. 3) The trapezoidal shape of the ornamented area of the Moutuo «plaque ornament» evokes some much smaller multidentate bronze combs (fig. 16 c) found in tombs of the «Dolmen-building culture» of southwestern Sichuan and northwestern Yunnan, which have been dated between Warring States and Eastern Han69. Though lacking openwork, such objects sometimes feature raised round bosses resemblant of those on the Moutuo «plaque ornament»; and similar bosses may also be seen on some other bronze objects from the same contexts70. Metalwork in a roughly similar style has also been excavated at the above- mentioned cemetery at Aofengshan, Jianchuan (Yunnan), dated between Middle Springs and Autumns and Early Western Han71. But in the absence of significant figurative decoration on any bronze objects so far reported from these sites, such parallels can only be vague ones. Although the generic Southwestern (and indeed Southeast Asian) flavor of this object seems pronounced, the similarities that can currently be pointed to do not seem to be of much use in determining the date or place of manufacture of the Moutuo «plaque ornament.» 4) Similarities to northerly areas — the Zhou culture area

44 Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996

Fig 16 Possible parallels to the Moutuo «plaque ornament » a) Bronze pendant from I letai, Yingjinq (Sichuan) H 7 5 cm Late Bronze Age local culture (fifth century B( or later) After Kaogu 1984 7 602, fig 2 left b) Bronze plaque collected at I ijiashan, Jiangchuan (Yunnan) H ca 10 cm Dian culture (fourth-first century B( 9) After Kaogu xuebao 1 975 2 149, fig 52 5 c) Bronze comb from tomb no 1 at Xide (Sichuan) H 22 5 cm (fragm ) late Bronze Age local culture (sixth century B( -second century AD) After Kaoguxue jikan 3(1983) 146, fig 4 1 d) ( overed bronze vessel from Xiaoheishigou, hingcheng (Inner Mongolia) H 13 6 cm I pper Xiajiadian culture (eighth to seventh century BC I9]) After Wenwu 1995 5 1 9, fig 25 1 e) Bronze dagger-axe with ornamented tang from i\anshan'gen, Ningcheng (Inner Mongolia) H 17 cm Upper Xiajiadian culture (eighth to seventh century BC I9!) After Kaogu 1959 6 276, fig 1 Fig 16 Parallèles proposes pour la «plaque decorative» découverte a Moutuo a) Pendentif en bronze provenant de Iietai, district de Yingjing (Sichuan) H 7,5 cm ( ulture locale de la fin de l'Aqe du Bronze (\e siècle av J -C ou plus tardif) D'après Kaogu 1984 7 602, fig 2 gauche b) Plaque en bronze provenant de I ijiashan, district de Jiangchuan (Yunnan) (collectée hors contexte archéologique) H ca 10 cm ( ulture de Dian (\A '-Ier siècle av J -( 9) D'après Kaogu xuebao 1975 2 149, fig 52 5 c) Peigne en bronze découvert dans la tombe n" l de Xide (Sichuan) H 22,5 cm (fragment) ( ulture locale de la fin de l'Age du Bronze (\e siècle av J -C -if siècle ap J-( ) D après Kaoguxue jikan 3 (1983) 146, fig 4 1 d) Vase couvert en bronze provenant de Xiaoheishigou, district de Ningcheng (Mongolie Intérieure) H 13,6 cm ( ulture de la couche supérieure de Xiajiadian (\iif-\if siècle av J -( l9]) D'après Wenwu 1995 5 19, fig 25 l e) Hache-poignard en bronze en partie ornementée provenant de Nanshan'gen, district de \ingcheng (Mongolie Intérieure) H 17 cm Culture de la couche supérieure de Xiajiadian (\nf-\if siècle av J -C l9]) D'après Kaogu 1959 6 276, fig 1

as well as the Eurasian steppes — should also be noted; these concern the mode of representation of animals in orderly tiers, as well as the « plaque ornament's » specific animal iconography With respect to the former aspect, one might look to some examples from the Upper Xiajiadian'70' Culture, datable to the early centuries of the first millennium BC : a round-bottomed vessel with tiers of antelopes and birds alternating with geometric bands (fig. 16 d), excavated together with various similarly decorated objects at Xiaoheishigou' , Ningcheng'721 (Inner Mongolia)72 ; and similar representations on ornamental plaques and on the tang of a dagger-axe found at Nanshan'gen (73), Ningcheng (fig 16 e)73. In each case, the animal motifs are shown in profile and in moving poses, similar to the mode of representation on the Moutuo «plaque ornament», although the stylistic details are quite different. 5) Inasmuch as motifs are concerned, while S-shaped snakes of the lowest tier are too commonly seen in artistic repertoires all over Eurasia to be distinctive, and the long- tailed, large-headed animals of the middle tier are too ambiguous with respect to their intended representational content, the ducks or geese and antlered animals in the upper portions of the « plaque ornament » indicate specific associations that may be worth pursuing. Both motifs are

absent from the early phases of Chinese bronze decor ; they make their first appearance in the Zhou culture area in bronzes made at the Houma'74' foundry in Shanxi around the turn of the fifth century BC74, where they were probably adopted under the influence of bronzes obtained from the northern steppes. Ultimately, these motifs probably derive from the artistic traditions of western Eurasia.

That the Moutuo « plaque ornament » could have been cast at Houma, or anywhere within the Zhou culture area can be excluded on stylistic grounds ; yet it may be related to steppe products similar to those that influenced the Houma foundry in mid-Eastern Zhou times. The chronological anchor provided by the Houma finds is useful above all because the temporal range of the bronze-casting traditions on the steppes is still under dispute, with proposed dates spanning most of the first millennium BC75

Stylistically and iconographically, the Moutuo «plaque ornament» seems, thus, to constitute a bridge between the bronze-casting traditions of the Eurasian Steppes and Southeast Asia (including Dian). The sometimes astonishing stylistic affinities between the two areas have variously been pointed out in previous scholarship, though the modalities of transmission processes remain unexplained76. Even more enigmatic is

Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996 45

Fig. 17. Bronze dagger-axes and halberds from Moutuo (classification according to Feng Hanji). Ba-Shu culture (probably predating the fifth century BC). a) Type I (from tomb no. 1). L. 27.8 cm. After Wenwu 1994.3 : 18, fig. 26.1. b) Type I (halberd, from tomb no. 1). L. 23.3 cm After Wenwu 1994.3 : 20, fig. 29.2 (see also fig 18). c) Type II (from cache no. I). L. 27 cm. After Wenwu 1994.3 : 33, fig. 52.7. d) Type III (from cache no. 1). L. 21.6 cm. After Wenwu 1994.3 : 33, fig. 52.6. e) Type IV (halberd, from tomb no. 1). L. 20.7 cm. After Wenwu 1994.3 : 20, fig. 29. 1. f) Type V(from tomb no. 1). L. 23.9 cm. After Wenwu 1994.3 : 18, fig. 26.8. g) Type V (from cache no. 2). L. 17.8 cm. After Wenwu 1994.3 : 35, fig. 54.4. Fig. 1 7. Haches-poignards et hallebardes en bronze découvertes à Moutuo (classification selon Feng Hanji). Culture de Ba-Shu (probablement avant le Ve siècle av. J.-C.) a) Type I (découverte dans la tombe n° 1). L. 27.8 cm. D'après Wenwu 1994.3 ; 18, fig. 26.1. b) Type I (hallebarde, découverte dans la tombe n° 1). L. 23,3 cm. D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 20, fig. 29.2. (voir aussi infra fig. 18). c) Type II (découverte dans la fosse n" 1). L. 27 cm. D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 33. fig. 52.7. d) Type III (découvert e dans la fosse n° 1). L. 21.6 cm. D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 33. fig. 52.6. e) Type IV (hallebarde, découverte dans la tombe n° 1). L. 20,7 cm. D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 20. fig- 29.1. f) Type V (découverte dans la tombe n° 1). L. 23.9 cm. D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 18. fig. 26.8. g) Type V (découverte dans la fosse n" 2). L. 17,8 cm. D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 35. fig. 54.4.

their possible date. Radiocarbon dates suggest a dating range from ca. 800 BC to the first century AD for Dian finds, though the best-known materials seem to date between the fourth and the first centuries BC. Once contextualized by further discoveries, the Moutuo « plaque ornament, » as well as other elements in the Moutuo assemblage, to be discussed below, may turn out to be of historical significance in documenting the avenue and time of the northern stimulus that was crucial to the formation of the Dian bronze-casting tradition.

Other ornamental items found in Ml include small beads and bosses, which likewise have parallels on the Eurasian steppes77.

46 Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996

F. «Ba-Shu» Weapons

The majority of weapons found at Moutuo represent «Ba- Shu» types and were in all likelihood manufactured in the Sichuan Basin, though they have typological antecedents in North China. They are classifiable as gre*75) dagger-axes78, jp® halberds79, mao^ spears80, and jian^78^ daggers (see Table) (as a rule, only the blades are preserved of the jian ; remains of a wooden grip, lined with silk thread, were found on one specimen from Ml)81. Curiously, yue^ axes, the only other major class of «Ba-Shu» weapons, are absent from the assemblage — a phenomenon that may reflect customs or preferences of the local «Cist-building» populations82.

Table 1

■.; \

Fig. 18. Bronze halberd with dagger-axe of Type I from tomb no. 1 at Moutuo. L. 23.3 cm. Ba-Shu culture (probably predating the fifth century BC). After Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji v. 13 (Ba Shu), pi. 146 (see also supra fig. 17 b). Fig 18. Hallebarde avec hache-poignard en bronze de Type I. découverte dans la tombe n" 1 de Moutuo. L. 23,3 cm. Culture de Ba-Shu (probablement avant le \e siècle av. J.-C.) D'après Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji v. 13 (Ba Shu), pi. 146 (voir aussi supra fig. 17 b).

«Ba-Shu» Weapons Found at Moutuo

dagger-axes halberds spearheads daggers

Totals:

25 3 2 2

3 1 - 3

4 - 2 1

K3 - - - -

Totals

32 4 4 6

NB: This table excludes the weapons and scabbards discussed in Section G.

It seems unnecessary here to unroll the details of «Ba- Shu» weapon typology, which have been well-studied elsewhere83. We may observe, nevertheless, that Moutuo yielded specimens of all five types of «Ba-Shu» dagger-axes (figs. 17 and 18) as classified according to Feng Hanji's widely-followed scheme (though Type IV, on which the base of the blade is extended both upward and downward, occurs only in composite halberds [fig. 17 e])84. Especially noteworthy is the presence, in Ml, of specimens of Feng's Type I (characterized by protruding bars at the base of the blade, which were used in hafting [figs. 17a-b and 18]) — a dagger-axe type that occurs at Zhuwajie, but which has not been seen in later «Ba-Shu» contexts. The other dagger-axe types are less chronologically specific and are often seen together in « Ba-Shu » assemblages, just as they are at Moutuo. Each type can be traced back to Shang or Western Zhou antecedents, though some of them are not seen at Zhuwajie and may have been introduced into Sichuan in a later time. This situation may indicate that Moutuo occupies a position chronologically intermediary between Zhuwajie and later «Ba-Shu» finds.

As on most « Ba-Shu » weapons found within the « Ba-Shu » culture area, the ornaments on the majority of specimens from Moutuo are extremely close to those seen, e.g., at the Early to Middle Western Zhou cemeteries at Baoji, and thus to the Shang and Zhou iconographie and stylistic mainstream. On some items, however, the decorations observed take on a idiosyncratic, playful, and occasionally flamboyant character, attesting to the creative spirit of local artisans. Examples for this may be seen in the macaw-like bird ornamenting a dagger-axe from Ml (fig. 17 a); the snake ornament on a dagger-

Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996 47

axe from a halberd from Ml (figs. 17 b and 18) ; and the lizard ornament on a dagger-axe from Kl (fig. 17 d). While such idiosyncratic weapon designs are absent at Zhuwajie, they appear with some frequency on specimens from «Ba-Shu» archaeological contexts datable to the Warring States period; this may show, once again, that the Moutuo finds postdate Zhuwajie. On the whole, however, the decoration of «Ba-Shu» weapons is not a very reliable chronological indicator: for although the idiosyncratic mode of decoration probably emerged after the Shang-Zhou derived motifs, it did not replace them, and the two modes of decorations continued side-by-side over a long timespan.

G. Other Types of Weapons

The Moutuo finds comprise a small number of weapons — one halberd and eight daggers — that cannot easily be relegated to the «Ba-Shu» bronze-casting tradition. They warrant discussion in some detail.

1. A fragmentary halberd with curl-shaped prong from K2 (fig. 19 b)85 is typologically related to specimens from the Zhou culture area dating to the Early Western Zhou; the closest parallels come from the large tomb at Baifu(80), Changping(81) (Beijing), which also yielded numerous weapons of northern Steppe affinities (fig. 19 a)86. Stylistically, however, this item is the most similar among objects from Moutuo to products of the Dian culture : its decoration consists of panels delineated by tiny ridges, with rows of geometric design featuring herringbone and spiral patterns, all executed in shallow sunken lines. Although no halberds of exactly the same shape have so far been recovered from Dian sites, the tubular hafting device, never seen in «Ba-Shu» weapons or in Western Zhou halberds, reflects an amply-documented Dian preference, which seems to originate in weapons made on the Steppes during the time contemporary with the Shang dynasty. Another similarity to both Dian weapons and their much earlier ancestors in the Eurasian Steppes is the presence, in the center of the blade, of

Fig. 20. Bronze daggers with animal-headed handles. a) From Chaodaogou, Qinglong (Hebei). L. 30.2 cm. Regional Bronze Age culture (possibly Upper Xiajiadian), thirteenth century BC or later. After Kaogu 1962.12 : pi. 5.5. b) From Baifu, Changping (Beijing). L. 25 and 34 cm. Early Western Zhou dynasty (late eleventh-early tenth century). After Kaogu 1976.4 : 253, fig. 9.4-5. c) From tomb no. 1 at Moutuo. L. 32.6 cm. Late Bronze Age (exact date unclear). After Wenwu 1994.3 : 36. fig. 55.3 (see also infra fig. 21). Fig. 20. Poignards en bronze à manche terminé par une tête d'animal. a) Provenant de Chaodaogou, district de Qinglong (Hebei). L. 30,2 cm. Culture régionale de l'Age du Bronze (éventuellement culture de la couche supérieure de Xiajiadian) xnf siècle av. J.-C. ou plus tardif. D'après Kaogu 1962.12 : pi 5.5. b) Provenant de Baifu, district de Changping (Beijing). L 25 et 34 cm. Phase antérieure des Zhou Occidentaux (fin \f -début Xe siècle av. J.-C.) D'après Kaogu 1976.4: 253, fig. 9.4-5. c) Découvert dans la tombe n° 1 de Moutuo. L. 32,6 cm. Age du Bronze tardif (date exacte inconnue). D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 36, fig. 55.3 (voir aussi infra

fig. 21).

Fig. 19. Bronze halberds with curled-back prongs. a) From Baifu, Changping (Beijing). H. 20 cm. Early Western Zhou dynasty (late eleventh-early tenth century). After Kaogu 1976.4 : 252, fig. 7.8. b) From cache no. 2 at Moutuo. H. 16.9 cm. Late Bronze Age (exact date unclear). After Wenwu 1994.3 : 35. fig. 54.6. Fig. 19. Hallebardes en bronze à terminaison incurvée vers l'arrière. a) Provenant de Baifu, district de Changping (Beijing). H. 20 cm. Phase antérieure des Zhou Occidentaux (fin xf -début Xe siècle av. J.-C). D'après Kaogu 1976.4 : 252, fig. 7.8. b) Découverte dans la fosse n° 2 de Moutuo. H. 16,9 cm. Fin de l'Age du Bronze (date exacte inconnue). D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 35, fig. 54.6.

48 Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996

a roundel (now fragmentary) defined by concentric circles that are connected by radial lines.

The stylistic parallels with Dian, though strong, are not specific enough to allow exact cross-dating of the Moutuo halberd with a specific site or stage of the Dian culture. At present, it seems prudent to leave open the possibility that this is not actually a Dian product, but, like the «plaque ornament» discussed above, an object, of uncertain date, that combines features of north-central Eurasian and Southeast Asian Bronze Age traditions.

2. A dagger from Ml features a pommel in the shape of a sideways-bent animal head with geometricized features articulated in raised-line concentric circlets (figs. 20 c and 21)87; it is impossible to guess what kind of animal might have been intended. The handle is divided into three sections by two horizontal ribs, with a vertical band of dotted circlets running all the way down to the level guard. The dagger comes in an unornamented bronze scabbard that was affixed to the bearer's belt by means of two small lateral handles. The animal- head pommel of this object recalls those of the so-called « Karasuk daggers » from southern Siberia ; such daggers are widely distributed along the northern peripheries of the Chinese culture area in contexts datable to the time contemporary with Shang and Early Western Zhou (fig. 20 a)88. The stylistic specifics, however, differ greatly. While the handles of most of the early «Karasuk daggers» are curved, the straight-handled Moutuo specimen shows some similarity to two daggers from Baifu (fig. 20 b), which have pommels in the shape of a horse head and a falcon head, respectively89. The history of this kind of weapon is as yet insufficiently traced; no later pieces similar to the Moutuo specimen have been reported from the Zhou, « Ba-Shu » or Dian culture areas90. The stylistic distance from

all known typological parallels is so considerable that the latter are of no help in dating, though the use of concentric circlets may constitute a stylistic link to the «plaque ornament» discussed earlier.

3 and 4. Two daggers from Ml with similarly sectioned handles, and likewise featuring ornamentation of concentric circlets (fig. 22 a-b)91, are clearly related to the preceding specimen, though their simple rectangular pommels do not represent animal heads. Both were found with elaborate double-sheathed scabbards (one sheath being empty in each case) ; one scabbard is decorated with an abstract interlaced ornament derived from Late Western Zhou bronze decoration style. Ml yielded the back plate of an additional scabbard with similar decoration92, now lacking associated daggers.

Similar double-sheathed scabbards with closely comparable ornaments have been found, but with typical «Ba-Shu» dagger blades in them, in two locations in Chengdu (fig. 22 c)93. This suggests that the Moutuo scabbards, as well, may be of « Ba-Shu » manufacture, though the origin of scabbards of this kind is to be sought on the northern Eurasian Steppes ; specimens datable to the period contemporary with Late Western Zhou and Early Springs and Autumns have been found at the Upper Xiajiadian cemeteries of Nanshan'gen and Xiaoheishi- gou (fig. 22 d)94. While the possibility that the daggers found in such scabbards at Moutuo might have been made in « Ba-Shu» workshops should not be excluded (especially since the shape of their blades resembles that of ordinary «Ba-Shu» daggers), it is not at all certain whether daggers and scabbards originally belonged together; in principle, thus, the affiliation and date of these two daggers seems as uncertain as in the case of the preceding item.

Fig. 21. Bronze dagger with animal- headed handle from tomb no. 1 at Moutuo. L. 32.6 cm. Late Bronze Age (exact date unclear). After Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji v. 13 (Ba Shu), pi. 163 (see also supra fig. 20 c). Fig. 21. Poignard en bronze à manche terminé par une tête d'animal découvert dans la tombe n° 1 de Moutuo. L. 32.6 cm. Fin de l'Age du Bronze (date indéterminée). D'après Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji r. 13 (Ba Shu), pi. 163 (voir aussi supra fig. 20 c).

Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996 49

Fig. 22. Bronze daggers and two-sheathed scabbards. a) From tomb no. 1 at Moutuo. L. 32 cm. Late Bronze Age (exact date unclear). After Wenvvu 1994.3 : 36, fig. 55.4. b) From tomb no. 1 at Moutuo. L. 29 cm. Late Bronze Age (exact date unclear). After Wenvvu 1994.3 : 36. fig. 55.5. c) From Luojianian, Chengdu. L. ca. 25 cm. Ba-Shu culture (or Zhou import), eighth-sixth century or later. After Kaogu xuebao 1977.2 : 37, fig. 4. d) From Xiaoheishigou, Ningcheng (Inner Mongolia). L. 36.5 cm. Upper Xiajiadian culture (eighth to seventh century BC I?]). After Wenvvu 1995.5 : 17, fig. 22.4.

Fig. 22. Poignards avec fourreau double en bronze. a) Découvert dans la tombe n° 1 de Moutuo. L. 32 cm. Fin de l'Age du Bronze tardif (date indéterminée). D'après Wenvvu 1994.3 : 36, fig. 55.4. b) Découvert dans la tombe n° 1 de Moutuo. L. 29 cm. Fin de l'Age du Bronze (date indéterminée). D'après Wenvvu 1994.3 : 36, fig. 55.5. c) Provenant de Luojianian. district de Chengdu. L. ca. 25 cm. Culture de Ba-Shu (ou importé de la sphère culturelle des Zhou), \vf-\f siècle av. J.-C. ou plus tard. D'après Kaogu xuebao 1977.2 : 37, fig. 4. d) Provenant de Xiaoheishigou, district de Ningcheng (Mongolie Intérieure). L. 36,5 cm. Culture de la couche supérieure de Xiajiadian (\iif-uf siècle av. J.-C. [?]). D'après Wenvvu 1995.5 : 17, fig. 22.4.

Fig. 23. Bronze daggers with pronounced pommels. a) From cache no. 1 at Moutuo. L. 28. 1 cm. Late Bronze Age (exact date unclear).

After Wenvvu 1994.3 : 33, fig. 52.4 (see also infra fig. 24). b) From Xiaoheishigou, Ningcheng (Inner Mongolia). L. 36.7 cm. Upper

Xiajiadian culture (eighth to seventh century BC I?]). After Wenvvu 1995.5 : 17. fig. 22.2.

c) From Baifu, Changping (Beijing). L. 37.5 cm. Early Western Zhou dynasty (late eleventh-early tenth century). After Kaogu 1976.4 : 253, fig. 9.2.

d) From tomb no. 1 at Moutuo. L. 25.9 cm. Late Bronze Age (exact date unclear). After Wenvvu 1994.3 : 36, fig. 55.7.

Fig. 23. Poignards en bronze à pommeau renforcé. a) Découvert dans la fosse n° 1 de Moutuo. L. 28,1 cm. Fin de l'Age du Bronze

(date indéterminée). D'après Wenvvu 1994.3 : 33, fig. 52.4 (voir aussi infra fig. 24)

b) Provenant de Xiaoheishigou, district de Ningcheng (Mongolie Intérieure). L. 36,7 cm. Culture de la couche supérieure de Xiajiadian

(\vf-\if siècle av. J.-C. [?]). D'après Wenvvu 1995.5 : 17. fig. 22.2. c) Provenant de Baifu, district de Changping (Beijing). L. 37,5 cm.

Phase antérieure des Zhou Occidentaux (fin \f -début Xe siècle av. J.-C.) D'après Kaogu 1976.4 : 253, fig. 9.2.

d) Découvert dans la tombe n° 1 de Moutuo. L. 25,9 cm. Age du Bronze tardif (date indéterminée). D'après Wenvvu 1994.3 : 36, fig. 55.7.

50 Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996

5 and 6. Two daggers from Kl with willow-leaf shaped blades and very broad pommels (figs. 23 a and 24) exhibit a different set of similarities to weapon types of the northern steppe cultures95. On both specimens, the slightly bulging handle is ornamented with rows of small raised studs ; near the blade, the handle terminates in an area ornamented with herringbone ornament, flanked by downward-bent struts (HeftzipfeJ) that undoubtedly derive from the more elaborate guards of antecedent dagger types. As is the case with items 2- 4, there are no exact typological parallels to such daggers in the known record of the Zhou, « Ba-Shu », and Dian cultures. Daggers with similar «guard-struts» have been found at Baifu, Nanshan'gen, and elsewhere (fig. 23 c)96; and specimens with similarly wide pommels (but with separate « pipa- shaped» blades of Northeast Asian type, lacking a guard) were found at Xiaoheishigou and other sites (fig. 23 b)97. None of these very distant parallels are, however, at all helpful in

Fig. 24 : Bronze dagger with pronounced pommel from cache no. 1 at Moutuo. L. 28. 1 cm. Late Bronze Age (exact date unclear). After Zhongguo Qingtongqi quanji v. 13 (Ba Shu), pi. 166 (see also supra fig. 23 a). Fig. 24. Poignard en bronze à pommeau renforcé découvert dans la fosse n" 1 de Moutuo. L. 28,1 cm. Fin de l'Age du Bronze (date indéterminée). D'après Zhongguo Qingtongqi quanji v. 13 (Ba Shu). pi. 166 (voir aussi supra fig. 23 a).

Fig. 25. Daggers with twisted handles. a) Bronze handle with iron blade, from tomb no. 1 at Moutuo. L. 38.5 cm. Late Bronze Age (exact date unclear). After Wenwu 1994.3 : 36, fig. 55.9. b) Bronze, from Xinjiangdui, Baoxing (Sichuan). L. 48 cm. Late Bronze Age local culture (sixth century BC-second century AD). After Kaogu 1978.2 : 139, fig. 1.2. c) Bronze. From tombs no. 87 and 50 at Aofengshan, Jianchuan (Yunnan). L. 33.5 and 30.5 cm. Late Bronze Age local culture (sixth century BC or later I?]). After Wenwu 1986.7: 7. fig. 25.2-3. d) Bronze handle with iron blade. From tomb no. 21 at Lijiashan, Jiangchuan (Yunnan). L. 26.6 cm (fragm.). Dian culture, fourth— first century BC? After Kaogu xuebao 1975.2 : 141, fig. 46.3. Fig. 25. Poignards à manche orné d'une torsade. a) Manche en bronze, lame enfer. Découvert dans la tombe n° 1 de Moutuo. L. 38,5 cm. Fin de l'Age du Bronze (date indéterminée). D'après Wenwu 1994.3 : 36, fig. 55.9. b) Provenant de Xinjiangdui, district de Baoxing (Sichuan). Bronze. L. 48 cm. Culture locale de la fin de l'Age du Bronze (\f siècle av. J..-C.-if siècle ap. J.-C). D'après Kaogu 1978.2 : 139. fig. 1.2. c) Découverts dans les tombes n" 87 and 50 de Aofengshan, district de Jianchuan (Yunnan). Bronze. L. 33,5 et 30,5 cm. Fin de l'Age du Bronze (\f siècle av. J.-C. ou après l?]). D'après Wenwu 1986.7 : 7, fig. 25.2-3. d) Manche en bronze, lame enfer, découvert dans la tombe n° 21 de Lijiashan, district de Jiangchuan (Yunnan). L. 26,6 cm (fragm.). Culture de Dian, i\e-f siècle av. J.-C? D'après Kaogu xuebao 1975.2 : 141, fig. 46.3.

determining the date or place of manufacture of the Moutuo specimens under discussion.

7. Possibly related to the two specimens just described is a dagger from Ml, with a similarly broad pommel (fig. 23d). The handle has a straight profile and is ornamented with rows of concentric circlets in small rectangular fields. It terminates in a horizontal band that extends into a single, asymmetrical hook-shaped protrusion similar to the paired «guard-struts» of the preceding items. Instead of herringbone ornament above the blade, this dagger features slanted rectangles ornamented with parallel lines extending onto the upper part

Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996 51

\X\-

tï

Fig. 26. Bronze dagger with twisted handle (polished) from Tomb A at Liulige, IluiXian (Ilenan). L. 30.5 cm. Late sixth-early fifth century BC. After Chen Guimiao, éd., Zhongguo gudai qingtongqi (Taibei : Zhonghua Minguo Guoli Lishi Bowuguan, 1987), no. 71. Fig. 26. Poignard en bronze à manche orné d'une torsade (poli) découvert dans la tombe A à Liulige, district de Hui Xian (Ilenan). L. 30.5 cm. Fin \f -début \e siècle av. J.-C. D'après Chen Guimiao, éd., Zhongguo gudai qingtongqi (Taibei : Zhonghua Minguo Guoli Lishi Bowuguan, 1987), n° 71.

^. I

Fig. 27. Long sword with bronze handle and iron blade from tomb no. 26 at Lijiashan, Jiangchuan (Yunnan). L. 68.5 cm. Dian culture, fourth-first century BC? After Kaogu xuebao 1975.2: 141, fig. 46.1. Fig. 27. Epée longue à manche en bronze et lame enfer, découverte dans la tombe n° 26 de Lijiashan, district de Jiangchuan (Yunnan). L. 68,5 cm. Culture de Dian, i\e-f siècle av. J.-C? D'après Kaogu xuebao 1975.2 : 141, fig. 46.1.

of the blade, which is considerably squatter in its proportions than those of the preceding items. Two specimens of identical shape have been reported from the tomb no. 3 at Yingpan- shan(82), Maowen(83) (Sichuan) — a cemetery of «stone-cists» not far from Moutuo, to which it exhibits strong similarities in tomb shapes and ceramic inventory98. The ornamentation with concentric circlets may possibly constitute a linkage to other Moutuo items of enigmatic provenience.

8 and 9. Unlike the preceding seven items, which are problematic precisely because of their idiosyncracies, two daggers with bronze handles and iron blades found in Ml (fig. 25 a)99 can be related to a large number of similar objects found in southwestern Sichuan and northern Yunnan. Each specimen has an oval pommel, and the grip is fashioned in the shape of twisted strands, undoubtedly in imitation of cords or bands that were wrapped around sword handles to make them more comfortable to grasp. The guard is three-pronged: the iron blade is fitted between the outer prongs (which may be developed from the «guard-struts» observed on the specimens discussed under nos. 5 and 6), and the middle prong extends onto the center of the blade.

A bronze dagger with a detachable handle of similar shape was found at Tomb A at Liulige(84), Hui Xian(85) (Henan) (fig. 26)100. Its pommel and twisted grip are identical to the Moutuo specimens, but the highly-ornate guard is different in shape and betrays a place of manufacture within the Zhou culture sphere (possibly at Houma) ; the object dates to around 500 BC and may, however circuitously, allude to stylistic influence from the Steppe areas, where knives and daggers with twisted handles have also been found, though known specimens are difficult to contextualize and to date101.

Closer to Moutuo, daggers of identical and related shapes have been found at a great number of localities, including contexts assigned to the «Stone-Cist Building Culture (fig. 25 b)»102, the Dian Culture103, and at various non-Dian (probably pre-Dian) Bronze Age sites in northwestern Yunnan (fig. 25 c)104. So far, specimens are remarkably absent from «Ba-Shu» and «Dolmen-Building Culture» contexts. In most cases, the blade is made of bronze ; aside from Moutuo, the only other instance of an iron-bladed specimen of this type of dagger comes from the Dian cemetery at Lijiashan (fig. 25 d)105.

The occurrence of iron in itself cannot any longer be taken as indicating a late date. Recent finds within the Zhou culture sphere have documented iron-bladed daggers with exuberantly ornate bronze handles as status indicators in aristocratic tombs at least as early as the Early Springs and Autumns period106. A consensus seems to be emerging that these early stages of iron use in China are the result of diffusion from western Eurasia by way of Central Asia107. Although it is usually assumed that iron use began very late in the mountainous areas of southwest China, the issue might bear reconsideration in the light of such new insights. In a context such as Moutuo, located far to the west of the Zhou realm, and with its manifest ties to more northerly steppe areas, it might not be surprising to see iron objects relatively early in the first millennium BC — perhaps even before they became widespread in the Zhou cultural sphere.

52 Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996

The dating range proposed for the archaeological contexts in southwest China in which daggers with spiral-shaped handles have been found ranges from the second quarter of the first millennium BC all the way through the Han dynasty. Further research may succeed in building a typological sequence of such daggers; even from cursory observation, however, it seems obvious that specimens with inward-bent (convex-profiled) lateral guard-prongs, as seen on the Moutuo and Aofengshan specimens (figs. 25 a and c), precede specimens where the guard-prongs are bent outward (concave-profiled), as is the case in the twisted-handled dagger from Lijia- shan (fig. 25 d; see also fig. 25 b). The latter type of dagger, in turn, is clearly ancestral to the well-known long swords with iron blades and elaborate bronze handles (fig. 27), specimens of which have been found in Dian contexts contemporary with the Han dynasty, as well as in several locations in Sichuan108. From such preliminary considerations, one may conclude, minimally, that the Moutuo specimens probably predate finds from third to second-century BC Dian sites. As in the case of the Houma connections with the «plaque ornament» discussed above, the Liulige parallel might indicate, albeit indirectly, a date before which a putative common typological ancestor must have been current in the Eurasian Steppes.

The Date and Significance of

the Moutuo Bronzes

The Moutuo finds include objects in the following categories:

1) Vessels and bells originating in the Zhou culture area — including one object of Western Zhou metropolitan manufacture, several Eastern Zhou vessels made in Chu, and a bo from an east-central workshop ; 2) Vessels and bells from the non-Zhou regional bronze manufacturing traditions of the Middle Yangzi region;

To judge from parallels in the Sichuan Basin, many or all objects of these two groups were probably mediated through the «Ba-Shu» culture area. Additionally, we have seen: 3) Bo bells of idiosyncratic features, possibly made in Sichuan under the inspiration of objects of Middle Yangzi manufacture; 4) Weapons imported from «Ba-Shu» workshops (which constitute the majority of bronzes found), and 5) Objects — mainly weapons, but also including bronze cups, a clapper-bell, and ornaments — that relate simultaneously to the bronze-casting traditions on the Eurasian steppes and to those of Yunnan, and some of which can be connected with prototypes of astonishingly early (Shang to Early Western Zhou) date.

Although the last-mentioned category is defined mainly by process of elimination, it seems of particular importance in assessing the local dimensions of the assemblage. To judge from stylistic differences among them, objects in this group may not all have been made in one place, but some of them, at least, may be products of the same workshop tradition that,

among other things, favored decoration with concentric circlets. Possibly, they represent the metal-casting workshops of the «Stone-Cist Building Culture» of western Sichuan. Given its geographical location, it would seem plausible that this as- yet virtually unknown bronze casting tradition occupies a mediating position in the cultural transfer processes between the Steppe zone and the Dian culture area; and if it could be fixed chronologically with greater accuracy, this would enable one to determine the approximate time when the diffusion occurred. So far, however, it would seem unwise to say any more than that the objects here relegated to this category appear to pre-date the best-known Dian finds in Yunnan, and that they seem to have more in common with somewhat earlier Bronze Age remains in Yunnan, such as Aofengshan. Their northerly relationships are even more vague ; it would appear that these objects must be later in date than the early Upper Xiajiadian remains at Nanshangen and Xiaoheishigou. For geographical reasons, any linkage with Upper Xiajiadian is unlikely to have been a direct one; more probably, the two share a common ancestor, which must have been descended from the culture that produced the northern-style weapons found in Shang and Early Western Zhou tombs, and which remains at present archaeologically undefined in the final centuries of the Bronze Age.

The dating of the Moutuo finds presents a strange conundrum. To the extent that they can be reliably cross-dated with finds in the Zhou culture area, vessels and bells without exception appear to pre-date the end of the Springs and Autumns period; but at the same time, conventional archaeological wisdom would suggest a considerably later date for most of the ornaments, weapons, and other items found. One may construct a variety of scenarios to account for this situation ; none is totally satisfactory.

1) Imported vessels and bells had a long use-life and, as rare treasures, could have been transmitted from generation to generation before being buried in association with more recent (and more local) bronzes of other categories. Such a likelihood increases with an object's geographical and cultural distance from the place of production. The «Ba-Shu» tombs at Jiuliandun and Baihuatan, considered above, offer examples of this type of situation; by way of additional parallels, one might also point to the well-known instances of Western Zhou bronzes buried in much later mounded tombs in the local cultures of the Lower Yangzi area109. At Moutuo, such a scenario probably accounts, e.g., for the presence of a lei of possibly Western Zhou manufacture alongside bronzes of clearly later date. What makes one hesitant about extending such an explanation to account for the entirety of the assemblage is the absence of any concrete indicator (such as the Chu vessels found at Jiuliandun, and the Qin seals and coins from other contexts that have yielded «Ba-Shu» weapons) that would unequivocally call for a date of deposition considerably postdating the latest of the bronze vessels found.

2) Another possible reason for the seeming stylistic incompatibilities noted above is Stilverspatung — i.e. that some of the early-looking vessels, instead of being imports, might be, in fact, later imitations of local manufacture. This is the solution offered in the original archaeological report, which states :

Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996 53

In the bronzes, especially in ritual vessels and musical instruments, there exists the situation that the time-specific characteristics manifested by their shape and ornamentation style appear to be earlier than their actual date — a phenomenon of « cultural delay. » Understanding this is of important significance, not only in order, henceforth, to recognize correctly the bronze culture of the Upper Min river drainage, but also in order to recognize correctly the Ba-Shu bronze culture and the surrounding cultures of the Central Plains region, which are closely-related to it, or [to recognize] how one sort of regional culture absorbed influences from its surrounding cultures110.

Such an explantation seems to apply in the case of the idio- syncratically-ornamented bo from Moutuo, and possibly in some other instances as well. Generally, however, the absence, on other objects here considered as imports, of the extreme stylistic anomalies observed on the bo, would speak against the likelihood that such a scenario could work as a blanket explanation for dating the Moutuo bronze assemblage in its entirety.

3) There remains the possibility, briefly elaborated upon above with respect to « Ba-Shu » finds, but possibly applicable to the Moutuo discoveries as well, that the conventional datings given for objects from bronze-casting traditions of southwestern China are too late. If so, the ca. 450 BC terminus ante quern valid for the securely-datable vessels and bells found at Moutuo might also pertain to the rest of the assemblage. Alhough conclusive proof for such a scenario is lacking at present, nothing in our above stylistic discussions would exclude it a priori. One corrollary of such a solution would be that the Moutuo finds could be used to stop part of the awkward gap between the Western Zhou and the Warring States archaeological record in Sichuan. What might support this scenario are the indications, spelled out above, that the « Ba- Shu» weapons from Moutuo might pre-date the bulk of such material from the Sichuan plain ; in the case of categories D, E, and G, as well, stylistic affinities to objects that are conventionally dated to the Warring States and later periods are invariably sufficiently remote that a pre-450 BC date might be justifiable. The items of category G, stylistically intermediate between the bronze-casting traditions of the Eurasian steppe zone and Dian, would, under such a scenario, come to lie chronologically anterior to Dian, and thus conveniently in the period during which the cultural transfer between these two areas must have taken place. Dating all of the Moutuo finds to the period contemporary with the Springs and Autumns period would, however, require significant readjustments to currently-accepted chronologies, notably in the Sichuan Basin; and a great deal more research will be needed before such dating can be affirmed with confidence.

The decision for any one of the above scenarios, or any combination, crucially hinges upon how one understands the significance of the excavated objects in their specific context at

Moutuo. How were the many and various objects acquired? How haphazard is the assemblage? Over how long a timespan was it accumulated? What did these bronzes mean to their owners ? So far, any answer to such questions must be highly speculative. Although we can point to farflung transcontinental connections, we do not know whether non-local bronzes were obtained through trading, raiding, diplomatic alliances (with whom?), and/or as dowry-gifts; and we cannot tell through how many hands they might have passed before they reached this remote, mountainous area. Socially, the assemblage is isolated within its own local context: all other known tombs of the « Stone-Cist Building Culture » are incomparably poorer than Ml. Given the absence of evidence on the lifeways of their builders111, we are still far removed from the point where we can construct anthropological models that might help account for processes of transmission and exchange.

Given that they were at least two culture areas removed from the Zhou culture sphere, it is completely unclear what members of the local élite could have possibly known about the Zhou polities, their rituals, and their political customs. That imported bronze vessels and bells could have been used in the enactment of Zhou-style ancestral sacrifices seems precluded by their constellation, which does not form the required sets. The prestige dimension of such objects, on the other hand — their inherent power-endowing quality — might not have been lost on their «Cist-building» owners, and it seems safe to assume that their presence marks the Moutuo tomb as that of an important person. This aspect of the significance of ancient bronzes reached far wider, both geographically and in time, than their originally-intended religious function. The collecting of such objects from a variety of sources, as well as their local imitation, may reflect a psychology not all that different from modern-day collectors of bronzes, who likewise tend to care little about their original usages, yet nevertheless appreciate them profoundly as objects. Analogous processes of integration of Zhou ritual paraphernalia into heterogeneous cultural value systems may also be perceived in other areas along the second-tier Zhou peripheries112.

What the Moutuo finds demonstrate most strikingly, finally, is the importance of archaeological context. As single items, many of the objects found would be easily and conveniently datable — though in some cases, no one would have ever imagined that they might have come from Sichuan; with others (such as the «plaque ornament») archaeologists would tap in the dark. It is precisely the co-occurrence of these widely disparate objects in the mountains of western Sichuan that frames a completely new set of questions about their possible historical, cultural, and chronological relationships, enabling us to reclaim a previously unknown facet of Late Bronze Age cultural history in China. One could hold up no better example than Moutuo to show the incalculable losses to science that result from the rampant plundering of archaeological sites during the past decade — a phenomenon that has not, alas, spared the southwestern provinces.

54 Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996

Les bronzes de Moutuo. Nouvelles perspectives sur la phase finale de

l'Âge du Bronze au Sichuan

Une centaine de bronzes de styles très divers ont été découverts dans une tombe à cistes et dans trois dépôts funéraires situés à Moutuo, dans le district de Mao (Maoxian) au Sichuan. D'un caractère hétérogène sans précédent, cet assemblage comprend 1) des vases et des cloches provenant des États de la Chine des Zhou — l'un d'eux, un tripode ding dans le style de Chu, porte une inscription — ; 2) des objets provenant d'ateliers situés dans le bassin du fleuve Bleu en dehors de la sphère culturelle des Zhou; 3) un nombre considérable d'armes de «Ba-Shu» fabriquées dans le bassin du Sichuan; et 4) un ensemble composé d'armes et d'ornements dont l'origine est difficile à préciser, mais qui montrent des ressemblances particulières à la fois avec des objets relevant des traditions steppiques et avec des bronzes de Dian. L'ensemble de ces bronzes permet de poser de nouvelles questions quant au caractère de la «culture des tombes à cistes» des montagnes du Sichuan occidental à la fin de l'Âge du Bronze, et plus généralement de s'interroger sur les échanges qui s'établissaient avec des régions écartées, situées à la périphérie de la Chine des Zhou.

Avant de poser des questions de portée plus large, il convient d'établir la chronologie de tous ces objets. Cette tâche soulève de nombreux problèmes, en partie parce que la chronologie générale des découvertes archéologiques du Sichuan qui est communément acceptée de nos jours souffre de graves lacunes et présente des contradictions. Comme, dans l'assemblage de Moutuo, aucun vase ni aucune cloche relevant de la sphère culturelle des Zhou ne semble postérieur à la période des Printemps et Automnes (770-481 avant J.-C), on peut penser qu'il en est de même pour le reste du mobilier, bien qu'il soit encore impossible de le définir sur le plan archéologique dans le contexte du bassin du Sichuan. Si cette hypothèse est correcte, il en résulte que: 1) la datation sans distinction de toutes les armes de «Ba-Shu» (et de tout contexte archéologique associé à ce type d'armes) ramenée à la période des Royaumes combattants (481-221 avant J.-C.) ne tient plus aujourd'hui ; 2) les objets difficiles à identifier sur le plan culturel à Moutuo seraient représentatifs de la production métallurgique du Sichuan occidental et formeraient un jalon, en raison aussi bien de leur datation que de la position géographique du site, dans la diffusion souvent postulée — mais qui jusqu'à présent n'avait pu être démontrée faute de sites — d'éléments culturels de la steppe eurasiatique vers le Yunnan au cours de l'Âge du Bronze. Ce phénomène, d'une portée historique importante, annonce la genèse de la culture de Dian.

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Notes

Mao Xian Qiangzu Bovvuguan and Aba Zangzu Qiangzu ZizhiVhou VVenvvu Guanlisuo, «Sichuan Mao Xian Moutuo yihao shiguanmu ji peizangkeng qingli jianbao», Wenwu 1994.3: 4-40. Selected objects are illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 13 (Ba Shu) (Beijing: Wenwu chu- banshe, 1994). nos. 50. 65, 82, 85, 94, 146, 163, 166, 190 and 191, 192, and 193. Sichuan Sheng VVenvvu Guanlivveiyuanhui, Sichuan Sheng Wenwu Kaogu Yanjiusuo, and Sichuan Sheng Guanghan Xian Wenhuaju, «Guanghan Sanxingdui vizhi jihao jisikeng fajue jianbao», Wenwu 1987.10: 1-15; Sichuan Sheng Wenwu Kaogu Yanjiusuo, «Guanghan Sanxingdui jizhi erhao keng jianbao», Wenwu 1989.5: 1-20. A large number of articles, based only on these preliminary reports, have been published; in English, see Robert W. Bagley, «Sacrificial Pits of the Shang Period at Sanxingdui in Guanghan County, Sichuan Province», Arts Asiatiques 43 (1988): 78-86, and Yan Ge and Katheryn M. Lin- duff, "Sanxingdui: A new Bronze Age site in southwest China», Antiquity 64 (1990): 505-513. For good illustrations of the finds, see Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 13, nos. 1-48, 51-64, 66-68, 86-90, 126-27; Ba Shu qingtongqi (Ba Shu vven- hua guibao xilie I, Chengdu and Macao: Chengdu chubanshe and Ziyunzhai chuban youxiangongsi, n.y. [1991]), nos. 248-61 ; Roger Goepper, éd.. Das alte China: Menschen und Gotter im Reich der Mitte (Fssen: Kulturstiftung Ruhr, 1995), cat. nos. 37-50.

Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996 55

3 See, e g., Cheng Te-k'un, Archaeological Studies in Szechwan. Conducted Under the Auspices of the Harvard-Yenching Institute and the West China Union University (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1957).

4 Used, e g., in Qu Xiaoqiang, Li Dianyuan, and Duan Yu, eds., Sanxingdui wenhua (Chengdu: Sichuan Renmin chubanshe, 1993). For methodological reasons, the term «Sanxingdui Culture», derived from a modern place name, is much preferable to alternative terms that are derived from ancient ethnonyms, such as «Shu» or «proto-Shu Culture ».

5 Asahara Tatsurô, «Zoku hei tangen — Nirikô inpakuto-to Shû, Zoku, So», Koshi shunjû 2 (1985): 23-52.

6 Lu Liancheng and Hu Zhisheng, Baoji Yu guo mudi, (2 vols., Beijing: Wenvvu chubanshe, 1988). Remarkably, in view of such correspondences, axes (yue) found in Sichuan differ completely from those at the Baoji cemeteries, instead resembling finds in the Middle Yangzi region. The Upper Han river valley must have been an important area for the transfer of cultural stimuli from the both Yellow and Yangzi River drainage areas into Sichuan; unfortunately, virtually no evidence contemporary with the Baoji tombs has yet been reported from there.

7 Wang Jiayou, «Ji Sichuan Peng Xian Zhuwajie chutu de tongqi», Wenwu 1961.11: 28-31; Sichuan Sheng Bowuguan and Peng Xian Wen- huaguan, «Sichuan Peng Xian Xi Zhou jiaocang tongqi», Kaogu 1981.6: 496-499, 555; Feng Hanji, «Sichuan Peng Xian chutu de tongqi», Wenwu 1980.12: 38-47. For color illustrations, see Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 13, pi. 70-81, and Ba Shu qingtongqi, pi. 1-10.

8 Liu Ying, «Ba Shu tongqi wenshi tulu», Wenwu ziliao congkan 7 (1983): 1-12. Jessica Rawson (in Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections [Ancient Chinese Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. 2, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1990, pt. 1], pp. 35-57), has suggested that their flamboyant style may have influenced Early Western Zhou bronze casting in Shaanxi.

9 Of course, terms like «Western Zhou», «Springs and Autumns» and «Warring States» are meaningless for the local history of Sichuan ; they are here used for convenience only, following the habits of Chinese archaeologists. Symptomatic for the local archaeologists' total disregard of the Springs and Autumns period is the fact that in Ba Shu qingtongqi, various unprovenienced bronze vessels in the Sichuan Provincial Museum that are clearly of Springs and Autumns date are relegated either to the Warring States period (e.g. no. 245) or to the Western Zhou (e g. no. 238).

10 Zhao Dianzeng, «Ba Shu wenhua de kaoguxue fenqi» (in Xu Zhongshu, éd., Ba Shu kaogu lun- wenji, Beijing: Wenvvu chubanshe, 1987), p. 7 (originally published in Zhongguo Kaoguxuehui disici nianhui (1983) lunwenji, Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1985, pp. 214-224).

11 Sichuan Sheng Bowuguan and Xindu Xian Wen- guanhui, «Sichuan Xindu Zhanguo muguomu», Wenwu 1981.6: 1-16. On the dating of this tomb, see Li Xueqin, Eastern Zhou and Qin Civilizations (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1985), pp. 210-13.

12 For color photographs, see Ba Shu qingtongqi nos. 65 and 77, or Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 13, nos. Ill and 112.

13 See Anhui Sheng Wenwu Guanliweiyuanhui and Anhui Sheng Bowuguan, Shou Xian Cai Hou mu chutu yiwu (Kaoguxue zhuankan, Series II, no. 5, Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 1956).

14 For color photographs, see Ba Shu qingtongqi no. 67, or Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 13, no. 114.

15 Sichuan Sheng Bowuguan et al., «Sichuan Xindu Zhanguo muguomu »,p. 8, p. 14 fig. 30, and pi. 3.4.

16 For specimens from Shaanxi, see Hayashi Minao, In Shû jidai seidôki-no kenkyû (In Shû seidôki sôran pt. 1, Tôkyô: Yoshikawa Kôbunkan, 1984), vol. 2 : 293, fig. 54 (dat. Middle Western Zhou), and p. 294, figs. 59-61 (dat. Late Western Zhou). The origins of this type of lei can be traced back to the Late Shang period (see ibid., pp. 289-293 passim).

17 Sichuan Sheng Bowuguan, «Chengdu Baihuatan Zhongxue shihao mu fajueji », Wenwu 1976.3 : 40- 46. For good illustrations of the pictorial hu, see Wen Fong, éd.. The Great Bronze Age of China (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1980), cat. no. 91.

18 Color photograph in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 13, no. 95.

19 Chengdu wenwu 1984.1, back cover (seen at the Chengdu Municipal Museum in 1991).

20 Reported as a «short-legged ding»; Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 13, pi. 93.

21 Chengdu Shi Wenwu Guanlichu, «Chengdu San- dongqiao Qingyang Xiaoqu Zhanguo mu», Wenwu 1989.5:31-35.

22 Aba Zhou Wenguansuo, «Wenchuan faxian Xi Zhou shiqi Shu wenhua qingtong lei», Sichuan wenwu 1989.4: 44-45.

20 The late dating of virtually all « Ba-Shu» weapons was universally accepted after the discovery of such objects at two cemeteries in Eastern Sichuan that were reported in Sichuan Sheng Bowuguan, Sichuan chuanguanzang fajue baogao (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1960). This is one of a number of instances where a single «model report» based on discoveries from the Fifties has cut off scholarly debate by purporting to settle a potentially controversial issue once and for all.

24 For dagger-axes, the classic study remains Feng Hanji, « Guanyu 'Chu Gong Jia' ge de zhenwei bing liielun Sichuan 'Ba Shu' shiqi de bingqi», Wenwu 1961.11 : 32-34 (republished in Xu Zhongshu, éd., Ba Shu kaogu lunwenji, pp. 201-5); this has been modified by Zhang Zhongpei, « Guanyu 'Shu ge' de mingming ji qi niandai», ibid., pp. 209-13 (originally published in Jilin Daxue xuebao 1963.3), by Tong Enzheng, «Woguo xinan diqu qingtongge de yanjiu», Kaogu xuebao 1979.4: 441-60 (also in his Zhongguo xinan minzu kaogu lunwenji, Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1990, pp. 118-134); and Li Xueqin, Eastern Zhou and Qin Civilizations, pp. 206-10. For daggers, see Tong Enzheng, «Woguo xinan diqu qingtongjian de yanjiu», Kaogu xuebao 1977.2: 35-55 (also in his Zhongguo xinan minzu kaogu lunwenji, pp. 96-117). For a comprehensive typological study of «Ba-Shu» weaponry, see Asahara, «Zoku hei tangen». So far the only subdivisions proposed were based on the shape and morphological attributes of the weapons. A finer chronology may be possible if surface ornamentation and inscriptions are considered; an initial attempt has been made by Liu Ying, « Ba Shu bingqi ji qi wenshi fuhao », Wenwu ziliao congkan 7 (1983): 13-23, who, however, does not attempt to date the phenomena observed.

25 See Cheng, Archaeological Studies in Szechwan, and Cheng Te-k'un, «The Slate Tomb Culture of Li-fan, Szechwan », Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 9.2 (1946): 63-80 (also in his Studies in Chinese Archaeology, Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1982, pp. 67-78).

26 See Michèle Pirazzoli-t'Serstevens, «Les cultures du Sichuan occidental à la fin de l'Âge du Bronze et leurs rapports avec les steppes », in L'Asie centrale et ses rapports avec les civilisations orientales, des origines à l'Âge du Fer (Mémoires de la Mission Archéologique Française en Asie Centrale, v. 1, Paris: de Boccard, 1988), pp. 183-196. The relationship among these two cultures is still unclear ; an enigmatic element has been introduced into the issue by the discovery of a « piled-stone tomb» (a dolmen?) at the «Cist-building» cemetery of Moutuo. For further critical discussion of the «Stone-Cist Building Culture», see Marcello Orioli, « Pastoralism and Nomadism in South-West

China: A Brief Survey of the Archaeological Evidence», in Bruno Genito, éd.. The Archaeology of the Steppes: Methods and Strategies (Istituto Uni- versitario Orientale, Dipartimento di Studi Asia- tici. Series Minor, vol. 44, Napoli: Istituto Univer- sitario Orientale, 1994), pp. 87-108. The author thanks Emma C. Bunker for referring him to this useful article.

27 In keeping with the conventional chronologies for the rest of Sichuan, early finds from both cultures are mostly relegated indiscriminately to the Warring States period. Archaeologists in Yunnan, relying on a rather limited sample of radiocarbon dates (see Zhongguo Shehuikexueyuan Kaogu Yanjiusuo, Zhongguo kaoguxue zhong tan shisi niandai shujuji, 1965-1991 [Kaoguxue zhuankan, Series II, no. 28, Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1991], pp. 234-42), are more prone to date some of the local Bronze Age finds to the time contemporary with the Springs and Autumns period.

28 See Pirazzoli-t'Serstevens, «Les cultures du Sichuan occidental», p. 185 and figs. 1, 2.

29 The preliminary report argues (Mao Xian Qiangzu Bowuguan et al., «Sichuan Mao Xian Moutuo vihao shiguanmu», p. 31) that the bronzes from K3 may have been originally buried in K2, transported downhill by water erosion.

30 The pottery assemblage from Ml, totalling 48 pieces, comprises eleven ring-footed vessels with S-shaped profile and lateral handles (mis- leadingly classified in the original report as gui (86) tureens), two identical vessels lacking handles, six painted jars with protruding bosses, one unusual lacquer-painted jar with a cover adorned with a pair of cattle horns, twelve small jars, thirteen small cups, and three vessel-stands.

31 Mao Xian Qiangzu Bowuguan et al., «Sichuan Mao Xian Moutuo yihao shiguanmu», p. 31.

32 Line drawing in original report, p. 38, fig. 57.1; for color photograph, see Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 13, pi. 85. For parallels, see note 16.

33 Line drawing in original report, p. 12, fig. 14.1; for color photograph, see Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 13, pi. 82.

34 I saw a specimen from Xiangyin(87) (Hunan) (mentioned in Guangxi Zhuangzu Zizhiqu Bowuguan, «Jinnianlai Guangxi xinchu de xian Qin qingtongqi», Kaogu 1984.9: 802) at the Hunan Provincial Museum in 1990. In Guangxi, single specimens of the same type were found at Liao- zhai(88), Binyang'891; Limu'901, Lipu(91); and Tang- cheng(92), Luchuan1931 {ibid., pp. 801-804; the specimen from Limu is in Hayashi Minao, Shunjû Sengoku jidai seidôki-no kenkyû, In Shû seidôki sôran pt. 3, Tôkyô: Yoshikawa Kôbunkan, 1988, p. 125, fig. 24, where it is dated to Middle to Late Springs and Autumns). For further discussion see Luo Tai (Lothar von Falkenhausen), "Lun Lingnan diqu chutu de zaoqi qingtong liyueqi," in Ma Chengyuan and Chen Peifen, editors, Wu Yue qingtongqi yanjiu (Shanghai: Shanghai Bowuguan, forthcoming). In Sichuan, previous to the Moutuo discoveries, one specimen had been found — apparently without much of a context — at Nan Yihuanlu Dongduan, Chengdu (Ping Wen, «Xi Zhou tonglei», Chengdu wenwu 1986.3: 38). For unprovenienced specimens of the same type, see Hayashi, In Shû jidai seidôki-no kenkyû, vol. 2 : 295, fig. 76 (considered as anterior to Middle Springs and Autumns), and Shunjû Sengoku jidai seidôki-no kenkyû, p. 126, figs. 25-26 (dat. Middle to Late Springs and Autumns).

35 In the Middle Yangzi area. Western Zhou lei of metropolitan manufacture have been reported, e g., from Shengli(94), Dongzhi1951 (Anhui) (Zhang Beijin, «Anhui sheng Dongzhi xian faxian yijian qingtonglei», Wenwu 1990.11: 90), and Huang- cai(96), Ningxiang'97' (Hunan) (Yiyang Diqu Bowuguan, « Ningxiang Huangcai chutu Zhou chu qingtonglei», Hunan Bowuguan wenji 1[1991] : 141, 140; this lei is inscribed). A pair of stylistically intermediate lei were found in a tomb possibly

56 Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996

dating to Late Western Zhou at Wancheng198', Jiangling'991 (Hubei) (Wang Yutong, «Jiangling faxian Xi Zhou tongqi», Wenwu 1963.2: 53-55 and Li Jian, «Hubei Jiangling Wancheng chutu Xi Zhou tongqi», Kaogu 1963.4: 224-225; cf. Haya- shi. In Shûjidai seidôki-no kenkyû, vol. 2, p. 295, fig. 75).

36 See Sichuan Sheng Bovvuguan et al., «Sichuan Xindu Zhanguo muguomu», p. 4.

37 The original report mistakenly designates all bo found at Moutuo as niuzhong; but according to the commonly-accepted classificatory distinction, their complex suspension devices, their level rims, as well as details of their ornamentation mark them unambiguously as bo. Compare Lothar von Fal- kenhausen, Suspended Music: Chime Bells in the Culture of Bronze Age China (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1993), pp. 68-72.

38 Of course, sundry bells such as these could have been assembled into a chime. The three bo in Ml were tied together by ropes, possibly indicating that they were to be used together. Tone measurements, which might help assess whether this was the case, have not been reported.

39 See Falkenhausen, Suspended Music, pp. 374-87; see also Lothar von Falkenhausen, «The Use and Significance of Ritual Bronzes in the Lingnan Region During the Eastern Zhou Period», in Robert E. Murowchick et al., editors, Festschrift K. C. Chang (forthcoming).

40 Line drawing in original report, p. 32, fig. 51.3. 41 For examples, see Hayashi, Shunjû Sengoku jidai

seidôki-no kenkyû, p. 50, figs. 1-4 (penlim), p. 64, fig. 2 (xm(101)), p. 65, fig. 1 (the vessel type traditionally known as/«(102)), pp. 181-82, figs. 2, 6-8 (niuzhong), and p. 195, fig. 1 (bo). For a detail of the Guimet bo here illustrated in fig. 2, see ibid., p. 286, fig. 3-233. Recently, a pair of/u in this style have come to light at Xuecheng'103', Tengzhou'1041 (Shandong) (see Shandong Sheng Jining Shi Wenwu Guanliju, «Xue guo gucheng kancha he muzang fajue baogao», Kaogu xuebao 1991.4: 449-495, especially pi. 16.2).

42 Line drawing in original report, p. 14, fig. 21. The single yongzhong from Kl closely resembles this specimen, but its dragon-derived decoration is almost completely reduced to abstract spirals (line drawing in original report, p. 32, fig. 51.2; for color photograph, see Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 1 3, no. 193) ; the first yongzhong from K2, not depicted in the preliminary report, is described as virtually identical to that from Ml, except for lacking any ornamentation on its shank; and on the second yongzhong from K2, the ornamentation in the 5fM(1Oj| portion is considerably more complex (line drawing in original report, p. 35, fig. 53.1). The badly-preserved third yongzhong from K2 (line drawing in original report, p. 35, fig. 53.3) is unusual in featuring no decoration either in the central part of the zheng panel or the shank.

43 Line drawing in original report, p. 35, fig. 53.4. 44 For further discussion and references, see

Falkenhausen, Suspended Music, pp. 379-82, and Falkenhausen, «The Use and Significance of Ritual Bronzes in the Lingnan Region». The specimens found in Guangxi and Guangdong most likely date no earlier than 500 BC.

45 Line drawings in original report, p. 16, fig. 22.1 ; for color photographs, see Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 13, pis. 190-91.

46 Line drawing in original report, p. 16, fig. 22.2; for color photograph, see Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 13, pi. 192.

47 Line drawing in original report, p. 16, fig. 22.3. The back sides of bo 2 and 3 have been neither described nor illustrated in publications.

48 Sichuan Sheng Bovvuguan et al., «Sichuan Xindu Zhanguo muguomu», p. 8. See also Falkenhausen, Suspended Music, pp. 382-84.

49 Line drawing in original report, p. 35, fig. 53.2. 50 Lothar von Falkenhausen, « 'Shikin-no Onsei,' Tô-

Shû jidai-no shun, taku, dô, nado-ni tsuite», Sen'oku Hakkokan Kiyô 6 (1989): 3-26.

51 Line drawing in original report, p. 24, fig. 37.3. 52 Yunnan Sheng Bovvuguan Wenwu Gongzuodui,

«Yunnan Jianchuan Aofengshan mudi fajue baogao», Wenwu 1986.7: 1-20 (especially pp. 11-12).

53 Illustrations in original report, pp. 39-40, figs. 57 and 59-60.

54 Henan Sheng Wenwu Yanjiusuo, Henan Sheng Danjiang Kuqu Kaogu Fajuedui, and Xichuan Xian Bovvuguan, Xichuan Xiasi Chunqiu mu (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1991), pp. 4-38. Tomb no. 8 yielded afanding {ibid. pi. 6); the authors of the report opine (p. 309) that the termfanding designated one functionally separate subgroup of Chu tripods, but this remains uncertain.

55 Only four specimens are illustrated in the original report: pp. 12-13, figs. 14.2 and 16-18 (specimens from Ml ; for a color photograph of one of them, see Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 13, pi. 64); p. 32, fig. 51.1 (Kl); p. 26, fig. 44 and p. 31, fig. 50.1 (K2).

56 In differentiating zhan from the closely-related dui vessels, this article follows Li Ling, «On the Typology of Chu Bronzes » (Beitrdge zur Allgemei- nen und Vergleichenden Archâologie 11 [1991J: 57-113, especially pp. 81-84); see also Cheng Xin- ren and Liu Binhui, «Gu zhan xiaovi», Jiang Han kaogu 1983.1 : 74-76. In the preliminary report on Moutuo, one of the specimens from Ml is labelled ding (probably, the excavators were misled by the fact that this object had lost its lateral ring-shaped handles), the others as «dui-like objects» (duixingqinm).

57 Illustrations in original report, p. 26, fig. 43 and p. 31, fig. 50.2.

58 In spite of some prejudice to that effect, it is by no means certain that globular dui originated in the southern part of the Zhou culture sphere ; Hayashi (Shunjû Sengoku jidai seidôki-no kenkyû, p. 55) dates some specimens to the early part of Late Springs and Autumns.

59 Line drawings in original report, p. 13, fig. 19. 60 Much taller (up to 39 cm) covered vessels of

vaguely similar shape, variously called «long jars» (changhu^l07)) or «cup-shaped jars» (beixinghu^0*') have been excavated in Early Warring States contexts (see Hayashi, Shunjû Sengoku jidai seidôki-no kenkyû, p. 132, figs. 1-3), and in the large Western Han period tomb no. 1 at Luobowan'1091, Gui Xian(110) (Guangxi), which is notable for its mixed assemblage of Chinese (Han) and local, Dongso'n-related traits (Guangxi Zizhi- zhou Bovvuguan, Guangxi Gui Xian Luobowan Han mu [Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1988], p. 36 and pi. 14.2). Their similarity in shape to the Moutuo cups is probably no more than coincidence.

61 Yunnan Sheng Bowuguan, «Yunnan Jiangchuan Lijiashan gumuqun fajue baogao», Kaogu xuebao 1975.2:97-156, especially p. 130 and pi. 13.3,5; for a color photograph see Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji, vol. 14 (Dian, Kunming) (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1994), no. 50. Lijiashan also yielded a coverless stone cup of similar shape (Kaogu xuebao 1975.2: pi. 23.5).

62 Illustrations in original report, pp. 24, fig. 36.1 and 25, fig. 39 ; for color photograph, see

Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 13, pi. 50. 63 Hayashi Minao, In Shû jidai seidôki monyô-no

kenkyû (In Shû jidai seidôki sôran pt. 2, Tôkyô: Yoshikawa Kôbunkan, 1986), pp. 246-74.

64 See Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 13, nos. 42, 46-49, 51, and 61. I am indebted to Dr. Alain Thote for this suggestion.

65 See Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 14 , nos. 173- 77 ; other bird-shaped sculptural attachments on pi. 103, 104, 114. 119; see also Jessica Ravvson, ed. The Chinese Bronzes of Yunnan (London : Sidg- vvick and Jackson, 1983), pi. 168-71.

66 Color photos on the cover of Wenwu 1994.3 and in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 13, pi. 65; line drawing in original report, p. 30, fig. 49.4.

67 Li Xiao'ou and Liu Jiming, « Sichuan Yingjing xian Lietai Zhanguo tukengmu qingli jianbao », Kaogu 1984.7: 602-6 (especially p. 602).

68 For illustrations, see Rawson, ed. The Chinese Bronzes of Yunnan, pi. 206 (Lijiashan), and 205, 207-8 (Shizhaishan) ; the Shizhaishan specimens are noticeably more sculpturally executed than those from either Lijiashan or Moutuo. For Shizhaishan, see also Yunnan Sheng Bowuguan, Yunnan Jinning Shizhaishan gumuqun fajue baogao (2 vols., Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1959).

69 Specimens have been found at Bahebaozi'1111, Xichang'112' (Sichuan Sheng Jinshajiang Dukou Xichang Duan Anninghe Liuyu Lianhe Kaogu diaochadui, «Xichang Bahebaozi dashimu fajue jianbao», Kaogu 1976.5: 326-30, especially p. 328); Lake1113», Xide(114) (Liangshan Yizu Diqu Kaogudui, «Sichuan Liangshan Xide Lake gongshe dashimu», Kaogu 1978.2: 97-103, especially p. 101); Xingfu11151, Xide (Liu Shixu, « Sichuan Xide xian qingli yizuo dashimu », Kaogu 1987.3: 197-202, especially p. 199); Xichang tomb no. 1 (Liangshan Yizu Zizhizhou Bowuguan, «Sichuan Xichang yihao mu fajue jianbao», Kao- guxuejikan 3 [1983]: 143-49, especially p. 147); Xiaoxingchang'1161, Pugeul7) (Liangshan Yizu Zizhizhou Bowuguan, Puge Xian Wenhuaguan, and Puge Xian Kexue Jishu Qingbaoweiyuanhui, «Sichuan Puge xian Xiaoxingchang dashimu», Kaogu yu wenwu 1982.5: 34-38, especially pp. 35- 36); and Beishan'118' and Xiaohuashan'119'. Xichang (Liangshan Yizu Zizhizhou Bowuguan, «Sichuan Xichang Beishan, Xiaohuashan, Huang- shuitang dashimu», Wenwu 1990.5: 64-67, especially pp. 64 and 66). The typological history of such combs is so far completely unresearched. Unornamented multidentate combs with trapezoidal panels, which may be in some indirect fashion ancestral to the objects from the « Dolmen-building culture», have been found in the Western Zhou cemeteries at Baoji (see Lu and Hu, Baoji Yu guo mudi, passim).

70 E.g. on the enigmatic « hollow objects » from Lake, Xide (Liangshan Yizu Diqu Kaogudui, «Sichuan Liangshan Xide Lake gongshe dashimu», p. 103) and Beishan, Xichang (Liangshan Yizu Zizhizhou Bowuguan, « Sichuan Xichang Beishan, Xiaohuashan, Huangshuitang dashimu», p. 64).

71 Especially on two diadems from tomb no. 156 (Yunnan Sheng Bowuguan Wenwu Gongzuodui, « Yunnan Jianchuan Aofengshan mudi fajue baogao», p. 10, fig. 34.1, 2; see also Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji 14 (Dian, Kunming), pi. 181), and on some weapons from the same cemetery (ibid., p. 7, fig. 25.1,5, 7).

72 Xiang Chunsong and Li Yi, «Ningcheng Xiaohei- shigou shiguomu diaocha qingli baogao », Wenwu 1995.5: 4-22 (especially p. 15 and p. 19, fig. 25.1, et passim).

73 Li Yiyou, «Neimeng Zhaowuda meng chutu de tongqi diaocha», Kaogu 1959.6: 276-77 (especially p. 276, fig. 1 and pi. 1.7, and p. 277 fig. 2.3). During the Cultural Revolution, Ningcheng was part of Liaoning.

74 A good example is a famous hu vessel excavated at Liyu(120), Hunyuan1121' (Shanxi) (Fong, The Great Bronze Age of China, cat. no. 69). On the Ilouma foundry, see Shanxi Sheng Kaogu Yanjiusuo, Houma zhutong yizhi (2 vols., Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1993).

75 Sophia-Karin Psarras (in «Exploring the North: Non-Chinese Cultures of the Late Warring States and Han», Monumenta Serica 42 [1994]: 1-125) has recently expressed grave doubts about all chronologies of Eurasian Steppe cultures proposed so far; while one may wonder whether all the evidence needs to be redated quite as radically as suggested by that author, her essay should provide a welcome impetus for comprehensive re-study.

76 For comprehensive discussion of the material available, see Tong Enzheng, «Shilun Woguo cong dongbei zhi xinan de biandi banyuexing wenhua

Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996 57

chuanbodai», in Wenwu yu kaogu lunji, Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1987, pp. 17-43 (also in Tong, Zhongguo xinan minzu kaogu lunwenji, pp. 252-78)

77 Illustrated in original report, p. 24, figs. 36.2 and 27.1-2 and 27.4. For comparisons and further references, see Pirazzoli-t'Serstevens, «Les cultures du Sichuan occidental», p. 186 and figs. 5-6.

78 Illustrations in original report, pp. 18-19, figs. 26- 28; p. 33, fig. 52.6-7; p. 35, fig. 54.4, 5; p. 39, fig. 58.3-5.

79 Illustrations in original report, pp. 20-21, figs. 29.1-3 and 30; for a color photo, see Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 13, pi. 146.

80 Illustrations in original report, pp. 20-21, figs. 29.4 and 31 ; p. 35, fig. 54.2-3.

81 Illustrations in original report, p. 33, fig. 52.1-3; p. 35, fig. 54.1 ; p. 36, fig. 55.1-2; p. 39, fig. 58.1. In contemporary Chinese archaeological writing, the term jian denotes both swords and daggers; but most Western scholars classify Western Zhou as well as « Ba-Shu » specimens as daggers.

82 It seems noteworthy that yue found at the Baoji cemeteries are unlike the «Ba-Shu» types, which seem to be derived from the Middle and Lower Yangzi region

83 See note 24. 84 According to Li Xueqin's slightly different

classification scheme, all but the latest of its five ge types are represented.

85 Illustrated in original report, p. 27, fig. 45 ; p. 35, fig. 54.6; and p. 39, fig. 58.2.

86 Beijing Shi Wenwu Guanlichu, «Beijing diqu de youyi zhongyao kaogu shouhuo — Changping Baifu Xi Zhou muguomu de xin shishi», Kaogu 1976.4: 246-58, 228 (especially pp. 251-52). Somewhat similar specimens were excavated from tombs no. 29 and 42 at Xincun'122', Xun Xian'1231 (Henan) (Guo Baojun, Xun Xian Xincun [Kaoguxue zhuankan. Series II, no. 13, Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 1964], pi. 8.5, 23, and 48).

87 Illustrated in original report, p. 22, fig. 33 ; p. 36, fig. 55.3 ; for color photo, see Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 13, no. 163.

88 These remains are sometimes classified as the Chaodaoguo'1241 Culture. For discussion of the weaponry, see A. Kovalev, «'Karasuk-Dolche,' Hirschsteine und die Nomaden der chinesischen Annalen im Altertum», in: Thomas 0. Hollmann and Georg W. Kossack, eds., Maoqinggou: Ein eisenzeitliches Gràberfeld in der Ordos-Region (Innere Mongolei) (Materialien zur AUgemeinen und Vergleichenden Archâologie vol. 50, Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 1992), pp. 46-87, and Lin Yiin, «A Reexamination of the Relationship between Bronzes of the Shang Culture and of the Northern Zone», in K. C. Chang, éd.. Studies of Shang Archaeology (New Haven : Yale University Press, 1986), pp. 237-73.

89 Beijing Shi Wenwu Guanlichu, «Beijing diqu de youvi zhongyao kaogu shouhuo», pp. 251-54.

90 Vaguely comparable objects are daggers with sideways-bent pommels, which have been excavated from tomb no. 2 at Waxigoukou(12j), Baoxing'1261 (Sichuan), a cemetery of the «Stone- Cist Building Culture» that seems to postdate Moutuo considerably (Baoxing Xian Wenhuaguan, «Sichuan Baoxing Han dai shiguanmu jianbao», Kaogu 1982.4: 377-80, cf. pi. 10.1), and from a stone-cist tomb at Nagu'127', Deqin'1281 (Yunnan) (Yunnan Sheng Bowuguan Wenwu Gongzuodui, «Yunnan Deqin xian Nagu shiguanmu», Kaoqu 1983.3: 220-25). New finds at Kashahu'I2'J>, Luhuo11301 (Sichuan) suggest, however, that objects of that kind were hafted sideways, in a manner comparable to dagger-axes, in spite of their apparent derivation from daggers (see Sichuan Sheng Wenwu Kaogu Yanjiusuo and Ganzi Zangzu Zizhizhou Wenhuaju, «Sichuan Luhuo Kashahu shiguanmu», Kaogu xuebao 1991.2:207-238, especially p. 219).

91 Illustrated in original report, p. 36, fig. 55.4-5; p. 22, fig. 32.

92 Illustrated in original report, p. 36, fig. 55.6. 93 Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 13, nos. 164

(Zhong>i xueyuan) and 165 (Jinniuqu Baitacun). 94 For Nanshan'gen, see Liaoning Sheng Zhaowuda

Meng Wenwu Gongzuozhan and Zhongguo Kexueyuan Kaogu Yanjiusuo Dongbei

Gongzuodui, «Ningcheng Nanshan'gen de shiguomu», Kaogu xuebao 1973.2 : 27-39 (especially p. 33 and pi. 7.4-7); for Xiaoheishigou, see Xiang and Li, «Ningcheng Xiaoheishigou shiguomu diaocha qingli baogao», p. 12, p. 17 fig. 22.4, and color plate 1.3). Another Upper Xiajiadian specimen from this area, from tomb no. 7501 at Xizi Bei- shanzui'131', has been reported in NingchengXian Wenhuaguan and Zhongguo Shehuikexueyuan Yanjiushengyuan Kaoguxi Dongbei Kaogu Zhua- nye, «Ningcheng xian xin faxian de Xiajiadian shangceng wenhua muzang ji qi xiangguan yiwu de yanjiu», Wenwu ziliao congkan 9 (1985) : 23-58 (especially pp. 23-26).

95 Illustrated in original report, p. 23, fig. 34; p. 33, fig. 52.4-5; for color photograph, see Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji vol. 13, pi. 166.

96 For Baifu, see Beijing Shi Wenwu Guanlichu, « Beijing diqu de youyi zhongyao kaogu shouhuo», p. 251 and pi. 3.6-11; for Nanshangen, see Li Yiyou, «Neimeng Zhaowuda meng chutu de tongqi diaocha», and Liaoning Sheng Zhaowuda Meng Wenwu Gongzuozhan et al., «Ningcheng Nanshan'gen de shiguomu», pp. 32-33 and pi. 6.2-5. A similar specimen from tomb no. 791 at Wafangzhong'1321, Ningcheng (Inner Mongolia) is reported in Ningcheng Xian Wenhuaguan et al., « Ningcheng xian xin faxian de Xiajiadian shangceng wenhua muzang», pp. 26-27 ; on later Upper Xiajiadian specimens from that area, the « guard- struts » are connected to the blade (see ibid. p. 37, fig. 32.1). A dagger with similar struts from the Minussinsk region of Siberia, and its probable typological descendants in the Ordos region, are depicted in Max Loehr, Chinese Bronze Age Weapons: The Werner Jannings Collection in the Chinese National Palace Museum. Peking (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1956), p. 75 (quod vide for discussion and further references).

97 See Xiang and Li, «Ningcheng Xiaoheishigou shiguomu diaocha qingli baogao», p. 12 and p. 17 fig. 22.1-2. Similar specimens, probably no earlier than the Warring States period, have been excavated at Sanguandianzi11331, Lingyuan11341 (Liaoning) (Liaoning Sheng Bowuguan, «Liaoning Lingyuan xian Sanguandian qingtong duanjian mu », Kaogu 1985.2: 125-30), and from tomb no. 7371 at Sunjiagou'1351, Ningcheng (Inner Mongolia) (see Ningcheng Xian Wenhuaguan et al., «Ningcheng xian xin faxian de Xiajiadian shangceng wenhua muzang», pp. 33-35 ; for an uncontextualized specimen from Wangyingzi'136', Ningcheng, see ibid. p. 38).

98 Maowen Qiangzu Zizhixian Wenhuaguan, «Sichuan Maowen Yingpanshan de shiguan- zang», Kaogu 1981.5: 411-21 (especially p. 419). The original report argues for a Middle to Late Warring States period date based on the presence of « Ba-Shu » weapons.

99 Illustrated in original report, p. 23, fig. 35; p. 36, fig. 55.8-9.

100 Chen Guimiao, éd., Zhongguo gudai qingtongqi (Taibei: Zhonghua Minguo Guoli Lishi Bowuguan, 1987), no. 71. The authors of the catalogue entry speculate that the hollow sword handle was used as a whistle for signal-giving in warfare, which seems quite baseless.

101 Pirazzoli-t'Serstevens, «Les cultures du Sichuan occidental», p. 194, fig. 4.3-4 (quod vide for further references) illustrates two daggers without exact provenience, but which are known to have been found in Inner Mongolia. They feature twisted handles, but their guards differ significantly from the southwestern specimen. Stylistic comparison reveals that a dagger reported as «Dian» in Wang Zhenhua, éd., Guyuege cang

Shang Zhou qingtong bingqi (Taibei: Guyuege, 1993), pi. 62 must also have come from the northern steppes. Wang also illustrates (ibid., pi. 61) a Late Springs and Autumns period specimen with a twisted handle enhanced with studded ornamentation, which is plausibly assigned to a Qin workshop.

102 Instances include: Chengguan'137', Maowen (Sichuan) (Sichuan Sheng Wenguanhui and Maowen Xian Wenhuaguan, « Sichuan Maowen Qiang zu zizhixian shiguanzang fajue baogao», Wenwu ziliao congkan 7 (1983): 34-55, especially p. 44); various sites in Baoxing (Sichuan) (Baoxing Xian Wenhuaguan, « Baoxing chutu de Xi Han tongqi », Kaogu 1978.2: 139-40); Quewoping'1381, Shi- mianll39) (Sichuan) (Shimian Xian Wenhuaguan, «Sichuan Shimian xian kaogu diaocha», Kaogu 1982.2: 207-9); Ganzi'140' (Sichuan) (An Zhimin, «Sichuan Ganzi fujin chutu de jipi tongqi», Kaogu tongxun 1958.1 : 62-63); Lugu Hupan'1411 Yanyuan'142' (Sichuan) (Huang Chengzong, «Lugu hupan chutu wenwu diaochaji», Kaogu 1983.10: 952-54); Yongzhi11431, Deqin (Yunnan) (Yunnan Sheng Bowuguan Wenwu Gongzuodui, «Yunnan Deqin Yongzhi faxian de gumuzang», Kaogu 1975.4: 244-48, especially p. 245); Daxingzhen'1441, Ninglang' 145) (Yunnan) (Yunnan Sheng Bowuguan Wenwu Gongzuodui, «Yunnan Ninglang xian Daxingzhen gumuzang», Kaogu 1983.3: 226-232); and Juli11461, Midu'1471 (Yunnan) (Yunnan Sheng Bowuguan Wenwu Gongzuodui, «Yunnan Midu Juli Zhanguo shimu», Wenwu 1986.7: 25-30).

103 See note 105. 104 See the finds from Aofengshan, Jianchuan

(Yunnan Sheng Bowuguan Wenwu Gongzuodui, «Yunnan Jianchuan Aofengshan mudi fajue baogao», p. 8), and Dabona11481, Xiangyun'1491 (Dali Zhou Wenguansuo and Xiangyun Xian Wenhuaguan, «Yunnan Xiangyun Dabona muguomu», Wenwu 1986.7: 21-24; nb. this is not the famous Dian tomb at the same locality, but another, apparently earlier tomb).

105 Yunnan Sheng Bowuguan, «Yunnan Jiangchuan Lijiashan gumuqun fajue baogao», p. 141, fig. 46.2; note that on this specimen, the outer prongs of the guard are bent outward, a significant stylistic difference vis-à-vis the Moutuo bronze-iron daggers.

106 A dagger from tomb no. 2009 at the Guo'1301 ruling family's cemetery at Shangcunling11511, Shaan Xian(152) (Henan) (Zhongguo wenwu jing- hua 1992 [Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1992], no. 104) has been dated by its excavators to Late Western Zhou, but it may actually be from the Early Springs and Autumns period. In Qin contexts, iron-bladed daggers were found in the late seventh-century tomb at Jingjiazhuangllj3), Lingtai'1541 (Gansu) (Liu Dezhen and Zhu Jian- tang, «Gansu Lingtai xian Jingjiazhuang Chun- qiu mu», Kaogu 1981.4: 298-301) ancUhe late sixth century tomb at Yimencun'1531, Baoji (Shaanxi) (Baoji Shi Kaogu Gongzuodui, «Baoji shi Yimencun erhao Chunqiu mu fajue jianbao », Wenwu 1993.10: 1-27).

107 Tang Jigeng, «Zhongguo yetieshu de qiyuan vventi», Kaogu 1993 6: 556-565, 553. Donald B. Wagner, who, in his important Iron and Steel in Ancient China (Leiden: Brill, 1993) had argued for independent invention of iron technology in the Lower Yangzi region, has recently come to agree with this point of view ("The Beginning of Iron in China», EAAN'nouncements 14 [Autumn 1995], p. 6).

108 The most famous specimens come from Shizhai- shan (Yunnan Sheng Bowuguan, Yunnan Jinning Shizhaishan gumuqun fajue baogao, vol. 2, pi. 100) and Lijiashan (Yunnan Sheng Bowuguan, «Yunnan Jiangchuan Lijiashan gumuqun fajue baogao», pp. 140-41, pi. 22.8). Others have been found at Chengguan, Maowen (Sichuan) (Sichuan Sheng Wenguanhui et al., «Sichuan Maowen

58 Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996

Qiang zu zizhixian shiguanzang fajue baogao», p. 46); Longpaozhaitlj6), Maowen, and other localities in the Upper Min valley (Sichuan) (Feng Hanji and Tong Enzheng, «Minjiang shangyou de shiguanzang», Kaogu xuebao 1973.2: 41-60, especially pp. 50-51); Lugu Hupan, Yanyuan (Sichuan) (Huang Chengzong, «Lugu hupan chutu wenwu diaochaji», p. 952); Tianzi- miao'157', Chenggong1138' (Yunnan) (Yunnan Sheng Bowuguan Wenwu Gongzuodui, « Yunnan Chenggong Tianzimiao gumuqun de qingli», Kaoguxue jikan 3 (1983): 132-42, especially pp.134 and 138).

109 Cf. the finds from Yiqill59), Tunxi(160) (Anhui) (Anhui Sheng Bowuguan, Anhui Sheng Bowuguan cang qingtongqi, Shanghai : Shanghai Ren- min Meishu chubanshe, 1987, nos. 21-44), and Yandunshan(161), Dantu(162) (Jiangsu) (Jiangsu Sheng Wenwu Guanli Weiyuanhui, «Jiangsu Dantu Yandunshan chutu de gudai qingtongqi», Wenwu cankao ziliao 1955.5, 58-62).

110 Mao Xian Qiangzu Bowuguan et al., «Sichuan Mao Xian Moutuo yihao shiguanmu ji peizang- keng qingli jianbao », pp. 34-35. The grammar of the original sentence is faulty.

111 For useful preliminary discussion, see Orioli, « Pastor alism and Nomadism».

112 See Falkenhausen, «The Use and Significance of Ritual Bronzes in the Lingnan Region».

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Arts Asiatiques, tome 51-1996 59

Informations

Informations sur von Lothar Falkenhausen
Cet article cite :

Robert W. Bagley. Sacrificial pits of the Shang period at Sanxingdui in Guanghan county, Sichuan Province, Arts asiatiques, 1988, vol. 43, n° 1, pp. 78-86.

Pagination

Plan

Problems With the « Ba-Shu » Cultural Sequence
Springs and Autumns Period Bronzes from the Sichuan Basin
Neighbors of the « Ba-Shu » Culture
The Moutuo Tombs
The Moutuo Bronzes

A. Lei Containers
B. Bells
C. Tripodal Vessels
D. Cups
E. Bronze Ornaments
F. « Ba-Shu » Weapons
G. Other Types of Weapons

The Date and Significance of the Moutuo Bronzes

Illustrations

Map 1 : Map of China with place names occuring in the text
Map 2 : The site of Moutuo, MaoXian (Sichuan)
Fig. 1. Tomb no. 1 at Moutuo
Fig. 2. Cache no. 1 at Moutuo
Fig. 3. Bronze lei vessels
Fig. 4. Bronze lei vessel from tomb no. 1 at Moutuo
Fig. 5. Bronze bo belt from cache no. 1 at Moutuo
Fig. 6. Bronze bo bell in the Musée Guimet
Fig. 7. Bronze yongzhong bells
Fig. 8. Bronze bo bells
Fig. 9. Bronze bo bells
Fig. 10. Bronze ding tripods
Fig. 11. Bronze zhan vessels
Fig. 12. Bronze dui vessels
Fig. 13. Bronze cups
Fig. 14. Bird representations
Fig. 15. Bronze « plaque ornament » from tomb no. 1 at Moutuo
Fig. 16. Possible parallels to the Moutuo « plaque ornament »
Fig. 17. Bronze dagger-axes and halberds from Moutuo
Table 1. « Ba-Shu » Weapons Found at Moutuo
Fig. 18. Bronze halberd with dagger-axe of Type I from tomb no. 1 at Moutuo
Fig. 19. Bronze halberds with curled-back prongs
Fig. 20. Bronze daggers with animal-headed handles
Fig. 21. Bronze dagger with animal-headed handle from tomb no. 1 at Moutuo
Fig. 22. Bronze daggers and two-sheathed scabbards
Fig. 23. Bronze daggers with pronounced pommels
Fig. 24. Bronze dagger with pronounced pommel from cache no. 1 at Moutuo
Fig. 25. Daggers with twisted handles
Fig. 26. Bronze dagger with twisted handle (polished) from Tomb A at Liulige, Hui Xian (Henan)
Fig. 27. Long sword with bronze handle and iron blade from tomb no. 26 at Lijiashan, Jiangchuan (Yunnan)