商周时期方形青铜礼器上的“四隅中心制”纹饰及相关问题

On the Centrality of Patterns on Bronze during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties and the Related Issues

以器体四隅为视点中心形成中轴对称的结构布局是商周时期方形青铜礼器的重要装饰方法之一,此类装饰起源于新石器时代晚期兽面纹玉琮,商代早期开始用于装饰方形青铜礼器,商代晚期至西周早期继续存在,西周中期逐渐消失。统治者在设计铸造青铜礼器时刻意模仿被诸多氏族部落所认可的兽面纹玉琮,目的在于藉此笼络其他氏族部落势力,掌控宗教话语权,强化自身统治地位。

To employ the four corners of an artifact as the optical center is central to decorations on bronze ritual wares during the Shang Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty, which was rooted in the design of motifs on jade tong during the late Neolithic Age.＂ Such decoration principle was first applied on bronze wares during the early Shang Dynasty and continued till the early Zhou Dynasty. From the middle period of the Zhou Dynasty. it started dying out. The design to mimic animal-face motif was out of the concern to appeal to other tribes and clans, which couht help with religious power and political authority.