两周青铜盨研究

A STUDY OF BRONZE XV FOOD CONTAINERS OF THE WESTERN AND EASTERN ZHOU PERIOD

关于两周青铜盈，研究文章不多^[1]。原因有二，一是其流行时间较短，自西周中期始出，至晚期大盛，进入春秋早期后又急剧衰减，变化幅度小，不像鼎鬲簋甗引人注目；二是它的面貌为人们所认识只是晚近的事，宋代以来习称此类器为簋，而称簋为敦，容庚著《商周礼乐器考略》，

In this paper, the author makes a typological and chronological study of 150 handed-down and excavated bronze xu food containers. According to the relationship of different shapes, he divides them into six stages. These are the early and late stages of the middle Western Zhou period, the early and late stages of the late Western Zhou period, and the early and late stages of the Spring and Autumn period. As the xu is close to the gui food container in shape, decoration, inscription and combination function, the author proposes that the former must have been evolved from the latter directly. Meanwhile, he also points out their differences in shape, provenance, combination function, and owners' status. The xu was a product of the Zhou culture with great attention of the Zhou people paid to food. Its examples are often found in burials of higher rank. Its presence in combinations of bronzes reflects the heightening of food vessels among the then ritual bronzes and shows the special status of the tomb occupants. It functioned only in a short period in the history of ancient China. Concerning its rapid fall from the early Spring and Autumn period, the author analyses the causes in five aspects.