Enormous tomb in the Shang Dynasty (17th century-11th century BC)

Location: Xin'gan County, Jiangxi Province

Period: About 12th century BC

Excavated in 1989

Double-sided bronze head of man or god: function unknown (up, height 53 cm); Rectangular ding (a three-legged or four-legged cauldron) with tiger's ears and nipple design: cooking vessel or ritual vessel (left, height 97 cm); Jade mask of god or man: function unknown (in the background, height 16.2 cm)

Significance: It has disclosed the features of the bronze civilization and burial systems of the nobles in the Yangtze River valley during the Shang Dynasty.

Introduction

The Xingan Tomb is a large Shang tomb at Xingan, Jiangxi Province, famous for its bronze culture. Up to now, 1,361 pieces of relics like bronze, pottery, stoneware and jade have been unearthed, among which 475 pieces are ritual bronzes.

Among the vessels from this tomb, the Ding vessels account for more than half of the total. Comparison with their counterparts in the Zhengzhou Erligang phase and the Anyang Yin period shows that the bronzes from Xingan distinctly differ from those in the Central Plains, as the main vessel type at Xingan is the Ding, and in the Central Plains, the Gu and Jue wine vessels.

The Xingan Ding has a variety of forms, with the flat-legged Ding constituting the major group, thus suggesting that this subtype might have developed first in the south. The Xingan Ding often bears tiger-shaped decorations on its two handles, and this seems to be an indication of totemism among the local ethnic groups. Chronologically, the Xingan Ding roughly corresponds to the late Zhengzhou Erligang Period.