Bronze Sculptures in the tomb of Fuhao
Tomb of Fu Hao was excavated in 1976 by archaeologists, the sole completely maintained regius graves of Yin Dynasty ruins. This is of more than five meters long, about four meters wide and seven meters deep, above of it founded an ancestral hall named Mu Xin Zong in the oracle inscriptions on tortoise shells or animal bones. Allegedly, the ancestral hall was said to be an ancestral temple built by the king of Shang, Wu Ding to memory his wife, Fu Hao, honoring her posthumous title as Xin. In spite of a not large coffin chamber of the tomb of Fu Hao, but it is well preserved with abundant funerary objects. The cultural relics in diverse characters unearthed in it amount to 1928 pieces including bronze sculpture, jades, precious stone devices, ivories and other artifacts.
Only the bronze sculptures engraved with inscriptions are nearly 200 and hundreds inscribed with the character “Fu Hao”, of which the most noticeable are two large bronze yues. One is adorned with dragon patterns while the other with tiger ornaments. Each weighs up to eight or nine kg. The scholars claimed according to the inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells that they were weapons used by Fu Hao before her death. According to textual research, this bronze statue was also an emblem of royalty and military power. The view of them seems to be able to catch sight the valiant and heroic bearing of Fu Hao dashing about in a battlefield. Fu Hao is unique as well as the bronze civilization of Shang embodied by the Yin Ruins. It allows us to pass through the history experiencing the vivid and brilliant civilization of the Shang represented by capitals, characters, bronze sculptures, etc.
The significance of the discovery of Fu Hao tomb
The name Fu Hao was seen in the oracle in the period of Wu Ding. In her lifetime, she once presided over the sacrifice, engaged in battle with a celebrated position. The tomb of Fu Hao is ascribed to the early times of Yin Dynasty Ruins coincided with the era of Wu Ding, hence Fu Hao accounted to the spouse of Wu Ding. Its importance lies in the intact preservation, clear identity of the time and tomb master. In the 1930s, several large tombs excavated inside the area the Emperor’s tombs in the vicinity of Houjia village have all been robbed resulting in little knowledge of the overall picture of the royal graves of Shang Dynasty. Yet, the excavation of the tomb of Fu Hao in a way made up for this regret. The groups of sacrificial chinese bronze and weapons and a great quantity of jades and artifacts inside the tomb, on the whole, mirror the category and combination of the sacrificial bronze sculptures in the Shang Dynasty before and after the period of Wu Ding Wang, significant information on the study of the of proprieties system of Shang. Large-scale ritual bronze sculptures, weapons and a mass of jades and ivory wares also show the prosperity of the Shang Dynasty and its development level of handicraft. Shang culture is formed over a long period of development. From the perspective of jades, can be seen that the development process has absorbed some advanced factors of culture of the Neolithic stage, such as the jade dragon, jade pig dragon of Hongshan culture and the cong (a long hollow piece of jade with rectangular sides), bi (piece of jade with hole in center), etc. of Liangzhu culture. Furthermore, with the continuous development and innovation, it enriches the cultural connotation of Shang and adds splendor to the Chinese culture. All sorts of cultural relics in the tomb of Fu Hao, consisting of the shellfish, conch, china bronze etc. await us to do the search in many ways and from multi-angle.
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