Discover a 3,000-Year-Old Bronze Masterpiece from the Forbidden City: The Zhou Zha Hu

The Zhou Zha Hu, a well-known ancient relic once treasured in the Qing imperial collection, stands as a monumental testament to the artistry and sophistication of a glorious age in ancient China. Towering with an imposing presence, the vessel is majestically cast, embodying both commanding power and graceful elegance, with a deep, mature patina that whispers of centuries past. Its intricate design and craftsmanship reflect the ceremonial and ritualistic practices of the time, serving not only as a functional object but also as a medium for conveying the social and political prestige of its owner. Its long inscription of historical importance has been documented and studied by generations of imperial scholars and collectors, further solidifying its status as an esteemed masterwork of archaic bronze from the dawn of China's civilization.

The Zhou Zha Hu's provenance is distinguished, having been cherished by the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-1795) and housed within the Forbidden City. This imperial lineage not only underscores its significant historical and cultural value but also elevates its prominent status as it once passed through the hands of one of China's most illustrious emperors. Only one other hu of this design and Zhou Zha inscription is known – the companion piece to the present hu – and is preserved, absent its cover, in the Palace Museum, Taipei (Fig. 1), published in Gugong xizhou jinwen lu / Catalogue of Western Chou Bronze Inscription in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2012, p. 122, cat. no. 74.

In 1749, the Qianlong Emperor commissioned a group of scholars from the Hanlin Academy, led by Liang Shizheng (1697-1763), Jiang Pu (1708-1761), and Wang Youdun (1692-1758), to compile an illustrated catalogue of archaic bronzes in the imperial collection. The project took six years to complete, culminating in 1755 with the printing of the forty-volume Xiqing gujian [Catalogue of Antiques in the Xiqing Pavilion]. This imperial catalogue, following the tradition of earlier antiquities catalogues such as the Song dynasty Bogutu [Illustrations of Broad Antiquity], provided illustrations of each object along with brief descriptions, measurements and background research. The Xiqing gujian includes details of over 1,500 bronzes, which constituted only part of the bronze collection in the Forbidden City. The Qianlong Emperor subsequently decreed three sequels to be completed by another group of imperial scholars. This set of four imperial catalogues is regarded today as one of the most important treatments of ancient bronzes ever written and the works listed within have long been highly sought-after by collectors for their royal lineage. Very few vessels preserved outside of the two Palace Museums, however, can be identified as having been recorded in these imperial catalogues, all the more so of those remaining in private hands.

The vessel of the present hu is recorded in Xiqing gujian (Fig. 2). Its cover, on the other hand, is included in the first sequel of the book, Xiqing xujian jiabian [Supplement A to Xiqing gujian] (Fig. 3), matched with the vessel that is currently in the collection of the National Palace Museum. This suggests that the present cover may well have been originally placed on top of the vessel now housed in Taipei when they were in the Imperial Palace. The inclusion of the Zhou Zha Hu in these prestigious imperial catalogues signifies its importance and the high regard in which it was held by the Qing court.

Wu Zhenfeng also speculates that the covers of the hu were switched after they left the imperial collection (see Shangzhou qingtongqi mingwen ji tuxiang jicheng [Compendium of inscriptions and images of bronzes from Shang and Zhou dynasties], vol. 22, Shanghai, 2012, no. 12392). The whereabouts of the other cover, however, remains a mystery. Traces of evidence from compilations of antique bronzes published in the beginning of the last century indicate it was once in the collection of Ding Yanchen (1829-1873), known by the art name (hao) Xiaonong but, beyond that, the trail appears to run dry. See, for example, an ink rubbing of the cover's inscription published in Zou An, Zhou jinwen cun [Surviving writings from the Zhou dynasty], vol. 5, 1916, p. 45, where it was accompanied by a seal reading Xiaonong suocang (collected by Xiaonong).

In addition to its important imperial association, the Zhou Zha Hu is also remarkable for its long inscription. The twenty-four-character inscription in ancient seal script on the vessel and cover indicates the hu belonged to Zhou Zha, who commissioned this bronze for Gong Ri Ji. According to Yang Shuda, the character gong can be referred to as 'father' in ancient China (see Yang Shuda, Jiweiju jinwen shuo [On the bronze inscriptions in Jiweiju], 1952, p. 94). The inscription notes how Zhou Zha made the hu for his father Ri Ji to be used during rituals and ceremonies in their ancestral hall, to be treasured eternally for ten-thousand years by his sons and grandsons. The last character of the inscription is a clan pictogram, identifying the family to which Zhou Zha belonged. Based on the study by Wang Entian, this pictogram can be interpreted as zhou (see Guwenzi yanjiu [Study of ancient characters], vol. 25, Beijing, 2004, pp 29-35).

This Zhou clan, however, is not to be confused with the Zhou that established an empire over the land of China by defeating the last king of the Shang dynasty. Indeed, the inclusion of a clan pictogram in the inscription of the present hu suggests that the owner of the vessel, Zhou Zha, was a descendant of the Shang rather than a native of Zhou. As Zhang Maorong explains, aristocrats from the Shang dynasty had the tradition of including clan pictograms in bronze inscriptions, and this tradition was not practiced by the Zhou people of the new empire (see 'Zhouren buyong zuhui shuo [Zhou residents do not use clan pictogram],' Guwenzi yu qingtongqi lunji [Collection of essays on Chinese ancient characters and archaic bronzes], Beijing, 2002, pp 223-230).

Dong Shan has conducted a study on the origin of this clan based on a group of related oracle bone inscriptions and archaic bronze inscriptions (see 'Shilun Yinxu buci zhi 'zhou' wei jinwen zhong de yunxing zhi zhou [An Attempt to Discuss that the 'Zhou' in Oracle Bone Inscriptions from Yinxu is the 'Zhou' of the Yun Family in Archaic Bronze Inscriptions]', Zhongguo guojia bowuguan guankan / Journal of National Museum of China, no. 7, Beijing, 2013, pp 48-63). The author believes that this Zhou clan, with the xing (family name) of Yun, was one of the ancient tribes from the Shang dynasty. It originated in the region of Zhouyuan (Fig. 4) in today's Shaanxi province. In the late Shang dynasty, they co-resided with another clan (who shared the xing of Ji) that migrated into the region led by Gugong Danfu – the founder of the Zhou empire. In the Western Zhou period, this native Zhou clan remained active. Members of the clan, as evidenced by the inscription on the present hu, were not only able to keep their earlier customs and traditions, but also enjoyed the aristocratic privileges of the Zhou noble class, including holding rituals for their Shang ancestors.

A small group of extant bronzes from the same Zhou clan are recorded, identified by the same clan pictogram. See, for example, the Zhou Ji Sheng Gui, formerly in the collection of Li Zhiling and Pan Zuyin (1830-1890), illustrated in Yan Yiping, Jinwen zongji [The complete compendium of bronze inscriptions], 1983, no. 2519; the Fu Ding Gui, ibid., no. 2477; a set of Peng Sheng Gui, published in The Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., Yinzhou jinwen jicheng [Compendium of Yin and Zhou bronze inscriptions], Beijing, 1984, nos 04262-04265; the Zhou Fu Ji Jue, in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, included in Luo Zhengyu, Sandai jijinwen cun [Surviving bronze inscriptions from the Three Dynasties], vol. 16, 1937, p. 15; and the Zhou Hu You, in the Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Rong Geng, Shangzhou yiqi tongkao / The Bronzes of Shang and Chou, vol. II, Beiping, 1941, pl. 665.

The inscription of the Zhou Zha Hu has been extensively studied by scholars over the centuries. In 1804, the famous scholar Ruan Yuan (1764-1849) (Fig. 5) included the inscription of the Zhou Zha Hu in his seminal book of epigraphy, Jiguzhai zhongding yiqi kuanzhi [Inscriptions on the archaic bronzes from the Studio of Collecting Antiquities] (Fig. 6). While Ruan's attempt to decipher the inscription was largely unsuccessful, his influence was huge. Sun Yirang (1848-1908), a brilliant scholar of the nineteenth century, made an important epigraphic study of the inscription. He correctly deciphered the second character of the inscription as zha, and thereafter, this bronze vessel became known as the Zhou Zha Hu, replacing the traditional name – Zhou Yi Hu (as catalogued in the Xiqing gujian). In 1916, Zou An (1864-1940) published two ink rubbings of the inscriptions on the covers of the Zhou Zha Hu in his book, Zhou jinwen cun [Surviving writings from the Zhou dynasty], alongside the aforementioned Xiaonong suocang seal impression placing the now lost cover in the collection of Ding Yanchen. The seal impression on the second rubbing (of the inscription on the cover of the present lot) is even more significant and reads Mengpo baocang (treasured collection of Mengpo). Mengpo was the studio name of Zhou Qingyun (1866-1934), a rich merchant and collector from Wuxing in Zhejiang, who must have later come into possession of this great treasure. In 1937, Luo Zhenyu published his famous bronze book, Sandai jijinwen cun [Surviving bronze inscriptions from the Three Dynasties] (1937), and featured rubbings of all four inscriptions from both Zhou Zha Hu and their covers. Luo correctly matched the vessels with the covers based on the original placements recorded in the imperial catalogues.