Bronze Water Basin：Awash with Love
Hello, and welcome to The Context. My name is Scott Pruett and I’m an anchor with NewsChina. With our podcast, we aim to provide insight into the current trends of modern China allowing you to clearly see what’s happening today through a historical lens.
Today, we’re going to talk about an ancient bronze washing basin that showed one man’s true devotion to his beloved by combining both art and technology.
But first, here’s a challenge a lot of you guys can relate to: You want to give your sweetheart an unforgettable gift. The question is, what do you get? Yes, it’s a conundrum that’s been with us for eons.
Perhaps we can draw some inspiration from a young official that lived some 27 hundred years ago. He came up with a stunning piece of art that was not only a hit with his lady, but around the world and for generations to come.
Instead of using gold or silver as one might expect, his gift was a cast bronze wash basin.
Love Story
It was first unearthed by grave robbers in Central China’s Shanxi Province in the 20th century. Engraved on its inner rim are 32 characters that read: “On the seventh day of the sixth lunar month, a handwash basin was made for Lady Jiang Zhong at the request of Grand Master, who with it wishes Lady Jiang health and longevity.”
The inscription concludes, “May our descendants forever possess this vessel.” Historians called it the Zi Zhong Jiang Pan (子仲姜盘) – which means the Handwash Basin of Lady Jiang Zhong.
Archaeologists identified it as originating from the State of Jin, carbon-dating it within range from 770 to 476 BCE during the Spring and Autumn period. With this information, we can sketch out a rough profile of the piece.
The man who commissioned it identifies as “Grand Master.” This isn’t a name, but a senior position within the Jin State government in charge of rituals and matters involving music. He intended the gift for his wife, Lady Jiang Zhong (姜仲). Her surname suggests she came from the ruling Jiang clan in the neighboring state of Qi. A side note – her given name, Zhong, means she was the second daughter of her family.
Marriages like these between noble families of different kingdoms were commonly arranged to cement diplomatic relations. The Jiang clan in the state of Qi were descendants of Jiang Ziya（姜子牙）, chief strategist for the founding king of the Zhou Dynasty from 1046 to 256 BCE. Many of the Jiang daughters were married off to ruling families in neighboring states.
So, what exactly makes this bronze ware special? Unlike today, bronze ware in the Spring and Autumn Period was exclusive to nobility because of the difficulty of casting. Ordinary people could neither afford nor legally own bronze ware.
Also, as chopsticks would not be adopted for another 300 years, people most often ate with their hands, making handwash basins an everyday item. This gave rise to ritual handwashing, a ceremony widely practiced on important occasions like sacrificial offerings or weddings.
For example, when receiving distinguished guests, the patriarch of the host family would pour water using a long-spouted vessel called an yi (匜), while his eldest son would hold a vessel below it called a pan (盘) so the guest could wash their hands. The yi and pan were usually made as a set. Lady Jiang Zhong’s handwash basin is a pan.
But the ingenuity and sophistication of this bronze ware is what truly sets it apart.
Art and Technology
With a diameter of 45 centimeters and weighing 12.4 kilograms, the basin has a pair of broad handles. Engraved cloud patterns circle the outside. On the rim sit two small dragons. With their protruding heads and coiled bodies, they appear ready to spring into the vessel as if they are about to pounce on something below.
On the basin bottom are 12 animal figurines. Right in the center is a crowned male waterfowl. Four fish surround him, as if they are guarding their king. Surrounding them are four female waterfowl, looking outwards. There were once four frogs on the outermost circle, but one was lost to corrosion. Aside from the figurines, animals are also embossed on the bottom, such as turtles, frogs and small fish.
These sculptures are as vivid and detailed as they were 27-hundred years ago. But the real magic happens when water is added. The flowing water makes the figurines spin 360 degrees, as if they are dancing.
Computer scans of the interior reveal the figurines swivel on shafts that connect to the basin’s bottom. The talented artist behind the bowl designed these shafts to blend with the animal’s sculpted shape, making them invisible to the eye.
The piece’s casting techniques were unprecedented. Casting the figurines, which measure an average 6.5 centimeters, was a challenge. What makes it more impressive is that the artist had to design them just right to allow for rotation, all the while making sure water did not seep through the clearances.
So how was this precious bronze ware actually made? Section mold casting.
The figurines, shafts and basin were cast separately and then welded together.
One of the biggest technical challenges for making the basin was fixing the delicate shafts to the thin base of the basin. This problem was solved by putting a very thin layer of mud at the joints to ensure the weld did not damage or puncture the base. Also, they had to get the thickness of the layer just right: too little would likely cause the basin to leak, while too much would not allow the shaft to fuse to the base, and the figurines would not spin.
It perfectly embodies the inseparable relationship between technology and artistry. Technology is a necessary condition to create art, and the development of art is impacted by technology at every stage.
Way Home
No doubt the vessel originated in ancient China, but once found, it certainly did not go straight to a museum in modern China.
It was first discovered by tomb robbers in Shanxi Province in the early 20th century. Then it inexplicably vanished.
It didn’t resurface until in the 1990s, when it was put up for auction in Macau. Many foreign collectors were eager to bid for it. Experts from the Chinese mainland were anxious about the coming auction, since a foreign collector was likely to win the bid.
Enter Sunny Yip. The native of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province and founder of Sun Group in Hong Kong paid 37.5 million yuan for the piece, that’s about $5.6 million USD. Born in 1950, Yip has engaged in philanthropy focused on public welfare and education in his hometown, donating over 100 million yuan, about $15 million US.
After the purchase, Yip consulted a number of bronzeware experts to determine its value. But many of them replied that they knew nothing about the basin; some even dismissed it as a fake. Afraid that he might have made a bad decision, Yip was as disheartened as anyone.
When Ma Chengyuan, former director of the Shanghai Museum, flew to Hong Kong and examined it in person, the sight of it thrilled him, and he immediately confirmed it as a one-of-a-kind, priceless national treasure.
Ma was so excited that night that he barely slept and wrote his now widely cited article – Postscript on Zi Zhong Jiang Pan. He delivered an extremely detailed description of the basin.
Yip later learned that the Chinese government had its eye on the basin. It was one of two national treasures that various Chinese embassies and consulates around the world had been tracking for nine years.
During a TV interview in 2002, Ma said that two years after first encountering the basin, Hong Kong was about to be returned to the motherland, so he wrote to Yip asking to borrow the treasure for a two-month exhibition in Shanghai, which was part of the celebratory events. According to Ma, Yip replied that he would donate the piece to the Shanghai Museum.
As I mentioned earlier, the basin for Lady Jiang Zhong was originally paired with another vessel for pouring water, known as an yi. Regrettably, the yi is in the possession of a private collector in New York. Separated by thousands of miles, the two may remain so for the foreseeable future.
The fate of the yi is shared by many Chinese antiquities. According to incomplete statistics complied by UNESCO, more than 1.64 million historical artifacts from China are in the possession of over 200 museums in 47 countries, which doesn’t take into account overseas private collections. The Chinese Cultural Relics Academy estimates the combined total is close to 10 million.
Since 2012, the Chinese government has stepped up efforts recover and bring back such artifacts. Moreover, favorable policies have been formulated to encourage private efforts on this front. In the past ten years, over 1,800 of these historical artifacts lost to overseas collectors have been returned to China. If we’re lucky, maybe the yi will return someday as well.
That’s the end of our podcast. We want to thank our writer Lü Weitao, translator Eugene Hsu, and copy editor JT. And thank you for listening. We hope you enjoyed it and if you did, please tell a friend so they, too, can understand The Context.