Inside a Bronze Ding

This morning, the mysterious Mr. Roth and I were discussing bronze tripods (that is us on the left: me sitting on said tripod; him wishing I'd hurry up and get on with what I have to say).  

He was telling me about a certain tripod which was unearthed in  the South of France in 1629. The object, he told me, had been imemdiately sent to a famous French scholar of antiquities who had announced that the object was a miniature representation of the tripod upon which the Delphic priestess had sat during her mystical revelations (like the one in the picture).

Europeans have, of course, always been fascinated with antiquities-- especially, he says, with those concerning the pagan oracles of the ancient world.

His story reminded me very much of the situation in China.

Michael Berdeley in his Chinese Collector through the Centuries, writes that:

During the Han Dynasty ritual bronzes were sought with the feverish excitement that accompanied the quest for Greek and Roman vessels in the  Renaissance. One criminal was pardoned by an official because he knew  where to lay hands on early bronzes. Collectors sought them because the  vessels inspired respect by their venerable antiquity, apart from the aesthetic pleasure of handling them.

These bronze vessels from the ancient Shang and Zhou dynasties were in huge demand among the elite during the Han dynasty and remained the most highly prized of all the Chinese collectors’arts-- at least until the great rise of calligraphy. And, just like in Renaissance Europe, the unearthing and study of antiquities became surrounded with mystery and prestige; as well as infused with concepts of political legitimacy.

After telling him about this, I then asked him if he had ever heard of the legendary nine bronze tripods (jiu ding 九鼎) of ancient China.

Shaking his head, no, I went on to explain that, like the regalia of Medieval English kings, it was believed that there once existed nine bronze tripods and that these tripods were thought to confer political legitimacy on whomever possessed them.

The Chronicles record that the Nine Bronze Tripods were cast when King Yu (r. 2205-2198 BC) of the first ancient dynasty, the Xia (2100-1600 B.C.) gained control of the country and received as tribute, bronze from all nine provinces of ancient China. Thereafter, the bronze tripods became a symbol of the Mandate of Heaven and were passed down from dynasty to dynasty-- for nearly 2,000 years-- or so the story goes.

From Xia to Shang, from Shang to Zhou, the tripods were treasured until the time when the First Emperor, Shihuangdi, finally toppled the last Zhou King and rather than see their transfer to Shihuangdi’s new dynasty, the last Zhou King cast them forever into a river. Although Shihuangdi actively attempted to dredge up the sacred bronzes from the river, it was to no avail, and scholars of later dynasties saw this as further evidence of the lack of moral virtue of the First Emperor.

I had promised not to digress, but I couldn't resist:

There is a well known story, I told him with a slight smile, which supposedly took place at the start of the Eastern Zhou Period (770-256 BC). Severely weakened by external and internal threats, the Zhou kings came to rule in name only. Although the Zhou dynasty was the acknowledged recipient of the Mandate of Heaven and therefore possessor of the Nine Tripods, the real political power was held by the kings and generals of various surrounding kingdoms, chiefly those of the Qin, Qi, Chu, Wei and Yan.

The Chu were especially troublesome, and after some showy military displays near the Zhou capital of Luoyang, the worried Zhou king dispatched his trusty Minister to negotiate for peaceful relations with their southern Chu neighbors.

When the Minister arrived at the military camp outside the capital, the belligerent Lord of Chu immediately inquired about the size and weight of the Nine Tripods, thereby implying that with their transfer to the House of Chu, the Mandate of Heaven would also be transferred. The ever-quick Minister sharply responded that unless it could be shown that the Will of Heaven had in fact changed, then it was forbidden to inquire after the weight of the tripods. He then went on to explain that the actual weight of the tripods was beside the point as their weight corresponded directly to the virtue of the king who had them in his possession; that is, if the ruler truly held the Mandate of Heaven then the tripods would be immovably heavy. However, should a ruler lack virtue, the tripods would become weightless and therefore meaningless as a political and psychological symbol.

The Lord of Chu, moved by the Zhou minister's logic, was thus convinced of the righteousness and virtue of the Zhou Dynasty and a tentative peace was agreed to.

Turning back to my point, I said:

As I told you, Shihuandi actively tried to locate the Nine Tripods, attempting in vain to dredge them up from the river. His lack of success was seen by later historians as being proof of Heaven’s displeasure, for as the Minister explained, “The tripods do not matter; virtue does.”

Shihuangdi’s reign lasted a mere 15 years, and it was followed by the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220.) Contemporaneous with the Ancient Roman Empire, the Han Dynasty was one of the most prosperous and comparatively harmonious times in all of Chinese history.

The greatness of the Han saw its proof in the fact that “bronzes began to emerge from the earth in a fashion a little short of miraculous.” In 113 BC, for example, when an especially beautiful tripod was found and sent on to the emperor, he was so moved by its beauty and great antiquity that he began a new reign name to the period which had just begun, calling it: “The Year of the Tripod.” This dynasty, where the arts and philosophy flourished, is looked upon as one of China’s past “golden ages.”

At this point, my dear Mr. Roth got a very expectant look on his face, and actually shouted out: "Finally!" As it appeared that I was at last nearing my point.

This great fascination with antiquity, I suggested, is much intertwined with the pre-Renaissance idea-- both East and West-- that a Golden Age was something seen to have been already realized, solely in the reality of the past. It was never, for example, imagined in any sort of hope in the future or an afterlife. And it was in the past that one could find the “exemplary models” necessary for all moral actions, including the methods of enlightened government.

In a similar way to the Italians of the Renaissance who held the Ancients to be the “Grand Exemplars” in everything from art to politics, Confucius, for example, taught that the problems of the present age could be best solved by a “return to antiquity” (fugu). He considered the ancient kings to have been men of perfect virtue and therefore having been almost godlike. Confucian, and later Neo-Confucian scholars and philosophers tended to elucidate on everything from political intrigues to philosophical dilemmas in terms of past precedents, “for only those with a clear vision of the past can uphold civilization’s future” 

This, I told him, was what I had found so intriguing about John Gray's Straw Dogs (See my Post here).

In the end, I realized that for 2 people that I wouldn't have expected would have much to talk about (see my recent post) , we actually had a huge amount to share from our respective positions within the depths of an ancient bronze tripod.

Comments

[Aegeus]

Dear Themis, it is awfully bad manners for a priestess to make her consultant ashamed on account of his ignorance! Not all of us are permitted to scale the same dizzying Parnassi as your clan.

Still, thanks for your disquisition. Isn't fugu a kind of poisonous fish? Is the return to antiquity a poisonous fish, perhaps?

"Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee."

Another bit of imperialist tripodage is witnessed in the Serpent Column:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpent_column

[Aegeus]

Oh, and I forgot to mention, there is a book called "Have You Been to Delphi?" (http://www.amazon.com/Have-You-Been-Delphi-Traditions/dp/0791447820) which contains an interview with some Tibetan monk on the similarities between the Delphic and (modern) Tibetan oracles.

[Peony]

"Fugu" as in the glorious Confucian "Fugu Movement" 復古.... :)

Of course, there could have been a pufferfish movement as well. Maybe there should be. thanks for the book recommendation too.
have a good one.

PS Themis, it seems, was not known for her manners...