The Song ''gui'' ( Chinese: 頌簋;

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: ''Sòng guǐ'') is a

Chinese ritual bronze From , elaborately decorated bronze vessels were deposited as grave goods in the tombs of royalty and nobility during the Chinese Bronze Age. Documented excavations have found over 200 pieces in a single royal tomb. They were produced for an indi ...

Gui from the

Western Zhou dynasty The Western Zhou ( zh, c=西周, p=Xīzhōu; 771 BC) was a period of Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Zhou dynasty. It began when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye and ended in 7 ...

(1046–771 BC). Acquired in 1952 by the

Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University. Although it embraces all cultures and period ...

, it was the gift of art dealer and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

alumnus Wilson P. Foss Jr. The ''gui'' served as a sacrificial vessel for

Chinese ancestral worship Chinese ancestor veneration, also called Chinese ancestor worship, is an aspect of the Chinese folk religion, Chinese traditional religion which revolves around the ritual celebration of the deification, deified ancestors and tutelary deities ...

, holding cooked grain like

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

. On the interior, a 152 character inscription describes a royal court appointment by

King Xuan of Zhou __NOTOC__ King Xuan of Zhou, personal name Ji Jing, was king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty; his reign has been reconstructed to be 827/25782 BC. He worked to restore royal authority after the Gonghe Regency. He fought the "Western Barbarians" ...

to the namesake official of the bronze, Song (頌). Part of the set of a series of bronzes, the ''Song gui'' is provides insight into Western Zhou administration beyond the scope and

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

of bamboo slip texts.

Provenance

The

provenance Provenance () is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including archaeology, p ...

of the ''gui'' remains unknown, but is linked to multiple other bronzes by the same individual traced at earliest before the 19th century, though many Western Zhou bronzes have been traced to the

Wei River The Wei River () is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization. In ancient times, such as in the Records ...

Shaanxi Province Shaanxi is a province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to the west. Shaanxi ...

Other vessels exist that are attributed to the same individual: * One cauldron and one jar is held by the

National Palace Museum The National Palace Museum, also known as Taipei Palace Museum, is a national museum headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in Beijing in 1925, the museum was re-established in Shilin District, Shilin, Taipei, in 1965, later expanded with a S ...

* One cauldron and one lidless ''gui'' at the

Palace Museum The Palace Museum (), also known as the Beijing Palace Museum, is a large national museum complex housed in the Forbidden City at the core of Beijing, China. With , the museum inherited the imperial royal palaces from the Ming and Qing dynast ...

* One cauldron and one ''gui'' is held by

Shanghai Museum The Shanghai Museum is a municipal public museum of ancient Chinese art, situated on the People's Square in the Huangpu District, Shanghai, Huangpu District of Shanghai, China. It is funded by thShanghai Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau Reb ...

* Another ''gui'' is held by the Shandong Museum * One lid by the Kurokawa Institute of Ancient Cultures * One lidless jar held by the

National Museum of China The National Museum of China is an art museum, art and history museum located on the eastern side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The National Museum of China has a total construction area of about 200,000 square meters, a collection of more than ...

* One lidded ''gui'' is held by the

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art gallery, art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri, known for its encyclopedic collection of art from nearly every continent and culture, and especially for its extensive collection of A ...

The Text

The vessel has a 152-character description commemorating an appointment from the reigning Zhou king to Song. It is copied twice, on the underside of the vessel and the inside the cover.

唯三年五月既死霸甲戌，王在周康昭宮，旦，王𢓜大室，即位。宰引右頌入門，立中廷，尹氏授王令書，王呼史虢生冊令頌。 “王曰：‘頌！令汝官司成周賈，監司新造賈，用宮御。錫汝玄衣黹純、赤巿、朱衡、鑾旂、𨦷勒，用事！’ ” 頌拜稽首，受令冊，佩以出，返入覲璋。頌敢對揚天子丕顯魯休，用作朕皇考恭叔、皇母恭姒寶尊簋，用追孝、祈匄康𬋴、純祐、通祿、永令。頌其萬年眉壽無疆、駿臣天子霝終、子子孫孫永寶用。 It was the third year, fifth month, he periodafter the dying brightness (of the moon), ayjiaxu (11/60). The King was in Zhou, in the palace edicated to KingsKang and Zhao. At dawn, the King arrived at the Grand Hall and assumed isposition. Superintendent Yĭn accompanied Song, entering the gate and standing in the centre of the courtyard. Sir Yin passed the command document (ling shu) to the King. The King called out to the Secretary Guosheng to command Song by means of the manuscript roll (ce ling): ‘The King says: “Song! command you to take office in charge of merchants in Chengzhou, and to supervise as an overseer the newly arrived merchants, in order to supply the palace. award you a black jacket with embroidered hem, a red apron, a scarlet girdle, a banner with jingles, nda bronze-studded bridle. Use them in
our Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" Places * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France Other uses * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a governm ...
service!”’ ,Song, did obeisance, bowed and prostrated myself, received the roll with the command (shou ling ce), hung it n my beltand came out f the courtyard thenreturned to present a jade tablet. ,Song, take the liberty to extol in response the Son of Heaven’s illustrious ndblessed beneficence, ndtake this occasion to make ormy august deceased father Middleborn Gong (‘the Respectful’) and august mother Gong (‘the Respectful’) Si
his His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, ...
treasured sacrificial gui tureen. , Song shalluse it to pursue filial service, to pray for abundant …, pure ivineprotection, pervading wealth, and eternal mandate. For ten thousand years of abundant longevity without limits, relentlessly serving the Son of Heaven until the sprightly end, ,Song shall for generations of descendants eternally use his vesselas a treasure.

The description describes a court order read on command (''ce ling 冊令'') by the King of Zhou with Song, accompanied by Superintendent Yin, to which the King puts Song in charge of the merchants in

Chengzhou Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River (Henan), Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial ...

(present day

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

) in order to keep the palace supplied. Song is then awarded a uniform consisting of a black jacket with embroidered hem, a red apron, a girdle, a banner with jingles, and a bronze-studded

bridle A bridle is a piece of equipment used to direct a horse. As defined in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', the "bridle" includes both the that holds a bit that goes in the mouth of a horse, and the reins that are attached to the bit. It prov ...

. Song commemorates this appointment with the ''gui'', in honor of his parents.

References

{{Chinese bronzeware Collection of the Yale University Art Gallery Zhou dynasty bronzeware History of Baoji 9th-century BC works