Baines et al./Historical Consciousness, 11. Reflections and Uses of the Distant Past in the Chinese Bronze Inscriptions

This chapter compares two groups of inscriptions on ritual bronze vessels and bells from the 10th–5th centuries BC that refer to the distant past, examining how Early Chinese elites mobilized historical memory. The first group, commemorating the founders of the Zhou dynasty (ca. 1050–256), is from the Zhou metropolitan area around Xi’an and dates from the 10th–early 8th centuries. Inscriptions in the second group, also referring to earlier rulers, post-date the 8th century and derive from various polities. Comparison uncovers significant regional differences and temporal changes. Two late 9th century inscriptions exhibit the metropolitan practice of referring to the past in relation to royal appointments and rewards. Their ‘historical’ excurses are products of a Zhou policy of using memory that provided ideological support for the dynasty which, unlike rulers elsewhere in the ancient world, could not count on a shared pantheon to boost cohesion and loyalty among subordinates who were not royal kin. Zhou kings targeted discourse about the First Kings in order to maintain the hierarchy among metropolitan lineages. Elites imitated kings and used memory about royal ancestors to display and enhance their own prestige. Four inscriptions, commissioned by regional rulers and elites of the 8th to early 5th centuries, show that they only partly followed the metropolitan example of referring back to the early Zhou kings. In seeking legitimation for their autonomy or new political alliances, they could evoke a more distant past or contrast the present Zhou kings to the dynasty’s founders. Thus, the roots of Chinese historiography go back to discourse about status and hierarchy among the Zhou elites from the 10th century onward, whereas deepening historical perspectives and the emergence of a critical approach to the past can be connected with political changes during the 8th–5th centuries.