Writing Before Inscribing: On the Use of Manuscripts in the Production of Western Zhou Bronze Inscriptions

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11210%2F19%3A10396959" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11210/19:10396959 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=ydSIhY~4Uy" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=ydSIhY~4Uy</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/eac.2019.9" target="_blank" >10.1017/eac.2019.9</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Writing Before Inscribing: On the Use of Manuscripts in the Production of Western Zhou Bronze Inscriptions

Original language description

While research on Warring States, Qin, and Han manuscripts is flourishing, much less is known about the use of manuscripts during the earlier stages of Chinese history, for which material evidence has not been preserved. Based on the layout features and textual anomalies in the Western Zhou bronze inscriptions, this article explores the traces of use of perishable writing supports in the process of the production of bronze inscriptions in this period and reconstructs their functions and physical qualities. Based on the surveyed evidence, the article posits that two distinct exemplar manuscripts were used in the inscription-making process: an original &quot;master copy&quot; that was kept aside for proofreading purposes and a secondary &quot;blueprint&quot; that was employed directly in the technical process of inscription-making. A single blueprint would be used consecutively by several craftsmen to produce a set of inscriptions on different types of vessels. The word count and layout of many inscriptions were already carefully planned during the process of their composition, and any study of a bronze text should therefore begin with the evaluation of its visual qualities. Moreover, this probe provides unambiguous evidence for the use of tube-lining in the inscription-making process and reconstructs the complete chaîne opératoire of bronze inscription production in the Late Western Zhou period.The article also offers insights into the level of literacy and the division of labor in bronze workshops, and touches upon the display function of bronze epigraphy during the Western Zhou period.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_ost - Miscellaneous article in a specialist periodical

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

60101 - History (history of science and technology to be 6.3, history of specific sciences to be under the respective headings)

Project

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Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2019

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Early China

ISSN

0362-5028

e-ISSN

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Volume of the periodical

42

Issue of the periodical within the volume

September

Country of publishing house

US - UNITED STATES

Number of pages

60

Pages from-to

273-332

UT code for WoS article

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EID of the result in the Scopus database

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