New Sources of Western Zhou History: Recent Discoveries of Inscribed Bronze Vessels

Abstract

In the 1970s, the great discoveries of Western Zhou bronze vessels were concentrated primarily in the Wei River valley of Shaanxi province, a pattern of distribution that gave rise to certain theories about a geographically reduced Zhou state. Since then, and especially in the 1990s, inscribed bronze vessels of the Western Zhou period have been found throughout northern China, with particularly important discoveries identified with the state of Yan 燕 near Beijing, Ying 應 at Pingdingshan (Henan), Jin 晉 at Houma (Shanxi), and Guo 虢 at Sanmenxia (Henan). This article introduces these discoveries, translating the more important inscriptions. It also reviews recent discoveries in Shaanxi, especially several bronzes bearing fully-dated inscriptions that have come to light in the course of the Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project.