Bronzeware script

Left: Bronze "fang zun" ritual wine container dated c. 1000 BC. The written inscription cast in bronze on the vessel commemorates a gift of cowrie shells - currency in China at the time - to its owner from someone of presumed elite status in Zhou Dynasty society. Right: Bronze "fang yi" ritual container dated c. 1000 BC. A written inscription of some 180 Chinese characters appears twice on the vessel. The written inscription comments on state rituals that accompany court ceremony, recorded by an official scribe.

Bronzeware script (Chinese: 金文; pinyin: jīn wén or Chinese: 鐘鼎文; pinyin: zhōng dǐng wén) is a family of scripts found on Chinese bronzes such as zhong (bells) and ding (tripods), since bronze artifacts with Chinese characters span many centuries and they have been found in many areas of China. Jinwen characters are sometimes irregular in shape; that is, they are not as regular in shape or size as modern Chinese characters are. Shang Dynasty bronzes rarely have such characters on them, but bronze script is known throughout the Zhou Dynasty.

The evolution of 承 chéng "to bear, to carry".

See also

• Seal script
• Oracle script

References

• Bronzeware script By Caren Zuo at journeytochinese.com
• Ping Li (2006). The Handbook of East Asian Psycholinguistics. Cambridge University Press, Page 197. ISBN 0521833337.