The Shanghai Museum's Eastern Zhou Dynasty Bronze Gallery is swarming with visitors, exploring the splendid Jin and Zhou civilizations!

Around the 21st century BCE, China entered the Bronze Age. The Erlitou culture of the late Xia dynasty was already a mature bronze culture. During this time, bronze vessels featured simple decorations, and the ceramic mold casting technology had reached a high level. There were decorations with animal face features and turquoise inlay techniques, and the bronzes had ritual connotations, signifying that China had stepped into a civilized society. Bronze artifacts often had inscriptions identifying families and ancestors, and narrative inscriptions began to appear towards the end of the Shang dynasty. Although the early Zhou dynasty continued the Shang's ritual system, there were signs of a shift from a 'heavy alcohol' system to a 'heavy food' system. Long inscriptions started to appear on bronzes in the early Western Zhou period. In the late Shang dynasty, the yue axe symbolized authority and had a ritualistic nature, and sets of bronze bells and other musical instruments also appeared. With the increase in the use of chariots in the early Western Zhou period, spears unsuitable for chariot warfare decreased. Swords and knives with animal patterns, widely popular in the northern grasslands, became more prevalent. Starting from the mid-Western Zhou period, the variety and number of wine vessels sharply decreased, which was a result of the Zhou people's gradual change from the Shang's heavy alcohol system.