| Chapter : | Introduction |
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Was the lost-wax process independently developed in China, or was its use stimulated by contact with casting traditions outside China? If the latter, when, where, why, and how was lost-wax casting transmitted?
Outline of the Book
My book explores these questions. In chapters 1 and 2, I introduce the technical basis of lost-wax casting and review the research history of the lost-wax problem in Bronze Age China, respectively. Chapter 3 conducts a case study of the rim appendage of the bronze zun (of the zun-pan set) from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng. This study has a twofold purpose. On the one hand, it contributes to the recent debate on whether the lost-wax technique existed in Bronze Age China. On the other, it seeks to identify lost-wax castings in early China. My study of this artifact and other relevant objects proves that the two objecting arguments are incorrect. Because the Zeng zun-pan is stylistically not foreign, it is reasonable to advocate that the lost-wax technique emerged in China no later than the Eastern Zhou period (Late Bronze Age; see Table 1 of this book for the chronology of Bronze Age China).
Chapters 4–7 examine additional lost-wax castings from Bronze Age China with the aim of discovering the driving force of the designs behind them. On this point, two main clues suggest that an object was cast by the lost-wax process. One clue is an intricately shaped object: in such a case, any means of fabrication apart from lost wax is difficult to imagine. The other clue is the archaeological/cultural/artistic context of the object: although the shape of the object may not be enough to be convincing, if it is stylistically related to other confirmed lost-wax castings, it was likely manufactured by a caster who was familiar with lost wax.10 Because neither of these clues is clear-cut; uncertainty must be tolerated in some cases.
Chapter 8 looks for the technical origin of the lost-wax process used in Bronze Age China. Specifically, it asks whether this technique was