The Kang Hou ''gui'' () is a bronze vessel that is said to have been found near the city of

Huixian Huixian () is a county-level city under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xinxiang, in the northwest of Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. He ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

province, central China. Dating to the

Western Zhou The Western Zhou ( zh, c=, p=Xīzhōu; c. 1045 BC – 771 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and the first half of the Zhou dynasty. It began when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye and ended when the Quanrong n ...

period, this ancient Chinese artefact is famous for its inscription on the bottom of the interior. It has been part of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

's Asian Collections since 1977.British Museum Collectio
gui
British Museum, retrieved 22 December 2014

Provenance

Little is known about the original context in which the bowl was found. However, based on its inscription, it is conjectured by archaeologists to have been deposited in Wey, near present-day

in Henan province. Past owners of the vessel include the British diplomat

Dugald Malcolm Captain Dugald Malcolm, CMG CVO TD (22 December 1917 – 16 February 2000) was a British diplomat, Her Britannic Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Holy See 1975-1977. Malcolm was born in 1917, the son of Major- ...

, before the gui was purchased by the British Museum with the support of the Brooke Sewell

bequest A bequest is property given by will. Historically, the term ''bequest'' was used for personal property given by will and ''deviser'' for real property. Today, the two words are used interchangeably. The word ''bequeath'' is a verb form for the act ...

Description

This cast bronze

gui The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

is a lavishly decorated food bowl that was used during rituals for worshipping ancestors. This high based vessel has large handles shaped like tusked animal heads that have eaten birds, whose beaks are shown peeking out of their predators' mouths.Episode 23 - Chinese Zhou Ritual Vessel
Episode transcipt, BBC, retrieved 22 December 2014 Between the rim and the incised vertical lines is a narrow band decorated with an animal head and alternating

roundels A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of differ ...

and quatrefoils. A similar band (without the animal heads) is engraved on the foot of the container. The Kang Hou ''gui'' was chosen by

Neil MacGregor Robert Neil MacGregor (born 16 June 1946) is a British art historian and former museum director. He was editor of the ''Burlington Magazine'' from 1981 to 1987, then Director of the National Gallery, London, from 1987 to 2002, Director of th ...

, the Director of the British Museum, as object 23 in the BBC Radio programme

A History of the World in 100 Objects ''A History of the World in 100 Objects'' was a joint project of BBC Radio 4 and the British Museum, consisting of a 100-part radio series written and presented by British Museum director Neil MacGregor. In 15-minute presentations broadcast on ...

Inscription

The ancient Chinese inscription on the inside of the bowl tells how King Wu's brother, Kang Hou (Marquis of Kang) was given territory in Wey. The inscription also describes a rebellion by remnants of the

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...

, known as the

Rebellion of the Three Guards The Rebellion of the Three Guards (), or less commonly the Wu Geng Rebellion (), was a civil war, instigated by an alliance of discontent Zhou princes, Shang loyalists, vassal states and other non-Zhou peoples against the Western Zhou governme ...

, and its defeat by the

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by ...

, which helps to date the vessel. Because historians know when this unsuccessful rebellion against the Zhou took place, they are able to accurately date the manufacture of this important object to the 11th century BC.Chinese Zhou ritual vessel (gui)
British Museum Highlights, retrieved 22 December 2014

Gallery

File:British_Museum_Kang_Hou_Gui_Side.jpg, Side view of the Gui vessel in the British Museum File:British_Museum_Kang_Hou_Gui_Top.jpg, The vessel viewed from above with inscription in the centre File:British_Museum_Kang_Hou_Gui_Text.jpg, Detail of the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

inscription

Provenance

Description

Inscription

See also

Gallery

References

Further reading