Mysterious Patterns of Animals
4 min readThe Taotie pattern，the most popular bronze ware decorative design in the Shang and Zhou dynasties，was named by scholars of the Song Dynasty（960-1279）according to records in literature of the Warring States Period of Master Lu’s Spring and Autumn Annals.According to Master Lu’s Spring and Autumn Annals.
Xianshi Review，Ding of the Zhou Dynasty was decorated with Taotie，which featured”only a head without a body.”The Taotie pattern on the bronze ware was identical with the records.However，the Taotie design firstappeared on Ding of the Shang Dynasty instead of Zhou Dynasty，several hundreds years earlier than that therecord.In addition to the monster without a body in a Taotie image，some had a body，paw and tail.Therefore，somebody argued to rename it as”animal face pattern.”However，most people like to use the mysterious name Taotie to name the design.
The typical Taotie pattern is a full-face round-eyed animal head，with sharp teeth and horns.Some Taotie images show a full-face head formed by two sidled Kuilong patterns.In all the Taotie patterns，the eyes are always the focus.The huge eyes leave an awesome impression on viewers even from a distance.
The Taotie pattern features rich variations from one bronze ware piece to another because one ceramic mold could only cast one bronze work in the early days of casting.The most obvious difference between Taotie patterns are the horns，some have ox horns，some sheep horns，and some have tiger’s ears.People can distinguish the animal origin from the different images.
What does the Taotie design symbolize？Many believe it has religious meaning，aimed at making the bronze ware more solemn and applicable to religious occasions.Some scholars say the Taotie pattern represents the image of the god of heaven in ancient religions through textual research.It maybe a lasting riddle，as the real meaning of the mysterious design leaves a boundless imagination for people.
The Taotie design was normally applied on the main part of the bronze ware and formed a decorative facewith the vertical Kuilong pattern or bird image together with the supporting patterns on both sides.The symmetrical design makes the Taotie pattern applicable to different parts of the ware，plain or curved surface，and does not produces deformations.
The Taotie patterns on the bronze ware in early days were formed with raised lines and were relatively simple.In the middle of the Shang Dynasty，the Taotie pattern evolved into an image formed with several layers of lines，named”Three-Layer Pattern，”where the theme pattern is a relief image，on which different designs are carved；and under the theme pattern，refined and detailed cloud patterns are also carved.
The cloud pattern，or cloud and lightning pattern，are detailed spiral patterns.When weeding out the basic rendering，the clever ancient craftsmen created patterns on the rendering to set off the theme pattern.The “Three-Layer Pattern”technique produces multi-layered color expressions to the Taotie pattern and creates a stronger visual impact.
Taotie patterns were popular in the Shang，early Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou dynasties，but these designs lost the original“ferociousness”.
The patterns of Kuilong，Panlong Dragon，Phoenix and Bird and Silkworm were also popular together with the Taotie pattern，in addition to the round eddy and four-petal flower patterns.
Dragon Pattern
The dragon is a fantastic animal in Chinese fables and legends，and was worshipped as the god of water by the ancient people.
In bronze designs，all the dragon images of snakes with horns are collectively named“dragon pattern.”
The most common one is the Kuilong pattern.
The Kuilong pattern typical refers to the side dragon design with a bow-shaped body，horns，huge eyes and bucked teeth，some with fin-shaped talons.It has changed many times and can be applied in various positions.It often appears with the Taotie pattern，sometimes clutching the horns of the Taotie，sometimes acting as the supporting image along the Taotie pattern to fill a blank space.It can also form a continuousdecoration belt independently.The Kuilong pattern was often used alternating with the round eddy pattern to form two continuous designs，which are named Huolong（fire dragon）pattern.
The dragon pattern features many variations and are applicable to different decorative locations.It can beused as the theme pattern in a sequence or face-to-face to form a decoration belt，or appears on the curved surface of the mouth of Zun or Gu or belly of Ding，and so on as supporting patterns.
The dragon pattern is often decorated on the bronze plate bottom in combination with images such as fish to form a vivid aquatic world.
There is also a snail-like dragon image on some ancient bronze ware，which has a long nose and coiled body.It is a unique and important pattern decoration of the Zhou clan.
Phoenix and Bird Patterns
The phoenix and bird pattern was common in the Shang and Zhou dynasties.The phoenix is an auspicious bird integrating characteristics of different birds and known as the king of birds.The phoenix and bird pattern was normally used on main decorative surfaces，on which the bird has a beautiful comb，some with horms，and long feathered tail.The bird pattern with a long tail and small-bird pattern were popular in the late Shang and Western Zhou dynasties and were often used on the decoration belt or as supporting patterns.
A special pattern is the Chixiao design.When it is the main decoration，the Chixiao pattern is normally a full-face image.As Xiao and the like have faces，feathers，and horns，it can be easily distinguished from the others.
