Taotie

The Taotie (Chinese饕餮, Pinyin taotie, wolverine, glutton ') is one of the most vorzufindenden decor elements on bronze vessels of the Shang and Zhou dynasties. However, the roots and precursor forms of this motif are much older and can be found on bronzes of the preceding Erlitou culture and Jaden of the Liangzhu culture from locations in the lower Yangtze River delta and their jade and turquoise plaques.

The term taotie

The term taotie is ahistorical. He is first found in written sources from the period of the Warring States Period and the Han Dynasty, where it is applied to either a greedy, mythological monsters, to people who are associated with greed or gluttony or the here discussed decorative element of bronze art.

In fact, is from the few written sources and there is no contemporary sources on the subject from the Shang period present unclear how the Shang himself described the decor or whether it is taotie in a mythological context of wolverine. However, this is to assume, as some bronze vessels explicitly two animals - mostly dragon or tiger - to show in profile, facing each other and rip open their mouths. Even examples with human faces or whole figures between the animals are known. Similarly, there are bronze vessels, which show big cats, whose gaping wide mouth one people huddled surrounds. Therefore, it can be assumed that the subject of eating has been found in form of an abstract taotie decorative expression. The decor is therefore interpreted as a metaphor for a transition between this world and the hereafter. This theory is supported by the use of ritual bronzes in ancestor worship and the numerous archaeological sites occupied by human sacrifice.

The shape of the taotie

The central component of taotie motif are a pair of eyes, which is arranged around a central axis. All other components are optional and may be more or less pronounced depending on the individual example or development phase of the subject. Generalizing, it can be said that the design of the subject over time is complex and reaches its climax in the Zhou period. However, it is not so, that it is possible stages of development or lines to determine in each case. Even later taotie can be quite minimalistic and simple. The following example shows a typical taotie labeled with the most abundant elements: