As we all know, China's bronzes have existed since the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. In ancient bronzes, most of them have all kinds of livestock, most of which are cattle and sheep.

Today, we will look at how to see the origin of cattle on bronze wares.

In ancient China, due to environmental differences, there were different kinds of cattle in captivity in the Central Plains and Southwest China.

This is the bronze ware of Shanghai Museum. The cows on the instrument are not like the buffaloes we usually see. Arguably, the product of ancient farming civilization in China should be buffalo, but this bronze ware is another kind.

It turned out that this bronze ware was a shell container unearthed from Shizhai Mountain in Jinning, Yunnan Province in 1956. It is a typical bronze ware of Yunnan culture. The cattle on the utensils reflect the image of the cattle in ancient Yunnan, and cannot be confused with the cattle in the Central Plains.

Today, there is still a famous Niu Jiao cattle, Yunnan Gao Feng cattle, which should be the offspring of Yunnan ancient cattle.

And what is the cow on the bronze ware in the Central Plains?

As for the cattle in the ancient Central Plains, their images are very similar to those in modern China. The Shanghai Museum also exhibited a very famous bronze bull statue, which belongs to a bronze ritual vessel made by the State of Jin in the late Spring and Autumn Period. In addition to the complicated patterns, this is a buffalo that can be seen everywhere in the countryside now, with a nose ring on it.

Is it up?