The 23.9-cm-tall vessel weighs 3.39 kg. The single-head, double-bodied dragon is depicted in a high relief, which emerges out of a base-relief of thin thunder patterns. The dragonhead, at the highest relief, is placed in the center of the vessel's body. The dragon's two bodies are decorated with thin and shallow scale patterns and have an S-shaped opening out two sides; along with the upward curling dragon tails, they form a surface tension of undulating wave forms, which expresses the swiftness and mobile qualities of a dragon.
On the ring foot are bird motifs already existent in the Shang, but the tails are extended and adapted into a decorative S-shaped motif that represents long-tailed birds. This elongation became popular in the early and middle Western Zhou. On each corner on top of the square pedestal, there are animal masks that resemble four pedaled flowers; on each of the four walls is a geometric zed dragon motif.
China has a 5,000-year-long rich history. However, documented history in China started in the Gonghe Era of the Zhou Dynasty (841 BC). Events that took place before that year were vague and not recorded well. Historians throughout Chinese history had tried hard to study what happened before 841 BC. But due to limited documentation and technology, little was achieved in determining the exact timeline of Chinese history before 841 BC.
In recent centuries, lots of ancient bronze wares and oracle bones have been unearthed in China. They provide a great resource to study the undocumented history of China. The bronze gui of Li is one of those ancient wares and an important one.
At 28 cm high, with a mouth diameter of 22 cm and a weight of 7.95 kg, this vessel was excavated from Lintong, Shaanxi province in 1976. At the inner bottom, there is inscription of 4 lines with 32 characters in ancient Chinese writing. Despite a controversy on the details, it generally means: “King Wu of Zhou Dynasty successfully overthrew the Shang Dynasty on the morning of Jiazi (first) day, when Sui Star (Jupiter) was high in the sky; On Xinwei (eighth) day, in the military camp at Lan (place), the King rewarded copper to an official named Li. Li cast this bronze vessel to commemorate his grandfather.”
Shang Dynasty was the second Chinese dynasty. Dixin, the last Shang king, committed suicide after his army was defeated by the Zhou people. Legends say that his slave army betrayed him by joining the Zhou rebels in a decisive battle – the battle of Muye.
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