Sparks of Inquiry: Two Key Debates on Early Metalworking in China
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52152/heranca.v7iSpecial.1125Keywords:
Chinese Bronze Age, Metalworking, Origins, Lost-wax Casting, Sheet-Metal TechniquesAbstract
The origins of metalworking in Bronze Age China have long been a subject of interdisciplinary inquiry, drawing the attention of scholars in art history, archaeology, and the history of technology. This scholarly focus has developed against the backdrop of Southwest Asia’s traditionally recognized (though debated) status as the primary metallurgical center of the Old World, where sheet-metal techniques such as hammering (forging) and annealing constituted foundational elements of its early metalworking traditions. Rather than reducing the distinctions between section-mold casting in early China and lost-wax casting in the broader ancient “West” (e.g., Southwest Asia and Europe) to a simplistic dichotomy, it is essential to emphasize that the early Chinese bronze industry was defined by its pronounced reliance on casting. Although lost-wax casting eventually appeared in early China, its verified use in the archaeological record postdates and remains far less prevalent than the region’s long-established tradition of section-mold casting. The scarcity of archaeological attestations for lost-wax casting has thus fueled ongoing academic debate—not only concerning its technical application but, more fundamentally, its very existence as a distinct metalworking practice in pre-Han periods (prior to 202 BC). The debates over lost-wax casting and sheet-metal working in early China are closely tied to broader questions about the technological foundations of Bronze Age metalworking in the region. This paper critically engages with these debates, situating them within their wider historiographical context while evaluating their implications for current understandings of prehistoric metallurgical innovation and the emergence of Bronze Age society in China.
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