Jade spiders and praying mantises of the western Zhou Period (1046 - 771 BCE): Reconstructing an ancient cultural mindset

Abstract

Animal motifs were prevalent throughout Early China (circa 7000–221 BCE),1 particularly during what I call the golden age of zoomorphic imagery, the Shang and Zhou dynasties (circa 1300–771 BCE). In recent decades, research into the pre-Qin period (i.e., before 221 BCE) has focused more on mammal-related and imaginary iconography and less on crawling creatures. In fact, crawling-creature motifs, such as those featuring arachnids and insects, were rare but important features on carvings in Early China, with most examples produced exclusively during the Western Zhou period (1046–771 BCE). Through research into both the fragmentary archaeological evidence and collections in museums, this paper aims to investigate this exceptional phenomenon in ancient China as well as reconstruct the ancient cultural mindset of the Zhou people during the early first millennium BCE.2 By examining two types of jade carvings, depicting spiders and praying mantises, I consider the cultural underpinnings for the taste in and enthusiasm for crawling-creature artifacts and mimetic art during the Western Zhou period. I propose that the reproductive habits and powerful physical features of spiders and praying mantises attracted the people of the Western Zhou, who assimilated them into their iconography using valuable materials—jade and bronze. In addition, depictions of the crawling creatures indicate that they were closely observed and that the secular interests of the Zhou people included both the natural environment and luxury items. Moreover, I trace the exotic geographical origins of crawling-creature imagery and the interactions between the Western Zhou and other people in the western and northern frontiers of China around three thousand years ago.