still believe that one of the greatest bits of all time was on January 6th, 2021 when. well. you know. and twitter was understandably an echo chamber of panic and fear and Justin McElroy just tweeted a selfie with a filter that was like “have a delicious national spaghetti day” followed by 3 tweets that were like “fuck. i’m sorry. i don’t know how to delete scheduled posts” and as i type this two years later i’m laughing
a belated delicious national spaghetti day to you all
A naked eye 3D pterosaur installation at Shanghai Natural History Museum
(The guide is describing the exhibit and talking about the various “flying dinosaurs” and their appearance through history as they emerge from the fossil displays)
This is so cool. I’ve been to a LOT of natural history museums and have never seen anything so creative and also what a terrific way to demonstrate a possible mode of and reason for flight evolution.
Yussa is really having such an experience with the Mighty Nein. These people just wandered into his house without an appointment insisting it was an emergency, showed off multiple incredibly powerful relics that they were just carrying around, let him keep one but left with the other, and now he just got a text reading: “Taking road trip to Xhorhas, bringing artifact with us, bad idea????”
Shang Bronzeware Changed My Life and I’m Not Joking
I saw images like these on a projector in a dark classroom and it was like a popup from an RPG appeared on the screen of my brain and said “you can literally drop everything you’ve done up until now and rebuild your life to learn more about stuff like this. Do you wish to change?” And I said yes with basically zero hesitation.
not only this, many early dynasty bronzeware actually have inscriptions on them, so each one quite literally has its own story to tell about the lives of ancient Chinese people, from the mundane to the spiritual
Geyou 戈卣 with Feng Bird Pattern Shang Dynasty Height 37.7 cm Unearthed in Huangcaiwang’s tomb in Ningxiang, Hunan in 1970
Collected by Hunan Museum. When it was unearthed, there were more than 300 pieces of jade in it. There is a character 戈 “Ge” on the cover and the inner bottom of the vessel.
The Ge people thrived in the Central Plains during the Xia and Shang dynasties, and the same inscriptions can be seen on many bronze wares.
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Fang Ding 方鼎 with Human Face Pattern Late Shang Dynasty Height 38.5 cm, Length 29.3 cm, Width 23.7 cm Unearthed in Huangcai Zhaizi Mountain, Ningxiang in 1959
The square tripod has cloud and thunder patterns as the foundational pattern as a whole, and the four sides of the vessel are decorated with high-relief human face imagery; the inscription 大禾 “Dahe” is cast on the inner wall of the abdomen of the vessel. It is the only bronze square tripod with human face pattern as the thematic decoration, among all the unearthed Shang and Zhou bronze wares.
The 鼎Ding has always been a symbol of state power, and the combination of human face and animal body reflects the combination of royal power and divine power. Its special decoration also reflects the unique ideology and sacrificial etiquette style of the ancient Yangtze River Valley civilization.
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“Ear” 鬲 Ge Shang Dynasty Height 21.4 cm, Diameter 15.5 cm
There is a cast inscription 耳 “ear” on the inner side of the mouth of the vessel, which is one of the earliest known bronze vessels with inscription. Early inscriptions were relatively short, mainly based on names and family emblems, and gradually evolved into descriptive texts to record achievements and praise ancestors.
The 日名 Sun Name is a way of naming ancestors in the Shang Dynasty with Tiangan (Ten Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches) characters. The Sun Name and the bronze inscriptions are the direct evidence that the nobles of the Yin and Shang Dynasties used bronze wares to worship their ancestors.
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Elephant Zun 尊 Late Shang Dynasty Height 22.8cm, Length 26.7cm, Width 14.4cm, Weight 2.8kg Unearthed from the Lion-shaped Mountain in Xianxia, Liling City in 1975
尊 Zun is a wine vessel, and Elephant Zun is a realistic elephant shape, which is very exquisitely made and full of artistic appeal. It has an oval opening on the back, and the cover has been lost. The belly of the elephant is hollow, and the trunk of the elephant is rolled up, which is also practical. The elephant has a flat forehead, decorated with a pair of vortex-shaped coiled snake patterns on the forehead, the snake head is triangular, and the eyes are protruding.
There are huge elephant ears on both sides of the forehead, the back of the ear is decorated with phoenix bird patterns, and each of them is decorated with a long-tailed bird pattern, the head of the bird is raised, and the beak is very long. The elephant’s eyebrows and eyes are protruding, and the big mouth is protruding, revealing the saber-toothed front teeth, and the face is full and vivid.
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逨 “Lai” Bell Western Zhou Dynasty Height 62 cm Unearthed in Yangjia Village, Mei Country, Shaanxi in 1987
Since ancient times, our people have had the tradition of chasing the distant future, and our 追孝铭文 ‘Inscription of Filial Piety’ was born from this.
During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the rulers attached great importance to sacrificing ancestors, especially Zhou people cast more inscriptions on bronze wares to boast of the deeds of the ancestors, praising the virtues of their ancestors, in order to perform filial piety, express the enthusiasm of offering sacrifices to the ancestors. So many bronze wares from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the early Spring and Autumn Period like to cast inscriptions on bronzeware.
The 逨 (lái) bell pictured is a chime in a bronze musical orchestra, on which the inscription of the maker “逨” is engraved.
[Inscription] Lu said: My wise father was able to follow the political virtues of his ancestors and serve the king. Day and night I try my best to serve the Son of Heaven, and the Son of Heaven gave me the management of Yulin in all directions because of the political virtues of my ancestors. He thanked the emperor for his great and wonderful appointment, and made this bell to worship his father Gong Shuhe. Praying for a thousand years of longevity, for outstanding ministers and emperor, and for the children and grandchildren to cherish and use this bell for a long time.
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Silver-inlaid Double-winged Mythological Creature Warring States Period Unearthed from the tomb of Zhongshan Wangjia [cuò] in Sanji Village, Pingshan County, Hebei in 1977
A total of two pairs of four pieces of silver-copper double-winged beasts were unearthed. They were artifacts from the Zhongshan Kingdom during the Warring States Period, and they may have been used as banquet vessels.
Zhongshan State is a vassal state sandwiched between Yan and Zhao during the Warring States Period. Its royal family comes from the northern ethnic group Baidi.
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Details from Tiger and Eagle Dueling Ge Spring and Autumn Period
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Bird-shaped Carriage Decoration Western Zhou Dynasty
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Open-carved Dragon Pattern Drum Seat Spring and Autumn Period
at the point and click adventure club straight up unsure what to do next
Goin’ up to a girl like “She doesn’t want to talk to me right now. She doesn’t want to- She doe- She doesn’t want to talk to me right no- That’s the bartender, but I think I’ve had enough for toni- I can’t leave, the party’s just getting started!”
