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gong
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Ceremonial bronze gong, Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 bce); in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
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Ceremonial bronze gong, Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 bce); in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Ceremonial bronze gong, Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 bce); in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

gong

bronze vessel
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Also known as: kung
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Article History
Wade-Giles romanization:
kung

gong, type of Chinese bronze vessel used to serve wine, it was characterized by an unusually fine harmony between shape and decoration. It was produced during the Shang (c. 1600–1046 bc) and early Zhou (1046–256 bc) dynasties.

The gong looked much like a sauce server, with a large spout extending from one end of the oval-section body and a vertical handle at the other end. All vessels classified as gong had a lid covering the entire top of the vessel, including the spout. The spout end of the lid typically had a bovine or feline head, and the opposite end had an owl or birdlike mask. These elements harmonized with the decoration of the body, which sometimes created the illusion of delineating the rest of the animal or provided complementary, zoomorphic motifs—such as the monster mask, or taotie—characteristic of the bronze art of the Shang and early Zhou.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.