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The Tao Tie 饕餮
The taotie
is a decorative motif found on many ancient chinese
bronzes, and probably the most common
motif of all.
This mythological being is always presented
from the front as though squashed onto a horizontal plane to
form a symmetrical design.
The actual history behind the taotie is unknown, and the form
of the taotie was not actually called a "taotie" at all until
the Song dynasty.
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In modern mandarin, the term "taotie"
signifies glutton.
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ㄊㄠ1
(tāo)
- 饕 -
gluttonous, greedy, covetous.
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ㄊㄧㄝ4
(tiè)
- 餮 -
legendary animal, greedy person.
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In the late Zhou period, however, the term
refered to a covetous man banished by the Shang to guard a
corner of heaven against evil monsters.
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Another, more fantastic,
explaination of this motif is that, it is a monster equipped
with only a head who tries to devour men but hurts only
itself in the process.
The diagram below shows the various parts of the taotie, as
speculated by modern historians of course. The taotie at the top
of the page is my derivative of a taotie found on a bronze
vessel form the Shang dynasty.
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