Vessel of investiture
A vessel of investiture (冊命器) is a commemorative object that newly-appointed members of the Themiclesian Civil Service commission to celebrate his first office. The practice dates to antiquity but has largely ceased or been superceded by more economical alternatives in the 20th century.
Terminology
Tyrannian and Rajan diplomats have long noticed that Themiclesian civil servants, upon appointment, usually rendered a public donation of considerable value to the royal court and the government to express gratitude for their efforts in securing his office. This gift was not a bribe, as all appointees, by law, had to make them, and as the funds or objects paid did not go to whoever secured their appointment, but the state. Accompanying the gift was a large number of identical vessels, recording the proceedings of the appointment ceremony and individuals involved in epigraphy, typically given to friends, family, and colleagues to commemorate the promotion or appointment. Noticing this, Tyrannians believed that this gift and issuance of epigraphic vessels was analogous to a public oath of allegiance to the Tyrannian crown, inviting the recipients to witness the good conduct of the appointee. This interpretation has been criticized as somewhat unnuanced.
Material
Bronze has been the preferred material for a number of reasons. Bronze and its usually alloy, Tin, were historically plentiful in Themiclesia, and its lower melting temperature made whole-body casting, including the epigraphy, possible, eliminating the need to engrave texts onto the hard surfaces of other objects like earthenware or iron. The lusture of bronze was also favoured over the plainer appearance of iron.
Nevertheless, other types of investiture vessels are known. Iron vessels were in fashion for a short time in the 5th century, particularly in the east of the country, while green porcelain was favoured in the 7th. Green porcelain was superceded by white and then five-colour lacquered. Porcelain vessels were typically again-fired, with text written in lacquer only after the body of the vessel had hardened. Iron vessels, on the other hand, were forged, which required much more effort; text was engraved. Historical texts supply that wooden vessels, adorned with openwork, were also popular for a time, but these could not survive burial, like many in bronze or porcelain could and did.
History
Pre-dynastic period
Almost all surviving bronzes from the Pre-dynastic period (before 266 CE) are investiture vessels. During this time, most appointments implied that the officer's family was elevated into gentry or petty nobility, which carried hereditary privileges and awards in land.
Dynastic period
Decline
Epigraphy
The epigraphic text is strongly formulaic and comparable to vessels found in Menghe, ostensibly casted for a similar purpose. Within a single period in time, there is little variation between epigraph. Nevertheless, changes in the structure of government and social views of officialdom do have visible influence on them. Researchers generally divide the epigraph into several sections, discussed below.
Introduction
The first part of the introduction typically gives the date of the appointment ceremony in the sexagenary cycle. Early examples often record the date but omit the month and year, though ones with these facts are not uncommon. Those that state this information are valuable in determining the age of the vessel and the entire burial in which it was discovered. The phase of the moon may also be provided. If the year is provided, it often is provided in the regnal year, i.e. in years of the current ruler's reign; this is true even if the author of the vessel was not appointed by the ruler. If both month and date are provided, it is often possible to identify or narrow down the precise time of the vessel's manufacture, since the sexagenary cycle progressed without regard as to month or year and, as far as scholars are aware, was never broken. Due to the volume of such epigraphs, there is now a chronology of pre-dynastic rulers, according to the presence or absence of sexagenary dates, intercalary months, and full moons.
After the date, the epigraph narrates that the appointee was invited by an assistant (佑) into the ruler's court or another place. In the examples where an assistant was not named, scholars believe this was an indication of very high status or particular proximity to the ruler; in all other cases, the assistant is usually a senior clerk of state papers, priest, or financial officer. The senior clerk is assumed to be ancestral to the modern office of Tribunes. In later examples, the identity of the assistant is tightly associated with the current status of the appointee. If he was currently an officer of the outer court, the President of Tribunes usually assisted; if that of the inner court, the Privy Councillor usually assisted. If the appointee was already a Tribune or Privy Councillor, the identity of the assistant was reversed or omitted. If the appointee was a commoner, the President of Tribunes invariably assisted. If the appointee was female (i.e. appointed to the Queen's/Empress' court), then the assistant was also female; if a female assistant was not available, the male assistant would temporarily add the prefix "inner-" (中, trjung-) to his title.
The location of the ceremony was also variable according to a few factors. In early epigraphs, "great courtyard" (大廷, dais-ding), "middle courtyard" (中廷, trjung-ding), and "inner courtyard" (內廷, nups-ding) were used, with slight preference of the latter two for appointments made by the Queen or Queen Dowager; however, scholars have been unable to draw conclusions about the use of these terms, some believing they were actually synonymous. Starting in the Dynastic period, the location "front hall" (前殿, dzian-den) is overwhelming mentioned as the place for appointment ceremonies; this is assumed to be an imitation of Menghean practices. Appointments made by the Queen took place generally at the "inner hall" (中殿, trjung-den), though examples at the "front hall" are by no means scarce. Those by the Queen Dowager were also made at the "front hall" or "inner hall". After the appointee was led by the assistant into the place of appointment, he is specifically described to be facing north, because the building that is part of the courtyard is usually situated to its north.
Reading of appointment
With few exceptions, the appointer is described to arrive at the place of appointment "before dawn" (未旦). He then takes his place in the building at the head of the courtyard and commands the "reader" to deliver the appointment order. The identity of the reader is never the same as the assistant but could be highly variable. While the assistant is never lower in status than the appointee, the reader could be, sometimes even "a minor slave" (小臣); however, he could also be the head of the royal household (王宰) or a major noble (公). Several competing theories exist to explain this discrepancy, though none of them have yet to receive broad acceptance. Into the dynastic period, the appointment is usually read by a Tribune, a Gentlemen of the Amber Gate, or an Ordinary, Inner, or Cavalier Attendant.