Design Ritual into Modern Product: A Case Study of Chinese Bronze Ware

Abstract

Bronze wares make up some of the most important bronze artifacts in ancient China’s Xia, Shang and Western Zhou dynasties. They carry rich historical, cultural and artistic information. In order to enable modern people to reflect on the ancient through products, an important research topic that must be considered is how to carry out innovative designs with bronze ware and how to add value to the development of cultural creative industries so as to promote sustainable cultural development. This study puts forward a research framework for the innovative design of bronze ware. Based on analysis of relevant cases, such as a purple copper antique wine vessel, the “Qing Niao” (“Blue Bird”) asking love wine cup and the HIBIKI ware wine glass, the study summarizes the innovative design strategy of modern transformation design of bronze ware. From the perspectives of functional attributes, cultural symbols, cultural identity and emotional resonance, the study finally proposes three design ideas: antiqued design, simplified design and reconstructed design. The study presents a research model which still needs to be verified in future studies. We hope that the model can integrate the principles of sustainability into the modern transformation design of cultural relics.

1. Introduction

With the rapid development of science, technology and social productive forces, the material living standards of the masses have been greatly improved. On the basis of satisfying material needs, there has been a gradual shift toward a demand tendency that pays more attention to spiritual culture and self-value realization [1]. Under the background of globalization of the knowledge economy and the demand for improvements in people’s quality of life, the “aesthetic economy” has developed rapidly, which means that people’s needs and consumer markets have entered an era that emphasizes aesthetic levels, cultural experience, spiritual aesthetics and emotional resonance [2]. The value of cultural innovation has changed from pursuing formal hi-tech quality to pursuing ritual hi-touch taste, forming an aesthetic economy and spiritual category that has shifted from hi-tech to hi-touch. Designers are beginning to incorporate the emotional aspects of user experience into product design. Therefore, emotional design has become a key factor in product innovation. As a result, the focus of design has shifted from function to feeling, from using to user, and finally from hi-tech to hi-touch [3]. The promotion of cultural creative industries has become a trend in the current economic development strategies of various countries, and the global market is gradually shifting its focus to local characteristics and cultural styles. The application of creative design has become a global competitive advantage for different industries [4]. Today, more and more Chinese people are paying attention to the lifestyles, aesthetic taste and cultural experiences of the sages and ancients, and creative cultural products are entering a golden stage of development. Cultural forms and carriers centered around ancient Chinese culture and regional characteristics have become a core design innovation model, showing the evolution and development of Chinese history and culture through cultural creative products and experiences. Cultural innovation activities have received widespread attention and recognition from society and academic circles [5]. At the same time, this will also profoundly affect the sustainability of Chinese culture, as Farsani et al. said: “Cultural sustainability is the concept of restoring and protecting cultural identity. It is linked to traditional practices by celebrating local and regional history and passing down cultural values to future generations” [6]. In order to emphasize the unique cultural and regional attributes of cultural creative products, localities use the integration of regional cultural characteristics as an effective method of cultural dissemination when designing and developing cultural creative products. By expanding the influence and popularity of regional culture nationwide, localities generate more positive feedback and effects on people’s culture, aesthetics, experiences and emotions [7]. The sustainability of culture is one of the indispensable and important components of the sustainable development of human society. At the same time, the link between the diversity of cultural expressions and sustainability has unlimited potential for transformative actions that achieve sustainable development [8,9].

Cultural relics are an important carrier for storing and displaying ancient culture, showcasing the historical memory of a nation. Bronze ware utensils were typical in the bronze culture of China’s Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, and these wares were also a core aspect of drinking etiquette activities. The earliest known bronze ware wine vessel in China was unearthed at the Erlitou Site in Yanshi, Luoyang, Henan Province [10]. Chinese ancestors attached great importance to the experiential value and cultural attributes of wine utensils. As the ancients said: “No one can drink without a wine vessel, as well as rules and sizes of wine vessels are also exquisite and prescribed”. “How can people get rid of their worries? Only by drinking Du Kang Wine” [11]. Bronze wares carry the life attitude, aesthetic philosophy and cultural connotation of ancient Chinese people, and they are also represent precious wealth accumulated by ancient Chinese people over the long term [12]. However, with the rapid development of globalization today, many unique Chinese local cultures are gradually disappearing, and these cultures are being eroded, assimilated or even forgotten by the public. Bronze wares and their cultural attributes are also facing the dilemma of losing attention and inheritance. With the desire to achieve sustainable cultural development through cultural innovation and modern transformation design, considering how can we better inherit and continue these cultural relics is a very important research topic [13]. At present, there is a lack of interviews and questionnaires regarding the users of modern bronze ware. The data and results of these surveys will be helpful in exploring users’ experience, emotional cognition and the cultural identity of modern bronze ware products. Investments in cultural heritage (and other forms of culture) are not only beneficial to the local economy, by increasing employment and income, but also promote the continuation and development of traditional culture [14]. The market size of China’s cultural creative product industry was CNY 41.35 billion in 2016, and it reached CNY 87.267 billion in 2021, achieving year-on-year growth of 15.57%. In 2017, the revenue of the cultural creative design products of the Beijing Palace Museum reached CNY 1.5 billion [15]. In 2019, the cumulative number of visitors to the museum’s flagship stores on Taobao and Tmall reached 1.6 billion, which is 1.5 times that of the national museum. Compared to 2017, the scale of cultural creative products from museums on the Taobao and Tmall platforms in 2019 increased by three times [16]. In recent years, cultural and creative products have gradually become known and loved by the public. The public’s demand for cultural creative products and cultural experience is also gradually improving. Through research on the sales volume of cultural creative products in museums, it is concluded that the cultural creative industry has a large market scale and prospects, but there are also problems such as insufficient cultural connotations, oversimplified cultural expression and a lack of planning for cultural sustainable development. Therefore, it is necessary to better interpret and express the concept and experience of cultural and creative product design so as to improve the quality of cultural creative products and the satisfaction of the public, thus achieving the purpose of sustainable development. The modern conversion design of bronze jues is a typical case. Through the modern transformation of ancient bronze wares, people’s experience and cognition of the bronze jue culture can be deepened; additionally, it can promote development and iterations within the cultural creative industry. This in turn contributes to sustainable development. The development of cultural creative products for cultural relic resources has become a new trend. The cultural creative products of Chinese museums exhibit good market demand. Reproduction of ancient cultural relics through modern transformation design can not only increase the economic income of cultural creative industries, but also can enable the cultural relics to achieve sustainable development and allow the public to develop a deeper understanding of our local culture. The modern cultural innovation design of bronze ware is one of the most intuitive ways to show national emotion and to spread Chinese etiquette culture, both in terms of wine vessel culture and drinking culture. Regional culture innovative design should extract effective material carriers, visual symbols, cultural spirit and philosophical aesthetic from regional culture so that the bronze ware can be promoted in the form of products and cultural communication [17]. Cultural innovation design can add value to products and industries with regional cultural characteristics, improve people’s cultural, aesthetic and emotional experiences, stimulate consumption and promote industrial transformation and upgrading [3].

2. Literature Review

2.1. The Functions and Cultural Attributes of Bronze Ware

The culture and ritual of drinking has a long history in China. During the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, wine vessels played a core role as ritual utensils in ceremonies. People’s drinking behaviors and activities have gradually changed from satisfying basic physiological needs to satisfying the needs of communication and interaction at the spiritual and social levels so as to build a bridge between forms and rituals [18]. Regarding the casting technology of ware-type wine vessels, academic circles currently have different opinions, and no unified opinion has been formed. As shown in Figure 1, wares generally have one mold on each side of the flat body. However, there are different opinions on whether it will still be divided into left and right at the handle and whether there will be a horizontal division between the flat body and the three legs [19,20], which is still the most suitable way in terms of the combination of vessel shape and casting mold and was also the most commonly used type of casting mold for bronze wares in the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties [21]. Evolution of the shape, craftsmanship, workmanship and color of bronze ware is not only a change in the shape of wine vessels, but also an alteration to ancient Chinese concepts, rituals, music and cultural systems [22]. Ancient bronze wares were expensive and were only used by the royal family and nobles. Ordinary people could only use pottery ware in the form of bronze ware, and the social class relationship was also distinguished by the types of drinking utensils used [23,24]. By studying design aspects such as the shape, pattern, craftsmanship and user experience of the bronze ware, we can explore characteristics and changes in the social background, cultural characteristics, artistic aesthetics and spiritual consciousness of the time [25]. The changing shape of bronze ware reflects the important content of the interaction between the form and the ceremony of ancient Chinese drinking culture. This process enriched the ancient Chinese concept of drinking and etiquette culture. The bronze ware, forms, rituals and concepts are interconnected and influence each other [11].

Wine culture is a combination of material and spiritual elements. As an intangible cultural heritage, the custom of drinking has deeply influenced Chinese wine culture. In the process of drinking, the ancient Chinese people raised their glasses, exchanged glasses, clinked glasses and so on. As an important part of Chinese wine culture, these ceremonies also affect changes and development in the shape of bronze ware, as well as user experience. This involves material as the carrier and contains the profound humanistic spirit and cultural characteristics of material life. Different environments, conditions and backgrounds give birth to different wine cultures. Therefore, in cultural innovation design, the local peculiarity of wine culture should be given full consideration in order to inherit and promote the unique characteristics of wine culture [26,27]. Chinese wine culture is basically permeated into all aspects of Chinese people’s lives. As a special form of cultural exchange, wine culture has a unique and important position in traditional Chinese culture, which is mainly reflected at the humanistic level, including poetry and lyrics, literary prose, liquor banquets, etc. [28]. The meaning of drinking goes beyond physiological requirements. In many cases, it is a symbol of culture and cultural experience that expresses etiquette, atmosphere, emotion or emotional communication, and is also an important part of modern social activities. The modern transformation design of bronze ware can express the unique charm of Chinese wine culture, and its cultural attributes and values can also enable more and more people around the world to understand, enjoy and experience Chinese wine culture.

2.2. Cultural Innovation Design

Culture is a way of life formed by a group of people who put forward life concepts (creative ideas) under the nourishment of the culture at that time. Through products in daily life, a taste of life (form) is formed, which is then recognized by more people, thus forming a more fashionable lifestyle (ritual) [29]. People seek happiness (ideas), and as this way of seeking happiness gradually gains recognition (forms) from more people, it will gradually form a popular way of life (rituals), which will develop into a culture and from which distinctive cultural products are derived. Cultural innovation design is the process of rethinking or reviewing cultural characteristics and then redefining them in order to design a new product that adapts to society and satisfies consumers through culture and aesthetics [30]. Cultural relics and products are potential sources of happiness in life, and products possess “happy surprises” due to certain cultural factors, which are closely related to people’s cultural, environmental, historical and social backgrounds; these products may also happen to meet the needs of this specific group of people [31].

Culture is the foundation of cultural and creative industry. Cultural elements are transformed into product design in our daily life through creativity, and they eventually establish brand images. In this study, culture is seen as a lifestyle that brings together people who have used similar products and formed a particular lifestyle [28]. With the development of industry trends, most companies gradually realize that the key to product innovation is not only in the market and technology aspects, but also in cultural and service innovation design [32]. In an era of global markets and local design, the link between culture and design has become ever stronger. The importance of cultural innovation design has been repeatedly emphasized in various fields of design. Cultural innovation design is the driving force behind the development of cultural creative industries and is also the key to inheriting and developing culture [29]. Cultural and creative industries are divided into the cultural stage (which consists of nature and culture) and the production stage (which consists of the creation of characteristic products related to daily life) [28]. Cultural innovation design has two purposes, the first of which is to preserve people’s historical culture and life skills, and the second of which is to create intangible cultural assets and tangible cultural assets. In terms of history and culture, it must reproduce people’s memory and cultural experience through real products. From the perspective of creative design, people start from the needs of various levels of modern life, and their main purpose is to use this field as a perceived situation to evoke people’s historical memory [3]. One of the research directions of cultural innovation design is how to combine design, culture, creativity and economy while further reproducing cultural experience and emotional resonance through a cultural perspective. The modern transformation design of bronze ware systems needs to consider many factors. At the design level, it needs to follow the modern aesthetic value and the product using logic. At the cultural level, it is necessary to integrate the formal content of Chinese traditional drinking culture. At the creative level, it needs to be different from the ancient bronze wares of the past, providing more differences in modern lifestyles and the concept. At the economic level, it is necessary to combine the strategies of cultural creative industries and marketing promotion to realize the sustainable development of cultural innovation. At the level of cultural creative products, this is reflected in how cultural experience and emotional resonance are reproduced between people when they are drinking. The cultural innovation design approach emphasizes commercial or commercialized achievements and potential and also highlights that the concept of creative industries has an overall strategic importance to a country’s export image and international branding. The existing issues involve how to measure, analyze or advocate for the scale, quality and prospects of the so-called “cultural creative industries”, as well as how to formulate policies and programs to most appropriately develop, promote or interfere with local culture and cultural creative industries [33]. Cultural industry needs to combine material components with culture, thought and emotion in different ways so that objective cultural creative products can carry symbolic cultural emotion [11]. It should be emphasized that in cultural creative enterprises, the key to cultural creative design is to think about how to find tangible aspects of products that are based on intangible ideas and emotions, or conversely, how to use investment and tangible technology to uncover the symbolic and cultural intangible aspects of products [34]. From the perspective of cultural creativity, the aesthetic economy is the best interpretation of high technology (hi-tech) and how it relates to deep experience (hi-touch). Cultural innovation design should retain and reproduce people’s most meaningful and emotional life memories, as well as the most prominent folk skills. They should be combined with commerce so as to emphatically develop cultural creative industries. At the same time, cultural innovation design should combine with other fields or industries to form an industrial chain, which then will positively affect culture and life in general, thus achieving a virtuous cycle of cultural innovation design [35] (p. 81).

The driving force of cultural innovation design is that designers extract the symbolic meaning and emotional experience of specific cultural lifestyles, transform and design them into material carriers or visual symbols, and define them as cultural creative commodities [18]. Industry is the carrier of cultural creativity, mainly through the display of life concepts to form a brand to enhance life taste through brand marketing. This finally satisfies consumers with a certain lifestyle through innovative products, which are continually promoted to expand the level of implementation, thus forming a cultural creative industry. From a cultural perspective, lifestyle is a taste realized by culture, design creativity and industry [36]. The thinking strategy of cultural innovation design is inextricably linked to the creation (form) of cultural experience and the expression (ritual) of spiritual consciousness [37]. Cultural innovative design needs to be based on culture; it takes products as the carrier and will finally form a brand in people’s daily lives. The challenge of cultural innovative design is to create a new method of design strategy and design models to deal with “a society that is rebuilding itself in an unprecedented way and speed” [38]. For the value of bronze ware wine cup designs, the added value of local cultural innovation design creates the core value of the product [35] (p. 89). When inheriting or developing Chinese wine culture and bronze ware cultural relics, designers should act as “interpreters of technology, leaders of human nature, creators of sensibility and promoters of culture”. How to create a perceptual field, provide touching experiences and construct sensory life for the bronze ware design should be comprehensively considered in the design methods related to form and ritual in cultural innovation design [3].

2.3. Modern Transformation Design

Aiming to preserve and inherit the excellent content of traditional culture while meeting spiritual and cultural needs, modern transformation design will transform the traditional culture that brings people cultural experiences and emotional resonance through modernity. By strengthening cultural characteristics and utilizing new technologies, this form of design will be transformed into modern design content that meets the needs of the contemporary consumer market [29]. The media or agents that deliver the user experience information can be employees, products, services, activities or places, each of which has the ability to meet the requirements of consumers and create unique experiences. This experience can be deepened and enhanced through the manipulation of sensory perceptions and emotion, as well as through the use of the product itself [39]. Benslimane finds a way to inspire architects to protect the local characteristic culture and uses a transformative design approach that can integrate tradition and modernity to maintain urban sustainability and cultural identity [40]. Tamer’s new strategy of utilizing localization advantages to modernize poor areas in developing countries to achieve sustainable housing development made a breakthrough in research on modern transformation design. Today, cultural factors play a crucial role in the design and development of daily necessities, but they can never replace the traditional elements applied in modern design [41]. From a design perspective, K. Lee proposed a multi-level cultural structure that includes layers representing artifacts, values and basic assumptions [42]. These levels are distinguished by design attributes, including those that reflect function, aesthetics and symbols. Leong and Clark [43] created a research framework for studying cultural objects, which is distinguished by three special levels: the external “tangible” level, the intermediate “behavioral” level and the internal “intangible” level. Based on the cultural research framework of previous scholars [35,44], culture can be divided into three levels: (1) material culture, including clothing, food, housing, transportation, cultural relics, production tools, etc.; (2) life culture, including interpersonal relationships, social organizations, lifestyles, myths and legends, etc.; (3) metaphysical spiritual culture, including humanities and arts, religious ethics, aesthetic concepts, philosophical thoughts, etc. [29].

3. Research Methods

From the above information, this paper outlines a research framework and transformation methods for the modern transformation design of bronze ware (Figure 2). According to the three levels of culture, the modern transformation methods of bronze ware are divided into antiqued design, simplified design and reconstructed design [3,29,41,42,43,44]. These levels can be describe as follows: (1) the internal level, containing specific content such as stories, emotions and cultural characteristics; (2) the intermediate level, including functional and operational issues, usability and safety; and (3) the external level, dealing with color, texture, form, decoration, surface pattern, line quality and details [29].

The first level in the transformation of bronze ware refers to the method of antiqued design. In this way, the original characteristics of the bronze ware will be transformed into modernity through preservation and adjustment. The second level in the transformation of bronze ware is to summarize and simplify the bronze ware through simplified design. The second level aims to carry out functional and practical modern transformation design in terms of shape and modeling by pursuing simplification of form and experience. The third level in the transformation of bronze ware is to ensure that the bronze ware carries on the modern innovation design transformation through the method of reconstructed design, which is based on an in-depth understanding.

This study adopts the explanatory case analysis method. The research model used in this study starts from the cultural, formal, ritual and innovative aspects of the modern transformation of the bronze ware, in which the cultural level corresponds to the analysis and identification of the bronze ware [29,35,41,42,43,44]. In formal design information and ritual design projects, the modern translation and transformation are carried out. Ultimately, the design of cultural creative products will be completed at the innovative level. The cultural aspect of the model covers artifacts and the relationship between forms and rituals in traditional culture [3,28]. The form aspect of the model refers to tangible assets, namely the life product of bronze ware. The ritual aspect of the model refers to intangible assets, that is, the lifestyle and cultural taste of drinking [28]. Drinking, as a kind of culture, demonstrates the life proposition, life taste and lifestyle of ancient Chinese people [27]. The key to the modernization of tangible and intangible assets lies in how to combine high-tech modern civilization with the traditional cultural temperament. It is necessary to focus on the study of the modern transformation design of cultural innovation and to combine culture and industry [28]. It is also necessary to integrate and develop the creative layer, inventive layer and entrepreneurial layer of cultural creative products. The creative layer includes inspiration, observation and insight. The inventive layer includes conception, sustainability and feasibility. The entrepreneurial layer includes execution, desirability and empathy [29,35]. Combining cultural innovation design with modern transformation design, the core of this systematic design process lies in “stating from customs—originating from culture—forming in products—using in life—becoming in brand” [35] (p. 87) (as shown in Figure 3).

As far as the emotional level is concerned, the concept of life comes from needs, emotional reactions or inner feelings. As far as the taste of life is concerned, taste needs to be expressed with the help of form. The availability of daily life products and the feeling of using them are different, so different forms of demand are generated. As far as way of life is concerned, it is manifested as not only a living culture, but also a ritual beyond the form [3,45]. In cultural creative industries, using cultural identity to add additional value to products is not only beneficial to economic growth, but also promotes unique local culture in the global market [28,33]. Therefore, transferring cultural features into cultural products has become a key issue, and we thus propose a framework combining cultural levels, cultural hierarchies and design features [35] (pp. 75–77), as shown in Figure 2. The conceptual model focuses on how to extract cultural characteristics from cultural objects and then transfers these characteristics into design models in order to design cultural creative products. The research method consists of three steps: analysis and identification; translation and transformation; and planning and implementation. The first step is to extract cultural features from ancient cultural objects (analysis and identification), the second step is to transfer the cultural features to design information and design elements (translation and transformation), and the last step is to realize the cultural product design (plan implementation).

For the cultural innovation design methods (as shown in Figure 4), there are three main aspects: cultural space, cultural level and cultural product attributes [29]. Each aspect is further divided into an external level, middle level and internal level. The external level of the cultural hierarchy includes color and material, modeling texture, construction composition and material craftsmanship; the middle level includes controllability, safety, functionality, convenience, durability, structure, etc.; and the internal level includes stories, emotions, special connotations and cultural characteristics [29,35,41,42,43,44]. The external level of cultural product attributes is tangible and material, the intermediate level refers to the usage behavior and form custom, and the internal level is ideological, intangible and spiritual. These levels have a one-to-one correspondence and interlock from the outside to the inside, thus gradually meeting the physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs and the need for self-actualization described in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs [1].

4. Case Analysis and Discussion

In the thousands of years of civilization development in China, wine has penetrated into almost all fields of social life. It has been identified as a conventional pattern and one of the most important aspects of food culture. The special influence of alcohol on people’s psychological state and its social media function mean it is closely related to lifestyle, thus having a profound impact on people’s lives [46,47]. With the changes occurring over time and the development of new materials, the use of bronze ware has declined accordingly. People can only feel its charm in museums and imagine the historical scene and cultural atmosphere of singing while drinking at that time.

There are many different types of bronze ware, mainly involving irregular shapes composed of three legs, a stream-shaped mouth and tail, a handle and a cylindrical cup body. The three legs are the main feature of a ware. Functionally speaking, they are three stable support points that can keep the body off the ground. In terms of form, there is a contrast between the real space and the virtual space in modeling, which increases the degree of variation in terms of shape. The stream-shaped mouth and tail reflect the sense of dynamism and visual balance. The handle adopts a unilateral design, and the asymmetrical design method reflects its dynamic side [48].

The Rudingwen ware (papillary pattern ware) (Figure 5a) is the earliest bronze ware discovered in China. Its overall shape is slender and narrow with a tightened waist, and it has a hollowed-out handle on one side, a short and simple cylindrical cup body and a long mouth corresponding to the sharp tail. The bottom of the abdomen is flat, while the connection between the three legs and the main part of the ware is not smooth. The overall shape appears to be top-heavy, lacking an echo from top to bottom, and there are certain factors of instability. At this time, the feeling of bronze ware tends to be plain and simple. The bronze ware of the early Shang dynasty (Figure 5b) exhibited a solid, dignified and steady visual experience, with the three legs appropriately shortened and thickened and the overall center of gravity moved slightly downwards. This modeling technique improved the top-heavy visual effect of bronze ware in the late Xia dynasty [49]. After the stream-shaped mouth and tail were appropriately shortened, the user experience also became more convenient and humanized. The bronze ware in the late Shang dynasty (Figure 5c) is represented by the beast-faced ware, with a curved downward trend on the abdomen and three slightly thicker legs supporting it at oblique angles, thus making its foothold more stable. The extremely high umbrella-shaped columns can be seen to showcase its domineering style. The three-dimensional decoration of the animal head is adopted on the handle, which also reflects the divinity of the bronze ware. The body of the ware lost its original streamlined shape language and turned to a tough and sharp modeling style. It can be seen that the bronze ware at this time was more inclined to convey a spiritual connotation and some political and religious content [10].

During the Western Zhou dynasty (Figure 5d), the shape of bronze ware began to change greatly. The three legs became slightly contracted, and the umbrella-shaped columns on the top of the cup returned to their normal shape proportion. The body is smooth and streamlined, and the bottom of the abdomen is more rounded and natural, with the connection with the cup foot thus more integrated. The overall shape is interlinked and echoes the other elements in the process of change, creating a streamlined dynamic sense that is highlighted in terms of balance; additionally, the shape is more mature and stable, reflecting an elegant and harmonious artifact beauty [50]. By the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, the political and religious symbolic significance of the bronze ware had gradually disappeared, with bronze ware completely abandoning the previously strong and exaggerated shapes in terms of appearance. Taking the ware from the Warring States period (Figure 5e) as an example, the three legs are slightly contracted compared to the Western Zhou period. The columns abandoned the exaggerated and grotesque umbrella shape, which was replaced with simple geometric shapes. The lines from the ware body to the cup body and to the foothold became more integrated, fluid, natural and unified, giving people a natural aesthetic feeling [11]. The Warring States ware during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period combined the advantages of previous generations. On the basis of retaining the original characteristics, a more radical and concise modeling method was carried out, showing the characteristics of replacement from generation to generation.

The shape evolution of the bronze ware shows the modeling intelligence and manufacturing technology of ancient Chinese people. By understanding the shape of the bronze ware and the drinking rituals of the ancestors, one can experience and feel their traditional drinking culture. This cultural characteristic highlights the life propositions, life tastes and lifestyle of ancient Chinese people. We need to apply it to the modern transformation design of bronze ware and achieve design significance by “reminiscing about the past, making the elegance reappear”, which can be achieved through the cultural creative design of bronze ware.

4.1. Antiqued Design Series—Conversion

The pure copper ware wine vessel of the Jiang Ze Tong Hun brand (the brand name consists of the words craftsman, luster, bronze and soul) is designed in accordance with the modern transformation design principle of bronze ware in antique design. It is inspired by the ware’s modeling language, and it extracts its shape characteristics and conducts an exploratory design of modern wine utensils. In terms of modeling elements, it refers to all shape characteristics and the modeling language of bronze ware, which is similar to the Father Xin ware in the Western Zhou dynasty and the Warring States ware in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. In terms of material, it uses modern copper materials similar to those of the ancient bronze ware. At the top of the vessel, there are patterns of dragons and phoenixes. The mouth of the vessel is raised forward with the tail upturned in a streamlined shape, the handle is designed with a dragon pattern, and the bottom of the vessel is round with three long legs, showing a tall and elegant trend. The body of the vessel is also engraved with a dragon pattern that is accompanied by a circular pattern, making the entire vessel appear layered. When drinking, interactive forms such as toasting, clinking glasses and giving blessings to each other can strengthen the emotional connection and social relationship between people. Chinese people have had the traditional custom of toasting since ancient times, but traditional bronze statues are rare in modern people’s daily lives, usually only appearing in museum exhibitions. Antique wine glasses can encourage modern people to have associations with history and culture, thus increasing the sense of ceremony in the process of raising a glass.

The purple copper antiqued wine vessel and the Zhou Ding (tripod of the Zhou dynasty) antiqued bronze wine vessel also adopt the modern transformation design concept of antiqued design (as shown in Figure 6). In terms of creativity, it includes developing ideas to achieve the meaning of “reminiscing about the past, making the elegance reappear”. The purple copper antiqued wine vessel is made of pure copper, which imitates the ancient ware material. The appearance is calm and steady, and the degree of restoration of cultural relics is relatively high. The design appearance of the Zhou Ding antiqued bronze wine vessel is different from the monochrome of the purple copper antiqued wine vessel, which greatly restores the color of the bronze ware cultural relic and thereby improves product experience in terms of restoration of the wine vessel, allowing people to associate with the bronze ware quickly. The antique design works often restore the characteristics of the wine vessels used by ancient Chinese people to a large extent, which can arouse modern people’s memory of cultural relics and corresponding cultural scenes, making modern people’s drinking behavior a simulation of ancient scenes and thus inducing interaction between modern forms and rituals.

4.2. Simplified Design Series—Change

The Zhonghua (China) sterling silver wine vessel ware has undergone a certain degree of innovation in terms of shape, material, pattern, proportion and other aspects. The design of the bronze ware has been simplified, making the visual style of the sterling silver wine vessel more in line with modern and simple aesthetics while also improving usability. The contracting cup body from top to bottom and the tripod feet can help people associate it with the bronze ware when looking at and using it. The use of silver as a material ensures a uniform and glossy color, giving people a delicate and valuable visual effect. In terms of size ratio, the Zhonghua sterling silver wine vessel ware has been relatively reduced in size to better fit people’s hands. The exquisite, complex and rich taotie (a mythological beast) decorative patterns demonstrate its unique cultural attributes and temperament. The Zhonghua sterling silver wine vessel ware underwent a modern innovation transformation through simplification of the design of the Father Xin ware of the Western Zhou dynasty. At the cultural level, this design needs to analyze and identify the bronze ware relics. In the design project of formal design information and ceremony, this design has carried out a more modern transformation design of the traditional bronze ware and finally designed a cultural creative product that is more innovative than the traditional retro sculpture.

The antiqued ceramic wine vessel ware cup cleverly grafts an ordinary wine glass with the bronze ware. The upper part is made of a ceramic material in a round shape, showing a white and concise modeling language and color effect. Its concept is “wine into a square cup is square, wine into a round cup is round”. The lower part adopts a copper base, which continues the design characteristics of a bronze ware wine utensil. It has three pillars, four positions of stability, relief engraving, clear and delicate lines and exquisite modeling, and the combination of ceramic and relief makes it thicker than ordinary wine glasses, with its metal texture being simpler and more refined than traditional modeling. The antiqued ceramic wine vessel ware cup mainly serves liquor, which emphasizes that the transparent liquor and the solid white cup body are integrated harmoniously, making the form of drinking purer and more natural. From the perspective of the development of Chinese history, ceramics and copper prevailed in different historical periods. Therefore, the wine set’s ceramic and copper metal parts combine other materials to convey the historical and cultural spirit with a mixed air. The interactive relationship between the form of the vessel and the ritual is linked between culture and concepts. The changes in cultural, environmental, social and conceptual conditions generated by this interactive relationship cause people’s demands for drinking utensils and their associated experiences to also change accordingly.

The emperor vessel ware cup has also been simplified to a certain extent on the basis of the bronze ware. The proportion of the bronze ware is strengthened at the mouth of the cup. The shape and texture of the cup body are retained and reproduced, which is very decorative. The overall visual perception starts off as simple, moves toward complex, and then returns back to simplicity, making the vision more balanced and attractive. At the same time, the smooth glass is used as a breakthrough in the material, giving the emperor vessel ware cup a delicate and lubricated texture while also changing the sense of holding. The emperor vessel ware cup enriches and reshapes modern people’s drinking rituals and drinking skills through simplification of the shape, proportion and material of the ware, which is achieved by simplifying the design idea; furthermore, the design also innovates upon the original tangible and intangible assets (as shown in Figure 7).

4.3. Reconstructed Design Series—Transformation

The “Qing Niao” (“Blue Bird”) asking love wine cup is designed with a pair of blue birds. It is hoped that, through the cultural concept of the blue birds as a century-old couple that are as affectionate as a couple of Mandarin ducks, the “Blue Bird” asking love wine cup will be given to newlyweds as a wedding gift. From the perspective of wedding culture, there will be blessings of a hundred years of love and harmony. The gift of this design is very commemorative. The shape of the “Blue Bird” wine cup has undergone a breakthrough of simplification, removing complicated shape transitions and texture styles and retaining the charm of the bronze ware. The design incorporates the following ancient Chinese poem: “Under the moonlight, the fragrance of wine was overflowing in the curved corridor of Peng Lai, and the beautiful lady was already weak because of drunkenness”. The design product connects the artifact with the poem, describes the scene in which the “Blue Bird” wine glass might be used, and constructs the cultural space surrounding the ancient people’s drinking through ancient prose. In terms of cultural level, this contains the storytelling, emotional, special meaning and cultural characteristics of the bronze ware. In terms of cultural space, the husband and wife are a pair, drinking and exchanging cups. This drinking ceremony symbolizes the connection involved in the intimate relationship between the couple and is a typical characteristic of Chinese wedding culture. In terms of cultural product attributes, the “Blue Bird” wine cup reflects the spiritual harmony of husband and wife. The “Blue Bird” asking love wine cup can enhance the sense of ritual in a couple’s daily life. In festivals, wedding ceremonies, restaurants, or in the kitchen, the asking love wine cup can always serve as an important bridge for emotional sharing, relationship building and happiness sharing (as shown in Figure 8).

The HIBIKI ware wine glass is a whiskey glass designed by a Japanese wine glass brand. The shape of its mouth refers to the modeling elements of Chinese bronze ware. It can be seen that Japanese wine glass brands attach great importance to the modern transformation of bronze ware. The design of the neo-Chinese style modern ware cup also adopts the cultural innovation design thinking of reconstructed design. It deconstructs and recombines the traditional shape and is very simple in shape, which is more in line with the modern drinking occasion. At the creative level, this shape still retains the characteristic lines of the bronze ware, which can promote people’s thinking of the bronze ware and the corresponding cultural scene, thus enhancing the attraction of modern cultural products designed on the basis of the bronze ware.

5. Discussion and Conclusions

5.1. Discussion

Based on scholars’ existing research on cultural innovation design, we investigated interactions between forms and rituals, as well as between cultural levels and cultural attributes [27,29]. In this study, a design model for the modern transformation of bronze ware is constructed. The design level and mode relationship of cultural innovation transformation have been verified in the modern transformation of bronze ware. Previous research and the model built in this study are substituted into the modern transformation design of bronze ware, and the modern transformation design ideas and methods based on the interaction between cultural innovation design factors and formal rituals are obtained. The modern transformation design of bronze ware can be innovated through three different levels: a representation layer, a perception layer and a spirit layer. These levels are implemented according to different factors, including factors related to the economy, environment, culture and customs [28].

According to the above content and the model constructed, at the external level of culture, the focus is on restoring the color and material, shape and texture and material craftsmanship of the wine vessel. At the intermediate level of culture, the focus is on improving the usability, comfort, controllability and safety of the vessel. At the internal level of culture, the focus is on storytelling, reconstruction, design, cultural characteristics and emotional aspects [31,39]. The three levels of culture can be expressed and innovated through different stages and attributes, that is, the design idea of modern cultural transformation is based on cultural attributes and characteristics of demand [35,39]. On the one hand, this study deepens research into the modern design of cultural innovation of predecessors. Compared with previous studies, the difference of this study is that it focuses more on a single bronze ware bearing a strong culture and combines it with the intangible cultural heritage of drinking culture, exploring the relationship between bronze ware and drinking ceremony and expanding the interactive relationship between ceremony and form in cultural innovation design [16]. On the basis of previous research, three methods and principles of the modern conversion design of bronze ware are extended. This paper selects a number of modern wine vessel transformation design cases based on bronze ware as the prototype and verifies the modern transformation design methods of antiqued design, simplified design and reconstructed design (Figure 9).

Based on the case study and discussion in this paper, from the perspective of the interaction between form and ritual in cultural innovation, the modern transformation design methods and rules of form and ritual in the cultural innovation of bronze ware are proposed. This study explored how to reproduce the connotation of bronze ware drinking culture in modern life so as to make it a modern daily wine utensil for the public [24,25]. This study discussed the modern transformation methods and rules of cultural relics from three aspects: (1) the antiqued design method of restoring historical cultural relics by reproducing memory; (2) the simplified design method of simplifying cultural relics by extending memory; and (3) the reconstructed design method of cultural relics reconstructed by subverting memory. Finally, the study built a modern transformation design model of cultural relics [16,27,31,38,39,40,41]. Therefore, under the influence of comprehensive factors, the modern conversion design of bronze ware should adopt different design strategies to meet different needs, and its focus is on the need to be based on the content of previous research and modern transformation methods and rules [50].

By combining the traditional experiences and techniques, the products in the above cases can subvert the traditional memory characteristics, meanwhile enhancing the deep experience of modern people. They adopt an innovative design method that is more in line with the aesthetic imagery and living customs of modern people, allowing them to generate deeper associations and imaginations through this imagery expression [25]. It is worth noting that, in terms of the design purpose, the antiqued design focuses on the form and reproduces the bronze ware cultural relics. The simplified design reshapes the function and extends the modern meaning of the bronze ware. The reconstructed design improves the in-depth experience and subverts the inherent cognition of the bronze ware [35,39,40,41].

Designers need to consider many aspects and design rationally when carrying out the modern transformation design of bronze ware. They also need to reflect the value orientation and cultural characteristics of cultural relics and stimulate modern people’s cultural identity [29,31]. The design should conform to the principles of modern people’s use habits, cultural aesthetics and emotional needs so as to increase the attraction, experience and culture of modern bronze ware products.

5.2. Conclusions

Today, the search for value and meaning has become a pressing issue. In the field of cultural heritage protection, value determines what people want to protect and which cultural heritage products can reproduce the past and present it to future generations [55]. Driven by different occasions, environments and social relationships, people taste, appreciate and get drunk with each other, making this way of life (form) gradually become a fashion or culture (ritual).

Cultural creative products can extend the heritage and traditional value of Chinese culture to consumers and can improve spiritual experiences and the influence of culture in people’s lives [56]. The modern transformation design of bronze ware and its unique oriental drinking culture are crucial to the development of cultural creative products and cultural creative industries [57].

Based on the analysis of the aforementioned cases, this study concludes a model for the modern transformation design of cultural relics (Figure 10). Cultural relics and artifacts reproduce, extend and ultimately subvert their memory through antiqued design (external level), simplified design (intermediate level) and reconstructed design (internal level). Through the modern transformation of bronze ware, modern bronze ware wine cups that conform to the life proposition of this cultural characteristic group have been designed. This drinking culture will gradually give birth to a taste of life, and the interaction between drinking forms and rituals will be recognized by more people, thus deriving a style of life that finally culminates in new cultural traits. With the continuous change in objective conditions such as the environment, society and culture, people’s cognition of and demand for wine glasses and drinking culture are also constantly changing. How to better study the characteristics of modern people’s demand for the material carrier of drinking culture and how to combine these characteristics with bronze ware are still topics that need to be further studied through a large number of accurate and effective scientific methods. This study summarizes the design method of modern transformations of bronze ware, which enriches the cultural, interactive and emotional connotation of modern wine glass design. It also provides references and ideas for the design of modern wine glasses while emphasizing the importance of the interaction between forms and rituals when people are drinking. Additionally, through the analysis of cases, the paper summarizes the design model of the modern transformation of cultural relics and artifacts, which is helpful when integrating the traditional into the modern, thus providing a connotation to the material and bringing the culture into life in the process of design practice so as to improve the quality of life and cultural experiences of people.

The methods and models constructed in this study are mainly applied to the modern transformation design and development of cultural relics. The focus of this study is how to better enable people to know, understand and love their own culture through creative design and the interaction between forms and rituals. This study hopes that this model can promote the development of cultural creative products and then promote the development, upgrading and transformation of cultural creative industries.

In future research, interviews and questionnaires will be conducted with users of modern bronze ware wine cups to obtain more information and explore users’ experience of emotional cognition and cultural identity in the process of using these products, which will be of positive significance when seeking to further verify the modern transformation design model of this study and facilitate the constant improvement of this model.