Abstract: The study on Pre-Qin bronzes aesthetics is the logical evolution of Pre-Qin aesthetics from the interpretation of texts to the study of objects.As an artifact form of aesthetic activity,within a meaning system of the isomorphism of human and gods,the production and use of Pre-Qin bronzes took on two logical forms:“communication with gods” and “decorating the dead as they were when they were alive”.They are both delimited and interlinked,that defining and constantly shaping the spiritual connotations and aesthetic qualities of the aesthetic subject.When the Zhou Dynasty overthrew the Shang Dynasty,the divine power and kingship were reconfigured within the framework of the “Mandate of Heaven”,and the kingship previously as a recessive force had gradually replaced the divine power to become the explicit force shaping the aesthetic orientation of bronzes.The change of the relationship between human and gods,and the discourse reconstruction of the “Mandate of Heaven depending on virtues but not on bronzes”,not only meant the end of the historical mission of bronzes,but also formed the ideological background against which the Pre-Qin aesthetics rethought and questioned the relationship between Heaven and man.

Key words: Pre-Qin bronzes, divine power, kingship, wishes of the people, Pre-Qin aesthetics