In this paper, we tried to investigate the images on owl in ancient China through the examination of literature and language as well as by way of the study of unearthed wares. For the Neolithic period and the Shang dynasty, when the documents did not exist or were rare, we followed the owl image by way of wares unearthed, and for the West Zhou and subsequent era we examined the literature and the language. For the study, we have added a short introduction on owls and its appearance in human history.

owl , owl image , owl shaped wares , owl pattern , Chinese bronzes , jade , pottery , Shang dynasty , West Zhou.