The stylized animal-mask motif common on Shang and Zhou ritual vessels is called taotie.
Taotie designs usually present a frontal face with a prominent pair of eyes, a divided symmetry, and curling animal-like elements. They appear on many bronzes made during the Shang and Zhou periods, especially vessels used in ritual contexts. The motif can be surrounded by geometric spirals, often called leiwen.
The meaning of taotie remains uncertain. Later texts describe a taotie as a gluttonous monster, but those literary explanations were recorded after many of the bronzes were made and may not preserve the original meaning. Modern scholars therefore treat the motif cautiously rather than assigning it one universally proven identity.
Some taotie masks include horns, jaws, or animal bodies, while others are highly abstract. The design should not automatically be identified as a dragon, qilin, or other named creature from later Chinese mythology.