The Tien bronze culture of Yunnan (circa late 7th-1st centuries B.C.), southwestern China, is a kettledrum culture characterized by an assemblage of bronze artifacts known as the Dong-son type in terms of typology. The Tien artifacts also are noted for their surface ornamentation that includes naturalistically represented animal and human forms in sculpture, relief, or line incision, and schematized figurative and geometric patterns known as the Dong-son style decoration. The Tien naturalistic decor is thought to have represented a local artistic expression. Nevertheless, some of the animal decorations are reminiscent of the "animal style" art typical of the cultures in the Eurasian steppelands.

Based on a study of the bronze kettledrums, we can deduce that the Tien culture accepted models from the Ehr-hai region of central Yunnan for its production of the kettledrums, and possibly for the idea of using "animal style" for decorating bronze artifacts as well. The people responsible for introducing the "animal style" art into the Yunnan region were the builders of the slate tombs in western Szechwan and northwestern Yunnan. These people were nomads and semi-nomads closely related to the tribes of the Ti/Ch'iang complex (along the northern and northwestern borderlands of China) who grew out of the Srubnaya/Andronovo cultures of the Eurasian Steppelands.