The Bronze Tripod or Cauldron

The bronze ding, a cooking utensil in remote times, was used like a cauldron for boiling fish and meat. At first, about 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, the ding was made of fired clay, usually with three legs, occasionally with four that is why it is loosely referred to as "tripod" in English. It stands steadily and has a nice shape.

With the advent of the slavery system, China entered the Bronze Age, and the earthen ding was gradually replaced by the bronze one. In time, it assumed the role of an important sacrificed vessel used by the slave-owning aristocrats at ceremonies of worship.

Leading among the bronze ding that have been discovered to date, and by far the largest, is the "Si Mu Wu" ding which dates to the late Shang Dynasty (c.17th to 11th century B.C.). Weighing 875 kilograms, it is 133 centimeters high and rectangular in shape, standing on four legs. It was made for the King of Shang to offer sacrifices to his dead mother Wu. Exquisitely cast, it is considered a rare masterpiece of the bronze culture the world over.

Towards the end of the slave society, the ding became a vessel which, by its size and numbers, indicated the power and status of its aristocrat owner. At rites, the emperor used a series of 9 ding, the dukes and barons 7, senior officials 5, and scholarly gentlemen 3. From the number of ding yielded by an ancient tomb, one can tell the status of its dead occupant.

Today visitors to palaces, imperial gardens and temples of the Ming and Qing courts can still see beautiful arrays of bronze tripods which were, in their time, both decorations and status symbols.

IN the periods when Buddhism was the predominant faith in the country, the ding was also used as a religious incense burner. Such burners, made of bronze, iron or stone in various sizes, can still be seen in many old temples. In Yonghegong, the famous Beijing lamasery, there is a large bronze ding with an overall height of 4.2 meters, cast with the inscription "Made in the 12th year of Qianlong" (1747). It was in this ding that Qing emperors, when they went to the temple for worship, were believed to have offered bundles of burning joss sticks.

Bronze tripods and cauldrons have always fascinated people with their hierarchical associations and their simple but stately forms. So there has always been a thriving craft devoted to the making of copies or imitations of them. Normally they are miniatures for table-top decoration often made of other materials such as jade, agate, lacquer and so on. They represent an important branch of China's arts and crafts.