Ding (
Chinese: ,
dǐng),
formerly romanized as
ting, were
prehistoric and
ancient Chinese cauldrons, standing upon legs with a lid and two facing handles. They are one of the most important shapes used in
Chinese ritual bronzes. They were made in two shapes: round vessels with three legs and rectangular ones with four, the latter often called fanding. They were
used for cooking, storage, and
ritual offerings to the
gods or to
ancestors. The earliest recovered examples are pre-
Shang ceramic ding at the
Erlitou site but they are better known from the
Bronze Age, particularly after the
Zhou deemphasized the ritual use of
wine practiced by the
Shang kings. Under the Zhou, the ding and the privilege to perform the associated rituals became symbols of authority. The number of permitted ding varied according to one's rank in the
Chinese nobility: the
Nine Ding of the
Zhou kings were a symbol of their rule over all China but were lost by the first
emperor,
Shi Huangdi in the late 3rd century . Subsequently, imperial authority was represented by the
Heirloom Seal of the Realm, carved out of the
He Shi Bi jade; it was lost at some point during the
Five Dynasties after the collapse of the
Tang.