Ding (vessel)

Ding (vessel)

A ding (Chinese: 鼎; pinyin: dǐng; Wade–Giles: ting) is an ancient Chinese vessel shape, a cauldron with legs, a lid and two facing handles. They were made in two shapes with round vessels having three legs and rectangular ones four and were used for cooking, storage and the preparation of ritual offerings to ancestors. They can be traced back as early as the Erlitou phase of Chinese history. Both ceramic and bronze ding have been found at the Erlitou site, with some ceramic ding dating back to the Xia Dynasty.