Ding 鼎 - one of the standard vessels for food sacrifying. Although one can often read the ding is three legged, there are many examples of four legged vessels, especially in old times. This kind is called fangding 方鼎, "square ding". Another kind of ding is a li-ding, a vessel between li and ding, a fourth type is the flat foot ding (pianzu ding 扁足鼎), only used during the Shang time.
Human faces are only very seldom seen on bronze vessels. This vessel has the inscription "大禾 Da He", probably the name of the owner. Height: 40 cm. The earliest ding vessels arise during the Erligang culture, deriving from stone age pottery. The character is a picture of the vessel.

Ding - here a round belly three legged example from early Zhou times (height 120 cm). This is the standard shape of ding, which is still seen today in many temples as a container for incense burning. To this type belong very famous bronze kettles like the Mao Gong Ding 毛公鼎 and the Da Yu Ding 大盂鼎. The long inscriptions inside these vessels are often reports of an enfeoffment.

Ding - richly ornamented with inlaid gold and silver from late Warring States times (height: 11 cm). Refining the culture, the Zhou dynasty became more keen to small and fine handicraft instead of the former huge shapes. The ornaments of this example remind of the much later cloisonné art. Something new is the beak that makes the vessel look like a tea pot.

Ding - this specimen with the added heating oven from Western Zhou times is very precious. It has not only four legs instead of three but it shows the figure of a crippled slave who guards the door. It is therefore a witness of the "slave-holder society" at that time.