CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

46
Bronze fangding vessel with flat legs
Height 42.3 (i6 5 / 8 ), weight 18 (39 5 / 8 )
Late Shang Yinxu Period II (c. 1200 BCE)
From Xiaotun Locus North, at Yinxu, Anyang,
Henan Province
The Institute of Archaeology, CASS, Beijing
Round, tripod ding (cat. 37) are emblematic ritual
vessels of the Shang and Zhou; four-legged variants
with rectangular bodies (fangding) may well have
been royal perquisites. While this type is not documented
in metal prior to the Early Shang (c.
1600-1300 BCE), when fangding do make their
appearance it is as large-scale paired vessels whose
size and shape distinguish them from other types. 1
The assemblage at Dayangzhou in Jiangxi province
held one such large fangding (cat. 59), but several
pairs from Zhengzhou are the best evidence to link
this variant with Shang royal patrons. At Anyang, a
pair of large fangding were among the very few vessels
found in place in the royal tombs at Xibeigang
(they were overlooked by looters in Tomb 1004), and
Tomb 5 likewise held an impressive pair inscribed
"Mu Xin" — the posthumous appellation of Fu Hao.
Indeed, the largest Shang vessel presently known,
weighing 875 kilograms, is a solitary fangding recovered
from the east end of the royal cemetery bear-
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