The three “brothers” are separated in three different museums – National Palace Museum (Taipei) where I first saw it, Shanghai Museum where I became acquainted with it, and the Palace Museum (Beijing) where I finally met all three.
Ding (Food Vessel) of Song 颂鼎
Bronze ware | Late Western Zhou (827-782 BC) | National Palace Museum collection. 銅器｜西周晚期 （西元前827年-782年）｜通高25公分/腹深13公分/口徑25.7公分/腹圍75.8公分 ｜國立故宮博物院藏
The Ding 鼎 (food vessel) was casted by an official, a historian named Song 頌/颂 in the courts of King Xuan of Zhou 周宣王 (r. 827/25 – 782 BC). Three pieces of the same ceremonial bronze have been found and currently housed in three separate museums – Taipei’s National Palace Museum, Shanghai Museum and Beijing’ Palace Museum. Besides the ding, there are five Gui 簋 and two Hu 壶 in existence.1
Bronze ware | Reign of King Xuan (827-782 BC) of Western Zhou | Shanghai Museum collection. 铜器｜西周宣王 （西元前827年-782年）｜高31.4厘米，口径32.9厘米，腹径30.9厘米，去耳高23.6厘米，腹深16.3厘米｜上海博物馆藏
The political situation during the late Western Zhou was quite harsh, with the Xianyun 玁狁 tribes posing a threat to the northwest, and the southern states roiling with rebellion. Beset by internal pressures and external threats, the making of this work and the content of its inscriptions represent a valiant effort by the Zhou King Xuan to stem the tide and aspire to eternal peace and prosperity for the realm.2
Bronze ware | Late Western Zhou (827-782 BC) | Beijing Palace Museum collection. 銅器｜西周晚期 （西元前827年-782年）｜高38.4厘米，宽30.3厘米，重7.24kg｜北京故宮博物院藏
This ding was found in the Summer Palace 颐和园 in Beijing and later moved to the Palace Museum for custody. It was finally displayed for a limited time at the 100th anniversary exhibition in the Forbidden Palace.
The Jin Script in the Belly of the Ding
For the early Western Zhou (11th-8th century BC) to early Warring States period (5th-3rd century BC), the bulk of writing which has been unearthed has been in the form of bronze inscriptions. As a result, it is common to refer to the variety of scripts of this period as “bronze script” 金文, even though there is no single such script across the fragmented nation that was made up of mainly farmers and labourers.
“For Descendants to Forever Cherish” 「子子孫孫寶用」
Inscribing on bronzes, either by casting or engraving, is a characteristic of Chinese bronzes which makes them very uniquely different from those made in other cultures. The rich textual repertoire debuted with mostly clan or ancestor names during Shang and early Zhou, and around the mid-period of Western Zhou increasingly adopted the theme of “For Descendants to Forever Cherish” 「子子孫孫寶用」, which gradually developed into a standard finishing statement for many inscriptions.
銘文 3
唯三年五月既死霸甲戌，王在周康卲宮。旦，王各大室，即位。宰引右頌，入門，立中廷，尹氏受王命書，王呼史虢生冊命頌。王曰：「頌，令女官司成周賈廿家，監 新造，賈用宮御，賜汝玄衣黹純、赤巿、朱衡、鑾旂、 勒，用事。」頌拜 首，受令，冊佩以出，返納瑾璋。頌敢對揚天子丕顯魯休，用朕皇考恭叔、皇母恭姒寶尊鼎，用追孝祈 康 純祐通祿永命。頌其萬年眉壽，畯臣天子霝終，子子孫孫寶用。 |
这篇铭文记录了一次册命典礼的全过程：
1、周王即位；
2、佑者带被册命者入庙门立于庭中；
3、尹氏出示命书；
4、史官宣读命书；
5、命书分两部分，一是任命职司，二是赏赐物清单；
6、受命书，佩带而出；
7、返回，献纳用于觐见的玉璋。这里的７项仪注，对我们认识当时的礼制是十分珍贵的资料。
铭文大意：
在三年五月下半月的甲戌日，王在周地康王庙里的昭王庙。天刚亮，王到了昭庙大厅里，坐定位置。宰引作为佑者带领颂进入昭庙大门，站立于庭院中。尹氏将拟就的任命书交到王的手中，王命史官虢生宣读任命书。王的任命书说：“颂，命你管理有20家胥隶的仓库，监督管理新建的宫内用品仓库。赏赐你黑色带绣边的官服上衣，配有红色饰带的大红色围裙，车马用具的銮铃、旗子和马笼头。执行任务。”颂拜，叩头，接受册命书，佩带以出，又返回庙中，贡纳觐见用璋。颂为答谢和宣扬天子伟大厚重的美意，因而做了祭奠其死去的伟大父亲龚叔、母亲龚姒的宝鼎。用来追念孝意，祈求得到健康、厚大的祐助、仕宦之途通顺、长命。颂万年老寿，长作天子之臣而得善终。子孙后代宝用此鼎。
Hu (Wine Vessel) of Song 頌壺
Bronze ware | Late Western Zhou (827-782 BC) | National Palace Museum collection. 銅器｜西周晚期 （西元前827年-782年）｜國立故宮博物院藏
Besides the ding, the Song hu is also on display in Taipei’s National Palace Museum.
The neck is decorated with a band pattern, the abdomen is decorated with a dragon pattern, the ring foot and the lid button are decorated side-by-side with a vertical scale pattern, and the lid edge is decorated with an animal eye pattern. The two-eared beast head is nested into a ring by the second casting method. The whole body is huge, with patterns distributed in gorgeous and dynamic layers.
There are the same 152-character inscription on the lid and body of the pot, which records the ceremony of the King Zhou appointment of Song, identical to the inscription in the ding.
The script is elegant and the writing is beautiful. The inscription is a complete record of the details of the ceremony. It first states the time and place of the ceremony and the steps guided by the officials, and then records the appointment of Song and the reward of the chariot and servants, which supplement our understanding of the historical facts of the late Western Zhou Dynasty.4
About Chinese National Treasure Series
中華國寶系列 Chinese National Treasure series feature specific artefacts and relics from museums all around the world that are historically significant to be considered a National Treasure. The series covers the 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation from Neolithic periods before the Xia dynasty (c. 2070-1600 BC) to modern day.
Footnotes :
- 周宣王时代的史官名颂者所作，为西周时期饪食器。此鼎传世共三器,其中上海博物馆、故宫博物院、台北故宫博物院各藏一件。还有同名曰“颂”的簋五件、壶两件。http://www.360doc.com/content/24/1229/22/41212772_1143298412.shtml, accessed 19 Nov 2025 ↩︎
- 西周晚期政治形勢嚴峻，西北有玁狁威脅，南土諸國也伺機而動，內憂外患之下，此器的製作和銘文內容展向周王力挽狂瀾，祈求社稷安樂永續的雄心壯志。https://theme.npm.edu.tw/selection/Article.aspx?sNo=04001042, accessed 17 Nov 2025 ↩︎
- https://nchdb.boch.gov.tw/assets/overview/antiquity/20190215000006, accessed 17 Nov 2025 ↩︎
- 此器為重要場合使用的酒壺。全器體量巨大，紋飾層層分佈，華麗又富動感。壺蓋及器身內有相同的152字銘文，記載周王冊封頌的的儀式，文風典雅，文字秀麗。銘文內容完整記錄冊命儀式的進行細節，先敘明儀式時間、地點及官員引導的步驟，再記述周王對頌的工作任命及車服賞賜，可印證並增補西周晚期史實。https://theme.npm.edu.tw/selection/Article.aspx?sNo=04009156#inline_content_intro, accessed 17 Nov 2025 ↩︎
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