Page 165 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

46

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

164 | B R O N Z E ACE C H I N A