Page 44 - The Arts of China, By Michael Sullivan Good Book

can most simply be grouped according to their use in the sacri-
fices. For cooking food (of which the essence only was extracted
by the spirits, the participants later eating what they left behind),
the chief vessels were the hollow-legged tt tripod and the hsien
steamer. Both of these types, as we have seen, were common in
Neolithic pottery and may then already have had a more-than-
utilitarian function in some primitive rite. The ting, which has
three or four straight legs, is a variant of the li, and like it generally
has fairly large handles or "ears" to enable it to be lifted off the fire.
Vessels made for serving food included the two-handled kuei and
the yii (basin) . Among those for fluids (chiefly wine) were the hu (a
vase orjar with a cover), the yu (similar, but with a swing or chain
handle and sometimes fitted with a spout), the chih (a cup with a
bulbous body and spreading lip), the ho (kettle), the tall and ele-
gant trumpet-mouthed ku for pouring libations, and its fatter var-
iant, the tsun (both derived from pottery prototypes), the chia and
25 KiTuil vessel, vm. Bronze. Lice
shug Dynasty. the chio for pouring and probably also for heating wine, and the

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