Nine ding and eight gui

Period : Spring and Autumn period

Unearthed Place: Ruins of Zheng State and Han State in Xinzheng, Henan Province

时代：春秋时期

出土地点：河南新郑的郑韩古城遗址

The Central Plain is an important birthplace of Chinese civilization and the Chinese nation. Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties met and merged here, giving birth to the brilliant bronze culture.

中原地区是华夏文明和中华民族的重要发祥地, 夏、商、周三代在这里交汇融合,孕育出了灿烂辉煌的青铜文化。

The nine bronze tripods unearthed in 1996 have the same ornamentation, and the sizes of them decrease successively. The largest one is 54.5 centimeters high, while the smallest one is 47.5 centimeters. The eight gui have the same shape and similar decoration.

1996年出土的九件铜鼎纹饰相同，大小依次递减，最大的一件通高54.5厘米，最小的一件也有47.5厘米，八件铜簋形制相同，纹饰相近。

There are many kinds of bronze wares in Shang and Zhou Dynasties according to their different uses. The bronze wares used by nobles in ceremonies such as sacrifice, ceremony, funeral, expedition and banquet are called ritual bronze wares. The most important of the ritual vessels are tripods.

商周时期青铜器根据用途不同有很多种类，王公贵族在进行祭祀、典礼、丧葬、征伐、宴饮等礼仪时所用的青铜器叫青铜礼器。而礼器中最重要的就是鼎。

The Western Zhou Dynasty "made rites and music", then "rites and music system" gradually became the Chinese people's ideological standards and behavior norms, hence the Chinese nation praised as "the country of rites and music".

西周“制礼作乐”，“礼乐制度”逐渐成为中国人的思想准则和行为规范，中华民族自誉为“礼乐之邦”也由此而来。

As the people in Zhou Dynasty learned from the lesson that merchants drank too much to let a state perish, there were fewer wine vessels and more ceremonial vessels in this period, and they often appeared in groups. Some objects used for sacrifice and feast are endowed with special meanings,to become the embodiment of ritual utensils, this is "hidden in ritual utensils".

由于周人吸取商人酗酒亡国的教训，这一时期酒器减少，礼器增多，而且往往成套成组地出现。一些用于祭祀和宴飨的器物，被赋予了特殊的含义，成为体现礼制的用具，这就是“藏礼于器”。

According to the Rites of Zhou, the emperor enjoyed nine ding and eight gui at sacrificial ceremonies, feasts, and funerals. dukes or princes under the emperor used seven ding and six gui, and officials used five ding and four gui, and so on.

据《周礼》记载,天子在祭祀、宴飨、随葬时享用九鼎八簋,诸侯使用七鼎六簋,大夫使用五鼎四簋，依次类推，不能越级使用。（文图来源：河南博物院）