Rubbings from the Inscribed Bronze Tureen "Zhong Yi Fu" Xu

Late Western Zhou dynasty (ca. 1100–771 b.c.e.), undated

Hanging scroll, ink rubbed on paper; 148.8 x 42.6 cm (comprising sheet mounted above: 27.7 x 42.6 cm; sheet mounted at center with rubbings: 97.4 x 42.6 cm; and sheet mounted below: 23.7 x 42.6 cm); rubbing of vessel: approx. 18.2 x 29.6 cm; rubbing of inscription at upper right: approx. 11.9 x 6.0 cm; rubbing of inscription at upper left: approx. 11.9 x 6.0 cm

Date of rubbing not given; Qing dynasty (1644–1911), late 19th–early 20th century

Inventory number: Biaozhou 604

The xu, an oblong container for rice and sorghum that was also used as a grain-offering vessel in rituals, has a slightly flared mouth and a lid with appendages in the form of rectangles or small animals, which enable it to function as a separate container when reversed.  The vessel has handles and a foot ring, and a small number of this type feature animal-feet supports.  The xu closely resembles another bronze vessel type, the gui, in square or rectangular form, and certain inscriptions on xu even refer to them as gui.  The xu, popular in the mid- and late Western Zhou periods, was an immediate variation of the gui.

The xu shown in this fine full-figured rubbing bears an 11-character inscription on the container and a 10-character inscription on the lid, including reference to a certain "Zhong Yi Fu," from which the vessel takes its name.  Once owned by the collector Wu Dacheng (1835–1902), its present whereabouts is unknown.  The rubbing carries a colophon in seal script by Han Huixun, in which his identification of the vessel as a gui is mistaken.