Simuwu Ding

E234570

Simuwu Ding is an ancient Chinese bronze ritual vessel from the Shang dynasty, renowned as one of the largest and most important bronze artifacts ever discovered in China.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
Simuwu 1
Simuwu Ding canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf ancient Chinese bronze
bronze ding vessel
ritual vessel
archaeologicalContext Yinxu
surface form: Yinxu site region
artHistoricalPeriod Ancient China
surface form: Chinese Bronze Age
associatedWith Shang royal rituals
ancestor cult of Shang kings
category Chinese archaeological artifacts
Chinese ritual bronzes
city Beijing
country China
culture Shang dynasty
currentLocation National Museum of China
date 13th–11th century BCE
decoration relief designs typical of Shang bronzes
taotie motifs
thunder pattern (leiwen)
discoveredIn Anyang
surface form: Anyang area

Henan Province
feature four columnar legs
massive rectangular body
two loop handles on the rim
function food-offering vessel
height approximately 133 centimeters
heritageStatus national treasure of China
importanceInIconography benchmark example of Shang taotie design
importanceInResearch key reference for Shang bronze casting studies
inscription Simuwu Ding self-linksurface differs
surface form: Simuwu
inscriptionLanguage Chinese characters
length approximately 110 centimeters
material bronze
museumCollection permanent collection of the National Museum of China
notableFor extraordinary size
symbol of state power in ancient China
technical sophistication of casting
owner China
surface form: People's Republic of China
period Shang dynasty
surface form: Late Shang dynasty
region North China Plain
surface form: Central Plains of China
shape rectangular ding with four legs
significance one of the largest ancient Chinese bronze artifacts
one of the most important Shang dynasty bronzes
technology piece-mold casting
type square ding (fangding)
use ancestor worship
ritual ceremonies
weight over 800 kilograms
width approximately 79 centimeters

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Simuwu Ding inscription Simuwu Ding self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: Simuwu