Late Shang Dynasty Shu Sizi Ding (click to enlarge) Collection of the Institute of Archeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
In 1959, the round burial pit in Hougang, Anyang, Henan Province was unearthed. Also unearthed were bronze urns, bronze jue and other utensils. Round, with two straight ears along the mouth and three hoofed feet. The neck is decorated with animal masks. There are three lines and three crosses of inscriptions inside the vessel, three of which are combined. The inscription records that in a certain year of the Shang Dynasty, on Bingwu in the ninth month, the Shang King rewarded his heir, Shu, with twenty pennies in the main hall of the ancestral temple. Because he was honored and favored, he made this tripod to worship his father. The "dog fish" at the end of the inscription should be the emblem of the family to which Shu Sizi belongs.
Although the font size of the inscriptions is not neat enough, the strokes are clear, majestic and powerful, and some fonts also have a typical wavy style. The artifacts themselves and the content of the inscriptions are of certain value to the dating of bronzes, the history and geography of the Shang Dynasty, and the study of ancient culture. (Du Naisong)
