Dimensions: Overall Height: 16cm; diameter of mouth: 16cm

Origin: Excavated from Han Tomb No.1 at Mawangdui, Changsha City, Hunan Province in 1972

Ding refers to a kind of food container with three legs. This ding features a swelling belly, a sphere-like bottom, two upright loop handles, three paw-like cabriole legs, and a dome-shaped lid with three knobs.

An interesting thing occurred when it was being excavated. Slices of lotus root were found in this ding, which were clearly discernible after 2,100 years. This indicates that the Changsha region has very rarely been hit by big earthquakes. Otherwise, if there have been frequent earthquakes (with an occasional big one), either the tripod would have collapsed or the slices of lotus root would have been dissolved long ago.