In traditional Chinese bronze art, the common three-legged vessel used for cooking or ritual offerings is called a ding.
The ding originated as a pottery vessel before becoming one of the most important shapes in Chinese bronze casting. Bronze versions generally have a round body supported by three legs, although some later examples are rectangular and have four legs. They could be used to cook meat or to present food during ancestral ceremonies.
During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, ding vessels were closely connected with aristocratic status and ritual authority. Inscriptions cast inside many examples record dedications, events, or ownership, making them important historical sources as well as works of art.
The ding is sometimes confused with the gui, a bowl-shaped vessel usually supported by a foot ring, or the zun, a wine vessel. In Chinese culture, the ding also became a metaphor for political power and dynastic legitimacy.