Ting Vessel with Inscription of the Zhenghe period

This vessel was cast in 1116 under the command of the Emperor Hui. The inscription inside of it shows that it was a gift given to his favored official, Tong Guan, to be placed in Tong's family shrine as an offering vessel. Its appearance looks like a Ting vessel of the late Shang period (c. 1200-1046 BCE) and the archaic inscription follows the writing style of the Western Zhou period (c. 1046-771 B.C.). All of these features present a revival of ritual during the ideal archaic period in the Song dynasty.