Changes

[[File:Taotie.JPG|right|thumb|400px|A bronze ''[[ding]]'' from the [[Shang Dynasty]] (11th c. BCE). Santa Barbara Museum of Art]]

[[File:Taotie.JPG|right|thumb|400px|A bronze ''[[ding]]'' from the [[Shang Dynasty]] (11th c. BCE). Santa Barbara Museum of Art]]

*''Chinese/Japanese'': 九鼎 ''(jiu ding / kyuu tei)''

*''Chinese/Japanese'': 九鼎 ''(jiǔ dǐng / kyuu tei)''

The Nine Bronze Tripods, or Nine ''[[Ding (bronzes)|Ding]]'', are a legendary Chinese symbol of imperial legitimacy. The legend of their creation might also be interpreted as a legend of the invention/discovery of the production of bronze. As ritual objects allowing access to the ancestors, as objects made of precious materials (bronze being quite rare at that time) and representative of expensive and new technologies (again, the bronze, requiring command of considerable natural resources and manpower), and as representing [[tribute|tributary]] gifts from the provinces, the Nine ''Ding'' represented Imperial power, authority, and legitimacy in multiple ways.

The Nine Bronze Tripods, or Nine ''[[Ding (bronzes)|Ding]]'', are a legendary Chinese symbol of imperial legitimacy. The legend of their creation might also be interpreted as a legend of the invention/discovery of the production of bronze. As ritual objects allowing access to the ancestors, as objects made of precious materials (bronze being quite rare at that time) and representative of expensive and new technologies (again, the bronze, requiring command of considerable natural resources and manpower), and as representing [[tribute|tributary]] gifts from the provinces, the Nine ''Ding'' represented Imperial power, authority, and legitimacy in multiple ways.