Nine Tripods

Cauldrons of the Realm

Tripods cast by Yu to symbolize the nine provinces, emblem of royal mandate.

The Nine Tripods were cast, tradition says, by Yu the Great from the bronze of the Nine Provinces, each tripod inscribed with the creatures and prodigies of its region so the people could know good from evil. Handed from Xia to Shang to Zhou, they were the supreme emblem of the royal mandate; to “ask about the weight of the tripods” was to challenge the throne itself. When Qin conquered Zhou they were lost, and no later dynasty could prove the mandate with them.