Kanae. An ancient Chinese boiling and cooking vessel. It was mainly used for boiling meat. It has a tripod, but differs from a hollow tripod in that the legs are hollow. It was made as earthenware in the Yangshao and Longshan cultures, but was made in bronze from the Shang and Zhou dynasties to the Qin and Han dynasties. It has two ears and is lifted up by a wooden crosspiece. Yu of Xia gathered gold from Kyushu and cast nine dings, which he used as heavy weapons in the transmission of the kingdom. The term “to determine a ding” is based on this legend. The official kilns of the Ming and Qing dynasties fired dings in imitation of the bronze vessels of the Zhou system. Successive generations also established a system, but it gradually became simpler and simpler.
Today, many incense burners are made in the shape of a ding.
