Hu Jar of Lady Zeng

Hu Jar of Lady Zeng is a square pot with a lid and rounded belly. It was built to memorize Lady Zeng, the queen of the King of Chu. The body is oval-shaped, with a slightly flared mouth, a long neck, a drooping abdomen, square feet, and a pair of dragon-shaped ears on the neck. The lid is dome-shaped with four S-shaped buttons. The neck is decorated with a back-leaf pattern and two pan-patterned ribbons, and the abdomen is divided into eight sections by a cross-shaped convex belt. The inscription records that in the twenty-sixth year of King Xuan of Chu (344 BC), the wife of King Sheng of Chu, Lady Zeng Wu Xie chose a burial place for herself among Yangling Artemisia.

"Historical Records: Chu Family" records that King Sheng of Chu was killed by robbers six years after he ascended the throne. It was Lady Zeng Wuxi who lost her husband in her early years and knew that she could not be buried with King Sheng of Chu in her later years. Therefore, the pot was made to record the place where she was buried alone, hoping the Chu royal family would not forget to worship her. The font of the pot inscription belongs to the typical Warring States period of the Chu series, and the content of the inscription has historical value. According to legend, it came from the tomb of King You of the Chu at Li Sangudui, Zhujiaji, Shou County, Anhui Province, in the 21st year of the Republic of China (1932).