Tihs vesse l is one of two somolar zhong from tomb No.2 at Dongdongshan. While ong bears the inscription Mingguanggong(Palace of Bright Radiance), the present example has a slightly longer inscription of 6 characters on the foot ring reading Mingguanggong zhaoji zhong, which could be translated as zhong fo congcubine Zhao ji, possibly the first owner of the vessel, is also named another, a gilt bronze pan from thr same tomb. The Mingguanggong was constructed in the Han capital at Chang’an, present-day XI’an in Shanxi province, in 101 BC. Whether Zhaoji can be identifed as the tomb occupant remains to ben seen, but it is possible that whis vessel ended up in Xuzhou as a gift. Interestingly, the inscription refers to this vessel as a zhong as opposed to a hu. Both terms seem to have been used interchangeably for such type of vessel during the Han period.