Houmuwu Ding: A Great Reputation

Earlier this year, residents in Beijing noticed a subtle shift taking place in the subway – on signs, the English word “station” has been replaced with “Zhan”, the Chinese pinyin. In some cases, English station names such as Olympic Park and Terminal 2 of the Capital International Airport have become “Aolinpike Gongyuan” and “Er Hao Hangzhanlou”, and thank goodness their English translations are still listed in brackets.

This “pinyinization” campaign has caused a stir online, with many netizens questioning the rationale behind such substitutions, since foreign visitors who don’t speak Chinese are unlikely to understand anything written in pinyin. Some joked that if the intention is to boost Chinese cultural confidence, we shouldn’t use pinyin but rather the most ancient written language which is seen on oracle bones.

A similar discussion occurred when the National Museum of China was renovated and reopened in 2011. Visitors to the museum found that one of its major highlights, which is the heaviest piece of bronzeware to survive from anywhere in the ancient world, had been renamed from Simuwu Ding to Houmuwu Ding.

Today, we’re going to tell some stories concerning the world’s most massive ancient bronze object and the controversy around the name of this magnificent artifact that shows off the supreme bronze craftsmanship of more than 3,000 years ago.