HU

Pinyin hu type of Chinese bronze vessel produced during the Shang (18th12th century BC) and Chou (1111255 BC) dynasties. A pear-shaped container for wine or water, the hu has a narrow neck blending gracefully into an expanded midsection that is sharply cut to a small ring base. The vessel can be suspended by means of lugs (ear-shaped protuberances) or rings attached to the body. The hu, which may have had a pottery predecessor in the Neolithic Period (c. 30001500 BC), is found in the bronze art of the Shang dynasty but is especially common in the late Chou (c. 600255 BC), when its ample surface was handsomely decorated. With the increasing popularity and prestige of bronze vessels, inexpensive pottery duplicates were often made of the hu, especially in the Han dynasty (206 BCAD 220).