中文摘要：

用鼎制度是两周考古的一个重要命题。自20世纪70年代俞伟超先生发文系统探讨这一问题之后，就不断有学者对文中的一些观点进行补充、完善、质疑以至于修正。这些探讨极大地丰富了我们对两周用鼎制度的认识，但迄今仍存在较多的争论，

英文摘要：

The Chu-style bronze dtng-tripods can be classified into the following types： the ding-wipod with constricted waist and fiat bottom, the dtng-tfipod with a ring of ridge on the rim, the ding-tripod with recessed rim to fit the lid, the drag-tripod with outward-bending rim and constricted neck and the ding-tripod with small mouth. The ding-tripod with constricted waist and flat bottom was usually associated with gui-tureen and wine vase with dragon-shaped handles and only seen in the high-ranking burials such as that of the dafu （grand master） or higher officials; the ding-tripod with a ring of ridge on the rim and the d/rig-tripod with outward-bending rim and constricted neck were usually associated with fufood vessel （or zhan-cup）, yufou-urn and zunfou-um and very popular in the mid through late Spring-and-Autumn Period; the ding-tfipod with recessed rim to fit the lid was usually associated with the duitureen and wine vase （or fang-square wine jar） and popular in the Warring-States Period. As for the numbers of the ding-tripods in the burials, that of the ding-tripod with constricted waist and flat bottom （shengding, or the ding for serving food） roughly followed some rules showing a decreasing sequence of nine, seven, five, three, etc., which was an important basis to define their positions in the hierarchy. The different assemblages and types of the ritual vessels are the reflection of the demands of different ritual activities.