Tripod Lifting 举鼎

Pod is an instrument made of bronze and used to cook in ancient China. Usually it has three or four feet and two ears on each side for people to hold it. A pod is very heavy, which usually has a weight of a few hundred jin and sometimes more than one thousand jin. Because of its feet and ears convenient for people to lift it up and its weight, Tripod Lifting became one of the sports to practice muscle and show strength in ancient times.

Wars in ancient China were contests of courage and power. Men of unusual strength were respected. The best way to show that you were powerful was to lift up a pod of more than 1, 000 jin.

It was very popular in the Han dynasty as a game to show one's physical strength, it was still an important performance of Baixi at least in the Eastern Han.

There were two ways for the ancint people to lift the pod, one of which was to use a single hand and the other two hands.

To use single hand to lift the pod means to lift it up by holding only one of the feet, and by two hands means to hold the two ears of it and turn it over, the feet pointing to the sky, then lift it over the head. As we know, it is a cook instrument and not made for people to do physical training, so it is dangerous and easy to hurt people. Therefore, offer Tang and Song dynasties, if had become a history with the appearance of the lifting instruments such as stone discs and stone padlocks.

GLOSSARY·词汇

jin 斤 Jīn

Tripod Lifting 举鼎 Jǔdǐng

the Han Dynasty 汉朝 Hàncháo

Baixi 百戏 Bǎixì

the Eastern Han 东汉 Dōnghàn

Tang and Song dynasties 唐宋朝 Tángsòngcháo