Chinese started to cast bronze wares about 5,000 years ago. However, bronze vessels were commonly used till the Shang and Zhou dynasties by aristocrats in daily life and ancestral rituals. Thus, the Shang and Zhou bronze vessels were the most highly esteemed objects of their time. The ancients believed that their deceased ancestors would intercede on behalf of the living, provided they were honored and respected. The bronze vessels were kept in ancestral halls and used during a variety of feasts and banquets. Most bronze vessels were used for cooking food or to heat a millet wine. However, certain huge vessels usually symbolized power and status. For example, Ding, a tripod caldron, some having 4 legs, was originally cooking vessel and ritual vessel inscribed with memorial address, and gradually transferred into a symbol of state and power. Owing to their importance, bronze wares exemplified the latest technical and artistic developments. Early bronze vessels, including Jue (wine goblet), Zhi (wine goblet), Zun (wine beaker) and Ku (wine goblet beaker) except Ding, were all developed in shape and decoration.

In 1976, at Anyang in Henan province, capital of the Shang dynasty, archaeologists uncovered a Shang tomb, the burying chamber of Fuhao who was Emperor Wuding's consort and a female general who leaded troops and helped her husband in wars. The tomb was the only Shang imperial tomb found intact. Many bronze vessels were found, including those she used before and those specially cast as her burial vessels. Now many famous Shang bronze vessels displayed around the world are all Fuhao's grave goods. Most of the Shang vessels are shaped into animals and decorated with motifs of Taotie, a kind of legendary vicious beast and other zoomorphic designs.