匜 (yí) - Ancient bronze water vessel used for ritual hand-washing & a ewer or pouring vessel.

匜Tone 2

yí ｜ 5 strokes ｜ radical: 匚

一懿

匜 · yí

Ancient bronze water vessel used for ritual hand-washing;

a ewer or pouring vessel.

Ancient bronze water vessel used for ritual hand-washinga ewer or pouring vessel.

Usage highlights

Bronze ritual vesselWaterRitual handAncient ewerWestern Zhou vesselBronze age vessel

Synonyms

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • Archaeologists unearthed a bronze ritual vessel (青铜匜).
  • The vessel was used for ceremonial hand-washing (沃盥之礼).
  • This artifact is a water-pouring vessel (注水器匜).

Collocations

  • Bronze ritual vessel(青铜匜)
  • Water-pouring vessel(注水匜)
  • Ritual hand-washing vessel(沃盥匜)
  • Ancient ewer(古代匜)
  • Western Zhou vessel(西周匜)
  • Bronze age vessel(青铜时代匜)

Idioms

  • Ritual vessels and tripods(鼎彝匜盘)
  • Bronze ritual set(青铜礼器)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • Used in ancient Chinese rituals, particularly for hand-washing ceremonies before ancestral worship.
  • Typically appeared with a matching basin (盘) - the ewer (匜) for pouring, the basin (盘) for catching water.
  • Common in Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn periods bronze artifacts.

FAQ