General Discourse on the You Vessel

The You is a vessel of the "middle-tier" category of wine containers. During the eras of the Xia and Shang dynasties, such ritual vessels were generally referred to as Yi Yí: A collective term for ritual bronze vessels used in ancestral temples.. However, by the time of the Zhou dynasty, the specific vessel used to hold "fragrant tulip wine" Yù chàng: A highly aromatic ceremonial wine made from black millet and infused with turmeric or "tulip" herbs, used to invoke spirits. was uniquely called the You.

According to the Offices of Zhou original: 周官 (Zhōu Guān), an ancient text describing the bureaucracy and rites of the Zhou dynasty., there were specific officials in charge of the various ritual vessels (Zun and Yi) to distinguish their specific uses and the substances they contained.

The so-called "Six Yi" vessels consist of the:
1. Chicken vessel
2. Bird vessel
3. Jia vessel Decorated with grain patterns.
4. Yellow vessel
5. Wei vessel Decorated with a long-tailed monkey motif.
6. Xu vessel Decorated with a tiger motif.

The "Six Zun" vessels consist of the:
1. Sacrificial vessel
2. Elephant vessel
3. Zhu vessel A vessel with ornate, "conspicuous" patterns.
4. Hu vessel A jar-shaped vessel.
5. Tai vessel An "exalted" or large vessel.
6. Shan vessel A "mountain" vessel.

During the Di sacrifice Dì: One of the most important ancestral rites performed by the Son of Heaven to honor the ultimate progenitor of the royal line., the ritual is intended to bring together all the various spirits for worship. For this reason, the rite employs five types of clarified grain wines and three types of unclarified wines, along with two vessels of the fragrant tulip wine. This brings the total number of vessels used in this ceremony to eighteen.

However, when the Di sacrifice is performed specifically for the primordial ancestor from whom the lineage originates, the ritual uses four types of clarified wines and three unclarified wines, omitting two vessels, which brings the total number of vessels to sixteen.

The reason the You is specifically identified is because of its association with these two vessels used for the fragrant tulip wine. How do we know this?

When King Cheng Reigned c. 1042–1021 BCE. wished to reward the great achievements of the Duke of Zhou, he bestowed upon him two You vessels filled with black millet wine. Similarly, when King Ping Reigned 770–720 BCE. recognized the virtue of Marquis Wen The ruler of the State of Jin., he bestowed upon him one You vessel of black millet wine. In both instances, these vessels were filled with the precious black millet wine.