# San Shi Pan (Pan of the San Clan) inscription
The **San Shi Pan** (散氏盘), or Pan of the San Clan, is a large bronze water basin of the late [Western Zhou](https://www.edgepedia.org/western-zhou) dynasty (9th to 8th century BC) whose 19-line cast inscription records a negotiated land settlement between the state of Zeguo (夨国) and the clan of Sanguo (散国), ending a raid in which Zeguo attacked Sanguo's towns and fields and ceded two tracts of land as compensation.[1](https://digitalarchive.npm.gov.tw/opendata/Pub/Detail/1462?dep=U&mode=full) • [2](https://www.fx361.com/page/2013/0327/19659955.shtml) According to a study by [Tsinghua University](https://www.edgepedia.org/tsinghua-university)'s Research and Conservation Center for Excavated Texts, it is held in the [National Palace Museum](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-palace-museum), Taipei.[3](https://www.ctwx.tsinghua.edu.cn/__local/9/65/11/59B37FC41EDDEE4EBC5EE6FEA0C_0DE319D1_490190.pdf?e=.pdf)
| Fact | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Object | Bronze pan (basin), late Western Zhou, 9th to 8th century BC[1](https://digitalarchive.npm.gov.tw/opendata/Pub/Detail/1462?dep=U&mode=full) |
| Dimensions | Height about 20 cm; mouth diameter over 40 cm; base diameter over 30 cm; weight about 20 kg[2](https://www.fx361.com/page/2013/0327/19659955.shtml) |
| Inscription | counts of about 280 characters are both published[2](https://www.fx361.com/page/2013/0327/19659955.shtml) • [1](https://digitalarchive.npm.gov.tw/opendata/Pub/Detail/1462?dep=U&mode=full) |
| Reign attribution | Majority view: King Li of Zhou; minority view: King Xuan[3](https://www.ctwx.tsinghua.edu.cn/__local/9/65/11/59B37FC41EDDEE4EBC5EE6FEA0C_0DE319D1_490190.pdf?e=.pdf) |
| Findspot | Traditionally Fengxiang (鳳翔), Shaanxi, in the Qianlong era of the Qing[3](https://www.ctwx.tsinghua.edu.cn/__local/9/65/11/59B37FC41EDDEE4EBC5EE6FEA0C_0DE319D1_490190.pdf?e=.pdf) |
| Location today | National Palace Museum, Taipei[3](https://www.ctwx.tsinghua.edu.cn/__local/9/65/11/59B37FC41EDDEE4EBC5EE6FEA0C_0DE319D1_490190.pdf?e=.pdf) |
## Origin and date
The vessel is said to have been unearthed at Fengxiang in Shaanxi early in the Qianlong reign.[3](https://www.ctwx.tsinghua.edu.cn/__local/9/65/11/59B37FC41EDDEE4EBC5EE6FEA0C_0DE319D1_490190.pdf?e=.pdf)
The reign attribution is unsettled. According to a study of the inscription by Chen Guocheng, Wang Guowei (王国维) assigned the vessel to King Li, and [Guo Moruo](https://www.edgepedia.org/guo-moruo) (郭沫若), Yang Shuda (杨树达), and Tang Lan (唐兰) followed him; Liu Qiyi (刘启益) argued for King Xuan.[2](https://www.fx361.com/page/2013/0327/19659955.shtml) A survey of the San clan bronzes reports the same split, adding that most scholars hold the King Li view and that [Han Wei](https://www.edgepedia.org/han-wei) (韩巍) dates the vessel to the transition between Kings Li and Xuan.[3](https://www.ctwx.tsinghua.edu.cn/__local/9/65/11/59B37FC41EDDEE4EBC5EE6FEA0C_0DE319D1_490190.pdf?e=.pdf) The museum's own catalog dates the object broadly to the late Western Zhou, 9th to 8th century BC.[1](https://digitalarchive.npm.gov.tw/opendata/Pub/Detail/1462?dep=U&mode=full)
## Contents of the inscription
The inscription opens with the phrase "用扑散邑，迺即散用田": because Zeguo attacked the towns and fields of Sanguo, Zeguo ceded two tracts of farmland as compensation.[1](https://digitalarchive.npm.gov.tw/opendata/Pub/Detail/1462?dep=U&mode=full) The text then records that the chiefs of the two ceded tracts took oaths in succession, that a map of the ceded land was drawn, and that one copy was kept by the king of Zeguo while another was held by the scribe Shizhengzhongnong (史正仲农) as documentary authentication.[1](https://digitalarchive.npm.gov.tw/opendata/Pub/Detail/1462?dep=U&mode=full)
A feature noted by scholars of the San clan bronzes is that the offices mentioned are only those of Sanguo and Zeguo, with no central Zhou offices.[3](https://www.ctwx.tsinghua.edu.cn/__local/9/65/11/59B37FC41EDDEE4EBC5EE6FEA0C_0DE319D1_490190.pdf?e=.pdf)
## Transmission after excavation
In the middle Jiaqing years, the epigrapher [Ruan Yuan](https://www.edgepedia.org/ruan-yuan) (阮元) gave the vessel its present name, "San Shi Pan".[2](https://www.fx361.com/page/2013/0327/19659955.shtml) During the Jiaqing reign, the governor-general A Linbao (阿林保) acquired the pan and presented it to the court; it entered the imperial collection in the Hall of Mental Cultivation (养心殿).[4](https://tealtld.ds.lib.uw.edu/exhibits/show/xiaoxinghua/bronze-art/cerenpan) The pan remained in the palace through the Jiaqing, Daoguang, Xianfeng, Tongzhi, Guangxu, and Xuantong reigns.[5](https://www.haoquan.wang/list_16/news_169) The Household Department provided the original rubbing of the inscription, and a comparison of the rubbing with the object was found to match completely.[5](https://www.haoquan.wang/list_16/news_169) It is now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.[4](https://tealtld.ds.lib.uw.edu/exhibits/show/xiaoxinghua/bronze-art/cerenpan)
## Political and institutional significance
One legal-history commentary reads the inscription as evidence of sophisticated Western Zhou law procedures, complicating the older Western view that ancient [Chinese law](https://www.edgepedia.org/chinese-law) was undeveloped.[6](https://www.lecjas.com/blogs/lecjas-home-page-more-blog-posts/san-family-pan-bronze-settled-feudal-land-dispute-ancient-legal)
## Calligraphy and legacy
As one of the most important vessels of the late Western Zhou San clan, it remains a central document for the study of land tenure and social structure in that period.[3](https://www.ctwx.tsinghua.edu.cn/__local/9/65/11/59B37FC41EDDEE4EBC5EE6FEA0C_0DE319D1_490190.pdf?e=.pdf)
## Disputed points
Three questions remain open in the sources. The reign of casting is contested between Kings Li and Xuan, with the King Li view held by most scholars.[3](https://www.ctwx.tsinghua.edu.cn/__local/9/65/11/59B37FC41EDDEE4EBC5EE6FEA0C_0DE319D1_490190.pdf?e=.pdf) The inscription contains roughly 280 characters. The date of excavation is placed in the early Qianlong years by one account and in the middle Qianlong years by another.[3](https://www.ctwx.tsinghua.edu.cn/__local/9/65/11/59B37FC41EDDEE4EBC5EE6FEA0C_0DE319D1_490190.pdf?e=.pdf) • [2](https://www.fx361.com/page/2013/0327/19659955.shtml)
## References
1. 散盘（故宫博物院数位典藏资料）, https://digitalarchive.npm.gov.tw/opendata/Pub/Detail/1462?dep=U&mode=full
2. 《散氏盘铭》的历史评价及其书法意义（陈国成，渤海大学）, https://www.fx361.com/page/2013/0327/19659955.shtml
3. 清华简《良臣》散宜生与西周金文中的散氏（清华大学出土文献研究与保护中心）, https://www.ctwx.tsinghua.edu.cn/__local/9/65/11/59B37FC41EDDEE4EBC5EE6FEA0C_0DE319D1_490190.pdf?e=.pdf
4. Ce Ren Pan (San Pan) 夨人盘（散盘）, University of Washington TEAL Exhibitions, https://tealtld.ds.lib.uw.edu/exhibits/show/xiaoxinghua/bronze-art/cerenpan
5. 《散氏盘》释文对照高清版图文（尚书网）, https://www.haoquan.wang/list_16/news_169
6. San Family Pan: Western Zhou Bronze Bearing China's Earliest Legal Contract, LECJAS, https://www.lecjas.com/blogs/lecjas-home-page-more-blog-posts/san-family-pan-bronze-settled-feudal-land-dispute-ancient-legal
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Asian history › China › Shang and Western Zhou (1600 to 771 BC) › Shang and Zhou texts and artifacts*
*Initially written Sep 23, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license