Xuande dingyi pu 宣德鼎彝譜

Xuande dingyi pu 宣德鼎彝譜 is a book on bronze vessels (dingyi 鼎彝) from the Xuande reign-period 宣德 (1426-1435) of the Ming era 明 (1368-1644). It was compiled on imperial order by Lü Zhen 呂震 (1365-1426), courtesy name Kesheng 克聲, from Lintong 臨潼, Shaanxi. His dates of life are unknown, but he lived in the first half of the 15th century and was a department vice director in the Ministry of Rites (libu yuanwailang 禮部員外郎), and later Minister of Rites (libu shangshu 禮部尚書).

The book of 8 juan length is accompanied by a preface written by Yang Rong 楊榮 (1371-1440) and - in the transmitted version - an afterword added by Wen Peng 文彭 (1498-1573).

The first two chapters of Lü's book quote from imperial orders related to bronze vessels as well as memorials of the Ministry of Rites concerning the planning and the Ministry of Works (gongbu 工部) concerning raw materials.

The third fascicle includes information on raw materials ordered by the Ministry of Works, and documents about the internal discussion of the ministries of Rites and Work for the procurement of vessels for various institutions and rituals like the sacrifices of the southern and norther suburbs.

In juan 4, names and descriptions of tripods placed in the halls of the Imperial Palace are listed, while juan 5 includes those presented by the emperor to government institutions in the two capitals and famous institutions throughout the empire. The rest of the book is dedicated to the descriptions of the vessels and their inscriptions which were newly cast on order of the imperial court. These objects could serve as models to study the particular features of ancient originals.

There is an appendix written by Xiang Yuanbian 項元汴 (1525-1590) called Xuanlu bolu 宣爐博論 which describes the bronze vessels cast by the imperial furnaces during the Xuande reign-period.

Lü's book is included in the series Mohai jinhu 墨海金壺, Zhucong bielu 珠叢別錄, Siku quanshu 四庫全書 and Meishu congshu 美術叢書.