Hu 壺 - a kind of tall pot with cover, but without beak and carrying handle from late Shang to Warring States (50 cm tall). In most cases this type is not much decorated. On the left, two pieces from the Western Zhou resp. the Warring States period. The character for hu is a picture of the vessel.

Hu - a beautiful specimen upon a stand called jin 禁 from early Warring States Period, found in the tomb of Marquis Zeng 曾侯.

Hu - typically for the Warring States period pots are the depictings of the aristocracy's daily life activities like hunting and war scenes. There are many different types of hu vessels, called with different names like yinhu 飲壺 "drinking pot" or jihu 汲壺 "libation pot". The hu types are round, oval, square, long necked, drum bellied, or gourd shaped. To the right is a rubbing from a detail of the vessel.