LATE SHANG DYNASTY, 13TH-12TH CENTURY BC

The clan sign consists of a ya cruciform shape and the name Bi. In the Shang dynasty, clans with the ya added to their clan names are believed to be those that were conferred with the title of Marquis. The same clan sign can be found on a massive ding vessel and five nao bells from the Fu Hao tomb, illustrated in Tomb of Lady Hao at Yinxu in Anyang, Beijing, 1980, p. 41, fig. 28 and pl. LXII (1), respectively. According to archaeologists, ibid, p. 234, "those bronzes bearing ya Bi and ya Qi clan signs (found in the Fu Hao tomb) are probably tributes from local polities and clans". The close connection between the ya Bi clan and the Shang royal family as seen by these tributes, and the massive size of ya Bi ding found in the Fuhao tomb demonstrate the power and wealth of the ya Bi clan.