TheXiaoyu-Ding-CauldronwasunearthedduringthefirstyearsofDaoguang,EmperoroftheQingDynasty,atLivillageofQishanCounty,ShanxiProvince.ThecauldronitselfdisappearedintheperiodofTaipingHeavenlyKingdom(TaipingTianguo).Thecurrentcopyoftheinscriptionistheonlyonepreserved.Theinscriptiononthecauldronconsistsof400characters,itisoneofthelongesttextsofthosedatingtotheearlyperiodoftheWesternzhouDynasty.Sincethetextisfragmentaryandnojoiningtextsremain,thetextcannotbereadcompletely.TheinscriptionwasfirstmentionedbyGuoMoruoinResearchontheMetalInscriptionsoftheZhouDynasty.ThenChenMengjiareconstructedtheinscriptioninthe1950'sinhis"DatingontheBronzeVasesoftheWesternZhouDynasty"andfurther