Unearthed at Dawenkou of Lingyang River in the Juxian County, Shandong Province, this ancient wine vessel was made about 4500 years ago. It was used for offering sacrifices to the Sun and pray for the bumper harvest year. Four explanations about the engraved pattern on the vessel have been given nowadays: it means (a) "Dawn"; (b)"the Spirit"; (c)"the Sun, the Moon and mountains"; (d)"an emblem of clan of ancient people". All these explanations are related to the Sun, showing that the ancient Chinese had long since begun to make observation of the Sun.
