You (vessel)

A you is a lidded vessel that was used for liquid offerings by the Chinese of the Shang and Zhou dynasties. It sometimes lacks taotie in favor of smoother surfaces. Sometimes these vessels are zoomorphic, especially in the form of two owls back to back. Usually the handle of the you is in the form of a loop that attaches on either side of the lid, but it is occasionally a knob in the center of the lid. They can be quadruped or have a single base.

You
Chinese	卣
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin yǒu Wade–Giles yu3 Middle Chinese Middle Chinese jɨu Old Chinese Zhengzhang *lu / *luʔ

You with zigzag thunder pattern, Early Zhou, Shanghai Museum

Gallery

Image	Name	Era	Time of evacuation	Place of evacuation	Current location	Notes
	Luan Bo Tong You (𫕉[nb 1]伯铜卣, lit. "Bronze You made for Count Luan")	Western Zhou	1999	Baicaopo, Lingtai County, Pingliang	Gansu Provincial Museum
	Yu You (圉卣)	early Western Zhou		Liulihe Township, Fangshan District, Beijing	Capital Museum
	Shu Quan Fu You (叔䟒父卣)	Western Zhou	1978	Xizhang Village, Dongzhang Township, Yuanshi County, Shijiazhuang	Hebei Museum
	Quzhe Leiwen You (曲折雷纹卣, lit. "You with zigzag thunder pattern")	early Western Zhou	unknown	unknown	Shanghai Museum
	Shoumianwen Sanzu Qingtong You (兽面纹三足青铜卣, lit. "Bronze You with beast face pattern and three feet")	Shang dynasty	1989	Dayangzhou, Xingan County, Ji'an	Jiangxi Provincial Museum
	Hu Shi Ren You (虎食人卣, lit. "You depicting a tiger trying to devour a man")	late Shang		Border between Anhua County, Yiyang and Ningxiang County, Changsha	Cernuschi Museum, France	Two pieces. The other piece is currently at Sen-oku Hakuko Kan, Japan.
	Yue Fu You (戉箙卣)	late Shang			Shanghai Museum

Notes

1. Obsolete Chinese character, left side "阝", right side "爰".