Published : 2025-10-21

On 21 October 1995, the then President of China, Jiang Zemin (江澤民), and UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, attended the unveiling ceremony of China's gift to the UN, the "Treasure Tripod Dedicated to the 21st Century" (世紀寶鼎), at the UN Headquarters in New York, and delivered speeches in turn.

On that day, more than 500 United Nations staff members, representatives of the overseas Chinese community and international students in New York, as well as foreign friends, attended the grand unveiling ceremony held in the public lobby of the UN.

In his speech, President Jiang Zemin stated that to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the UN, the Chinese Government had decided to present to the UN a gift with national characteristics and features of the times, the "Treasure Tripod", which contains the good wishes of the Chinese people from a nation known for its propriety and etiquette for the UN to fulfil its noble mission.

He also said that the Chinese people, who are engaged in the construction of socialist modernisation, wish to welcome a better new century together with the people of all countries in the world.

Jiang Zemin stated that in ancient times, the tripod, or "ding" (鼎) in Chinese, was a cooking vessel used by the early Chinese people, and later developed into a ceremonial object. Chinese idioms include "bells chiming and tripods for food" (鐘鳴鼎食) and "one word is as heavy as nine tripods"(一言九鼎) , which reflect the unique status of the "ding" in ancient Chinese social life; and as an important ceremonial object, the "ding" symbolises unity, unification and authority, and is a mascot representing peace, development and prosperity.

The then UN Secretary-General Ghali, on behalf of the UN, expressed his heartfelt thanks to the People's Republic of China for its generous gift of the Treasure Tripod.

Ghali pointed out that the Treasure Tripod embodies the great character and proud ancient history of Chinese civilisation, embodies the profundity and splendour of China's vast and brilliant culture, and even more so embodies its determination to build on its glorious history and redouble its efforts to create an even greater future.

Ghali also said that the "ding" in Chinese history symbolises stability, tranquillity and peace, and the United Nations was founded precisely for these goals, so this giant tripod would feel right at home here.

The Treasure Tripod is placed on the green lawn of the North Garden of the UN Headquarters.

The base of the ding is 0.5 metres high, symbolising the 50th anniversary of the founding of the UN; the body of the Treasure Tripod is 2.1 metres high, symbolising the coming 21st century.

The Treasure Tripod weighs about 1.5 tonnes, has three legs and two ears, a slightly bulging belly, a rounded bottom, and is decorated with Shang and Zhou dynasty patterns, bas-relief animal faces, and a cloud-pattern background.

The base is decorated with 56 "kui" dragons, symbolising that the 56 ethnic groups of China are all descendants of the dragon.

On the front of the ding's base are the four large Chinese characters in script "世紀寶鼎", and on the back is inscribed "Presented by the People's Republic of China, October 1995".

The entire ding is simple, ancient, and solid in form, with exquisite and meticulous craftsmanship.