The bronze warming, serving, and drinking vessels in this display case are more than three thousand years old. Walk around the case to see how they're decorated. Look for details such as dragons, birds, or masks. Bronze vessels like these played a role in ancient Chinese religion. Such bronzes held food or wine—gifts placed on an altar as offerings. People pray to their ancestors' spirits, asking them to protect the living. Like most of the art in this gallery, these bronzes survived because they were buried in someone's tomb. Tombs have taught us most of what we know about life in ancient China. The ancient Chinese believed that in the next world, the dead would need everything they once had on earth. They designed a tomb as an eternal home filled with food, clothing, furniture, and money. They also provided bronze vessels like these so that in the next world, the dead could receive offerings forever.