The vessel consists of two detachable parts: the upper part, Zeng, and the lower part, Li, the tetrapod cauldron. The Zeng, takes a rectangular form, with two upright handles standing atop the rims of the two sides, and an ornamental band of curved and hooked “Qiequ” patterns below the lip, as well as a band of sinuous “Boqu” pattern on the belly. The lower tetrapod cauldron Li, has a slightly bulging belly which is made up of four lobed parts, and is ornamented with four groups of abstract “Xiangmian (lit.face of elephant)” pattern,a vertical inscription was cast on one interior side of the belly, but most of the characters are illegible, except for “小子吉父（Xiaozijifu）” which are basically legible. Based on other archaeological evidence, “小子（Xiaozi）” was presumably denote the then elite youth, “吉父(Jifu)” is the courtesy name of Jifu (aka. Guoji), the second king of the Guo principality, the tomb occupant.

“Yan” was a joint cooking vessel which was specifically used for steaming and stewing. From the early Western Zhou onward, the “wine-centered” bronze ritual sets were gradually replaced by “food-centered” sets, higher-grade ritual sets began to include a full range of food containers, an increasing number of them being bronze yans, served as the indicator of status of the high-ranked aristocrats.