Nine huge bronze tripods were cast during the Xia Dynasty, and exhibited in the royal court as symbols of supreme authority. When the dynasty fell, the cauldrons passed into the possession successively of the Shang and Zhou Dynasty kings.

In 606 B.C. the ruler of the State of Chu entered the territory of the King of Zhou, who was nominally the sovereign of all the Chinese states. When the king sent an official to greet the Chu ruler, the latter asked him about the size and weight of the nine tripods kept in the king's court. The official's reply was: "Though the Zhou Dynasty is declining, its mandate from Heaven to rule has not been removed. Therefore, no one may inquire about the condition of the tripods."

Later the phrase came to denote a plot to obtain state power or to strive for the greatest honor or highest position in a certain field.