Suoo Yu-ming points out that literati traditionally viewed bronze tripods and ritual jades as ceremonial pieces symbolic of the emperor and the state. Irreproachably sacred, they were immune from similar charges of being extravagances.
索予明表示，這是因為在中國士大夫觀念裡，銅製的鐘鼎或玉製的圭璧是象徵國家宗廟的儀禮器物，神聖不可侵犯，有了這樣堂皇的性格賦予，它們才得以跳脫奢侈品罪名的壓抑。