九鼎 / Jiuding
九鼎 / Jiuding enters the wiki through 《资治通鉴·周纪》76丨谁给了楚顷襄王的自信？ as the ritual trophy that may tempt 楚国 to attack the diminished 周王室. In 东周武公’s argument, the ding are valuable less as usable assets than as dangerous symbols.
The source treats the Jiuding as a legitimacy object. If Chu only wants Zhou land or population, the gains are too small; if it wants the Jiuding, the act of moving them to Chu could advertise an assault on the Son of Heaven and invite wider opposition. The object therefore anchors 周王室象征威慑: a powerless-looking institution can still make its ritual property politically costly to seize.