The Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery that was held in 1988 was on "The Cooking Pot." Anne and Gerald Nicholls article "The Cooking Pot in China" appears on pages 109-122. They discuss Mongolian Firepots and date them to the 19th or even 20th centuries. The wok is dated to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). Johnna Holloway Johnnae llyn Lewis