Images of the container posted here: https://imgur.com/gallery/HYED8
I'm not sure if this is the right subreddit to post this, if it's not please direct me to an appropriate one!
We think this is a lead container from the late 1800s. Inherited from my grandpa whom inherited it from his grandma (my great great grandma).
According to my dad (whom heard the story from his grandpa), my grandpa's family was quite wealthy in the Swatow region of China. Great great grandma's father was supposedly a magistrate. During the communist movement, my family fled China to Singapore and they took this container with them. We're not sure why, but we think that they used the container to store medicine as it has an airtight seal.
We've always wondered what was engraved on the container, especially after my grandparents passed away. We also wanted to verify the history of the container, since everything we've heard up to now are stories passed on within the family. Thanks in advance for your help!
From the second picture:
Top line: 潮陽. Location Chaoyang District of Shantou city
bottom section:
right: 汕頭. Location Shantou/Swatow city in Guangdong.
middle: 顏祥興. A name, probably the maker.
left: 點銅. This means a type of artwork that is made from a tin alloy that often contains lead and copper, sometimes silver and aluminum as well.
From the third picture:
On the body of the container the large font two character are 神仙(gods and immortals). This is the last two word from the poem in the fourth picture.
Below that it says 弟(younger brother)姚步東(a name)敬贈(gift from). So a gift from 姚步東 which is a younger brother to the original owner.
By the way, there is a guy by the name of 姚步東 who is the county magistrate of 揭陽(Jieyang ) in 1926. Jieyang was a county (縣) back in Republic of China era, it is now a city(市). Jieyang is right beside 汕頭 (Shantou/Swatow city)
On the left side of that it says 仿古 (imitation of antique).
From the fourth picture:
The two lines are:
right: 有名閒富
left: 貴無事小
Together with the last two characters from third picture: 有名閒富貴,無事小神仙。
This is a line from 訓蒙幼學詩 a poem by 江洙 during the Northern Song. It is a poem encouraging people/kids to study.
From the fifth picture:
Right: 少林(Shaolin)仁兄(people/friend)開創(starting a business/organization/etc.)
Left: 同和(name?)公司(company)紀念(commemorate)
Together: 少林仁兄開創同和公司紀念 meaning "To commemorate the starting a company called 同和 by follower(s) of Shaolin".
The name means 同 (common, public, shared), 和(peace, tranquility).
Chinese have no plural so it is hard to know it is a single follower or multiple.
The cap:
This is written in a old script called 小篆書 small seal script. Nowadays, this script is used for decorative propose.
It says: 妙極生知. From my search it seems to be from a book called 文心雕龍 which recorded this line as spoken by 徵聖 (a person). The book is complied in 魏晋南北朝 which spans from three kingdom era to Northern and Southern dynasties.
http://ctext.org/wenxin-diaolong/zheng-sheng/zh?searchu=%E5%A6%99%E6%A5%B5%E7%94%9F%E7%9F%A5
Hi, some ideas since you haven't received answers here: you may try one of the translation subs, /r/translation or /r/translate IIRC, or a Chinese regional sub, or one specializing in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). If you live near a Chinese community, you might also try a herbalist or TCM practitioner.