Bianzhong of Marquis Yi of Zeng
Encyclopedia
Bianzhong
Bianzhong is an ancient Chinese musical instrument consisting of a set of bronze bells, played melodically. These sets of chime bells were used as polyphonic musical instruments and some of these bells have been dated at between 2,000 to 3,600 years old. They were hung in a wooden frame and...
unearthed in 1978 in the Zeng-hou-yi Tomb in Sui County
Suizhou
Suizhou , formerly Sui County , is a prefecture-level city in Hubei province of Central China.-Administration:The prefecture-level city of Suizhou administers 2 county-level divisions, including 1 district and 1 county-level city....
, Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
Province, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The bianzhong were made in 433 B.C..
The bianzhong are hung on two sets of wood racks. One rack is 7.48 meters long X 2.65 meters wide. the other rack is 3.35 meters long X 2.73 meters wide. The two racks are perpendicular to each other.
The bianzhong are constituted by altogether 64 bells, which are hung at three levels and are divided into eight groups. There are 19 bells in three groups at the top level. There 33 bells in three groups at the middle level. There are 12 bells in two groups at the bottom level.
The biggest bell is of 153.4 cm height and 203.6 kg weight. The smallest bell is of 20.4 cm high and 2.4 kg weight.
Each bell in the Bells can play two tones with three degree's interval between them. The tonal range of Zenghouyi Bells is from C2 to D7. In the middle area of the tonal range, it can play all twelve half tones.
The wood hammers used to strike the bells were unearthed from the Zeng-hou-yi Tomb as well.
The original bells are currently on display at the Hubei Provincial Museum
Hubei Provincial Museum
Hubei Provincial Museum is one of the best-known museums in China, with a large amount of State-level historic and cultural relics. Established in 1953, the museum moved to its present location in 1960 and gained its present name in 1963...
in Wuhan
Wuhan
Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, and is the most populous city in Central China. It lies at the east of the Jianghan Plain, and the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze and Han rivers...
. Copies have been made for other museums.
Further reading
- Lee, Yuan-Yuan and Shen, Sinyan. (1999). Chinese Musical Instruments (Chinese Music Monograph Series). Chinese Music Society of North America Press. ISBN 1-880464039
- Shen, Sinyan (1987), Acoustics of Ancient Chinese Bells, Scientific American, 256, 94.
- von Falkenhausen, Lothar. (1993). Suspended music: chime-bells in the culture of Bronze Age China. University of California Press.