Ritual bell (yongzhong)

Bronze Musical Instruments from the Zhou Dynasty

Music played an important role in the ritual and leisure activities of the Zhou-dynasty aristocracy. Large orchestras played a range of percussion, string, and woodwind instruments. Most were made of wood and other perishable materials and have long since vanished. However, large sets of bells have been discovered, and these provide insights into the complexity of Zhou-dynasty court music. The set unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng has sixty-five bells, with the largest one more than five feet tall.

Bronze ritual bells found in tombs were arranged in sets, called bianzhong. A complete set could include three types of bells, sorted in groups from large to small. The most common types of bells in the Eastern Zhou period (770–256 BCE) were yongzhong, which have a long columnar handle on the top, and niuzhong, which have a semicircular knob instead of a handle. Found less frequently, bozhong generally have loop handles, a flat bottom, and a rounder body.

Bell sets with as many as sixty-five pieces, the largest more than five feet in height, have been discovered in Eastern Zhou-period aristocratic tombs. Due to their elliptical circumference, each bell produces two distinct tones, one when struck on the lip near the outside, the other when struck on the lip near the center.