Bronze Musical Instruments

The Yue（music）in the ancient China also refers to recreational activities including music and dance.The ancient people attached great importance to Yue and believed it was an expression of the rules of universal harmony.In ritual ceremonies such as offering sacrifices and banquets held by nobles were normally accompanied by Yue.Especially in the Western Zhou Dynasty，the Yue developed with the advanced ritual Yue system，forming a rigid but complete system.Music and dance combined with ritual activities were collectively known as“Yayue”（elegant music）.

There were a number of musical instruments in ancient China.These musical instruments can be divided into eight categories，namely，metal，stone，earth，leather，thread，wood，gourd and bamboo，and are collectively named Bayin（Eight Music）.Of those，metal refers to bronze musical instruments.

Small Bell

The small bell is the first bronze musical instrument found in China with many discoveries in Erlitou Cultural Relics in the late Xia Dynasty and was widely used in the Shang Dynasty.Inside the small bell there is a clapper and when the small bell is shook it will produce sound.

Nao

Nao is the first practical bronze percussion instrument of China and was first used in the late Shang Dynasty and early Western Zhou Dynasty.The instrument is in the shape of two tiles pieces without a clapper，but with a round rod named”Yong”（handle）on the bottom.When played，Nao will be placed with mouth upwards and Yong inserted on the wooden shelf，producing a sound when struck with a gavel.

Nao can be classified into single Nao and set of Nao，which typically consists of two，three，five or even 10 pieces of Nao.Different-sized Nao are combined to create a certain tone combination.Most of the large single Nao were unearthed in the southern areas such as Hunan，Jiangxi and Anhui provinces.A large Nao of the late Shang Dynasty unearthed in Hunan measures 103.5cm high，and weighs 221.5kg.The big Nao is normally decorated with patterns，mainly thick deformed Taotie designs.The large Nao with elephant patterns unearthed in Ningxiang，Hunan is decorated with elephants，tigers，fish and so on，and is the most beautiful and finest Nao.

Drum

Drums were usually made of wood.A wood drum relic with a boa skin drumhead was once found in the tombs of Yinxu，Anyang.The number of bronze drums is small.A bronze drum with a Taotie pattern of the late Shang Dynasty was unearthed in Chongyang，Hubei，and is 75.5cm high with a drumhead diameter of 39.2cm, completely modeled on the wooden drum with a leather drumhead.A similar work is in the Izumiya Museum of Japan. The craftsmen copied the detailed characteristics of the wooden drum subtly and correctlyrepresented the leather layer nailed on the drum and three rows of round nails on the drum rim. The bronze drum in the Izumiya Museum collection even vividly recreates the texture of the boa skin.

Shang. Chongyang Bronze Drum 75.5cm high, drumhead diameter 38cm, and weighs 42.8kg. Unearthed from Chongyang, Hubei Province in 1977. Kept in Hubei Museum.

Bell

The bell is the most important bronze musical instrument.

It first emerged in the Western Zhou Dynasty and was created when bronze smelting and casting technology and music reached a certain level in the Western Zhou Dynasty. According to researchers, the lookof the bell was evolved from Nao of the southern area. However these two musical instruments have differentusages. Nao has a handle beneath the mouth and is played with face upward; on the contrary,a bell is hung on the bell shelf with its mouth beneath the handle and is played with a wood mallet.

Bells can be divided into Yong(Handled Bell) and Niu(button-shaped bell) according to the way they are hung. The main part of both bells is the same, but there is column-shaped handle on the top of the Yong bell, on which a square or half-ring shaped handle is designed for hanging the bell on the bell hook; the Niu bell has a bridge-shaped handle on the top and can be directly hung on the bell hook.

Western Zhou. Jingshu Bel1 37.5cm high. Unearthed from Zhangjiapo, Chang’ an county, Shaanxi Province in 1984. Kept in the Archeology Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

AYong bell typically consists of three parts，namely the Yong（handle），Zheng（front of a bell body）and tambour from the top to the bottom.The upper part of the bell is collectively named Zheng.The central part that was normally carved with inscriptions and both sides Mei（Ruding pattern，dot-shaped pattern）and Zhuan （cloud pattern）.The lower part of the bell is named”tambour，”the part that generates sound by striking.The decoration of the bell body mainly located at the Wu（the plain surface of the upper part of the Zheng），Zhuan and tambour.The pattern decoration of the tambour is often the image of a creature of half-dragon and half-bird with a long nose，standing back-to-back.

Warring States Period.Zenghou Yi Chime 273cm high，rack 748cm long，and weighs 2，500kg.Excavated from the Zenghou Yi tomb，Suixian county，Hubei Province in 1978.Kept in Hubei Museum.

A single bell hung for use is called Tezhong.Several bells of different sizes hung in order and used in combination were called chime bells.The chime bells of the middle Western Zhou Dynasty normally consistedof three bells.But the number of chime bells became increasingly larger as time progressed.A bronze chime unearthed from the tombs of Zenghou Yi of the early Warring States Period is the largest ancient bronze chime known so far，representing the highest level of bronze musical instrument manufacturing.

The Zenghou Yi Chime consists of 65 bells，including 45 Yong，19 Niu and a percussion instrument called Bo.These musical instruments were hung intact on the square-shaped bronze-wooden structured bell shelf in eight groups in three rows.Together with the chime two long wooden clubs painted with colored lacquer were used to strike the bells，and six T-shaped wood mallets used for ringing the bells were unearthed.The chimes weigh 2，567kg in total.The largest bell is 203.6kg while the smallest one is only 2.4kg.It takes five musicians to play the chimes，two standing on one side striking the big bells with the clubs，while three others stand on the other side with two mallets each to ring the bells of the middle and upper rows.

Testing shows the Zenghou Yi chime still keeps its original tone.It boasts beautiful timber，wide compass，rich tones and relatively precise temperament and can play music with harmony，polyphony and modulation.

Except the small Niu bells hung on the upper row of the bell shelf are simple without decoration，the rest of the bells were carefully and elaborately decorated with complex and beautiful relief dragon patterns and Panhui designs and some were embedded with copper adornments on the handle.

The inscription on the chime has a total of 2，828 Chinese characters.Apart from the inscription”Zenghou Yi Made and Held”on the face of the Zheng，the rest are about music，offering important information forstudying ancient Chinese music.Gold wire gilding technique was applied to many inscriptions，adding an impression of resplendence and luxury to the chimes.

The chime shelf was designed with full consideration of performance using，the structure and aesthetic needs.The size，volume，proportion and color combination of the different parts were carefully designed，compatible with the Zhongju（bell pole）Bronze Figure，gecko hook，animal-shaped column，openwork carving pedals and Panchi（coiled dragon）crossbeam bronze sheath.The chimes represent changes in unity，meaning and variety.

The Bo emerged in the late Shang Dynasty and early Western Zhou Dynasty and became popular in the early Spring and Autumn Period with Bo set emerged.

The top of the Bo is in the shape of a bridge or crouching animal and the bottom is not in arc shape but straight. The Bo produces different tones from the bell and was often played together with the bell. Some Bo works were decorated with relief bird and tiger designs, looks that were exquisitely carved, such as the Xiao-head Bo in the Palace Museum and the Four-tiger Bo in the Shanghai Museum collection.

Warring States Period. Chuwang Bo 92.5cm high, and weighs 134.8kg. Unearthed from the Zenghou Yi tomb, Suixian county, Hubei Province in 1978. Kept in Hubei Museum.

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