page_title: Bianzhong
section_title: Archaeology
hierarchical_section_title: Bianzhong / Archaeology
caption_attribution_description: English: Bells of Marquis Su of Jin (Jin Hou Su), in the Shanghai Museum 中文: 晋侯苏编钟 摄于上海博物馆 Français&#160;: Ensemble de dix cloches, zhong, montées sur des portants. Bois et bronze. Fin de la période des Printemps et Automnes (fin du VIe siècle avant notre ère). Exhumé en 1870 à Houtusi, comté de Ronghe, Shanxi. Musée de Shanghai.
context_page_description: Bianzhong is an ancient Chinese musical instrument consisting of a set of bronze bells, played melodically. China is the earliest country to manufacture and use musical chimes. They are also called Chime Bells. 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 struck with a mallet. Using a wooden hammer and a rod to beat the bronze bell can make different pitch. Along with the stone chimes called bianqing, they were an important instrument in China's ritual and court music going back to ancient times.
  Several sets of bianzhong were imported to the Korean court during the Song Dynasty. Pronounced in Korean as pyeonjong, the instrument became an important part in Korea's ritual and court music and is still in use. In Vietnam, the instrument, which was used in ceremonies in the court at Huế, is called biên chung. The instrument's name is pronounced henshō in Japanese.
context_section_description: Among the most important sets of bianzhong discovered are a complete ceremonial set of 65 zhong bells, found in a near-perfect state of preservation during the excavation of the tomb of Marquis Yi, who died ca. 430 BCE. Yi was the ruler of Zeng, one of the minor states under control of the major State of Chu. This region is now part of the present-day Hubei province. The instrument is currently on display at the Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan, China. It under protection by the government as an esteemed cultural relic, and has been performed on three times since its excavation in 1978, the most recent being for the Hong Kong Reunification ceremony in 1997.
  Although tuned bells have been created and used for musical performance in many cultures, zhong are unique among all other types of cast bells in several respects. They have a lens-shaped (rather than circular) section, the bell mouth has a distinctive "cutaway" profile, and the outer surfaces of the large bells feature 36 studs or bosses, symmetrically placed around the body in four groups of nine. This special shape gives zhong bells the remarkable ability to produce two different musical tones, depending on where they are struck. Striking the center of the bell produces the primary tone, while the left or right corners produce a secondary pitch either a major or minor third higher, equivalent to a distance of four or five notes on a piano.
  The bells of Marquis Yi cover a range of five octaves, and are fully chromatic in the central three octaves. The set—still in playable condition after almost 2,500 years—is able to produce both diatonic and pentatonic scales.
  The bianzhong chimes of Marquis Yi are mounted on intersecting racks set at 90 degrees to each other, consisting of two pairs of massive wooden beams, with three smaller beams (carrying the highest bells) mounted on top of the upper beams. The beams are separated and supported at their ends and intersections by six bronze human figurines with upraised arms and wearing swords; the upper three figures are slightly smaller than the lower, which are cast on their own elaborately decorated bronze pedestals. The ends and intersection of each pair of beams are fitted with decorated bronze caps and front part of the brackets supporting the largest bells are cast in the shape of animals. The longer pair of main beams are provided with extra support in the middle in the form of two slender bronze columns.
  In 1992, Ma Chengyuan, director of the Shanghai Museum, purchased the 3,000-year-old Jin Hou Su bianzhong (晉侯穌鐘) from the Hong Kong antique market. The bells had been looted from the tombs of the rulers of the State of Jin and smuggled out of China. The bells are now listed by the Chinese government as one of the first 64 national treasures forbidden to be exhibited abroad.
  These bells usually have inscriptions on them from which scholars use as references for studying ancient Chinese writings (also known as Bronzeware script). Another related ancient Chinese musical instrument is the bianqing, which was made of stone rather than metal.
caption: The Jin Hou Su bianzhong in the Shanghai Museum
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