Ancient Chinese Bronze Wares—Zenghouyi Chime Bells
The Chime Bells of Marquis Yi of Zeng in the Warring States Period is a set of large-scale ceremonial and musical instruments belonging to the monarch of the Zeng State in the early Warring States period, and it is a national first-class cultural relic. It was unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng in Leigudun, Suixian County (now Suizhou), Hubei Province in 1978, and is now stored in the Hubei Provincial Museum as the "treasure of the museum".
Characteristics of cultural relics
The Zenghou Yi chime bell is 273 cm high, 335 cm wide, and 748 cm long. The largest one is 153.4 cm high and weighs 203.6 kg, while the smallest one is 20.4 cm high and 2.4 kg in weight. The total weight of the bell body is 2567 kg, plus the copper part of the bell frame (including the hook), the total weight is 4421.48 kg.
There are a total of 65 pieces of chime bells in this set, which are hung on the bell frame in three layers and eight groups. The pillars on the middle and lower floors are three warriors with bronze swords on each floor. The bell frame can be disassembled, and there are 246 bell frames and hooks (including removable components). There are 3,755 characters of inscriptions on the bell bamboo shoots, bell hooks, and bell body, including serial numbers, inscriptions, sound markings, and rhythms.
When the chime bell was unearthed, there were six T-shaped painted mallets and two painted wooden sticks nearby, which were used to ring and strike the bell.
cultural relic value
The Zenghouyi Chime Bell is the most majestic and largest musical instrument ever discovered in the world, and is known as the "eighth wonder" of the ancient world. Relevant departments have tuned the set of chime bells unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, and the results show that the Warring States Period had a complete system of twelve musical tones, which broke the previous belief that the twelve rhythms came from ancient Greece.
Zenghouyi chime bells have the most complete Zhou Dynasty musical tone series and its melody appellation system known so far. At the same time, as an instrument of ritual music, it also contains rich cultural thoughts of ritual music. It is a brilliant example of Chinese civilization in the 5th century BC. The miniature is a cultural symbol of China's pre-Qin society and an art masterpiece at the peak of China's Bronze Age.
There are more than 3,700 characters of inscriptions on the bell body, bell frame and wall clock components of Zenghouyi Chime Bell. These inscriptions not only marked the pronunciation scale names of the bells, but also clearly showed the corresponding relationship between these scale names and the tunes of Chu, Zhou, Qi, Shen and other countries. They are very important documents.
The excavation of Zenghouyi chime bells proves that a series of difficult problems in physics, musicology and casting science have been successfully solved in Chinese history. It represents the highest achievement of China's pre-Qin ritual and music civilization and bronze casting technology.
played three times
Since it was unearthed in 1978, the original chime bell of Marquis Yi of Zeng has only been played three times.
Played for the first time: At 2 pm on August 1, 1978, the original Zenghouyi chime bell concert started with "Dongfanghong", and the whole concert lasted for more than two hours. Staff from the Central News Documentary Film Studio and Xinhua News Agency made audio and video recordings at the scene. Subsequently, the video materials of the concert were widely disseminated by China Central Television and China Central People's Broadcasting Station.
The second sound: In 1979, during the 30th anniversary of the founding of New China, the Hubei Provincial Museum and the Chinese History Museum jointly held the "Exhibition of Cultural Relics Unearthed from the Tomb of Zenghouyi in Suixian County, Hubei Province". The original chime bell of Zenghouyi was exhibited and played live .
This is the first and only time that Zenghouyi Chime Bell left Hubei and the Hubei Provincial Museum.
The third performance: In 1997, in order to welcome the return of Hong Kong, the famous composer Tan Dun created a large-scale symphony "1997: Heaven, Earth, and Man". With the special approval of the central government, the original chime bells were used for recording as an exception. One night in March of that year, in the chime bell hall of Hubei Provincial Museum, six performers from Hubei Provincial Museum, Wuhan Conservatory of Music, and Hubei Song and Dance Theater, under the command of Tan Dun, completed the symphony "1997" with the original chime bell of Marquis Yi of Zeng. : The performance of the chime part of "Heaven, Earth, Man".
cultural relics history
——In September 1977, when a troop was leveling the hill and building a factory in Sui County (now Suizhou), Hubei, they accidentally discovered a large tomb in the early Warring States period—the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng.
——In March 1978, the archaeological team headed by Tan Weisi of Hubei Provincial Museum began on-site investigation; in May of the same year, the archaeological excavation work officially started.
——On May 11, 1978, the excavation team began to excavate step by step. On June 15, 65 chime bells, together with the wall clock components, the entire bell frame and two bell striking wooden sticks erected beside the bell frame, were placed on the hanging beam. The 6 T-shaped bell hammers from the door were all safely out of the outer coffin.
——There was no museum in Sui County at that time, and it was impossible to preserve the cultural relics unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng. In the end, Chen Pixian, the first secretary of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee at the time, ordered Suixian County Party Committee to assist the archaeological team to transport the chime bells and other unearthed cultural relics to the Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan for centralized preservation.
——Beginning in May 1979, under the auspices of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, seven units including the Hubei Provincial Museum, the Institute of the History of Natural Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Wuhan Institute of Mechanical Technology jointly established the research team of the Zenghouyi Chime Bell Reproduction Factory.
——In July 1984, a complete set of Zenghouyi chime bells was successfully reproduced.
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