Zeng Houyi Bells: Gem of Ancient Chinese Art 曾侯乙编钟

Zeng Houyi Bells
The set of bells, set of chimes and other instruments excavated from the tomb of Zeng Houyi (zēng hóu yǐ 曾侯乙), who was a Warring States (zhàn guó 战国) duke in Suixian County (suí xiàn 随县), now Suizhou City (suí zhōu 随州) in Hubei Province (hú běi shěng 湖北省), are the largest-scale ancient percussion instruments found so far. The musical instruments were discovered in the central chamber, which was the biggest, and the second biggest, the eastern chamber.
 
Among the musical instruments found was a bell used for tuning other instruments, a ten-stringed plucked instrument, five Se (sè 瑟, a zither-like instrument) with 25 strings each, two  Sheng (shēng 笙) and one hanging drum (xuán gǔ 悬鼓). The other instruments found were three Xiao (xiāo 萧, a reed instrument consisting of a bundle of 13 flutes, each of different thickness), seven 35-stringed Se and a small drum. The most distinguished among them were Zeng Houyi Bells (zēng hóu yǐ biān zhōng 曾侯乙编钟) -- the gem of ancient Chinese Art:

The Zeng Houyi Bells

The Zeng Houyi Bells are three-tiered set which has 65 refined bronze bells, including a large Jian drum (90cm in diameter, the drum was suspended from a framework in such a way that the drum head faced the striker), one set of bells and one set of chimes. They formed the three sides of a rectangle.
The musical range of the Zeng Houyi Bells, which can carry the main melody as well as the harmony, was more than five octaves, and of these three distinct groups have 12 complete notes each.
All the musical instruments excavated from the Zeng Houyi tomb show superb craftsmanship and function surprisingly well. Indeed, some could not be surpassed even today.

“国之瑰宝”——曾侯乙编钟

      曾侯乙是战国时期（公元前475年——公元前221年）曾国（今天中国中部的湖北省随县、枣阳一带。）的一个诸侯，这位诸侯姓“乙”。据考证此人死于楚惠王五十六年。（公元前433年）因为他是“曾国”人，姓“乙”，又是一位诸侯，因此称他为曾侯乙。

      这位姓乙的诸侯墓葬的规模是相当可观的。仅仅乐器就足以令人瞠目结舌。在他巨大的坟墓里专门有一个墓室陪葬着乐器，这些乐器有：琴、筝、五弦各一件，瑟五件，笙一件，悬鼓一件，还有编磬、建鼓、排萧、瑟、抱鼓等等。其中最令人震惊的就是堪称“国之瑰宝”的编钟。

      整套编钟共有65枚，全部是由青铜铸造异常精美。编钟依次列在曲尺型铜木结构的钟架上。上下三层，总共加起来有65枚钟。每件钟体上都镌刻有金篆体铭文，正面均刻有“曾侯乙乍时”（曾侯乙作） 曾侯乙编钟的总音域有五个八度，仅次于现代的钢琴。可以奏出五声、六声或七声音阶的音乐。现代学者推断这套编钟不但可以演奏旋律，还可以演奏和声。

      两千年前就有如此精美的乐器，如此恢宏的乐队，在世界文化史上极为罕见。这不仅表明我国古代青铜业的成就，也表明了中国古代音律发达的程度。