Bronze bell of the Han Chinese, used mainly in ritual music. Early Chinese bells are of many sub-types, differentiated by shape of the cross-section (leaf-shaped, elliptical or round), curve of the ‘mouth’ (concave or flat), lateral profile (elongated or broad), method and angle of suspension (vertical, oblique or hand-held upright) and method of striking (internal clapper or external beater). The term zhong is used both as a general reference to all clapperless bells (including bo, nao and zheng) and as a specific reference to one sub-type. Bells with internal clappers are generally called ling. Metal used in most Chinese bell construction is an alloy of three or more parts of copper to one part of tin.
The bell specifically identified as zhong has a leaf-shaped cross-section (oblate ellipsoid), concave mouth (or rim) and a slightly expanding profile from the crown outward (fig.1). Suspension methods are of two types. Most common among ancient bells is the elongated handle or shank (yong) extending out from the crown, with a small ring at its base from which the bell is suspended at an oblique angle. The second suspension method is by a loop (niu), from which the bell hangs vertically (rather than diagonally). Both types are suspended in a frame, together with other bells in a set (bianzhong), and struck externally with a beater. While most zhong measure between 15 and 40 cm in total height, some are as small as c9 cm and as large as c153 cm. Outer surfaces are typically decorated with raised rectangular ribs, repetitive claw-like (or horn-like) designs and protruding knobs or ‘nipples’ – typically four clusters (two on each side of the bell) containing nine knobs each. The early sets were tuned by maintaining uniform thickness while varying the size (smaller bells producing a higher pitch). The most distinctive acoustical feature of bells in this shape is their ability to produce two pitches, commonly (but not always) a minor 3rd apart: one pitch when struck at the lower centre, the other at an area between the centre and left or right lower corner.
The bo bell typically has an elliptical or round cross-section (though some are leaf-shaped), a flat mouth, and a loop on its crown for vertical suspension. Unlike the zhong bell, it is capable of sounding only a single pitch. On older bo bells, the outer surface is also more elaborately decorated than the zhong, with abstract zoomorphic designs and hangers in the shape of dragons or other auspicious animals (fig.2). Most single bo bells are about 40 cm in height, though some are as large as about 112 cm. When constructed in sets (also called bianzhong), bo-type bells are usually of uniform size but of varying thickness (bells with thicker metal producing a higher pitch).
Remaining Chinese bell types, such as nao, zheng, chun, ling and duo, are mostly historic relics. The ancient nao, most similar in appearance to the zhong, is relatively short and broad, without clapper, and usually decorated with taotie (stylized animal face) masks on both sides. Most small nao bells were clearly designed to be held by the handle mouth upward and struck with a beater. As shown by Tong Kin-woon, large nao bells (70 cm or more in height, sometimes identified as yong) were most likely mounted on poles. The zheng bell has the appearance of a thin, elongated zhong; it was held and struck like the nao. The chun, which is the most dissimilar from the above sub-types, has a round cross-section, with a crown larger than its rim, and a niu-type hanger usually in the shape of a tiger or horse. Small bells with internal clappers, such as ling (with a loop on its crown and a flange on one or both sides) and duo (a bell externally resembling the nao and larger than the ling), were designed to be hand-held and shaken.
The earliest clapperless bells found in China, uncovered in Shaanxi province sites and dating to about 2100 bce, are made entirely of clay. Virtually nothing is known about their usage. Bells constructed of bronze, notably nao and zheng, first appeared during the late Shang dynasty (13th–11th centuries bce). Numerous small nao bells have been found in Henan province and elsewhere on the Central Plain, often in sets of three and five; very large single nao bells have also been found. The Zhouli states that ‘the metal nao is used to stop the drum’, implying use by army commanders for the purpose of signalling. Since nao bells also appeared in tuned sets, they may have been used for ceremonial occasions as well.
The bell known as zhong, with its longer body, distinctive decorative features and mouth-downward oblique suspension, emerged during the Zhou dynasty (11th–3rd centuries bce). Zhong bells were normally constructed in tuned sets (bianzhong) for melodic performance. During the 20th century, uncountable numbers of these sets were broken up and sold piece by piece to art dealers outside China. Of the sets still intact, most noteworthy are those found at Changtaiguan Tomb #1 and the tomb site of the Marquis Yi of the Zeng state. The 13-bell Changtaiguan set, found in a mid-Zhou site in Henan province, is now kept at the Chinese Historical Museum in Beijing. The bells are of varying size, each producing two pitches distributed within a two-octave range (allowing limited chromatic capability), and suspended by niu loops mouth downward from an elaborately decorated frame. More spectacular in size, decoration and diversity is the 65-piece bianzhong found at the tomb of Marquis Yi of the Zeng state, a 5th-century bce site in Hubei province, now kept at the Hubei Provincial Museum (see China, §II, 2). The bells in this set are of three different types, suspended from a three-tiered frame: 45 very large yong-type zhong on the lower two tiers, 19 niu-type zhong on the upper tier, and a single bo bell in the middle of the bottom tier. The pitch range spans five octaves, with full chromatic capability in the middle three octaves.
By the Song dynasty (960–1279), the use of bianzhong in ritual performances had become more or less standardized, but several elements had changed. As seen in 12th-century Chinese instruments preserved in Korea (P’yonjong) and other sources, sets of bells usually totalled 16, suspended in a two-tiered frame. Most bianzhong sets from this period onward are of the bo construction, with same-sized barrel-shaped (or other related) profiles, niu hangers and flat mouths. Furthermore, these single-pitched bells were tuned chromatically over a range of one octave and a minor 3rd (for a 16-bell set). Two bianzhong sets dating from the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), with 16 bo-type bells tuned in this manner, are preserved at the Palace Museum and Confucian shrine in Beijing. The prevailing bell types of the Qing period are still employed in the Confucian ritual celebrations in Taiwan, though occasionally the ancient Zhou-style bells are used as well.
J. Fontein and TungWu: Unearthing China’s Past (Boston, 1973)
N. Spear, jr: A Treasury of Archaeological Bells (New York, 1978)
Huang Xiangpeng and others: ‘Suixian chutu yinyue wenwu zhuanji’ [Special issue on the musical relics excavated in Suixian], Yinyue yanjiu (1981), no.1
Tong Kin-woon: Shang Musical Instruments (diss., Wesleyan U., 1983); repr. in AsM, xiv/2 (1983), no.2, pp.17–182; xv (1983), no.1, pp.103–84; xv (1984), no.2, pp.67–143
Shen Sin-yan: ‘The Acoustics of the Bian-Zhong Bell Chimes of China’, Chinese Music, ix (1986), no.3, pp.53–7; no.4, pp.73–8; x (1987), no.1, pp.10–19
Liu Dongsheng and others, eds.: Zhongguo yueqi tuzhi [Pictorial record of Chinese musical instruments] (Beijing, 1987)
Liu Dongsheng and YuanQuanyou, eds.: Zhongguo yinyue shi tujian [Pictorial guide to the history of Chinese music] (Beijing, 1988), 17–49
Liu Dongsheng, ed.: Zhongguo yueqi tujian [Pictorial guide to Chinese instruments] (Ji'nan, 1992), 62–93
L. von Falkenhausen: Suspended Music: Chime-Bells in the Culture of Bronze Age China (Berkeley, 1993)
Li Chunyi: Zhongguo shanggu chutu yueqi zonglun [Survey of ancient excavated musical instruments in China] (Beijing, 1996)
Zhongguo yinyue wenwu daxi [Compendium of Chinese musical artefacts] (Zhengzhou, 1996–)
ALAN R. THRASHER