Chapter 24 Section 2 High Achievement of Bronze Instruments

During the Warring States Period, although ironware had been widely used, the bronze smelting and casting industry continued to develop, not only was the output still large, but the technical level was still improving.The bronze chime bell unearthed in 1978 from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng at the beginning of the Warring States Period in Suizhou, Hubei Province is the most representative of the level of the bronze smelting and casting industry during the Warring States Period.This set of bronze chimes consists of 64 pieces in eight groups, plus a piece of iron donated by King Xiongzhang of Chu (according to its inscription, it was made in the fifty-sixth year of King Hui of Chu, 433 BC), making a total of 65 pieces. The bronze chime bell with the largest number of pieces in ancient China.When it was unearthed, it was suspended in three layers on a copper-wood bell frame with a height of 2.67 meters and a total length of 10.79 meters. At the same time, two long wooden sticks painted with lacquer [xiuxiu] for striking the bell were unearthed. Roots and six T-shaped painted gavels for bells.The middle and lower beams of the bell frame are supported by the heads and hands of six bronze warriors with swords on their bodies.A total of 19 pieces of three sets of button bells are hung on the top floor of the bell frame, a total of 33 pieces of three sets of Yong bells are hung on the middle floor, and 12 pieces of two sets of Yong bells are hung on the lower floor, plus one Xiongzhang, the king of Chu.The largest one is 153.4 centimeters high and weighs 203.6 kilograms; the smallest one is 20.4 centimeters high and weighs 2.4 kilograms.The whole set of chimes weighs 2567 kilograms, which is amazing.After research, this set of chime bells is also cast by fan casting method, and its alloy composition, in addition to copper, contains 12.49-14.46% tin, generally less than 2% lead, and few other impurities.The proportion of this alloy is scientific and reasonable, so that the overall performance of the clock is the best, and the sound is full and pleasant.According to the detection of metallographic structure, preheating pottery mold and time-delayed casting may have been adopted at that time, and uniform annealing was carried out by using the residual heat of pottery mold and bell to improve metallographic structure, reduce residual stress, and keep audio frequency stable, reaching the level of ancient Chinese bronze casting. The pinnacle of technology.Each chime bell is not only cast with fine patterns, but also has a large number of staggered gold inscriptions.Except for the inscription "Marquis Yi of Zeng Zuozhi" on the front gong, the rest of the drum and other places are all inscriptions about music.Including the name of the musical scale marking the bell and the inscriptions about the temperament, including the correspondence between the various temperament names, step names and changed phonetic names of Chu, Jin, Qi, Zhou and Zeng at that time.The entire set of chime bell inscriptions has a total of 2,828 characters, providing important information for the study of ancient Chinese music history.Tested by the China Music Research Institute, each bell can produce two musical tones, which are consistent with the scale inscriptions on the bell, and the timbre is beautiful so far.The scale structure of the whole set of chime bells is the same as the internationally accepted heptatonic scale in C major. The range is wide, including five octaves. The ability to rotate palaces and tunes can play various tunes so far, which is of great significance in the history of Chinese music development.It shows that the bronze casting process in the Warring States Period can fully meet the requirements of sound design. In 1979, when this set of chime bells was exhibited at the Beijing Museum of Chinese History for the first time, it played famous Chinese and foreign songs such as "Chu Shang" and "Safe voyage" for foreign envoys and friends in China. Applause and express admiration for the great achievements in casting technology.

In addition, 32 chimes in four groups, four drums, 12 harps, one five-stringed qin and one ten-stringed qin, four sheng, two chi [chichi] and two pan flutes were also unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng. The musical instruments vividly reproduce the huge band lineup and the high level of music and dance during the Warring States Period.