Bianzhong

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Carillon from the tomb of Margrave Yi von Zeng

Bianzhong ( Chinese  編鐘  /  编钟 , Pinyin biānzhōng ) is a set of different sized bells of the ritual bell type zhong played in ancient China . The bronze bells, tuned to fixed pitches, were hung in a wooden frame and struck with mallets. Depending on the size, the carillon was operated by one or more people. Together with the sound stone game bianqing , it was an important instrument in Chinese ritual and court music.

The number of bells was different, a standard set consisted of 16 bells in the past, but there are also other sets, including 13 or even 65 bells (1 bozhong, 45 yongzhong and 19 niuzhong in the tomb of Marquis Yi von Zeng).

Various sets of bianzhong were imported into Korea's court music during the Song Dynasty . In Korea, a similar instrument is known and is still in use under the name pyeonjong .

Archaeological finds

Close up of the chimes from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng ( Zeng hou Yi bianzhong ) in the Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan

The oldest instruments come from the Shang Dynasty and have a history of 3500 years. The discovery of the large carillon from the grave of Margrave Yi von Zeng (after 433 BC) from the early Warring States period has overshadowed numerous other recent finds in its splendor, which, however, are also of great interest from a musical history. These include, for example, the find from the Chu grave of Changtaiguan in Xinyang , Henan Province with its 13 bells.

In recent years, various carillons of the peoples resident there from the Warring States Period to the Han Dynasty have also been unearthed in China's south and southwest , including finds in Yunnan , Sichuan , Guangxi and from the tomb of the King of Nanyue in Guangzhou (Canton ).

Famous historical instruments

Concert on replicas of ancient musical instruments in the Hubei Provincial Museum ( Wuhan ). The famous carillon ( bianzhong ) from the tomb of Margrave Yi von Zeng is in the background, the sound stone chime bianqing on the right

See also

literature

  • Yang Yinliu (Ed.) Zhongguo yinyue cidian (Dictionary of Chinese Music) Beijing 1984
  • Lothar von Falkenhausen : Suspended Music: Chime-Bells in the Culture of Bronze Age China. Berkeley, Los Angeles, Oxford: University of California Press, 1993

Web links