( Sorry This is a large Jpeg file and will tale some time! But it's worth your while!)  This is the enlarged picture of the left stand of the musical bronze bells. The picture is taken from the back. of the bell set  On these musical bells are carved with over 2800 bronze scripts showing the names of musical notes and tones. These bronze bells were designed to produce 2 different pitches in the same bell. Therefore they are not only compatible to the Chinese 5 pitches and 12 half tones but also with the international octave of 7 notes in C major in use today. See diagram at the lower part of this page.   

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   These abstract beautiful lacquer art painted on lacquer trunks show how the musical bells and a drum are used with a jester in motion.

         See from the lacquer design how the drum is positioned on its stand and played. There are actually 4 types of drums unearthed among other 124 different musical instruments, which are not shown in these pages. When they were fully performed, the Marquis's orchestra would be twice as big and powerful as any modern full orchestra. 

Some people might expect that things made in the early days of history would be somewhat simple and primitive. Not so! The diagram on the left shows highly advance knowledge of the musical pitches and the shape of the bronze bells. These bells are not round, instead, the hollow body of the bell is ingeniously cast into an olive shape in cross section, which consists of two joining segments of a circle opposing each other. The purpose is to produce 2 different pitches in one single bell, in order to maximize the use of the bell. Notice at the bottom of the diagrams, the diagram on the left shows the vibration of the bell when it is struck squarely on the center of the broader side. The one on the right vibrates differently, when the bells is struck between the center of the broad side and the tip of the sharper end of the bell. This type of bell as musical instrument was in use in China many hundred years even before the Marquis Zeng's bells were made.  

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