Marquis Zeng Yi's Bronze musical bells were made 24 centuries ago. The long side of the L shape cross beam measures 7.48 meters and the short side of beam measures 3.35 meters. The total height is 2.75 meters. There are 65 big and small bells. These bells weigh about 2.5 metric tons among the total of over 10 tons priceless and unprecedented bronze burial objects. These bells are made ingeniously into an oval shape. Upon striking they are able to give two tones or pitches each. One, if struck squarely face on at the center of the broader side, and another, if struck at the narrower side. When skillfully played, they are able of producing the Chinese traditional musical scale of 5 notes and 12 half tones, as well as complying with the international standard of 7 notes octave basing on C major, which indicates that even some 2500 years ago the ancient Chinese people had already appreciated the important sound base of C major. Read about the history of these Music Bells at lower part of this page and listen to old melodies played with these one and only fascinating ancient music instruments. Mind you, they would only show their true audio quality, if your computer sound card is connected to an HiFi Amplifier via an Electronic Equalizer with a capacity of 16 frequencies per second or even slower, because these air cured ancient bells can perform well at lower frequencies. ...
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Words are inscribed on the leading bell (the biggest bell in the center) in ancient Bronze Script of two and half millenniums ago as follows :
This inscription tells an interesting story. It says that in the 56th
year of King Hui of State of Chu ( 433 BC ), the King ( 
) received news
of obituary from Xi
Yang that the Marquis had died. The King therefore ordered these Music Bells
made to be given as a gift to Marquis' ancestral hall for use in the eternal
worship and mourning rituals of the
Marquis.... It of course seems that such a huge present from a much larger and
more superior King to a lesser and departed Marquis would appear completely unrealistic and unlikely, but that's what
happened. However, there is a story behind it though... Apparently in the year
506 BC the State of Wu (
) attacked the State of
Chu
( 
) by surprise. In a great hurry
King Zao of Chu (
), father of King Hui,
who bestowed the bells, fled to the neighbouring country of Sui (
),
which is exactly today's County of Sui (
)
in Hu Bei Province where Maquis Zeng's tomb was unearthed. King Zao took refuge in a place north of his
host's palace. Meanwhile the army of Wu
was already approaching the south of the palace, and demanded the handing over
of King Zao. In the negotiations Wu's generals offered to give all the territories east of Han River
in exchange for the fleeing King, but despite the dangerous situation at hand if
refused, and the great profits if complied, the demand was denied by the host of King Zao. As a result, this event bought time enough for King Zao to
unit with the State of Chin and was able to recover soon in full strength.... Therefore,
although history did not state exactly who protected King Zao, many
historians conclude that Marquis Zeng must have been the descendant of that
protector, as the incident occurred 73 years before the death of the Marquis.
That's why, in his extreme gratitude for saving his father and his country King Hui had
made the Bells for the memorial use of the late Marquis..... However, the
mysteries of Marquis Zeng's enormous burial wealth and the bigger than life
present of Musical Bells from a more powerful king is still
being debated.....The story nevertheless reflects the traditional
characteristics of Zeng's commitment to friends and the famous Zeng's loyalty through out the
Chinese
history..... Because, for the historic Zengs it had been always honour and loyalty before
profits.... Unfortunately the same cannot be said for some of our contemporary
blood-kin... Perhaps just a few!
Would you like to See some details of the design of the bronze castings? How about listening to the fantastic melodies played with Marquis Zeng Yi's 2445 years old Musical Bronze Bells?
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