PART I

The Jin Hou Su Bells are a bell set of the MarquisSu of the State of Jin, and they consist of 14 bellswhich were uncovered by robbers in tomb no. 8 ofthe Tianma-Qucun [2] ruins in the south-west ofthe village of Beizhao [3], Qucun Town [4], QuwoCounty, Shanxi Province on 31 August, 1992.They were smuggled to Hong Kong together witha dozen bronzes from the same tomb and werefinally purchased and recovered by the ShanghaiMuseum on 22 December, 1992. The serial num-bers of the bells are now 73627–73640.

Since October 1992, the Archaeology Depart-ment of Beijing University and the ShanxiProvincial Archaeological Research Institutehave jointly launched rescue excavations at theTianma-Qucun ruins and have confirmed thatthis is the tomb of the Marquis of the State of Jinduring the period from King Mu [5] to KingXuan [6], that is to say from the middle to the lateWestern Zhou Dynasty (11th cent. BC to 771BC). Tomb no. 8 (I11M8) is the largest of five bigtombs excavated at that time. Although it hadbeen robbed in the past, a total of 239 gold, cop-per, jade, ivory and pottery wares wereunearthed. Major finds include one Ding [7] (athree or four legged cauldron for cooking orholding meat or fish) of the Marquis Su of theState of Jin, two Gui [8] (a deep circular vesselwith two or four handles) of the Marquis Yu [9],three Zun [10] (a cup for holding wine) in theshape of a rabbit, a set of 15 gold ribbon orna-ments and a large quantity of jade ornaments.

Also two bells were found. These are of darkbrown and yellowish green colour, almost free ofcorrosion and their shape and bodies are almostthe same as the group in the Shanghai Museumnos. 73631-73640. The height of bell no. I11M8:33is 25.9 cm and there are seven inscriptions on thebody which read: with long life and a lot ofdescendants. The height of I11M8:32 is 22.3 cmand there are four inscriptions which read: maythe bell be preserved for ever. This inscription isconsistent with that on Shanghai 76340. These two

new bells are members of the Su bell set, whichthus numbers 16 bells.

These Su bells are a major discovery. Li Xueqin[11] in his article New hopes for the chronology ofXia, Shang and Zhou states that “as the chronolo-gy of the Western Zhou is redrafted in accordancewith inscriptions on ancient bronzes, there is nogenerally accepted interpretation of the expression‘phase of the moon’. Recent discoveries such as theSu bells have given a hope of finding a solution tothe problem.” This demonstrates the significanceof the Su bells for the history of the early WesternZhou. I have studied 14 of the Su bells in ShanghaiMuseum and at the invitation of Li Xueqin I herepresent my initial results.

PART II

Ma Chengyuan [12] has made a study of the 355inscriptions on the Su bells. The Jin Hou Su men-tioned is the Marquis Xian Su of the State of Jin[13]. The statement that King Zhouli [14] led JinHou Su to go on a successful punitive expeditionagainst the tribes in the east is the most importantWestern Zhou inscription found in the last 50years. It shows that King Zhouli reigned for 37years, and not 23 as had previously been thought.The inscriptions also show that The Record ofHistory [15] incorrectly records the sequence ofthe Jin family in the Western Zhou: Jin Hou Sudid not live in the reign of Zhouxuan [16] but ofZhouli [17]. In the 33rd year of his reign (846BC), the war was started on the lunar 8th of Janu-ary, tribes in the east were defeated in lunarMarch and rewards were given to Marquis Su inlunar June. The war lasted half a year. Theinscriptions were made shortly afterwards, butwere the bells made at the same time? I presentevidence here to show that in fact the bells weremade much earlier.

1 The numbers in square brackets represent Chinese charac-ters (see list below).

A Study of the Jin Hou Su Bells [1]1

Wang Zichu

The present state of the bells: (for their partssee Fig. 1) 73627 lacks three Mei [18]; 73628 lacksone Mei; 73629 has a split which has beenrepaired; 73630 has a split Mei; 73631 has lost oneMei and one is split; 73632 has a deformed Yong[19]; 73636 lacks two Mei and there is a file markon the Mouth [20]. 73637 lacks one Mei; 73638lacks one Mei and many are corroded, one Xian[21] is destroyed. The rest of the bells are in fairlygood condition which has enabled me to studytheir shape and musical properties. The 16 bellscan be divided into three types according to theirshape and structure and each type has distinctcharacteristics.

TYPE I (FIG. 2)

This consists of 73627 and 73628. They are the twobiggest of the group. The Yong are elliptical with asmall taper varying between 0.4 and 0.7 cm fromthe top to the bottom. The Yong is hollow andjoins into the body of the bell. There is a Xuan [22]but no Wo [23] (suspension hook). The top of theYong [25] is open and so there is no Heng [24].There is an interior lip [26] of triangular section atthe Mouth [27]. The tops of the Mei [28] are ballshaped. The Mei, Zhuan [29] and Zheng [30] areseparated by a circle pattern and there are cloudpatterns formed by thin protruding lines on theGu [31], Zhuan and Xuan [32]. The Wu [33] isundecorated; there are inscriptions on the Zheng[34] and on the right side of the Xian [35].

TYPE II (FIG. 3)

This consists of 73629 and 73630. The patterns onthe Yong, the interior lip [36], the area carryinginscriptions and the body of the bell are almost thesame as those on Type I. The difference is thatthere is a Wo on the Xuan; there are patterns onthe Wu and the heads of the Mei are flat.

TYPE III (FIG. 4)

This consists of the remainder of the bells: 73631-73640 and I11M8:33 and 32. The Yong are hollowand join into the body. There is no Heng. On mostof these bells the mud core was left in the Yong.The mouths of the joint between the Yong and thebody is constricted; on one bell it is completelysealed. The Yong is conical with large taper and ithas an elliptic cross section. There is both a Wo(suspension hook) and a Xuan. There is no interiorlip. The decoration on the Gu is a symmetricalcloud and thunder pattern. The decoration on the

Zhuan is similar to that on the Gu but is adaptedto fit into the narrower space on the Zhuan. Com-pared to Types I and II, the patterns on Type IIIare finer and clearer. The inscriptions are on theZheng [37] and on 73631 and 73632 they alsooccur on the right of the Xian [38] (Fig. 5).

The shape and body structure of Type I bells ismost important for studying the evolution of theChinese bell. The key characteristic is that theyhave a Xuan [39] but no Wo [40], the suspensionhook of a Yongzhong [41] bell. In the NorthernSong Dynasty (10th to 13th cent. AD) Shen Guocalled it a Xuanchong [42]. Today some people callit Gan [43]. (The original shape of the characterfor Gan [44] is similar to that for Wo, whichcaused confusion).

Yong bells did not have a Xuan [45] and sowere not designed for being played suspended ona bell frame. The Type I bells are too heavy (20 kg)to be held in the hand and so they must, like ShangNao [46] bells (Shang Dynasty 18th to 12th cen-turies BC), have been played by placing the bellwith mouth upwards on the frame. Such a playingmethod is called Zhizou [47]. It is generallyaccepted that the Yong bell [48] of the WesternZhou derived from the Shang Nao [49], but wehave lacked reliable evidence to show how thisevolution occurred.

Many Shang Nao bells have been found, mostof which are of the late Yin Shang [50] era (post14th cent. BC). We can see a stable trend in theevolution of their shape. The body is bi-convex(shape of a Hewa [51]), the edges of the Xian [52]are not very pronounced, the curve of the mouth[53] is concave, the tops of the Xian [54] curveupwards, the cross section of the Yong is circularand it is wider at the top than the bottom. It is hol-low and joins into the body. Even in the choice ofdecorations there are no big differences, the tao-tie (ogre mask) and cloud and thunder patternswere very popular. It is apparent that the ShangNao bell is the product of the mature stage of thedevelopment of the early instrument.

Compared with Shang Nao, the Type I bell hasevolved in the following manner:1 The weight increases sharply, the weight of eachexceeds 20 kg and the height is over 50 cm. ForShang Nao the weight is from one to several kgand the height is from 8 to 20 cm. Taking as exam-ples a dozen Shang Nao kept in the Palace Muse-um, China Historical Museum, Henan ProvincialMuseum, Shanghai Museum, the ArchaeologicalResearch Institute of the Academy of Social Sci-ences, Luoyang Museum and Zhenghzhou Muse-um, the biggest is the Ya Zhi Nao [55] found intomb no. 160 in Guojiazhuang [56], Anyang Cityin 1990 ( it is kept in the Anyang working station

Wang Zichu44

of the Archaeological Research Institute of SocialSciences of China). It is 25 cm high and weighs3.25 kg. The smallest is the Ya Qiang Nao [57]found in the Fuhao [58] tomb; it is 8.1 cm high andweighs 0.1 kg.2 The protruding Mei [59] appeared. The two bellseach have 36 tapering cylindrical Mei. They arearranged in three rows as shown in Fig 1. Thisarrangement survived until the end of the manu-facture of this type of bell. However on the Type Ibell the depth of the Mei area accounted for threequarters of the bell surface and so the Gu is nar-row; this is a major characteristic of the early bell.Shang Nao bells did not have Mei.3 The shape of the Yong changed and the Xuanappeared. The head of the Yong on Shang Nao[60] bells was made wider and the bells wereplayed on the frame. On Type I bells the Yongbecame less tapered and the Xuan [61] was intro-duced, no doubt to improve the tone.4 The general shape of the bell was standardised.The curvature of the Mouth [62] was reduced. Theedges of the Xian [63] were better defined. All thefeatures of the bell, the distribution of the Zheng[64], Zhuan [65], Mei, Gu, Xian [66], Yang, Yu[67], Wu [68] and Heng including the bi-convexbody shape (Hewa) [69] became clearer.

The Type I bell is in a critical state of the evolu-tion of the Shang Nao into the Yong bell [70]. Itstill did not have a Wo [71], the determinantbetween playing a bell resting on the frame (Zhi-zou) [72] and playing it by suspension on theframe (Xuanzou) [73]. The dating of the Type Ibells can now be examined in the light of thisanalysis.

There is quite a lot of material from the West-ern Zhou, but those bells with reliable dates allcome from the middle and later years of thisdynasty and there are very few from the early peri-od. The three bells found in the Yuboge [74] tombin Zhuyuangou [75], the southern suburb of BaojiCity, in May 1980 are regarded as the earliestWestern Zhou bells. Over 400 copper and jadewares were found in the tomb and the ritual ves-sels made by the tomb master and the FenggongDing [76] and the Mufugui Ding [77] indicate adate in the reigns of Kings Kang or Zhao [78]ofthe Western Zhou. The bells are considered to beof almost the same date. The Yuboge [79] bells arevery similar to the Type I Su bells. They have ahollow Yong, a plain Wu, straight edges to theXian sparse Mei-zhuan [80], narrow Gu, gentlycurved Yu [81], and two symmetrical groups ofcloud and thunder patterns on the Gu. Althoughthey retain a hollow Yong which is the remainingcharacteristic of a Shang Nao bell, the existence ofthe Wo [82] and Xuan [83] on the Yong clearly

indicate that they must be regarded as earlyYongzhong bells.

In December 1974, three Yubozhi [84] bellswere unearthed in Rujiazhuang [85], a southernsuburb of Baoji. They are almost the same as theYuboge bells, except that on the third bell (BZM1Z:30) the area covered by the Mei is smaller andthe Gu occupies 40% of the surface area of thebell. Ritual vessels in the tomb indicate that it datesto the era of Kings Shao [86] or Mu [87]. There aresome other bells which are considered to be of theearly Western Zhou, but they lack an archaeologi-cal context and so will not be discussed furtherhere.

Both sets of Yu [88] bells which were made inthe early period of the Western Zhou (Kang, Shaoor Mu eras) have substantially completed theprocess of evolution from Shang to Yong bells, andso the date of the Type I bells should be earlierthan the Yu bells [89], but evidence to support thesuggestion that they could be as early late Shang islacking.

If this dating of Type I bells is correct, the dat-ing of the Type II bells is easier. The body struc-ture and decoration of the two types is much thesame. The only important difference is the pres-ence of a Wo. Type II (Yong bells [90]) evolveddirectly from Type I adding the Wo [91], whichenabled playing by suspension, but the hollowYong was retained so that the bell could still beplayed by resting it on the frame. Obviously TypeII is later than I, but it cannot be far from the earlyWestern Zhou. The development is the same asthat of the Yu bells and so the type can be put tothe Kang [92] era.

On Type III bells the characteristic hollowYong [93] of Types I and II (inherited in turn fromShang Nao [94] bells) has almost entirely disap-peared. The mud core remains in the Yong [95]and the point where it joins onto the Wu [97] is insome examples completely sealed. The shape of theYong [96] also changes, becoming narrower at thetop than the bottom. This is also found on Type IIbells. The taper on Type I bells is small, the differ-ence in diameter is only 0.4 to 0.7cm. On Type II itis larger: 0.9 to 1.3cm. On Type III it is larger still.The increased area of contact between the bottomof the Yong and the Wu strengthened the bell andchanged its centre of gravity and made it moresuitable for playing by suspension (Yong bell [98]).This method of playing was thereafter usedthroughout the pre-Qin Dynasty up to the end ofthe Bronze era. Type III are more developed andare later than Types I and II.

From another point of view, Type III sharesmany characteristics with Types I and II, such as aplain Wu, straight Yong, straight edges of the Xian[99], gentle curvature of the Yu [100] and small

A Study of the Jin Hou Su Bells 45

region occupied by the Mei. They can be traced tothe same origin and can not be too far apart indate. Those Western Zhou bells which share simi-lar characteristics with Type III bells are from themiddle and late periods of this dynasty. An earlyexample is the Yinghou bell [101]; two are known:one is in the Calligraphy Museum in Tokyo, theother was found in March 1974 in Hongxing [102]village, Lantian county of Shanxi Province. Thelatter has a complete body with a mud core in theYong. There are three tuning slots on the interiorwall of the bell and the Wu, Zhuan [103] and Guare all decorated with cloud patterns. On the rightof the Gu there is a bird pattern. These characteris-tics are almost the same as those on the Type IIIbells. The Yinghou bell is considered to be of theKing Gong era to which the Type III bells cannow be dated.

According to present evidence a set of bells inthe early Western Zhou consisted of two bells; thisnumber was gradually expanded. For example inthe Zha set [104], five bells are known so far. Atotal of 14 Xing bells [105] were found at Farmen-si [106], Fufeng county, Shanxi Province. In thelater Western Zhou, the Zhongyi [107] and Zuobells [108] consist of eight each and the Xizhong[109] and Guoshulu bells [110] consist of seven. Itis reasonable to put back the Type III Su bellsfrom the 33rd year of King Li [111] to the time ofKing Gong [112].

To summarise: the 16 Su bells were not allmade at the same time but were probably madeover a period of 200-300 years from the beginningof the Western Zhou up to the time of King Gong[113]. They exemplify a period of evolution of theYong bell (dimensions, weight, etc., see Tab. 1).

PART III

Since the finding of the bells of the Marquis Yi ofthe state of Zeng, the question of the tuning ofChinese bells has attracted much attention (seealso the contribution of Wu Zhao in this publica-tion). My ideas on the influence of the sound ridgeand tuning slots on bell intonation have been pub-lished in the excavation report on the ZhaoqingTomb [114] in Taiyuan City of Shanxi Province(Cultural Relics Publishing House).

The two tone function of Chinese bells ismainly governed by its bi-convex body shape(Hewa) [115]. This shape was initially establishedin Shang Nao [116]. It set a higher technologicalrequirement for the craftsmen and was more diffi-cult to achieve, so the tuning after the bell was castbecame more important. Tuning was done by fil-ing the interior of the bell. As well as adjusting the

pitch the maker also had to balance the volumeand timbre of the two sounds. The sound ridge(Yinji [117] or Yinyuan [118]) appeared in themiddle stage of the development of the Chinesebell, at the end of the Western Zhou and in theearly Spring and Autumn periods. Its presence canbe used for dating pre-Qin bells.

The Su bells are early Western Zhou and donot have sound ridges. Some are plain and somehave filed tuning slots which I will now examine (Ihave not inspected the two Shanxi bells).

The tuning method on the Type I and II bells isrelatively simple:

There is a filing breach on the interior lip [119]of the Mid-gu [120] area on the back of bell 73627,that just breaks the interior lip; there are no obvi-ous filing marks on the rest of the bell. On bell73628 there are filing slots 2.7 cm wide in the inte-rior lip of the two Mid-gu parts; they extend 10cmup the interior wall gradually becoming plain andsmooth. On bell 73629 there are two tuning slotseach 28 cm long and 1.5 cm wide which extend tothe Wu from the Mid-gu parts of the mouth, grad-ually fading out. On bell 73630 there is a small fil-ing mark on the interior lip and the depth is abouthalf that of the thickness of the Chun [121]. Thusthe method of tuning of Type I and II bells islocated in the Mid-gu parts of the interior lip ofthe mouth.

The tuning methods of the ten Type III bellsare more sophisticated and varied than those onTypes I and II. Specific examples include:

On bell 73640 there are slots in the two Mid-gu, four Side Gu [124] and the two tops of theXian [125] extending from the mouth to the bot-tom of the Wu [126], at which point they have dis-appeared. The slots are 8–9 cm long and 0.9 cmwide. The sand cast surface on the interior of thebell was left. On bell 73631 there are only six slots,there being none on the front Left [127] and backRight Gus [128], they are shallow and extend25 cm. Bell 73632 has eight deep slots 25 cm longand disposed as on 73640. Bell 73633 has nineslots: one in each of the two Mid-gu, one in theback Right Gu, and two side by side in each of thefront Side and back Left Gus. There are no obvi-ous filing marks in the two Xian [129]. Bell 73634has only one slot in the front left Gu and theinside of the body is smooth. Bells 73635 to 37have similar slots to 73640 of length 15 cms. andobvious filing marks in the two Xian tops. Bell73638 has five slots in the two Mid-gu, the tops ofthe two Xian [125] and in the front Mid-gu [130].Their length is from 8 to 14cm. Bell 73639 has sixslots, lacking those in the two front Side Gus.

The tuning methods of Type III bells followthese rules: 1. The slots are found in eight posi-tions: two top of Xian, two Mid-gu and four Side

Wang Zichu46

Gu. They come from the inner side of the mouthand extend to the under side of the Wu. The crosssection of a slot is semi-circular, being deep at themouth and become shallower as they ascend. Thefour slots in the Xian tops and the two Mid-gusare to produce the dual fundamental frequencies ofthe bell. 2. When tuning the slots are first made inthe Xian [131], then Mid-gu and finally in SideGu. If there are exceptions this is because the bellas cast already has the desired dual tone properties.3. The slots in the Side Gu are different and serveto tune the bell. This is fine tuning as the basicpitch is determined by the mould. Some bellsrequire fewer slots particularly in the Side Gu. Afew bells have two slots side by side. Comparedwith Types I and II bells these Type III bells showa more sophisticated system of tuning compatiblewith their suggested dating.

The Zeng Hou Yi bells [132] of Marquis Yi ofZeng have tuning described as: No edges can beseen inside the Xian, unlike on the outside of thebell body. The slots are smooth. There are alsosunken slots in the Mid-gu, but they are shallower.The Side Gu bulges from the bottom of Mei-Zhuan [133] and becomes wider and thicker form-ing a sound ridge at the mouth. The Yi [134] bellsare at the pinnacle of Chinese bronze bell manu-facture, but evidence of their tuning technologycan already be seen in the Su bells.

The structure of bells was discussed in thebook Zhou Li: Kao Gong Ji [135] where it is statedthat the Mi [136] on the Yu is called Sui [137].There have been many explanations of what Mi[138] and Sui [139] are. The Qin dynasty scholarFeng Shui was incorrect in his Study of the Mi andSui [140] of Bells [141] when he claimed that Suiwere slots made in casting and that Mi was thesound ridge on the Side Gu. The contemporaryscholars Li Jinghua [142] and Hua Juemin [143]think that Mi are Sui which are slots in the interiorof Xian [144] and Mid-gu. Feng Guangsheng [145]insists that four protruding parts (sound ridges)within the bell can be regarded as Mi with Sui as aslot in the Mi (Fu Shi Zhang Ju [147] stories). Infact as it is clearly stated in the Kao Gong Ji [146]that Mi on Yu [148] is called Sui the key point is tounderstand Mi. In the same book Qing Shi ZhangJu [149] states that if the sound is too high the sur-face of the Qing should be filed, if it is too low thetop of the Qing [150] should be filed. I think thatMi means filing and polishing: the filing part onYu is called Sui. This word Sui refers to the slot inthe mouth [151] of bells of the Western Zhou. Thisimplies that the book (Zhou Li. Kao Gong Ji [152])is applicable to the Western Zhou. Zhou bells didnot have sound ridges and so the slots formed byfiling or Sui can be seen obviously. From theSpring and Autumn period bells had sound ridges

and there was uncertainty about the tuningmethod or Sui [153]. Particularly in the WarringStates period, when sound ridges changed frombeing long and narrow to plate shape, the conceptof Sui became obscure. The suggestion of Li andHua that Mi is Sui is not wrong for the era afterthe Spring and Autumn period when bells hadsound ridges. Similarly Feng Guangsheng’s viewthat Sui are slots on sound ridges is correct forlater periods.

PART IV

Of these 16 bells 73629 is dumb, but the rest canbe played fairly well. The twelve Type III bells inparticular have good sound quality. A bird patternis found on the front and on the Right Gu [154] ofeach of the bells and this is the striking point forthe two tones. The Side Gu [155] tone is a clearminor third above that of the Mid-gu [156] and itis a much better quality sound than that producedby striking other parts of the bell. The sound hereis not disturbed by that of the Mid-gu. This indi-cates that the craftsmen producing these bells hadgrasped the design and casting techniques neces-sary for producing these two sounds. The soundquality on Type I and II bells is not so good nor isthe balance between the two sounds. Just like theirstructural characteristics and their methods of tun-ing, the acoustical properties are in a transitionalperiod.

The visual and sound laboratory of my insti-tute made the measurements and produced theformal report (see Table 2). The size and pitches ofbells 73631 and 73632 are similar, so also 73633and 73634; 73635, 73636, 73637 and 73638. Addingthe two bells from the excavation, 73639 andI11M8:33 and 73640 and M8:32 make similar pairs.The bells can be divided into two groups of similarpitch each of eight bells. Ma Chengyuan alsodivided the bells into two groups according totheir inscriptions and these groupings are in agree-ment. Thus when the bells were inscribed the twogroups were not mixed.

Table 2 gives measured frequencies and pitchesderived assuming the standard a’ is 440 herz withsmaller intervals given in cents (1200 cents to anoctave). In Table 3 the pitches are also given (inChinese) transposed down 40 cents which is takenas the standard of Gong [157]. The tuning is poor.There are five possible reasons: 1. Indifferent stan-dards of the makers; 2. Pitch perception does notexactly follow measured frequency. For examplein piano tuning a musician prefers the octaves tobe spread. This might explain why the intervalsbetween the two tones are larger than a minorthird. This is a characteristic of bells of the pre-

A Study of the Jin Hou Su Bells 47

Qin period; 3. The frequency may have changed asa result of damage and corrosion, although this isnot very serious on the Su bells; 4. As I have indi-cated previously the bells were not produced at thesame time but were manufactured over a 100 yearperiod. Even today it is difficult to match the pitchof a new bell to an existing example; 5. The tuningtechniques were still evolving. Compared to the Yibells these lagged behind technically. Taking allthese factors into account and despite discrepan-cies of a semitone the Gong [158] of bells 73630,73638 and 73640 are described as such in Table 3.If they were ascribed to Biangong [159] or Yujiao[160], it would be difficult to explain such a tuningsystem in bells of the Western Zhou.

In the Yinshang period bells were already usedmelodically. On many Yinshang Nao [161] the twosounds Mid [162] and Side Gu [163] formed com-plete five or more note scales. Examples include theYaqiang Naos [164] found in the Fuhao tomb [165]and the Naos found in tomb no. 312 in Dasikongvillage [166] of Anyang in Henan Province (1953).As a melodic instrument the bell has deficiencies.Disregarding such factors as its high cost, difficulttechnology and strict hierarchy of use, the bell isnot an ideal melodic instrument. This is mainlybecause its sound is long enduring. When a melodymoves rapidly the inharmonious sounds are intol-erably bad. So the major function of a bell is inusing its grand and continuous sound to create agrave, lofty or even solemn and fearful atmosphere.This was the requirement of the rulers of the Shangand Zhou dynasties. On occasions of actual musi-cal performance, the major function of the earlybell was to play the main tone of the melody so asto strengthen the rhythm and set off the atmos-phere by contrast. The book Guoyu. Zhouyu [167]states that bells were used to strengthen the atmos-phere and rhythm. The main melodic instruments

were the Qin [168] (a seven stringed zither), the Se[169] (a twenty five stringed zither), and the wood-wind Sheng [170] and Guan [171].

The rulers of the Zhou dynasty inherited theirsocial system from the Shang dynasty, but as isrecorded in documents, Zhou dynasty bells didnot use the tone Shang [172], which uses the samecharacter as the name of the previous dynasty.This reflected a hostile attitude to the previousdynasty, but also shows that people in the Zhoudynasty did not have a strong sense of the melodicuse of bells. Removing the tone Shang [173] from afive note scale limits the melodic possibilities anddemonstrates an indifference to melodic use com-pared with the previous dynasty.

Table 3 shows that although the Su bells are alarge group (16 resp. 8 bells) the tone Shang is notused. This reflects the respect that Jin Hou Su hadfor the royal Zhou family, as is also indicated inthe inscriptions which state that the marquis Suwent on a military expedition for King Zhou.Even the Zuo bells [174] which were made in themiddle or later Western Zhou and had eight bellsof range three and a half octaves still only hadGong [175], Jiao [176], Zhi, and Yu [177] with noShang [178]. The late Western Zhou bells found intomb no. 210 in Shangguo village [179], Wenxicounty, Shanxi Province break this restriction andbegan to use Shang. Two additional bells, nos. 4and 7, give as Mid and Side Gu the tones Shangand Bianzhi [180]. These bells give the standard sixtone scale with Bianzhi covering two octaves. TheShang tone was confirmed and consolidated.

The range of the Su bells is from a to c4, threeoctaves and a minor third. This range was rare atthat period.

The unique scholarly value of these bellsextends beyond their importance in the history ofChina and its musical culture.

Wang Zichu48

A Study of the Jin Hou Su Bells 49

LIST OF CHARACTERS

Wang Zichu50

Fig. 1 The names of the parts of the Yong Bells.

A Study of the Jin Hou Su Bells 51

Fig

. 4Ty

pe I

II: B

ell n

o. 7

3632

.F

ig. 3

Type

II:

Bel

l no.

736

30.

Fig

2Ty

pe I

: Bel

l no.

736

27.

Wang Zichu52

Table 1 Dimensions of the Jin Hou Su Bells.

Table 2 Report on the Sound Measurements.

A Study of the Jin Hou Su Bells 53

Tabl

e 4

The

four

-not

e ro

w o

f the

Jin

Hou

Su

Bel

ls.

Tabl

e 3

Soun

d C

ompa

riso

n of

the

Jin

Hou

Su

Bel

ls (w

ith

anex

ampl

e fo

r m

easu

ring

).