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This is one of the largest intact sets of bells known from ancient China. It would have been sounded on ceremonial occasions and to entertain honored guests.
The bells are arranged on a two-tier rack and sound by being struck; there is no clapper. Because the bells are elliptical, each can emit two tones depending on where it is struck, and the set can produce sounds ranging over four octaves. This type of bell is known as yongzhong. Yong refers to the shaft that helps to suspend the bell so that it tilts toward the player. Zhong is the bell body, which has nine raised bosses (the number nine had cosmological significance) to give greater resonance. Each zhong is decorated with interlacing dragons, illustrative of this period's tendency toward abstraction of form. An inscription is repeated on each of the bells, part of which reads:
I, Wangsun Gao, selected my auspicious metals and for myself made these harmonizing bells. They are long-vibrating and sonorous, and their fine sound is very loud. With them, sternly and in a very dignified manner, I reverently serve the king of Chua... Glistening are the harmonizing bells. With them feast in order to please and make happy the king of Chu... How blissful and brightly joyous! For ten thousand years without end, forever preserve and strike them.
trans. Lothar von Falkenhausen
Tomb 2 belonged to a man named Peng, or Yuan Zi Feng, who is identified as chief minister of the Chu court until his death in 548 B.C. Wangsun Gao, identified on the bell set, may have been the son of Peng's predecessor as chief minister. It is unclear how Peng came to own the bell chime.
Bronze bells are strongly associated with southern states, particularly Chu. A large set was also excavated at the tomb of Zenghou Yi (see More About Excavations at the Tomb of Marquis Yi). Designed to produce subtle variations in pitch (inscriptions indicate they were set in advance), each bell must have required exceptional casting skill. Based on other objects found at Xiasi, it would seem that the tomb owners eagerly exploited the latest developments in bronze working, including pattern blocks to create repeated designs, metal inlay, and use of the lost-wax technique.
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