DATED TO CYCLICAL XINSI YEAR OF CHONGZHEN, CORRESPONDING TO 1641 AND OF THE PERIOD

This unusual asymmetrical chevron-form panel is a musical chime which would have been suspended by the circular aperture found at its right-angle. Chimes of this type were known as bianqing and were assembled in graduated sets of sixteen, arranged in accordance to their size or thickness; and were used in ritual ceremonies at the Imperial altars, formal banquets and processions. The inscription on the present chime denotes its musical note huangzhong, which is the lowest note in the entire set.

Extant imperial chimestones from the Ming period are extremely rare. An entry found in Mingshi, juan 61, benji 37 (History of Ming, Chapter 61, Biography of the Emperor 37) records that the Imperial Academy was reconstructed in xinsi cyclical year of the Chongzhen reign (1641), where the Emperor held rites in honour of Confucius in the same year. It is highly probable that new sets of muscial instruments were specially commissioned to commemorate the event, from which the current example probably once belonged.