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Lot Essay
The two characters Wuyi denote a classical pitch corresponding in function to A-sharp in Western musicology.
Heavily cast gilt-bronze bells of this type, known as bianzhong, took their inspiration from archaic bronzes of the Western Zhou dynasty (1100-771 BC). The best known archaic prototypes are those excavated from the tomb of the Marquis Zeng, now in the Hubei Provincial Museum, illustrated by Lothar von Falkenhausen, Suspended Music: Chime Bells in the Culture of Bronze Age China, California, 1993, p. 6, fig. 1. By the Qing dynasty, the imperial court closely followed Confucian ideals as set out in ancient Chinese classics such as the Book of the Zhou, Zhou Li, which advocated that rituals should commence with music. In the Qing dynasty, bianzhong were produced for the court and became an essential part of court ritual musical instruments. They were played during ceremonies at the imperial altars (in particular, the Temple of Heaven and Temple of Agriculture) and during formal banquets and state rites.
The present bells are part of a graduated set of sixteen, each of which are cast with varied thicknesses to provide a range of twelve standard musical tones with four additional repeated notes in lower octaves. Each of the twelve principal Chinese musical characters are cast to one side of each bell, opposite the reign mark, and together they appear in the following sequence: 1st, Huangzhong; 2nd, Dalu; 3rd, Taicu; 4th, Jiazhong; 5th, Guxi; 6th, Zhonglu; 7th, Ruibin; 8th, Lingzhong; 9th, Yize; 10th, Nanlu; 11th, Wuyi (as cast on the present bell) ; and 12th, Yingzhong. In Chinese musicology, the twelve main tones alternately provide a Yang, positive, and Yin, negative note. The four repeated bells of lower octaves, thus making up the total of sixteen, are Pei Yize, Pei Nanlu, Pei Wuyi, Pei Yingzhong.
Further research on these Kangxi ritual bells indicates that there are at least four sets of bells in private collections: two sets of which are dated to the 52nd year of Kangxi reign, and two sets dated two years later, 54th year. From the known group of bells made in the 54th year of Kangxi: cf. a single bell bearing the third standard tone,5 Taicu, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 17 May 1989, lot 454; and five bells from the Audrey Love Collection were sold at Christie's New York, 20 October 2004, in a single lot 456 (the bells respectively denoting 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th tones with a low octave Pei Yingzhong).
Heavily cast gilt-bronze bells of this type, known as bianzhong, took their inspiration from archaic bronzes of the Western Zhou dynasty (1100-771 BC). The best known archaic prototypes are those excavated from the tomb of the Marquis Zeng, now in the Hubei Provincial Museum, illustrated by Lothar von Falkenhausen, Suspended Music: Chime Bells in the Culture of Bronze Age China, California, 1993, p. 6, fig. 1. By the Qing dynasty, the imperial court closely followed Confucian ideals as set out in ancient Chinese classics such as the Book of the Zhou, Zhou Li, which advocated that rituals should commence with music. In the Qing dynasty, bianzhong were produced for the court and became an essential part of court ritual musical instruments. They were played during ceremonies at the imperial altars (in particular, the Temple of Heaven and Temple of Agriculture) and during formal banquets and state rites.
The present bells are part of a graduated set of sixteen, each of which are cast with varied thicknesses to provide a range of twelve standard musical tones with four additional repeated notes in lower octaves. Each of the twelve principal Chinese musical characters are cast to one side of each bell, opposite the reign mark, and together they appear in the following sequence: 1st, Huangzhong; 2nd, Dalu; 3rd, Taicu; 4th, Jiazhong; 5th, Guxi; 6th, Zhonglu; 7th, Ruibin; 8th, Lingzhong; 9th, Yize; 10th, Nanlu; 11th, Wuyi (as cast on the present bell) ; and 12th, Yingzhong. In Chinese musicology, the twelve main tones alternately provide a Yang, positive, and Yin, negative note. The four repeated bells of lower octaves, thus making up the total of sixteen, are Pei Yize, Pei Nanlu, Pei Wuyi, Pei Yingzhong.
Further research on these Kangxi ritual bells indicates that there are at least four sets of bells in private collections: two sets of which are dated to the 52nd year of Kangxi reign, and two sets dated two years later, 54th year. From the known group of bells made in the 54th year of Kangxi: cf. a single bell bearing the third standard tone,5 Taicu, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 17 May 1989, lot 454; and five bells from the Audrey Love Collection were sold at Christie's New York, 20 October 2004, in a single lot 456 (the bells respectively denoting 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th tones with a low octave Pei Yingzhong).