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AN IMPORTANT RITUAL GILT BRONZE BELL, BIANZHONG
CHINA, MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)
A Rare and Important Imperial Gilt Bronze Bell
Rosemary Scott, Senior International Academic Consultant, Asian Art
This extremely rare imperial gilt-bronze bell is of the type known as bianzhong 編鐘. It is finely cast in high relief and of oval section with a plaque mounted on a lotus stand front and back, and a vigorous five-clawed dragon chasing a flaming pearl on each side. Bands of clouds or waves and bosses encircle the bell, while on the flattened upper surface of the bell a crane and phoenix are cast on either side of the arches, which protrude from the top as if from waves, and from which the bell would have been suspended. The largest of these arches is decorated with dense clouds.
Music with bianzhong bells, was regarded as essential in conducting Confucian rituals at the Imperial altars and other state ceremonies, including ascension ceremonies when a new emperor took the throne, formal banquets and other court assemblies, and during processions of the Imperial Guard. Such bells were usually assembled in sets of sixteen, providing twelve musical tones with four repeated notes in lower or higher octaves. The twelve Chinese musical tones are arranged in the following sequence: Huangzhong (黃鍾 1st), Dalü (大呂 2nd), Taicu (太蔟 3rd), Jiazhong (夾鍾 4th), Guxi (姑 洗 5th), Zhonglü (仲呂 6th), Ruibin (蕤 賓 7th), Linzhong (林 鐘 8th), Yize (夷 則 9th), Nanlü (南呂 10th), Wuyi (無 射 11th), and Yingzhong (應 鐘 12th). In Chinese musicology, the twelve main tones alternately provide yang 陽, positive, and yin 陰, negative, notes. The four repeated bells of lower octaves, making up the total of sixteen, are Bei Yize 倍夷 則, Bei Nanlü 倍南呂, Bei Wuyi 倍無 射, and Bei Yingzhong 倍應 鐘. These bianzhong bells are clapperless and were played by being hung on racks and struck with a wooden mallet to produce the appropriate sound. The racks of bells were frequently paired with racks of qing 磬chiming stones or lithophones, which were played by suspending them on a silk cord and striking them with a wooden mallet.
Bells played an important part in formal Chinese court music over many centuries, while music itself was regarded as of great significance.
‘Music and dance are such important elements of political life that they should not be squandered on entertainment’.
This statement is attributed to Confucius (Kong Fuzi 孔夫子, 551 to 427 BC), who believed that music had an extremely important role in society. The later, 3rd century BC, Confucian philosopher Xunzi (荀子, c. 298 – 238 BC) professed the view that a wise ruler could influence his subjects by ensuring that they listened to appropriate music. He was of the opinion that musical tones were based on the responses of the human heart to external stimuli. Ritual and music came to be regarded as twin instruments of government.
In the Zhou dynasty Chinese scholars developed a classification system for musical instruments. This system, which appears in the 3rd century BC Zhouli (周禮Rites of Zhou) and also in the Shujing (書經 Classic of History) is known as the bayin (八音 eight tone) and is based upon the resonating materials from which the instruments were made – skin, clay, metal, stone, gourd, wood, silk, and bamboo. This division into eight categories complemented cosmological assumptions and concepts like the ‘eight compass points’ and the ‘eight trigrams’ (八卦 bagua). The Shujing is regarded as one of the Five Confucian Classics (Wu jing 五經), along with the Shijing (詩經Classic of Poetry), the Liji (禮記 Book of Rites), the Yijing (易經 Book of Changes) and the Chunqiu (春秋 Spring and Autumn Annals). Some writers, such as the Han dynasty historian Sima Qian (司馬遷 c. 145 – c. 86 BC), referred to a sixth classic, the Yuejing (樂經 Classic of Music), which they believed to have been destroyed in the notorious ‘burning of the books and burying of the scholars’ 焚書坑儒 fengshu gengru, supposedly carried out in 213 BC on the orders of Qin Shi Huang. There is debate as to whether the Yuejing actually existed, but it is nevertheless significant that music was regarded as of sufficient importance to have been the subject of one of the Confucian classics. It certainly appears to have been the case that as early as the 1st century BC, during the Han dynasty, the Yuefu 樂府 – Imperial Music Bureau - was established, and this office, in various incarnations, continued to the end of the imperial era.
The Liji (Book of Rites), which in addition to being one of the Five Confucian Classics was one of the Three Ritual Classics (San li 三禮), was a compilation of descriptions of rituals written during the late Warring States (5th century-221 BC) and the Western Han period ( 206 BC-AD 8). This text noted the Confucian principle that ceremonies and music were among: ‘the instruments by which the minds of the people are assimilated, and good order in government made to appear’. This view continued to be reflected in court music down the centuries. It is, therefore, not surprising to see ritual music portrayed in depictions of another famous Confucian text, the Classic of Filial Piety.
The Classic of Filial Piety (Xiaojing孝經), the text of which was probably written during the early Han dynasty, purports to relate a conversation between Confucius and one of his students Zengzi (曾子 505–435 BC), in which Confucius advises on the correct way to behave towards a senior person, such as a parent. The main thrust of the text is that if a person honours and serves their parents, then they will also honour and serve their ruler, and this will lead to a harmonious society. In one section of a handscroll by the Northern Song painter Li Gonglin 李公麟 (AD 1049-1106) – now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum, New York - the artist illustrates chapter 16 of the Classic of Filial Piety. Li Gonglin chose to illustrate the part of the chapter which says: ‘In the ancestral temple he manifests the utmost reverence, showing that he does not forget is parents.’ Here the emperor, accompanied by the empress and an ‘officer of prayer’, is shown performing sacrifices to his ancestors, and, in the foreground, can be seen the racks of bells and the racks of chiming stones which would have provided some of the music to accompany this important ritual. It is thought that this painting dates to AD 1085, the year which marked the death of Emperor Shenzong (神宗r. 1067–1085) and the accession of Emperor Zhezong (哲宗r. 1085–1100). The same section of the Classic of Filial Piety is depicted on a more formal and colourfully rendered painting in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei. It was previously believed that the calligraphy on this was that of Emperor Gaozong (高宗AD 1107-1187) himself and that the painter was Ma Hezhe (馬和之fl. AD 1131-1189), but the National Palace Museum now dates the work to the 13th century. Nevertheless, the racks of bells and chiming stones are very much in evidence for the performance of this important sacrifice to the imperial ancestors. Three of each are shown. It is interesting to note that on both these Song dynasty paintings the bells all appear to be of the same size. This is also the case with surviving Ming and Qing dynasty bianzhong bells, where it is clear that although the bells all appear to be the same size, they are in fact of different thicknesses and it is this which determines their different tones.
Bronze bells have a very long history in China and have been found at a number of Bronze Age sites, including the famous Shang dynasty tomb of Lady Fu Hao 婦好, who was consort to King Wu Ding (武丁r. 1250 - 1192 BC). When her tomb was excavated in 1976 it was found to contain 23 bronze bells of the type known as nao 鐃bells. However, the most magnificent set of early bells was excavated in 1978 from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng 曾侯乙at Leigudun, Suixian in Hubei province. This tomb dates to about 433 BC and contained particularly fine bronzes and lacquers. Among the most spectacular finds from this tomb is a set of 65 bells, comprised of 64 bianzhong and one bo bell. The set of 64 bells was mounted on lacquered wooden frames supported by elaborate bronze mounts. They are hung at 3 levels and divided into 8 groups. It has been estimated that it would have taken 5 musicians working simultaneously to play this set of bells. All the bells produce two tones, depending on where they are struck with the wooden mallet. Thus, there is material evidence that in the Zhou dynasty there was already an established tradition of extravagant racks of bells, which could be played for court rituals - a tradition which was continued to the end of the imperial period.
Not surprisingly, there were special government agencies responsible court music. In the Ming dynasty, the Music Office (Jiaofansi) was established under the auspices of the Board of Rites, and later the Court of Imperial Sacrifices (Taichangsi 太常司). The music performed for imperial sacrifices and court assemblies was known as yayue 雅樂 (elegant music), and this term specifically alluded to the music of the Confucian golden age (the Zhou dynasty), which each later dynasty in turn claimed to be reviving - although the earliest documents providing details of yayue appear to date to the Tang dynasty (AD 618-907). The type of music performed during sacrifices at the first and second rank altars, and at the three major court assemblies – for the New Year, at the winter solstice and on imperial birthdays - was known as zhonghe shaoyue 中和韶樂. The name referred to the shao (beautiful/harmonious) music associated with the legendary Emperor Shun, although the name zhonghe shaoyue first seems to have appeared in the early Ming dynasty, during the Hongwu reign (1368-98). Indeed, the Hongwu Emperor was pivotal in the shaping of Ming dynasty court music and set up four court music offices. The most important of these was the State Sacrificial Office, while the others were responsible for Eunuch Music, Entertainment Music, and Palace Women’s Music.
It seems likely that when Aisin Gioro Nurgaci 愛新覺羅 努爾哈赤 (AD 1559-1626), declared himself khan and heir to the Jin dynasty in 1616 he adopted Chinese court music as well as the display of imperial regalia (lubu 鹵 簿). Certainly, there were orders issued for ritual music to accompany the sacrifice to Heaven and the New Year rituals in the years 1623, 1632 and 1634. In 1636 regulations for the imperial equipage listed 84 musicians and the playing of 15 kinds of music in the imperial processions. After they ‘crossed the wall’ and entered Beijing, the Manchus of the newly established Qing dynasty speedily sought the services of the surviving members of the Ming court music groups to perform the dayue (大 樂) Great Music necessary for the conquerors’ symbolic demonstration of the beginning of the new dynasty – their first sacrifice to Heaven. The account of the Manchus first sacrifice to Heaven in the Veritable Records makes it clear that Ming music was played, and in the first part of the Qing dynasty all the ritual music was comprised of variations on Ming ritual music.
A small number of bianzhong bells similar to the current example are known. A Ming dynasty bell of identical design, but slightly smaller size, than the current instrument is now displayed in the Temple of Heaven, Beijing. It has been reported that this bell, amongst other treasures, was removed from the Temple of Heaven in 1901, and that it was later deposited by a British officer, James A. Douglas, of the 2nd Bengal Lancers, in an Officers’ Club in India, where it remained until 1994, at which time it was returned to China by General B. C. Joshi. The bell went on display in the Temple of Heaven on 21 April, 1995. In June 2010 a similar bell, which was missing its striking plates, was sold by Sotheby’s Paris, and in May 2016 a similar bell, also devoid of its striking plates was sold by Lyon & Turnbull. In March 2015 a complete bell of the same size and design as the current bell was sold by Freeman’s, and in September of the same year a pair of similar bells were sold by the same auction house. The current bell appears to be the same one sold by Christie’s London on 21 March 1966, lot 171.
Several bianzhong bells dating to the Kangxi and Qianlong reigns of the Qing dynasty are known in international museum collection, including a complete set of sixteen bells dating to the Qianlong reign, preserved in the Forbidden City, Beijing (illustrated in Daily Life in the Forbidden City, Wan Yi, Wang Shuqing and Lu Yanzhen (eds.) Rosemary Scott and Erica Shipley (trans.), Viking, Harmondsworth, England, 1988, p. 39, pl. 43), and a small number have also appeared at auction, such as the Kangxi bell dated by inscription to 1716 sold by Tessier and Sarrou, Paris, in January 2020.
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