Bianzhong

Bianzhong () is an ancient Chinese musical instrument consisting of a set of bronze bells, played melodically. China is the earliest country to manufacture and use musical chimes. They are also called Chime Bells. These sets of chime bells were used as polyphonic musical instruments and some of these bells have been dated at between 2,000 to 3,600 years old. They were hung in a wooden frame and struck with a mallet. Using a wooden hammer and a rod to beat the bronze bell can make different pitch. Along with the stone chimes called bianqing, they were an important instrument in China's ritual and court music going back to ancient times. Several sets of bianzhong were imported to the Korean court during the Song Dynasty. Pronounced in Korean as pyeonjong, the instrument became an important part in Korea's ritual and court music and is still in use. In Vietnam, the instrument, which was used in ceremonies in the court at Huế, is called biên chung. The instrument's name is pronounced henshō in Japanese. While the oldest clapperless bells in China date to as early as 2100 BCE, the organization of zhong bells into bianzhong (literally “arranged zhong”) developed in the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BCE). Bianzhong from this era had varied numbers of individual zhong (between 13 and 64), each of which could produce two distinct pitches and were suspended obliquely or vertically. In ancient China, the chime was a special instrument for upper class people and it was a symbol of power and wealth. In one set from this time period, the biggest bell was 153.4 centimeters (60.4 in) in height and weighed 203.6 kilograms (449 lb), while the smallest bell was 20.4 centimeters (8.0 in) in height and weighed 2.4 kilograms (5.3 lb). The instrument’s construction shifted dramatically in the Qin and Tang dynasties (221 BC – 907 BC). Bianzhong decreased in size during this period, being limited to sets of 14, 16, and 24 bells. Due to differences in bell construction, each zhong produced only one pitch. These bianzhong were tuned either to a seven-note scale or in twelve semitones.