Bianzhong - Ancient Chinese Bronze Musical Instrument Ornament
This product imitates the production of ancient chimes and is a miniature version, suitable for home decoration and gifts, with ancient Chinese characteristics.
Size: 38cm x 5cm x24cm
Weight：0.7KG
Material:
Chimes: Alloy
A frame: Resin
Bianzhong History：
Bianzhong (Chinese:编钟) 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.
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).
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.
In the modern day, Confucian ritual celebrations in Korea still utilizes bianzhong. The instrument's role is to lead the orchestra (doubling the melody of the winds and strings), while larger bells punctuate hymn phrases.
