Excavations in south China have revealed a large amount of bronze musical instruments dating from the Shang (c. 1600 – 1046 BCE) and the Zhou (c. 1045 – 256 BCE) Dynasties. Each of these music instruments display pronounced regional characteristics and are important artefacts as they can give us great insight into Chinese history at this time.
One type of instruments found were large bells named ‘nao’. These large bells were different from the southern bells as they were set on a stand and hit upright, instead of being grasped in the hands and struck downwards. The tops of the bells are fashioned quite wide and narrow at the bottom with a curved rim and a cylindrical shank (yong). The player can produce two different types of tones with these bells by striking at the ‘gu’ and the ‘sui’ sections. These are called the sui-tone and the gu-tone. The nao are sometimes called yong, zheng, duo, zhong or early period yongzhong.
There have been 73 bronze nao found in south China which are grouped into 6 main categories and 15 sub-categories. The first main type is made up of 21 examples of bells which feature animal-mask motifs and have been found principally in Hunan Province. The second group consists of 12 examples where the principal animal-mask motif is embellished with a cloud pattern design. The third category is made up of 3 examples where the cloud motif has almost completely replaced the animal-0mask motif. Only the eyes remain visible. The fourth group consists of 8 examples where the body of the nao is embellished with the cloud design and the animal mask has completely disappeared and 36 nipple-bosses appear on the zheng section of the bell.
The fifth category consists of 28 examples where the zhuanjian central panel is in the process of forming. Finally, the sixth category is made up of only 1 unusual nao which was unearthed in 1988. The primary design is a dissolved animal-mask. The two C-shaped panels which shape the animal-mask are framed with altering numbers of tooth-shaped protuberances. The eyes of the pattern are composed of two small turtles. The gu sections are decorated with 4 dragon images.
The bo was one of the most important musical instruments in China which were first seen in the late Shang period and prevalent during the Zhou period. The characteristics of the bo are a nui loop, a short mei and a narrow mouth and a straight rim. The body of the bo is thin, elongated and elliptical or almond-shaped in cross-section.
There are, however, only 17 officially published bo that have been found dating to these periods. These have been separated into 4 different categories; the first is made up of 9 examples of Bird-bo, where a bird design is embellished onto the lateral flanges and the animal-masks decorating the zheng sections. The Bird-bo is the earliest example, being dated to the late Shang period. The second category consists of the Tiger-bo, of which there are 6 examples. On these, the flanges are decorated with 4 flat-bodied tiger motifs with an imposing animal-mask on the zheng section and flattened circular nipple-bosses as decorative panels.
The third category is made up of 1 example where a cloud design is most dominant. Excavated from Zixing, Hunan Province, the zheng section of this instrument has cloud-pattern decoration as its principal motif, and dates from around the early Western Zhou Period (c. 1046 – 771 BCE). The fourth category consists of 1 example excavated at Qishan, Shaanxi Province. Dragon motifs decorate the niu suspension loops at the top and the lateral and central flanges are decorated with twisted dragons. Sixteen rhomboid mei adorn the bell above and below the zheng segments. The primary design is an animal-mask made up of dragon designs. On the gu section of the Ke-bo there is an inscription of 79 characters long which dates to the reign of King Yi of Zhou.
The bronze musical instruments were not merely instruments to create beautiful sounds; they were items that could express one’s religious beliefs and artistic talents. Studying these instruments has allowed scholars to gain new insight into early Chinese history. For example, it is clear that Shang and Zhou period bo from the south have been influenced by Shang and Zhou culture. The bronze bo originated in the area of the Xiang River basin and neighbouring regions, the homeland of the Yue people. In the north bo did not appear until the late Western Zhou period but they had a strong influence on the popularity of later bo.
Bibliography:
高 至 喜 (1992) Shang and Zhou Period Bronze Musical Instruments from South China, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African studies, Cambridge University Press on behalf of School of Oriental and African Studies.
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