the bell is composed of a dance part, a cymbal part, a seal part, a drum part, a piece and a milling part. On the dance part at the top of the bell, there is a pillar, which is the characteristic of the bell. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, there was a lack of merchants in the five tones of Yong Zhong, which was said to show the denial of Yin Shang in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Different from the Yong Zhong, the upper end of the dance part of the button bell is a rectangular button with several rings, and its tile-shaped structure can achieve the effect of "two tones in one bell". The bell is inserted directly into the beam of copper-wood structure, while the toggle bell is hung on the beam. There are also ring buttons on the clock, but it is different from other chimes in that the surface is painted with many lines, and the mouth edge is flat, so it can be hung on the bell suspension alone, so it is also called "special clock".
chimes generally follow the following rules: the smaller the chime, the higher the tone and the lower the volume; The bigger the chime, the lower the tone and the louder the volume. The chimes unearthed in the tomb of Zeng Houyi have three layers, the top layer consists of three sets of button bells, with 19 pieces of * * *, the middle and lower layers are Yong bells, and the gift from the king of Chu is also in the lower layer, with 45 pieces of * * *. The three layers of chimes are arranged in the order of bell size and pitch, and are placed in an L-shaped suspension.
During the excavation of tombs in those years, the tombs were all soaked in stagnant water and pumped for a long time. With the decline of water level, the tomb was gradually unveiled, and the L-shaped bell bronze wooden frame was finally presented to the world again after more than two thousand years. Except for a few chimes, most of them are still hung on the bronze wooden frame, and 65 chimes are rare in the world.
Archaeologists have found a large number of bronzes engraved with the name "Ceng Houyi" among more than 1, cultural relics. According to the usual practice, the owner of the tomb can be identified as Ceng Houyi, but there is almost no record of Ceng Houyi in historical records, so it is impossible to know exactly when he lived. However, one of Zeng Houyi's chimes helped archaeologists determine the age of Ceng Houyi's life, which was a gift to the King of Chu.
There is an inscription on the coffin presented by the King of Chu: "I (the only) King worshiped fifty and six times, and returned from the West (Yang), and the King of Chu (Xiong) Zhang Zha (made) Zong Yi, Ceng Houyi, and (the memorial) was for the West, and it will be enjoyed forever." In the fifty-sixth year of the King of Chu, the king (Xiong Zhang, King Hui of Chu) specially cast the Zhong as a sacrificial vessel for Ceng Houyi, and sent it from Xiyang to the State of Zeng, hoping that Ceng Houyi would keep it and use it forever. According to the inscription "King 56 was also sacrificed", it was determined that the year was 433 BC, and Ceng Houyi should have died in this year, or earlier.
In the pre-Qin period, it was extremely rare for a vassal of one country to cast Zong Yi for another. So far, only this piece of Chu Wang's gift was found in the tomb of Zeng Houyi, which shows the close relationship between Chu and the two countries. Perhaps, by pushing the relationship with Chu behind this clock forward for two generations, we can better understand why the Chu king gave the clock to Zeng Hou when he died.
King Ping, the grandfather of King Hui of Chu, listened to Fei Wuji's slanders and killed Wu She, a loyal minister of Chu, and his eldest son Wu Shang, and his second son Wu Yuan (Zi Xu) fled to the State of Wu. Wu Zixu vowed to avenge himself and recommended Zhuan Zhu to Guo Gongzi Guang. Later, Zhuan Zhu successfully assassinated Wu Wangliao with a fish-intestines sword, and helped Gongzi Guang to become the monarch of Wu, for the sake of Wu Wang He Lv. Later, Wu Zixu recommended Sun Wu as the strategist of the State of Wu, helping the State of Wu to build its powerful military strength.
after Wu Zixu helped the kingdom of Wu to become strong, he mobilized troops to attack Chu, and occupied the capital of Chu in five successive wars, almost destroying it. At this time, King Chu Ping had been dead for ten years, but Wu Zixu still spared him. He dug up King Ping's body and whipped his body three hundred times to avenge the death of his father and brother. King Zhao, the son of King Ping, fled to the country, and Hou refused to hand over King Zhao of Chu to the State of Wu. At this time, Shen Baoxu, the minister of Chu who went to the State of Qin for help, had been supported by the State of Qin in sending troops, so Wu withdrew.
Since then, the relationship between Chu and Sui has been unusual. After the death of King Zhao, Zi Zhang succeeded to the throne for King Hui of Chu. In order to show his gratitude for taking Zhao Wang in with the country, King Hui learned that Ceng Houyi had passed away, and sent a bell to express his gratitude, and will continue to maintain friendly relations with the country from generation to generation.
However, the mound presented by the King of Chu hanging on the bell rack is only a ritual vessel, not a musical instrument for playing. Zeng Houyi's chimes amazed the world by far more than that, such as the reappearance of "one bell with two tones" that disappeared for two thousand years. The so-called "one bell with two tones" means that a chime can strike two different tones. Casting such a chime requires a very high level of bronze casting and is economically cost-effective. Originally, a chime can only knock out one sound, and a chime that can knock out two sounds means that the consumption of scarce bronze resources can be reduced.
However, with the decline of the Bronze Age, the casting technology of "one bell and two tones" has gradually disappeared, only being recorded in ancient books. During the period of Song Huizong, Huizong, conscious of the national musical disorder, ordered the casting of grand bells as instruments for tuning, but these bells did not have the effect of "one bell with two tones". Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty also used gold to cast sixteen round chimes as tuning instruments.
For more than 2, years, no one knew how to realize "one bell with two tones", and it was not until the appearance of chimes in the tomb of Zeng Houyi that people re-understood "one bell with two tones". As early as the Song Dynasty, when Shen Kuo discussed the reasons why chimes were used as musical instruments in his Meng Xi Bi Tan, he wrote: A bell with a round cover has a long sound, while a flat one has a short sound. The short sound is the knot, the long sound is the song, and the short sound of the knot is chaotic, which is not a melody. Therefore, as musical instruments, clocks are flat, but round clocks cannot be played. Almost all western clocks are round, so they cannot be played.
The tile-shaped structure of the chime in the tomb of Zeng Houyi is the important reason why it can achieve "two tones in one bell". Knocking on the main drum and knocking on the side drum will produce different vibrations, which have been treated with precise technology, so that the two sounds produced will not affect each other. Wang Xiang, who was involved in the study of Zeng Houyi's chime, just published a theoretical study on the realization of "one bell with two tones" before the excavation in Ceng Houyi. Many people were skeptical about his research results, but the chime of Zeng Houyi just happened to give him the strongest support.
The chime is a heavy instrument in bronze musical instruments. It is a genuine heavy instrument. For example, the chime of Zeng Houyi weighs more than 2,5 kilograms and is supported by a copper wooden frame in more than 2, kilograms. As mentioned above, in addition to chimes, there are many instruments such as lutes, harps, chimes, silk and bamboo in the tomb of Zeng Houyi.
what is "music"? Yue Ji said: "Musicians, the origin of sound is also born, which is based on the feeling of people's hearts and things." Confucianism divides music into three different levels: sound, sound and music. The so-called "sound" is the sound without rhythm and melody; Sound has rhythm and melody, and it is born from people's hearts. "Feeling things moves, so it is shaped by sound." ; "It's fun to compare sounds, and it's fun to dry the feathers." Music is born of sounds, but it still comes from people's feelings about things.
Although sound and music seem to be the same, in fact, only "German sound" can be called music, which means that sound is a necessary and sufficient condition for music. Book of Rites? Music Notes: "A man who enjoys music is similar to but different from the sound", and "a man who enjoys music is born in people's hearts"; Music, ethics also. It is an old friend who knows the sound but doesn't know it, and the beast is also; Those who know each other but don't know how to be happy are the common people. Only a gentleman can know happiness. " Therefore, only the sound that accords with Tao can be called music.
what is the sound of Tao? When the sound is endowed with rhythm and melody, it can become a sound (the sound is written, which means the sound). If the sound is combined with virtue, it can become music, which is called "the sound of virtue". Wei Wenhou asked Zixia, "I listen to ancient music while listening to it, but I'm afraid to lie down. Listening to Zheng Weizhi's voice, you are not tired, why not? " Zixia replied that although Zheng Weizhi's voice is popular, the five tones are all chaotic. This is the voice of troubled times, which is far from music. Ancient music is often praised by gentlemen, because it "starts with writing, rebuffs chaos with force, manages chaos with phase, and inquires with elegance", while "Zheng Yin likes to indulge her ambition, Song Yinyan drowns her ambition, Wei Yin tends to annoy her ambition, and Qi Yin ao Bi Qiao Zhi", all of which are harmful to virtue, so they will not be played during the sacrifice.
"The way of voice is connected with politics." Starting from the Book of Songs, the Zhou Dynasty set up an official office to collect poems from all over the country, and the officials who collected the songs recorded the poems that reflected the local people's customs and political morality. I am afraid it is unnecessary to explain the common sense that early poems were used to sing. From the beginning, music has established an inseparable relationship with politics.
Therefore, by appreciating the music in a certain place, we can know how the local politics is (politics and politics are not synonymous) for two reasons: First, what kind of music the princes, as the masters of all peoples, like to listen to will also directly affect the folk customs. The popular music advocated by the monarch will inevitably affect the people's taste for a long time, so the people's temperament is also influenced by music for a long time. Second, happiness is born in people's hearts and feels in things. "The voice of governing the world is happy, and its politics. The voice of troubled times complains with anger, and its politics is good. The voice of national subjugation is sorrowful and its people are trapped. " Where the country is, there is joy, so Guanyin knows politics.
in the pre-Qin period, the relationship between ceremony and music was roughly as follows: "ceremony is the main thing, music is the auxiliary thing;" Take the ceremony as the body and enjoy it. " "Rites" usually appear at the same time. As mentioned above: "Musicians are the sum of heaven and earth; The ritual, the order of heaven and earth. " The nature of ceremony "the order of heaven and earth" determines that it is more mandatory than music, which is manifested in the ritual system; Music, on the other hand, is relatively mild and not mandatory. Happiness comes from the heart and comes from the inside, while courtesy is an external rule and system imposed on people.
"The musicians are the same, but the proprietors are different". The ritual system stipulates that there are hierarchical differences between things, while music embodies the harmony between things. People who are committed to music can adjust their minds, and the ultimate is harmony, which is internal; Dedicated to propriety to regulate behavior, the ultimate is obedience, which is external. Therefore, devoting to the promotion of rites and music can not only improve personal cultivation but also realize effective governance of the country.
As a vassal state of Ji, which is located between Jianghan in the south, although Zeng was inevitably influenced by the barbarian culture in the south, it always respected Zhoushi. The tomb of Zeng Houyi also reflected the shadow of Zhou culture everywhere, such as the worship of dragons, and even Ceng Houyi's name "B" was named after it because of its dragon-like shape.
when I was a middle school student, my understanding of the tomb of Zeng Houyi was limited to the excavation of a large number of bronze artifacts, which was one of the most important archaeological discoveries in recent decades and was as famous as Mawangdui Han Tomb. However, when I first saw Zeng Houyi's chimes with my own eyes, I realized that those bronze chimes were not just objects, but also a long-standing Chinese civilization, which has not been cut off until today.