Zong Zhou Zhong Bell
Late Western Zhou, about 850 BC
A large bronze bell, shaped like two curved tiles joined together, hangs from a stand in the bronze gallery. It is over sixty centimetres tall. Rows of raised bosses cover the upper body in neat blocks, a band of interlaced dragons runs between them, and the lower part is smooth. Chinese bells of this shape have no clapper: they were struck on the outside with a wooden mallet, and because of their almond shaped cross section each bell gives two distinct notes depending on where it is hit, one at the centre and one at the side.
What makes this bell famous is the long inscription cast on its face and sides, more than one hundred and twenty characters, in which a king of Zhou describes a military campaign in the south. A rebel chief dared to attack the borders, the king led his army against him, the enemy submitted and twenty six states sent envoys to the court. The king then had the bell cast to honour his ancestors and asked them to grant him long life and a strong realm. Because the inscription is written in the king's own voice, it is one of the very few bronzes believed to have been made for a Zhou king himself. Look at the shape of the characters, tall and orderly, and at the wear on the striking points.
The bell has been in the imperial collection since at least the Qing dynasty, when the Qianlong Emperor's catalogue recorded it, and it came to Taiwan in nineteen forty nine. It hangs near the Mao Gong ding, so the two greatest inscribed bronzes of the Western Zhou can be seen within a few steps. Together they turn the bronze gallery from a display of ancient pots into a library of the earliest Chinese history.
Did You Know? Each bell of this shape sounds two different notes, and ancient musicians tuned whole sets of them to play melodies.
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