Publication resounds with ancient bells

Major archaeological discoveries of the Zeng era have continued in recent years. For example, the Guojiamiao ancient Zeng State tomb in Zaoyang, Hubei province, was listed by China Cultural Relic News among the top 10 archaeological discoveries of 2014.

According to Pan Tao, editor-in-chief of Gold Wall Press, findings since 1978 through March this year were included in the book. Many pictures on the chime bells, such as those of the detailed portrayals of inscriptions, have never been released to the public before.

Rigid acoustical experiments were also performed for this book. A whole set of chime bells has five and one-half octaves, which was only achieved by pianos in 18th-century Europe.

"Still, we want to make sure this book is not just a report on an archaeological excavation," says Feng Guangsheng, who was in charge of the publishing project. "It serves (ordinary) readers far more than archaeologists. Nor is it a collection of theses.

"It's a record of a whole generation's memory of the chime bells. We want to put it into a global perspective to include more comparative studies."

Feng and his team have made the step to promote cross-border cooperation on research: At the book-release ceremony, the establishment of the Chime Bells Academy, co-organized by the Chinese Museum Association, the Chinese National Academy of Arts and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was announced.

"We want to use Chime Bells of Marquis Yi of Zeng as a foundation to begin studies on similar types of ancient musical instruments around the world," says Feng.