Ritual bell (the so-called Wangsun Yizhe yongzhong)

Music was important to ritual and leisure activities during the Zhou dynasty. Large orchestras played a range of percussion, string, and woodwind instruments, most of which were made of wood and other perishable materials and have long since vanished. Fortunately, large sets of bronze bells were also created, and excavated examples provide insights into the complexity of Zhou music. Sets had as many as sixty-five bells, the largest more than five feet in height. Because of their elliptical circumference, each bell can produce two distinct notes when struck with a wooden mallet.

The 113-character inscription on the outside of this bell indicates that it was cast on behalf of Wangsun Yizhe, a member of the ruling family of the southern kingdom of Chu. More than half of this inscription is identical to that on a set of twenty-six bells from a Chu tomb datable to around 550 BCE. It provides insight into the use and significance of these musical instruments.