Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng

Top view of the bianzhong

The Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng (Chinese: 曾侯乙; pinyin: Zēng Hóu Yǐ) is an important archaeological site in Suizhou, Hubei, China, dated sometime after 433 BC. The tomb contained the remains of Marquis Yi of Zeng. Zeng was a minor state subordinate to its powerful neighbor, Chǔ, during the Warring States Period.

The People's Liberation Army accidentally discovered the tomb in 1977 while destroying a hill to build a factory at Leigudun. The tomb was constructed of large wooden timbers and covers an area of 220 square meters. The tomb is divided into four separate chambers. The northern chamber is the smallest and contained military artifacts. The eastern chamber contained the tomb of Marquis Yi, who was buried in a wooden lacquer coffin nested inside a larger lacquer coffin. This chamber also contained eight other coffins that held the remains of eight women. The western chamber contained thirteen coffins that held the remains of thirteen other women. The central chamber is the largest, and contained a large ensemble of ritual musical instruments, including a set of 65 bianzhong (bronze bells).

In 1981, a less well-preserved and smaller tomb was discovered about 100 meters away, containing the remains of a woman related to Marquis Yi. This tomb contained a less extravagant set of 36 bronze bells and other musical instruments.

The most famous discovery at the tomb is the large set of bianzhong, which required a cast of five members to be played, and were struck with wooden mallets to produce music. The bells are two-toned, producing two distinct tones when struck at the center or the side; this property is enabled because the bells have an almond-shaped cross-section. The bells cover a range of five octaves. The collection also contains a non-matching bell, a gift to Marquis Yi from the king of Chu; the inscription on the bell dates the event to 433 BC. The bells were inscribed with music notations that detailed the relationship among the pitch standards of Zeng, Chu and Zhou.

Other musical instruments in the ensemble include stone chimes. Various string instruments were also discovered in the tombs, including the twenty-five stringed se, ten-stringed qin and five-stringed zhu.

The tomb also contained pan flutes (paixiao), flutes and special sheng, each made from a one-piece body through a time-consuming procedure; a gourd would be placed inside a mold that held the desired shape of the instrument. Once the gourd matured, it would take the shape of the mold that conformed to the desired musical properties of the instrument.

The date of the Marquis's death has been extrapolated to May 5, 433 BC using calendar data from a lacquered clothing chest.

References

• So, Jenny F., Music in the Age of Confucius, ISBN 0-295-97953-4