湖北随县出土了一套大型编钟的消息像一声春雷，炸响了中国音乐界。

国家文物局局长王冶秋，亲自邀请文化部文艺研究院音乐研究所音乐史学家黄翔鹏、李纯一、王湘、吴钊等6 人，先后于1978年6月下旬从北京到达了随县，对出土的音乐文物进行考察并测音。考古队长谭维四派毕业于湖北艺术学院音乐系的考古队员冯光生，给北京来的专家们当助手。

曾侯乙墓出土的音乐文物之丰富，令专家们欣喜若狂。

夜半测音

当时，曾侯乙墓的田野发掘工作已基本结束，曾侯乙墓出土的主要文物已运到了随县文化馆的展览大厅里。考古队将曾侯乙墓的出土文物，作了一些整理，举办了一个展览。1978年7月1日开始，每天来参观的群众络绎不绝，从早到晚喧嚣不断，这样的环境不利于专家给编钟测音，加上随县7月气温烈似火炉，北京来的专家热得受不了。当时条件艰苦，没空调，连电风扇都很少。

黄翔鹏、李纯一、王湘都是奔六的人，但为了音乐事业，热也顾不得了。

他们当时住在随县革命委员会招待所，一台电风扇在天花板上“吱呀”转着。王湘胖一些，他怕热，就想了个办法：在浴缸里装满凉水，人坐在浴缸里研究有关材料。时间泡久了，身体就泡得发白发胖，还浑身酸疼。

专家们干脆白天睡觉，到了后半夜，天凉快了，展览馆里也安静下来，万籁俱寂，这是他们测音的好时候。

一钟双音

文化馆展览室里，小编钟搁在橱架上，大编钟依墙靠着。测音时，临时搭一个架子，把钟悬挂在10 厘米粗的钢管架上。小钟一次挂二至三件，大钟只能一次挂一件。

The news that a large set of chime-bells had been unearthed in Suixian County,was met with resounding cheers like a thunderous drumline throughout Hubei Province,and was even music to the ears of the Chinese music community at large.

Wang Yeqiu,director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration,extended a personal invitation to six music history specialists from the Research Institute of Music of the Academy of Literature and Art under the Ministry of Culture,the distinguished Mr.Huang Xiangpeng,along with Li Chunyi,Wang Xiang,Wu Zhao,and company,all of whom eventually made the trek from Beijing to Suixian County in late June 1978,to carry out acoustic testing of the unearthed musical artifacts.Tan Weisi,leader of the archaeological team,arranged Feng Guangsheng,a graduate from the Department of Music,Hubei Institute of Arts,to assist the experts from Beijing.Strains of joy rang out at the very sight of such a treasure trove of musical artifacts unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng.

At that time,the field excavation of the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng had basically been wound up,and all the major historical relics from the tomb had been transferred to the exhibition hall of Suixian County Cultural Center.The archaeological team quickly prepared the unearthed relics for show and held an exhibition.From the first day of the exhibit on July 1,1978,endless streams of people came to visit every day,which continued from morning till night.Such an environment was definitely not conducive to the experts in their testing the sound of the bells.The weather in Suixian County in July made it feel like living in a blast furnace,and the experts from Beijing simply couldn’t stand the heat.To make matters worse,there was no air conditioning except for a paltry number of electric fans due to the poor living conditions at the time.

Huang Xiangpeng,Li Chunyi,and Wang Xiang were all approaching their sixties,and were it not for their passion for music,they would rather not bear the sultry conditions.

They were staying in the hostel of the Suixian Revolutionary Committee,which had only one squeaky electric fan hanging from the ceiling of each room.With his heavy build,Wang Xiang had no choice but to be resourceful in his quest to beat the heat; he ended up filling the bathtub with cold water and soaking in it while performing his research.But spending such a long time immersed in water on a daily basis turned him pallid and his body became swollen and sore all over.He was essentially waterlogged.

To meet all these challenges,the experts decided to sleep during the daytime until after midnight when it became cooler and the exhibition hall was quiet.It was the ideal time for their sound testing.

Back at the exhibition hall,the smaller bells were placed on the cabinets while the big ones stood leaning against the walls.During the acoustic testing,an ad hoc shelf was erected where the bells could be suspended on a 10-centimeterthick steel-pipe rack.The small bells could be hung up two or three at once,but the larger could only be hung one at a time.

With a rubber mallet in hand,the experts gingerly struck the bell,which let out a sonorous ring that fluttered out into the night air like petals carried by a warm breeze,fading gradually away into the stillness of the dark.Armed with a pair of professional ears tuned with almost perfect pitch and assisted by the pitch meter,the experts could distinguish,record,and calculate the data derived.With each ping of the rubber mallet,the pitch meter flashed on and off like a strobe light.No one spoke,and their breathing was shallow and measured.

As the exhibition hall was not sound-proofed,any extraneous noise would interfere with the test results,and they would have no choice but to repeat the test as many times as necessary until there was finally one with no interference.Science,after all,allows for nothing but a zero margin of error.

专家们小心翼翼，拿着橡皮槌，轻轻地敲击着编钟。敲一下，让编钟发出声来，在深夜的寂静里，那声音飘洒出来，流动开来，再用一双专业的耳朵去倾听，辅助着音准仪，去分辨，去记录，去测算数据。橡皮槌敲着，闪光的音准仪一闪一闪地亮着，没有人说话，连呼吸都是轻轻的。

展览室不隔音，任何外来的的结果，如今是踏破铁鞋无觅处，得来全不费功夫。

大钟大棒

按照曾侯乙编钟三层悬挂的顺序，上层的小编钟一件件测完了音。

再检测中层稍大的编钟和下层的大编钟时，橡皮槌敲上去，发出的声音与上层小编钟发出来的声音差不多，测音仪上显示出来的数据没什么区别。

这不对劲，绝对不是这么回事，大编钟的声音应该更低沉更洪亮。专家们想，这里面一定有

当时郭德维与其他考古队员正要拆卸编钟，一个年轻队员手拿木棒正准备向外传递，脚下一滑动，年轻队员一个踉跄差点摔倒，手中的木棒朝前一冲，撞响了底层的一件大编钟。

只听“咚”一声，洪亮的响声，把整个墓坑四室里的清理队员都吓了一跳。

郭德维把这段经历讲给了测音的专家们听，认为那两根木棍很可能是撞击下层大编钟的大槌子，或者叫撞钟棒。

说到这里，郭德维很快到文化馆的院子里找了根粗木棒，把声音都会干扰测音效果，他们又得重来一次。科学来不得半点马虎。

在深夜的寂静里，那声音飘洒出来，流动开来，再用一双专业的耳朵去倾听，辅助着音准仪，去分辨，去记录，去测算数据。橡皮槌敲着，闪光的音准仪一闪一闪地亮着，没有人说话，连呼吸都是轻轻的。

专家们就这么一件一件地检测编钟的声音。

测音时，专家们发现，橡皮槌敲击小编钟时，编钟的正鼓、侧鼓部位都有不同的标音铭文，敲击这两个部位，发出来的乐音也不相同，而且同一件钟两个不同部位的乐音，基本上都相差三度左右。

这是一钟双音，这是音乐界的一个重大事件，这是一个铁的证据，这是中国的编钟对世界音乐的一个重大贡献。黄翔鹏正在研究这一课题，是他在苦苦寻找什么窍门！

换一个槌子敲敲看？随县找不出更大的橡皮槌，找一根木棒敲敲看？

当时谁也不敢试，这是国宝级文物，要是敲坏了怎么办？

提到木棒，一下子提醒了站在一边跟着专家们着急的考古队员郭德维。

郭德维记得在曾侯乙墓中室墓坑清理时，依靠在编钟架上的两根两米多长的木棒，当时大家以为这两根木棒是为了固定编钟，防止倒塌的两根支撑柱，其作用像顶门棍一样，只是后来因水的流动而挪了位置，看不出支撑的原状了。上面的尘土抹干净，轻轻地朝着大钟的口缘叩了一下，一声浑厚的音响传递开来。在众人的鼓动下，郭德维双手持棒，大着胆子用力地向大钟的鼓部撞去，“轰”的一声，洪亮浑厚的声音顿时响彻了展览大厅，向夜空里飞去。

这时，测音仪上立即显示出高出此前近一倍的数据。

漆盒揭秘

“出来了，出来了，这回声音出来了。”专家们喊着。

“大钟还得用大棒。”有人这样总结说。

“这事还要慎重，我们要找出依据来，如果这样猜测着用大棒撞击，万一把钟撞碎了，事情就麻烦了！”有人担心地提醒着。

One by one,the experts tested the sound of each bell.

During acoustic testing,the experts discovered various inscriptions marking their pitches on the musical scale on the central bottom of the bells and both sides.avail.Yet here it was right in front of him and it had fallen into his lap!

The top row of small bellswas tested on after the other in sequence.During testing of the larger bells on the middle row and the big ones on the lower row,the tones sounded strikingly similar to those of the small bells on the top row when struck lightly.In addition,the readings on the pitch meter failed to register much difference.

“This is not right.This can’t be real.The big bells should sound that,when clearing the middle chamber of the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng,there were two wooden poles leaning against the frame that hoisted the bells,both measuring over two meters long.Everybody thought that they were used to stabilize the bell frame,functioning like gate-locking posts,and prevent the frame from collapsing,and that they were out of position only because water flow had moved them.

Guo Dewei and the other team members were about to disassemble the chime bells when Striking these two parts of the same bell separately gave off different pitches,approximately separated by third intervals.

This was very possibly the first two-tone bell in world history! Marking a momentous event for the music world,as if each dual tone of the bell were ringing out the testimony of its own significant contribution to world music history.

This was very possibly the first two-tone bell in world history!Marking a momentous event for the music world,as if each dual tone of the bell were ringing out the testimony of its own significant contribution to world music history.This just so happened to be the field which Professor Huang Xiangpeng had been doing his researching for practically his entire professional life,and what he had long been laboring after to no lower and more resonant,” the experts thought,“there must be some trick to this!”

Should they try again with another mallet? The problem was that no bigger mallet could be found in Suixian County.Then why not try a wooden rod?

But no one dared to try,as they were national,cultural relics.What if they were to damage them by accident?

The wooden rod served as a mnemonic device for anxious Guo Dewei,the archaeological team member who was accompanying the experts,causing him to recall a young team member who was trying to pass a wooden pole out of the pit staggered and almost fell,and the wooden pole in his hand lunged forward and banged one of the big bells on the bottom row.

The reverberant gong scaring the team members clearing the four chambers of the pit half out of their wits.Guo Dewei recounted his experience to the experts who were there doing sound testing,conjecturing that the two wooden poles were likely large mallets for ringing the big bells on the lowest row,or the bell strikers.

No sooner had the words come out of his mouth than Guo Dewei rushed into the courtyard of the Cultural Center and found a thick wooden pole,wiped off the dust on it,and gently knocked on the edge of the opening of the largest bell,which gave a deep and sonorous sound that lingered long and thick in the air.With the encouragement of the people around,Guo Dewei,pole in both hands,braced himself up and forcefully dashed the pole to the central bottom of the bell.“Boom,” a wave of sound reverberated through the exhibition hall and oscillated into the atmosphere.

涉及文物安全问题，谁也不敢贸然做结论。

第二天，谭维四又主持召开了一个诸葛亮会，北京来的测音专家和考古队员合在一起，大家出出点子来解决这个下层编钟敲响问题。大家议论纷纷，出了好多主意，仍然莫衷一是。郭德维和一个年轻队员，跑去把那两根出土的木棒扛到会场。他指着木棒说：“我认为这两根木棒肯定是撞钟用的，它依靠在编钟架上，不可能是用来当编钟架的支撑柱的。用它来撞钟，才说得过去。”

众人再细看那两根茶碗粗的木棒，只见两根木棒黑漆为底，并绘有三角雷纹，两端经制作，近多棱状体，中部36 厘米长的部位略微凹陷，像是专为人手把持刻意挖凹的，棒身下端底面有撞击留下的痕迹。

郭德维坚持说是编钟撞击棒，谭维四也有同感。但感觉是感觉，有根据才是最重要的。

谭维四脑子里似乎想到了什么东西。他有些激动地喊一个年轻考古队员的名字，说：“你去驻地仓库把那个鸳鸯漆盒拿来，要快点。”

半个小时之后，年轻的考古队员将鸳鸯漆盒送到会场。

谭维四接过漆盒，看了看上面的彩绘，对大家说：“郭德维说的是对的，依据在这里。”说完，谭维四把手中的鸳鸯漆盒举起来给大家看。

在鸳鸯漆盒腹部左侧和右侧的方寸之地，分别绘有两幅朱漆图。左侧绘的是两只编钟悬挂在一对兽形柱的架子上，旁边一个鸟形人在持棒撞钟。右侧一鸟形人击鼓，一鸟形人舞蹈。画中鸟形人撞钟的棒子，就是编钟架前的那两根茶碗口般粗细的木棒。

音域齐全

下层大钟的撞击工具有根据了，专家们的测音工作圆满完成。65 件钟的音全部测出了结果，其中的楚王镈钟的音色音质经测定，不属于这套编钟系列。

Lacquered mandarin-duck-shaped case 鸳鸯漆盒

The gauges on the pitch meter rocked back and forth,coming to rest on a number that was nearly twice that of the pitch recorded previously.

“This is it!This is it! We got it this time!” exclaimed the experts.

“Big poles for big bells,” someone concluded.

“We have to be more cautious about it,and we need absolute proof.If we base how we strike the bells solely on guesswork,and damage them,then we’re all in trouble,” someone warned anxiously.

Nobody dared to be the first to give the final word when it came to the preservation of cultural relics.

The next day,Tan Weisi presided over a meeting to pick the brains of the experts from Beijing and his own team members,asking that all in attendance offer up their ideas on what to do about the bells on the lower row.After a heated debate and presentation of opinions,no unanimous agreement was reached.Guo Dewei and a team member ran out and carried the two unearthed wooden poles into the meeting room.Pointing to the poles,he said,“I think these two wooden poles must have been used to strike the bell.They were sitting on the bell frame,but couldn’t possibly have been used as the support columns of the frame.We may reasonably conclude that they were used to ring the bell.”

All the participants made a careful examination of the two wooden poles as thick as about the diameter of the mouth of a teacup.The two wooden poles were painted with black lacquer as the base,and triangular thunder patterns on top.The two ends were a near polygonal shape.The 36-centimeter-long part in the middle was slightly recessed,as if it was deliberately carved for human hands to hold it.In addition,there were traces of impact on the bottom of the lower end of the poles.

Guo Dewei insisted that they were the bell strikers,and Tan Weisi felt the same.But it was just a feeling.More importantly,intuition is hardly irrefutable evidence.

Tan Weisi seemed to have suddenly recalled something.Somewhat excitedly,he called one of the team members by name and said,“You go and fetch the lacquered mandarin-duckshaped case in the warehouse of the barracks.Hurry up!”

Half an hour later,the young returned drenched in sweat and out of breath,the mandarin-duckshaped case in hand.

Upon careful scrutiny of the case and the painting,Tan Weisi exclaimed,“What Guo Dewei said is right.Here is the evidence.”

Two red-lacquered pictures were painted within the very limited rectangles on the left and right side of the box.On the left were two chime-bells suspended on a frame supported by a pair of animalshaped columns and next to them was a bird-shaped man hitting a bell with a cudgel.On the right side was a bird-shaped man drumming and another bird-shaped man dancing.The pole in the picture with which the bird-shaped man used to strike the bell looked exactly like one of the two poles placed before the frame.

With the striking toolfor ringing the big bells on the lower row identified,the experts’acoustic testing was successfully completed,and the sound effects of all the 65 bells were recorded.It was determined that only the bo bell presented by the king of Chu,after testing of its timbre and tonal quality,did not fit into this set of chimes.

The 64-bell set had its own tonic and a complete pitch range,all of which were beautiful in timbre,pure in quality,broad in range,and complete in scale.

The niu bells on the upper layer had a pure ring to them,with a lower volume,a higher pitch,and a slight linger,while the smaller yong bells on the middle row sounded close to that of the niu bells,but louder and clearer and also high in pitch,with shorter vibrations.The bigger yong bells on the middle layer produced a mellower,rounder sound of higher volume and lower pitch and a slightly longer ring.The yong bells on the lower row yielded a low and booming sound,high in volume,low in pitch with a long-lasting ping.The three groups of yong bells on the middle row and the big yong bells on the lower row were mainly used for actual performance.The niu bells on the upper row might have been used to set the tune or harmonize the beat.

The bells on the lower row sounded deep and resonant,effectively creating a certain atmosphere.

As a whole set of 64 chimes,the lowest tone is C2 and the highest is D7,allowing transposition of keys.The key of the chime bells is equivalent to C major,which is universally used in contemporary music.Its total range spans five and a half octaves,with each register equal to that of a chromatic scale containing twelve semitones.This is only one octave less than the entire range of the modern piano.When compared to the modern 88-key piano,with 7 white keys and 5 black keys removed on the left and right side,the remaining 64 black and white keys in the middle are equivalent to the range of the Marquis Yi chime-bells.

This instrument is capable of playing a wide variety of musical compositions and showcasing the unparalleled skill of the musician at the center of its dramatically-crafted frame.

According to expert appraisal,the Marquis Yi chime bells are beautifully expressive and able to be played right away without any additional tuning.

This is indeed an amazing piece of news.What’s more,this singular instrument unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng has gone on to become world-famous,and a calling card prescient Chinese musical ingenuity.

64 件编钟有自己的基调和完整的音列，全都音色优美，音质纯正，音域宽广，音列充实。

上层钮钟声音清脆纯净，音量较小，频率较高，稍有余音。中层较小的甬钟，声音接近钮钟而更嘹亮，频率亦较高，音量亦不大，余音较短。中层较大的甬钟，声音圆润洪亮，音量较大，频率较低，余音略长。下层的大甬钟声音低沉浑厚，音量大，频率低，余音长。真正用于实际演奏的主要是中层的三组甬钟和下层的大甬钟。上层钮钟可能是用来定调或合节拍的。

下层钟声深沉、洪亮，有烘托营造气氛的作用。

64 件编钟作为一个成套的整体，最低音是C2 ，最高音是D7，可以旋宫转调。编钟的音阶相当于现代国际上通用的C 大调，音域跨越五个半八度，只比现代钢琴的高低音部少一个八度，中心音域十二个半音齐全（现代使用的88 键钢琴，左右各去掉7个白键、5 个黑键，中间64 个黑白键就是曾侯乙编钟的音域宽度）。

这是一套可以奏出各种乐曲的乐器，能够表现很多复杂的音乐技巧。

专家鉴定，曾侯乙编钟的演奏能力强，完全能立时演奏，不用做任何调整。

这是一个特大的喜讯，这是曾侯乙墓发掘出来的一件举世闻名、声震寰宇的乐器。