Photos by Zhang Qijun & Su Zhuolin

曾侯乙编钟那些事9

The unearthing of the chime bells from the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng created a stir across China and the world.

The audience marveled at the sight of an instrument over 2400 years old playing famous Chinese and foreign music both ancient and modern.

The 65 bells looked majestic and magnificent and even mighty as they sat perched in three rows.Filing reverently into the museum,the audience gazed at the bells with awe,hearts swelling with pride in the civilization of the great country.

曾侯乙编钟出土，惊动了中国，惊动了世界。

2400 多年前的乐器，出土之后还能演奏出古今中外名曲，听众惊讶。

65 件编钟分三层悬挂，雄壮威武奇美。博物馆里，观众面对编钟心存敬仰，为泱泱大国有此文明而骄傲自豪。

听众在演奏厅里听编钟演奏时，可能不会知道一钟双音，就算讲解员提到一钟双音，观众也不会在意，很少细究。

但我们今天要特别讲讲这一钟双音。

一钟双音，是中国先人的伟大创造，是堪与中国四大发明比肩的发现。

一钟双音的发明和应用，是中国古代乐工乐师们对世界音乐宝库的重要贡献。

武汉音乐学院副院长李幼平，在给外国听众举办的中国古典音乐讲座上说，在古代，世界各地都有钟，但它们都没有成为乐器，为什么曾侯乙编钟成了乐器，而且是一钟双音时，是这样解开奥秘的。

他说，外国人造的钟都是圆的，声音持续时间长，所以只能作为钟，而不能为乐器。唯独中国的编钟像两片瓦合在一起，声音的衰减较快，所以能编列成组，作为乐器使用。

They might have been ignorant about the double tones that rang with a bright and resonant ping from one bell when the audience listened to the bells being performed by a maestro of the instrument in the concert hall.Even if the commentator highlighted the one-bell-doubletone feature,the audience would still be clueless about its importance given their lack of knowledge on the subject.

Therefore,here we are going to give a special presentation on the one-bell-two-tone acoustic effect the chime-bells were capable of producing.

One bell with dual toneshas proven to be a great invention of the Chinese ancestors,nearly on par with their four famous inventions,namely the compass,the printing press,paper making,and gunpowder.

The invention and application of the one-bell-dual-tone effect is an important contribution of ancient Chinese musicians to the world’s stores of musical treasures.

Deputy Dean of Wuhan Conservatory of Music,Li Youping remarked in an international lecture on Chinese classical music that there were bells all over the world in ancient times,but only the Chinese variety was used as a musical instrument.Why did the Marquis Yi Chime-bells become musical instruments,and why were they double-tone bells? The following was his explanation of the mystery.

He said that the bells made abroad were round and their sound rang out for a long time,so they could only be used as clocks instead of musical instruments.Only the Chinese chime-bells were made in a unique structure like two joint tiles with an almond shape,and their sound dampened faster,so they could be arranged into groups and used as musical instruments.

The Marquis Yi Chime-bells could produce two perfect tones on one bell.This phenomenon was once perplexing,he explained.Acoustic testing found that the bells could make double tones due to their almond shape.When striking the central bottom of the bells,there were zero oscillations on the points on the left and right bottoms,and vice versa.This is how two tones can coexist in one bell without interfering with each other.

Professor Li Youping,a music archaeologist,gave an explanation that was concise and informative.However,for many years,people had naturally thought that a pre-Qin chime bell could produce only one musical tone,one single pitch.Music studies on bells,from the ancient bell-casting and live performance to modern scientific investigation and research,were long based on the understanding of one bell with one tone.

This tacit understanding had been like an absolutely still surface of water unbroken by wind or wave,and the unchallenged notion of one-bell-one-tone was “as peaceful as a mirrorlike water’s surface.” The only possible “exception” was that half a century ago,a ripple appeared on the mirror’s surface,but it disappeared immediately.

This is what Feng Jiexuan,a professor at Shanghai Customs College,said in an article commemorating the 30th anniversary of Mr.Huang Xiangpeng’s discovery of the onebell-dual-tone effect.

On perusal of Feng Jiexuan’s article,our respect for Mr.Huang Xiangpeng has doubled.

In the foregoing part of this series,it was mentioned that Huang Xiangpeng and several other experts tested the tone of the Marquis Yi Chime-bells in Suixian County and discovered the double tones on one bell.How important the result was to Huang Xiangpeng! More than a year ago,he discovered the double tone effect and wrote about it in an article that received tremendous backlash and so was never released,causing Mr.Huang to subsequently drop the subject.

The evidence that the one-belldual-tone effect of the Marquis Yi Chime-bells has garnered is so strong that it can be deemed ironclad proof.

他说，曾侯乙编钟在一个钟上能敲出两个准确的乐音，这个现象一度使人感到困惑。经声学检测发现，编钟能发双音，在于它的合瓦形状。当敲击钟的正面时，侧面的振幅为零，敲击侧面时，正面的振幅为零。这样双音共存一体，又不会互相干扰。

李幼平教授是音乐考古学家，他的讲解简明扼要。但是多年以来，人们很自然地认为先秦编钟，一钟只发一个乐音，代表一个音高。……