COLLECTION NAME:
National Palace English
Record
Work ID:
M01B00092
Title:
Bronze Belll with Zong Zhou inscription
Creation Date:
Late Western Zhou Dynasty
Start Year Date:
B.C.850
End Year Date:
B.C.771
Dynasty:
07 Western Zhou (c. 1100 ~771 B.C.)
Creation Place:
China
Measurements:
Height: 65.6 cm; Weight: 34000g
Material:
Bronze
Form:
Zhong (Bell)
Type:
Bronzes
Repository:
The National Palace Museum, Taipei
Description:
The most distinguishing trait of this zhong bell is the 36 long and protruding studs on both sides of the body. It is generally believed that the studs can function to mellow the sound of the bell; in fact, the bell body is already uneven in its thickness, and that the extra thickness protruding from the surface would make little difference to the sound. The studs, therefore, are mainly decorative. The whole text contains 123 characters, longest of all bell inscriptions in Shang and Zhou bells. Ithe text can be summarized as follows: Emperor Li followed the example of emperor Wen and Wu (of the Zhou dynasty) in doing all he could to defend the territories of his empire. When the Pu state in the South (today the area south of Han water in Hubei Province) dared to invade the Zhou territory, Emperor Li immediately dispatched his armies to repel the invaders. He chased the Pu people to Pu's own capital gate, forcing King Pu to send an envoy to receive the emperor in order to show their submission. At the same time, representatives from 26 other allied kingdoms in the south and the east all came to pay homage to the emperor. Emperor Li was grateful to the emperor of heaven and to all gods for their protection. To show his appreciation he cast this bell treasure of the Zhou clan. Through this zhong he also prayed that all past emperors bless their descendents with fortune and longevity, and secure the peace from all sides.
ImageV ID:
M01B00092AS006
Rights:
Lee & Lee Communications