Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng

Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng

The Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng is a national AA-level tourist attraction and a cultural heritage site.

The Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng is the burial site of Marquis Yi, ruler of the State of Zeng (or Sui) during the early Warring States period of China. It is located at Leigudun in Suizhou City, Hubei Province. Buried around 433 BCE or shortly after, the tomb was excavated in 1978. The burial pit was carved into red conglomerate rock and is a polygonal vertical shaft tomb, measuring 16.5 meters from north to south and 21 meters from east to west. Inside is a wooden outer coffin chamber, surrounded by charcoal and blue clay, with rammed earth on top.

The entire tomb is divided into four chambers: east, central, north, and west. The eastern chamber houses the wooden coffins of Marquis Yi, with a double-layered structure. The outer coffin has a bronze frame, while the inner coffin features painted doors, windows, and guardian mythical beasts and warriors. The central chamber contains ritual musical instruments and other burial objects. The northern chamber holds weapons and chariot fittings. The western chamber contains 13 wooden coffins of sacrificial victims. The deceased marquis was around 45 years old, while the sacrificial victims were females aged between 13 and 25.

Over 15,000 burial artifacts were unearthed from the tomb. Among them, the set of 65 Bianzhong (chime bells) of Marquis Yi of Zeng is the most complete and largest set of bronze chime bells ever discovered. The main bronze ritual vessels include two Huo ding (cauldron tripods), nine Sheng ding (offering tripods), nine Si ding (feeding tripods), eight Gui (food vessels), four Fu (rectangular food vessels), one pair of large Zun fu (wine vessels), one pair of Lian zuo hu (connected wine vessels), one pair of Bing jian (ice containers), one set of two Zun pan (wine and tray vessels), and four Guan fu (washing vessels). The Zun pan was cast using the advanced lost-wax method, demonstrating the high level of bronze metallurgy during the Warring States period. Bells first appeared in China during the Shang Dynasty, initially only three to five in number, increasing to nine to thirteen in the Zhou Dynasty, and evolving into 61 during the Warring States period. People grouped the bells by size, pitch, and tone into sets to create the bianzhong, producing melodious and pleasant music.

The set of Bianzhong of Marquis Yi of Zeng consists of 65 bells, one of which is a Bo bell gifted by King Hui of Chu during the Warring States period. The bells are divided into eight groups and hung in three tiers on a bronze and wooden bell frame. The bell frame is 10.79 meters long and 2.73 meters high, supported by six bronze warriors wearing swords and several pillars. The total weight of the 65 bells reaches 3,500 kilograms, making their weight and size rare among bianzhong sets. Most bells are inscribed with text; the upper 19 bells have fewer inscriptions, only indicating their note names, while the middle and lower 45 bells not only show note names but also feature longer inscriptions detailing their pitch names, scale names, and altered note names. These inscriptions facilitated playing the bells.

The bianzhong of Marquis Yi of Zeng have a wide tonal range of five octaves, just one octave less than that of a modern piano. The bells produce beautiful tones with pure timbre, and their base pitch is the same as the modern C major scale. Through collaboration between archaeologists and musicians, various famous Chinese and Western melodies have been played on these bells, all to great amazement.

The tomb also yielded a large number of musical instruments, including bianqing (chime stones), drums, se (zithers), sheng (mouth organs), and panpipes, providing valuable physical materials for the study of ancient Chinese music history.

A painted lacquered wooden clothing chest lid was found with astronomical images including the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Big Dipper, and the names of the 28 lunar mansions, indicating that China was one of the earliest countries to establish the 28-mansions system. The tomb also contained gold cups, gold goblets, gold belt hooks, and a 48-centimeter-long sixteen-segment dragon-phoenix jade pendant, reflecting the luxurious life Marquis Yi led. Many bronze items bear inscriptions such as “Made by Marquis Yi of Zeng,” providing evidence for identifying the tomb owner.

More than 220 lacquerware items were unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng. They are the earliest and most exquisite from Chu tombs, featuring a complete range of types, large sizes, and an ancient style, embodying the charm of Chu culture.

The bianzhong excavated from the world-famous Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng in Suixian County, Hubei Province in 1978 is the largest ancient musical instrument in China. It consists of 64 pieces (including 19 knob bells and 45 bell-shaped bells), hung in three tiers on a bronze and wooden bell frame adorned with painted patterns, with each tier’s pillar being a bronze warrior wearing a sword. Their size and weight are smallest in the upper tier, medium in the middle tier, and largest in the lower tier. The smallest piece weighs 2.4 kilograms and is 20.2 centimeters tall; the largest weighs 203.6 kilograms and is 153.4 centimeters tall. Their total weight exceeds 2,500 kilograms.

The bell frame is 11.83 meters long and 2.73 meters high, giving an imposing and spectacular presence. The burial year of this tomb is 432 BCE, over 2,410 years ago. Its discovery garnered attention both domestically and internationally, and it is regarded as a significant find in the history of world music.

In the early 1980s, over a hundred scientific researchers from institutions such as the Hubei Provincial Museum, the Institute of Natural Science History of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Wuhan Mechanical Technology Research Institute, the Foshan Ductile Iron Research Institute, the Wuhan Institute of Technology, and the Harbin University of Science and Technology collaborated, using modern techniques such as laser holography and scanning electron microscopy. They discovered that our ancestors had already figured out the optimal composition of copper, tin, and lead over 2,400 years ago to achieve beautiful tones; they mastered the strict proportions between bell size, wall thickness, and pitch, casting a series of different pitches; they designed the unique “composite cymbal” shape and complex internal cavity structures, resulting in the marvelous effect of one bell producing two tones and creating beautiful melodies. Each bell in this set can produce two distinct pitches, covering a tonal range of five and a half octaves, with clear high and low tones and all twelve semitones present in the middle three octaves. Thanks to the full range of intermediate tones, modulation is flexible on any pitch. Particularly valuable are the more than 2,800 gold-inlaid inscriptions on the bells and accessories, documenting the music theory of the pre-Qin period and the correspondence between the pitch and scale names of the State of Zeng and those of other feudal states such as Zhou, Chu, and Qi. This major discovery refuted the claim that “China’s heptatonic scale came from Europe and could not perform modulation.”

To maximize the use of this treasured national relic in the history of Chinese musical instruments, scientists replicated the Bianzhong of Marquis Yi of Zeng. From January 6 to 9, 1983, over 80 scholars and experts from the Chinese Musicians Association, the Foundry Society of the Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society, and the Archaeological Society conducted evaluations in Wuhan. By listening to and comparing the sound quality and pitch of each bell in the original and replicated sets, and by alternatingly appreciating recordings of the originals and performances of the replicas of traditional pieces such as “Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute,” “Three Variations on the Plum Blossom,” “Liuyang River,” and “Christmas Night,” they concluded that the replicas achieved the same acoustic effects as the originals, with crisp, bright, and melodious high tones, and deep, resonant, and majestic low tones. Most of the music played showed differences of less than ±5 cents compared to the originals, indistinguishable to the average listener.

Attraction Location

Leigudun Avenue, Suizhou City, Hubei Province