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Joanne Yau

This is the third in a series of articles about classical Chinese instruments and the traditional Chinese music orchestra, in which we explore how musicians play the eight different types of instrument, and their history.
Those who watch Chinese palace dramas may be familiar with the percussive sounds produced by metal Chinese instruments.
These instruments frequently set the tone in ceremonial and battle scenes, and are employed to assert a character’s dominance.
“Metal” is one of eight categories of Chinese musical instruments. The categories are based on the principal material historically used in their manufacture.
Most of the metal instruments belong to the percussion family in the modern Chinese orchestra. Chime bells, or bianzhong, and gongs are among the most widely used.
Chinese chime bells (bianzhong)
The largest instrument in a Chinese orchestra is a set of Chinese chime bells. Made of bronze, the chime bells are suspended from a wooden frame and come in different shapes and sizes, giving them different pitches.

There are two main types: those with a straight handle on top are called yongzhong, while those with a ring on top are called niuzhong.
These bells were already in use in the earliest recorded periods of Chinese civilisation. In the Neolithic period (roughly 7000BC-1700BC), the bells were made of clay. Bronze bells began appearing during the Zhou dynasty (1046BC-256BC) and their use became widespread during the Warring States period (481BC-221BC).
The largest set of chime bells unearthed in China was discovered in 1978 and dates back to about 433BC. Called the Bianzhong of Marquis Yi of Zeng, it is made up of 64 bells and was found in the tomb of Zenghouyi (Marquis Yi, sometimes known as Duke Yi), of China’s Zhou dynasty. The largest bell in the set weighs 203.6kg (449 pounds).
The set was found in near-perfect condition; its sound quality is astonishing. It is kept at the Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan. Many replicas of varying sizes have been made and are frequently seen in Chinese orchestras.
One of the most memorable uses of chime bells in Hong Kong came in 1997 in a concert marking the city’s handover from Britain to China. Composer Tan Dun’s symphony Heaven Earth Mankind featured a full replica of Marquis Yi’s bianzhong. Today, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra has a 26-bell set.

Chinese chime bells are struck with mallets. They produce two musical tones: one when they are struck in the centre and another when they are hit on the side.
A set of Chinese chime bells has a range of up to five octaves. The interval between the notes of each bell is a major or minor third, equivalent to four or five notes on the piano.
Given its enormous size, a full set of chime bells requires two or more people to play it. However, smaller sets of the bells are often featured in concerts, where they may be accompanied by the sheng, a wind instrument, the xun, an egg-shaped flute, or a plucked zither, or guzheng.


The bells are often intricately decorated with patterns of beasts, flowers, leaves and phoenixes.
In Zhang Yimou’s film Hero (2002), the instrument is featured in the film’s imperial settings.
Songs such as the “Bianzhong Chime Bell Solo”, played by the Hubei Song and Dance Ensemble, show the powerful sounds chime bells can produce.

Gongs
Chinese gongs make a sound similar to Western cymbals. Flat and circular, they are struck with a mallet. There are many varieties, each with a different tone, pitch and thickness.
The are two families of Chinese gong: the jingdaluo and the daluo. The former have a diameter of 30cm (12 inches) and thus a smaller playing surface, and the latter a diameter of 35cm.
Chinese gongs do not have a fixed pitch; they can produce a variety of overtones depending on where and with what strength they are struck. Smaller gongs produce higher-pitched sounds.
The bao gong comes with a protruding nipple that creates a more focused tone; so-called “tiger gongs” create a loud crashing noise when struck.
Gongs can be played in sets of between three and 10. Some are handheld, while others such as the wind gong sit in frames that rest on the floor and are struck by a standing player.
The diverse sounds that Chinese metal instruments can produce is shown to good effect in the traditional song “Lantern Festival Celebration”, which features three drums, a set of five gongs, a set of three large gongs, cymbals in three sizes and a slit drum.


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All about Chinese chime bells and gongs, classical musical instruments with a long history

Performers strike hand-held gongs during cerebrations for the Dragon Boat Festival in Linfen, China, in 2020. Of the metal instruments played in a Chinese orchestra, gongs and chime bells are the most common. Photo: Getty Images

Bianzhong, or chime bells, are an ancient instrument often found in tombs and were already in use in the earliest recorded periods of Chinese civilisation. Photo: Getty Images

Chime bells from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, exhibited in the Hubei Provincial Museum. Photo: Getty Images

An illustration of a Chinese waterman and his barge, next to a large gong, in the 18th century. Photo: Getty Images

How traditional Chinese instruments sheng and ‘Chinese bagpipes’ make music using gourds

The Chinese sheng (above) is formed from a gourd and bamboo pipes. Photo: Shutterstock

The sheng and “hulusi” or Chinese bagpipes (above) are traditional Chinese wind instruments that use a bottle gourd for a base and bamboo pipes with finger holes to play notes. Photo: Shutterstock

A dried calabash or bottle gourd. These were used for millennia for transporting liquids, and in ancient China were turned into musical instruments including the sheng and “hulusi” or “Chinese bagpipes”. Photo: Shutterstock

Lu Yi, sheng player with the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The ‘Chinese bagpipes’ come in various forms and colours, and are often decorated in classical Chinese style. Photo: Shutterstock

Traditional Chinese instrument hits new heights in hands of social media phenom Mantawoman

Chinese dulcimer player Mantawoman on stage. Photo: Mantawoman

Mantawoman, the social media phenomenon known for playing contemporary pop music on the Chinese dulcimer. Photo: Mantawoman

A singer-songwriter as well as player of the hammered dulcimer, Mantawoman’s sound mixes traditional Chinese techniques with contemporary inspirations. Photo: Mantawoman

Mantawoman crouches beneath her instrument on stage during a performance. Photo: Mantawoman

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Chinese musical instruments

The history of Chinese musical instruments and how they fit in modern orchestra – overview

Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra member Wang Kaihan sits with her pipa. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra member Wang Kaihan with her pipa, an instrument sometimes called the “Chinese lute”. We look at the history of Chinese musical instruments and their role in a modern Chinese orchestra in this first in a series of articles. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra member Lu Yi with his sheng, a wind instrument dating to 1100BC. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra member Song Hui with her erhu, a two-stringed bowed instrument. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra percussion principal Luk Kin-bun with a drum. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra dizi virtuoso Wu Chih-ting with a xun, an ancient wind instrument. Photo: Jonathan Wong

All about the Chinese clay flute, from its ancient origins to Studio Ghibli inspiration

A musician plays the xun, an ancient Chinese clay flute that began life as a hunting tool to attract prey. Today, it is the signature clay instrument of modern Chinese orchestras. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Wu Chih-ting, a Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra member, with a xun. It is the signature clay instrument of modern Chinese orchestras. Photo: Jonathan Wong

A musician plays the xun at a village in Zoucheng, Shandong. Blowing air into the mouthpiece creates a breathy, sometimes melancholic sound that can be calming and meditative. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

All about the Chinese drum, orchestra essential once seen as a way to talk to the gods

A drumming workshop on stage at Tsuen Wan Town Hall. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Luk Kin-bun, the percussion principal of Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, with a large “tanggu” drum. The instrument, a mainstay of Chinese orchestra percussion sections, has been around in China for thousands of years in various forms. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Monie Chak, a drumming teacher with the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, conducts a workshop on stage at Tsuen Wan Town Hall. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong Paralympian Daniel Chan plays the tanggu, a barrel-shaped drum made of wood, on stage in a workshop at Tsuen Wan Town Hall. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Performers at a Hong Kong Drum Festival 2024 event at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Dickson Lee

Exploring the Chinese zither and erhu, ‘2-stringed barbarian instrument’ a bit like violin

Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra erhu player Song Hui with her instrument. Often compared to the violin, it is a relative newcomer compared to another stringed instrument, the Chinese zither, or guqin. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Master instrument maker Choi Chang-sau with a guqin at Choi Fook Kee Musical Instrument Factory in Shek Kip Mei, Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP

Chinese students show a member of a delegation of students from the US state of Washington how to play the guqin in Beijing earlier this year. Photo: Xinhua

Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra member and erhu virtuoso Song Hui with her instrument. Photo: Jonathan Wong

All about bamboo flutes the dizi and xiao, their evolution and uses in Chinese music

A woman plays a dizi, a Chinese bamboo flute. The first flutes excavated in China were made from bone. Today, ones made from bamboo are widely used in Chinese music and opera. Photo: Getty Images

Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra Lin Yu-hsien with her dizi, a bamboo flute. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The xiao can be played seated or standing. Photo: Getty Images

Made using jade or limestone, Chinese musical instrument the lithophone has a long history

A Chinese lithophone, or “bianqing”. Photo: Sina

Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra member Luk Kin-bun with a lithophone. Made of stone and struck with a wooden mallet to produce sounds, the Chinese musical instrument. has a long history. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The bianqing is a common sight when Chinese instrument orchestras perform. Photo: Sina

Some bianqing have stones carved with decorations, like this qing from the Shang dynasty. Photo: National Museum of China

Of the metal instruments used in a traditional Chinese music orchestra, chime bells and gongs are the most common. We examine their history


Of the metal instruments used in a traditional Chinese music orchestra, chime bells and gongs are the most common. We examine their history.


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