Saturday, September 6, 2008

Bianzhong

Bianzhong is an ancient Chinese musical instrument consisting of a set of bronze bells, played melodically. The bells were hung in a wooden frame and struck with a mallet. Along with the stone chimes called ''bianqing'', they were an important instrument in China's ritual and court music going back to ancient times.

Several sets of ''bianzhong'' were imported to the Korean court during the Song Dynasty. Known in Korea as ''pyeonjong'', the instrument is still used in Korean court music. A similar instrument in Japan is called the ''hensho''.

Further reading


*Lee, Yuan-Yuan and Shen, Sinyan. . ''Chinese Musical Instruments ''. Chinese Music Society of North America Press. ISBN 1-880464039
*Shen, Sinyan , Acoustics of Ancient Chinese Bells, ''Scientific American'', 256, 94.

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