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Dec 19, 2011

Dec 20, 2011

Bell (Lai Zhong)

逨鐘

c. 800–700 BCE

China, Shaanxi province, Meixian, Western Zhou dynasty

(c. 1046-771 BC)

Bronze

Overall: 70.3 x 37 x 26.6 cm (27 11/16 x 14 9/16 x 10 1/2 in.)

Weight: 52 kg (114.64 lbs.)

Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1989.3

Location

241A Arts of Ancient China

Did you know?

The technical sophistication of the unusual lens-shaped cavity allowed the bell to produce two different tones.

Description

In ancient China, music and ritual had political significance and were linked inseparably to the power of states. During the Zhou dynasty, bronze bells were made in sets of eight to sixty bells. This bell is the second largest from a set of eight.

This bell bears an inscription of 118 characters about its owner, Lai, and why it was cast. Lai's ancestors dutifully served the Western Zhou royal court, and he was granted a hereditary position by the "Son of Heaven" (the ruler). To express filial piety, Lai commissioned a set of bells as an offering to his father, Gongshu, in the hope that they would be forever treasured by future generations. This important inscription also provides an early example of Chinese calligraphy highlighting the purely abstract lines and construction of characters.

Video

Inscriptions

Inscription

Lai proclaimed: "Great and illustrious was my august late father who made his heart clean following the disciplined virtue of his forefathers and dutifully served the past king. I, Lai, now succeed him in service and dare not fail. Respectfully, from dawn to dusk I will earnestly--even unto death--serve the Son of Heaven, taking as a model the obligation of my forefathers." I, Lai, was presented with many things. Then came the [king's] gracious command: "Manage the fisheries and forests of the realm." "I, Lai, dare to respond to the great, illustrious, sagely, and gracious favor of the Son of Heaven, extolling him and using this as cause to make for my august late father Gongshu a set of harmonized bells. Ding, dong, bing, bong, ding, dong, bing, bong. May they be used in acts of piety, reverently gladdening past luminaries. May the past luminaries who dwell on high help perpetuate this command, sending down upon me good fortune, tranquility, and purity. May I, Lai, live long in service to the Son of Heaven." May sons' sons and grandsons' grandsons forever treasure these [bells].

Provenance

?-1989

(Robert H. Ellsworth, Ltd., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1989-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Liu Huaijun. "Meixian chutu yipi Xi Zhou jiaocang qingtong yueqi (A group of Western Zhou bronze musical instruments buried in a pit and excavated at Meixian)." Wen bo 文博, vol. 17, no. 2 (1987): 17-25.

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 7 archive.org

Turner, Evan H., et al. “Notable Acquisitions.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 78, no. 3, 1991, pp. 63–147. Reproduced: p. 125 www.jstor.org

Wilson, J. Keith, and Anne E. Wardwell. "New Objects/New Insights: Cleveland's Recent Chinese Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 81, no. 8 (1994): 270-347. Reproduced: p. 288; Mentioned: p. 287-291, 346 www.jstor.org

Cunningham, Michael R., Stanislaw J. Czuma, Anne E. Wardwell, and J. Keith Wilson. Masterworks of Asian Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998. Reproduced: pp. 26-27

Liu Huaijun. "Shaanxi Meixian chutu jiaocang qingtong qi bitan (Discussion on the bronzes buried in a pit at Meixian, Shaanxi province). Wen wu 文物, no. 6 (2003): 49-50.

Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 93

Exhibition history

Notable Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 15, 1991).

Asian Autumn: New Objects/New Insights: Cleveland's Recent Chinese Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 18-December 31, 1994).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Bell (Lai Zhong)|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1989.3|year=c. 800–700 BCE|access-date=21 September 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Bell (Lai Zhong)

Bell (Lai Zhong)

逨鐘

China, Shaanxi province, Meixian, Western Zhou dynasty

Location

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