It was first seen in the late Yin Dynasty and prevailed in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Musical instruments unearthed from Yin Ruins in Anyang, Henan have been used for elegant music since the Zhou Dynasty. According to historical records, it should be an instrument used to direct the orchestra and control the overall rhythm. When the nobles were feasting or offering sacrifices, they often matched it with bells and chimes, and knocked it with a hammer to make it sound. An important issue is that there are only bells and no chimes in the Lexuan ritual system that identifies rank. The tympanic tubes are difficult to preserve and cannot be judged.

During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the princes of Lexuan were only hung on one side ("Xiaoxu" called it "special suspension"). The ministers and doctors in Wang Ji may also have Lexuan, and their rank may also be higher than that of the vassal states, but there is a lack of direct historical data. After the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the feudal lords were hung with multiple curved rulers and two sides ("Xiao Xu" called it "judgment hanging"), and the Qing doctor was hung on the surface. "Judgment Xuan" (the shape of two faces confronting each other) is actually the way of arranging the suspension of music in the pre-Qin nobles' life, which was used by the Qing doctor Yan Le Xiangshe. "Quxuan" is the way of placement in the tombs of the nobles of the feudal rank after their death. Although both are two-sided hanging music, the "Quxuan" is in the shape of a square, and the "Judgment" is two parallel columns. There seems to be a difference between the one used in life and the other used after death. The original meaning of "Xuan" in "Xuanxuan" means "Quyuan Fan's chariot", which is the L-shape of the carriage's chariot. The record seems to be correct. After the Qin and Han dynasties, due to the evolution of characters, "qu" took the shape of "凵". And the carriage of the single carriage (yu) also happened to be "yu", so scholars after the Han Dynasty mistakenly used "Xuanxuan" as "凵" in the shape of Lexuan. "Xiaoxu" "everything hangs bells and bells, half of them are blocked, and all of them are arrogant" is exactly the opposite of the historical facts of the pre-Qin period. It may be that the Qin and Han capitals misremembered when they gave and received them.