The chime of Zenghouyi, unearthed in 1978 at the tomb of Zenghouyi in Legudun, Suizhou, Hubei, is the most majestic and largest musical instrument ever discovered in the world, representing the highest achievement of Chinese pre-Qin ritual and music civilization and bronze casting technology.

As the "Voice of Confucius Period", how did the excavation of Zeng Houyi's chimes rewrite the history of world music and become a "special envoy" to enhance friendship between China and foreign countries and promote world cultural exchanges? Fang Qin, director of the Hubei Provincial Museum, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "East West Question", saying that the inscription of Zeng Houyi's bell is the earliest theoretical document on sound music in the history of world civilization, so that it has been preserved 2,400 years ago by means of mutual confirmation of sound and text. In foreign exchanges, Zeng Houyi chimes, regarded as "Chinese Zhengyin", have built a bridge for communication between China and foreign countries.

The following is a summary of the interview transcript:

China News Service reporter: The chime bell is the first of the "eight-tone" musical instruments in ancient China. Why is the unearthed chime of Zeng Houyi considered to embody the highest achievement of the "civilization of ritual and music" in the pre-Qin period and rewrite the history of world music?

Fang Qin: "Chime Bell" is a unique "Chinese voice" with historical charm. It arose in the Zhou Dynasty, prospered in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period until the Qin and Han Dynasties. It was mainly cast in bronze. As a large-scale ceremonial instrument, chimes are often played on occasions such as the birth of the emperor, sacrifices to ancestors, and triumphs of soldiers, which fully demonstrates the important symbolic role of chimes in ancient society.

Before the bells were unearthed, many scholars, especially Western scholars, believed that the twelve laws of ancient China were introduced from the West. After the chime of Zeng Houyi was unearthed, music historians conducted a sound measurement on it, and found that the total range of this set of chimes spanned five octaves, and the central range of 12 semitones was complete. Compared with modern pianos, it is only one octave less at the lowest and highest pitches, and it can fully play the music of the pentatonic, hexatonous, and seven-tone scales, and almost all the music that people listen to today can be played.

What's more precious is that the 3755-character inscriptions on the bell body, bell frame and wall clock components contain rich and complete musical temperament knowledge, not only marking the names of the bells' pronunciation temperament scales, but also clearly indicating these scales. The corresponding relationship between the name and the rhythm of Chu, Zhou and other countries. This can be regarded as the earliest work on phonology in China, and it is also the earliest document that discovered human beings to recognize music from a scientific perspective.

Another characteristic of Zeng Houyi's chimes is "one bell with two tones". According to the inscription on the chime with the wrong gold marking, different tones will be produced when the front drum and side drums of the chime are struck, and the difference between the two tones is three degrees. Research shows that Zeng Houyi's chimes not only reflect China's world-leading technological and musical achievements in the 5th century BC, but also demonstrate the height of human rationality in the "Axial Age" of cultural breakthroughs.

China News Service reporter: Zeng Houyi chime bell systematically recorded the musicology theory in China at that time with long inscriptions. Why is its unearthed epoch-making significance? How do foreign scholars comment on this?

Fang Qin: The excavation of the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng has an unparalleled status and significance in the history of Chinese archaeology. It is of great significance to understand the political system and social structure of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, especially craftsmanship, technology, music and even ideological beliefs. Until now, the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng is still a treasure trove to be further excavated and studied.

Among them, Zeng Houyi's chime confirmed that the systematic and mature framework of Chinese music had been formed at that time. This is a miracle in the history of world music, and it also shows that Zeng Guo's music has inheritance and inheritance, and is the representative of China's Zhengsheng. Here, "Zhengsheng" includes two aspects: one is the construction of a musical discipline including twelve temperaments, inherited from the orthodoxy of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and passed down to the twelve temperaments of the Han Dynasty, and its use affects the whole of China; The pure music of the ancient Chinese 2400 years ago can still be heard today.

Overseas scholars pay the most attention to the music theory explained by Zeng Houyi's chime inscription, the characteristics of "one bell and two tones" and its good musical performance. We have held many academic seminars, such as the academic seminar on the 40th anniversary of the excavation of the chime of Zeng Houyi, experts and scholars from home and abroad and archaeologists who have participated in the excavation, sorting and research of Zeng Houyi's tomb participated in the exchange.

Many well-known foreign scholars spoke highly of Zeng Houyi's chime. For example, Choi Chuan, a professor at Pusan University in South Korea and president of the Korean Traditional Music Association, said that the excavation of Zeng Houyi's tomb will help to explore and study the roots of East Asian music. Luo Tai, a professor at the Department of Art History at the University of California, Los Angeles, believes that the excavation of Zeng Houyi's tomb is the most important archaeological discovery in China in recent decades. It opens a new window to deeply understand the spiritual culture of the ancients, which is unique in the history of world archaeology. He commented that Zeng Houyi's chime was one of the greatest discoveries of mankind in the 20th century.

China News Service reporter: The "ancient voice" made by Zeng Houyi's chime has impressed foreign guests and foreign heads of state on important occasions. What's the story?

Fang Qin: Zeng Houyi's original chime has only been played twice. The first time was when it was unearthed in 1978. In order to understand its musical function, a concert was held near the excavated land, and a group of famous music from ancient and modern China and foreign countries was played, which was widely disseminated through radio and shocked the world; the other time was in 1997. On July 1, the return of Hong Kong, the large-scale symphony "1997: Heaven, Earth and Man" composed and conducted by the famous musician Tan Dun, the ancient sound of gold and stone extracted from the original chime of Zeng Houyi and recorded into the modern orchestra, completing the performance spanning thousands of years.

Music most resonates with the world, and has played a lot of unexpected roles in foreign exchanges. As an ancient and precious musical instrument in China, Zeng Houyi chimes can interpret music of different eras and styles in ancient and modern China and foreign countries, which not only shows its powerful musical performance, but also reflects the broad, inclusive and eclectic Chinese civilization.

In recent years, copies of Zeng Houyi's chimes have frequently appeared on the international stage in the form of exhibitions, performances and artistic exchanges, becoming the "special envoy" of world cultural exchanges.

In 1992, in order to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, the Hubei Provincial Museum was invited to Japan to hold a special exhibition of cultural relics unearthed from the tomb of Zeng Houyi. In 2008, the music for the award ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games and Paralympic Games was the Jiangsu folk song "Jasmine Flower", which was a fusion of Zeng Houyi's original chime sound, modern jade chime and symphony.

The copy of Zeng Houyi's chime has appeared many times in major diplomatic occasions. In 2016, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Egyptian President Sisi jointly attended the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Egypt and the opening ceremony of the 2016 China-Egypt Cultural Year. ", amazed the audience; in July 2017, President Xi Jinping went to Hamburg, Germany to attend the 12th G20 Leaders' Summit, and the large-scale classical music and dance "Chime and Dance" appeared in Berlin.

Every year, the Hubei Provincial Museum welcomes a large number of foreign friends to enjoy the chime bell performance, many of whom are politicians from various countries. In 2016, we used chimes to play the Russian classic folk song "Katyusha" for the visiting Russian Federation Council Chairman Valentina Matviyenko. In April 2018, President Xi Jinping met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who came to China for an informal meeting, in Wuhan, and jointly visited the Hubei Provincial Museum's fine cultural relics exhibition.

We have held exhibitions and performances of chime replicas in Italy, the United States, Russia, India and other countries and regions. More than 600 million people around the world have experienced the visual feast of "Chime Bells and Dances" spanning thousands of years.

China News Agency reporter: How is the progress of the work to declare Zeng Houyi Chime as a World Memory of the World Heritage Project?

Fang Qin: In 2018, Hubei Provincial Museum started the application of Zeng Houyi Chime of the World Memory Heritage, which is a document protection project launched by UNESCO in 1992. The chime of Zeng Houyi records the knowledge of music theory 2400 years ago, which is evidence of human scientific understanding of music. This declaration is not only conducive to the protection of cultural relics, but also allows more people to understand this treasure and attract more experts at home and abroad Scholars jointly participate in research and enhance exchanges and mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations.

This work has also been supported and recognized by many experts and scholars at home and abroad. Mr. Quan Wusheng, president of the East Asian Music Association, visited the Hubei Provincial Museum twice. He said that the chimes must be declared as a world heritage, so that overseas people know about it. At present, we are making preparations in accordance with the nomination requirements of the World Memory of the World Heritage. For example, international scholars' symposiums are held to listen to expert opinions from Germany, the United States, France and other countries and regions. I believe that this goal will be achieved eventually, and it is our responsibility.