The Imperial Bells of China

With a mischievous grin my husband queued up LL Cool J’s Rock the Bells as we headed to the Imperial Bells of China concert. Not the same genre of music, or exactly what Mr. Cool J had in mind when he composed the song, it was still appropriate. We were about to see and hear China’s take on bell rocking. And no disrespect to L L Cool J, but China has been rocking the bells for a lot longer. At least 2,400 years longer.

Staging a Bell of a Good Performance

The stage in the Davidson Theater of the Riffe Center building in downtown Columbus holds instruments I’ve never seen before. Each one leaves me curious, but none command the stage like the set of bells. I hadn’t expected them to be that big or complicated looking.

Hanging on an ornate frame of lacquered wood and gold metal in three tiers, the 23 bells range in size from roughly five to sixty inches. The top two tiers of bells can only be reached if the musicians stand on a platform. Frequently, more than one musician plays at a time because the instrument is too large for any one person to produce all the notes alone.

Rocking the Imperial Bells

The sounds these bells produce are as varied as their size. The smaller bells are high and clear and reminiscent of a xylophone. The larger bells have a deep, full, resonating sound one might associate with an Asian temple gong. The lowest note that can be produced is C2 and the highest note is D7. The Imperial Bells of China are both lower and higher than a modern piano and can range across five octaves. That’s a lot of room to rock.

The most amazing thing about these bells is that each is capable of producing two tones or pitches. Striking the bell on its center produces one tone, while striking it on its edge produces another. The secret to the two tones comes from the oval shape of each bell. During the Bronze Age of China, craftsmen experimented with and perfected the bell shape that allowed two-toned bells to be produced.

Show Me The Bells, Show Me The Money

These bells became an important part of Chinese culture and music. The bells also became synonymous with wealth. Only those with the resources to run the workshops required to produce and maintain these bells could possess them. The Marquis Yi of Zeng had the wherewithal to acquire his own set of bells even though he was the ruler of a state subordinate to its larger, more powerful Chu neighbor. It was the 1978 discovery of his undisturbed tomb that brought these ancient bells into the modern world.

When The People’s Liberation Army set out to level a hill for future construction, they had no way of knowing they’d find a priceless archaeological treasure. Or a musical wonder from the Bronze Age of China. The four chambered tomb they stumbled upon during excavation hadn’t seen the light of day since 433 BC.

Many priceless Bronze Age artifacts were preserved in pristine condition in the tomb. The greatest of these is the Bianzhoung, a set of 65, two-toned bronze bells. Painstaking replication of these 2,400 year old bells has produced the set of bells on the stage in front of me. I am hearing what people on the other side of the world heard two and a half millennia ago. Talk about transcending time and space.

Chimin’ n’ Rhymnin’

LL Cool J spoke of his return with the lyrics, “The king of crowd rockers is finally back”, but I think this could also be applied to the Imperial Bells after their 2,400 year hiatus. After all, he wrote Rock the Bells only 7 years after the bells were rediscovered. Though the genre of music and the kinds of bells are vastly different, the Imperial Bells of China as played by the National Chime Music Orchestra and LL Cool J are both exceptional performers. And when it really comes down to it, these lines from Rock the Bells fit both: “We rock the bells so very well cause that’s the name of this jam. Rock the bells.”