English: A set of six bronze bells in six graded sizes, from the Chinese Eastern Zhou Dynasty, 6th century BC. These musical bells, along with many other contemporary bells, played an important part in many social activities and political state ceremonies. The majority of Eastern Zhou Dynasty bells are clapperless, save the small hand and harness bells of the period. To produce musical notes, these bells would have been struck from the outside using metal objects such as hammers. According to the size of each bell, two different notes could be played by striking either the bell's center or a side of the concave mouth of the bell.

From the Freer and Sackler Galleries of Washington D.C.

• Author: PericlesofAthens
• Date: August 3, 2007