Discovery and Verification of One-Bell-Dual-Tone Effect

Photos by Zhang Qijun & Su Zhuolin

曾侯乙編鐘那些事9

The unearthing of the chime bells from the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng created a stir across China and the world.

The audience marveled at the sight of an instrument over 2400 years old playing famous Chinese and foreign music both ancient and modern.

The 65 bells looked majestic and magnificent and even mighty as they sat perched in three rows.Filing reverently into the museum,the audience gazed at the bells with awe,hearts swelling with pride in the civilization of the great country.

曾侯乙編鐘出土，驚動了中國，驚動了世界。

2400 多年前的樂器，出土之后還能演奏出古今中外名曲，聽眾驚訝。

65 件編鐘分三層懸掛，雄壯威武奇美。博物館里，觀眾面對編鐘心存敬仰，為泱泱大國有此文明而驕傲自豪。

聽眾在演奏廳里聽編鐘演奏時，可能不會知道一鐘雙音，就算講解員提到一鐘雙音，觀眾也不會在意，很少細究。

但我們今天要特別講講這一鐘雙音。

一鐘雙音，是中國先人的偉大創造，是堪與中國四大發明比肩的發現。

一鐘雙音的發明和應用，是中國古代樂工樂師們對世界音樂寶庫的重要貢獻。

武漢音樂學院副院長李幼平，在給外國聽眾舉辦的中國古典音樂講座上說，在古代，世界各地都有鐘，但它們都沒有成為樂器，為什么曾侯乙編鐘成了樂器，而且是一鐘雙音時，是這樣解開奧秘的。

他說，外國人造的鐘都是圓的，聲音持續時間長，所以只能作為鐘，而不能為樂器。唯獨中國的編鐘像兩片瓦合在一起，聲音的衰減較快，所以能編列成組，作為樂器使用。

They might have been ignorant about the double tones that rang with a bright and resonant ping from one bell when the audience listened to the bells being performed by a maestro of the instrument in the concert hall.Even if the commentator highlighted the one-bell-doubletone feature,the audience would still be clueless about its importance given their lack of knowledge on the subject.

Therefore,here we are going to give a special presentation on the one-bell-two-tone acoustic effect the chime-bells were capable of producing.

One bell with dual toneshas proven to be a great invention of the Chinese ancestors,nearly on par with their four famous inventions,namely the compass,the printing press,paper making,and gunpowder.

The invention and application of the one-bell-dual-tone effect is an important contribution of ancient Chinese musicians to the world’s stores of musical treasures.

Deputy Dean of Wuhan Conservatory of Music,Li Youping remarked in an international lecture on Chinese classical music that there were bells all over the world in ancient times,but only the Chinese variety was used as a musical instrument.Why did the Marquis Yi Chime-bells become musical instruments,and why were they double-tone bells? The following was his explanation of the mystery.

He said that the bells made abroad were round and their sound rang out for a long time,so they could only be used as clocks instead of musical instruments.Only the Chinese chime-bells were made in a unique structure like two joint tiles with an almond shape,and their sound dampened faster,so they could be arranged into groups and used as musical instruments.

The Marquis Yi Chime-bells could produce two perfect tones on one bell.This phenomenon was once perplexing,he explained.Acoustic testing found that the bells could make double tones due to their almond shape.When striking the central bottom of the bells,there were zero oscillations on the points on the left and right bottoms,and vice versa.This is how two tones can coexist in one bell without interfering with each other.

Professor Li Youping,a music archaeologist,gave an explanation that was concise and informative.However,for many years,people had naturally thought that a pre-Qin chime bell could produce only one musical tone,one single pitch.Music studies on bells,from the ancient bell-casting and live performance to modern scientific investigation and research,were long based on the understanding of one bell with one tone.

This tacit understanding had been like an absolutely still surface of water unbroken by wind or wave,and the unchallenged notion of one-bell-one-tone was “as peaceful as a mirrorlike water’s surface.” The only possible “exception” was that half a century ago,a ripple appeared on the mirror’s surface,but it disappeared immediately.

This is what Feng Jiexuan,a professor at Shanghai Customs College,said in an article commemorating the 30th anniversary of Mr.Huang Xiangpeng’s discovery of the onebell-dual-tone effect.

On perusal of Feng Jiexuan’s article,our respect for Mr.Huang Xiangpeng has doubled.

In the foregoing part of this series,it was mentioned that Huang Xiangpeng and several other experts tested the tone of the Marquis Yi Chime-bells in Suixian County and discovered the double tones on one bell.How important the result was to Huang Xiangpeng! More than a year ago,he discovered the double tone effect and wrote about it in an article that received tremendous backlash and so was never released,causing Mr.Huang to subsequently drop the subject.

The evidence that the one-belldual-tone effect of the Marquis Yi Chime-bells has garnered is so strong that it can be deemed ironclad proof.

他說，曾侯乙編鐘在一個鐘上能敲出兩個準確的樂音，這個現象一度使人感到困惑。經聲學檢測發現，編鐘能發雙音，在于它的合瓦形狀。當敲擊鐘的正面時，側面的振幅為零，敲擊側面時，正面的振幅為零。這樣雙音共存一體，又不會互相干擾。

李幼平教授是音樂考古學家，他的講解簡明扼要。但是多年以來，人們很自然地認為先秦編鐘，一鐘只發一個樂音，代表一個音高。從古代鑄鐘、演奏實踐，到現代科學考察、研究，無不以一鐘一音的認識為基礎。

如果把這一認識比作水面的話，那么用“水平似鏡”來形容2000多年來這一狀態之毫無變化，是一點也不過分的。唯一可稱為“例外”的是半個世紀前，似鏡的水面出現過一道漣漪，但隨即消失。

這是上海海關學院教授馮潔軒在紀念黃翔鵬先生發現一鐘雙音30 周年文章里的話。

細讀馮潔軒的文章，我們對黃翔鵬先生倍感尊敬。

上一篇故事里寫到黃翔鵬與幾個專家，在隨縣給曾侯乙編鐘測音時，測出了一鐘雙音的結果。這一結果對黃翔鵬來說，是多么重要。因為在一年多前，他發現了一鐘雙音，并寫出文章，但遭到多人反對，文章也未發出來，他就將此課題放下了。

曾侯乙編鐘一鐘雙音，多么有力的證據??！這是鐵證。

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關于一鐘一音和一鐘雙音，我們還得從頭說起。

1957年，中國河南省南部信陽市出土了一套春秋時期的編鐘，中國音樂界的大腕王世襄、孟憲福、郭瑛三人前往考察，以調查小組名義發表文章。其后，楊蔭瀏先生也發表他的研究結果。

他們都是在一鐘一音的認識基礎上考察信陽編鐘。

調查小組當時曾用信陽編鐘演奏了《東方紅》，并錄了音。這次錄音后來做了中央人民廣播電臺的開播曲。而其名聲大噪，則是1970年中國發射第一顆人造地球衛星上，這曲編鐘演奏的《東方紅》被帶上太空，不斷在太空播放，響徹宇宙。

信陽出土春秋編鐘共13 件，按一鐘一音認識，它們只能發出13個不同音高音組成的一串音列。《東方紅》樂曲中有兩處出現低音區的Si 音，13 件編鐘的音列中沒有這個音。

為了完成錄制任務，調查小組便在低音鐘上各處敲敲，看能不能找出一個雖發音不純凈但音高近似低音Si 的音。

最后，他們居然在一件鐘的鐘枚上找到了低音Si，完成了《東方紅》的錄音。雖說這兩處Si 音音高和音色都顯得模糊，但還是對付過去了。

調查小組沒有再深究為什么在一件鐘的鐘枚上敲出了Si 音。一鐘一音的定向思維使得他們與一鐘雙音擦肩而過。

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1977年3月到5月，黃翔鵬隨呂驥、王湘、顧伯寶三人，到甘、陜、晉、豫四省調查。

調查中，黃翔鵬接觸了許多先秦編鐘，在給這些鐘測音時，他注意到絕大多數鐘的右鼓部有著明確的不同于正鼓部的音高，而且這兩處的音程關系較有規律，基本上構成小三度。

這應該是鑄鐘工匠有目的地鑄造的結果。

編鐘在鼓部鑄有鳥形圖案，起著強調指明它所在部位有著另一音高音的作用，同時也成為我們認識一鐘雙音的目的性與規律性的有力物證。

雖然我們的祖先發明了一鐘雙音，并以純熟精湛的工藝鑄造出了具有明確雙音的青銅編鐘，實現了聲樂學上的偉大發明，可隨著青銅退出歷史舞臺，雙音編鐘也就被遺忘了2000 多年。

黃翔鵬在論文中首次提出了一鐘雙音的見解，立即遭到音樂界的質疑，人們覺得這是無法想象、不可能的事，連黃翔鵬最尊敬的前輩大家楊蔭瀏先生，也持完全反對的態度。

黃翔鵬在文中指出：“實際調查中，一般鐘體正鼓部的內側和左右鼓部（今稱側鼓）的內側都有調音時留下的銼痕?？梢?，不僅是正鼓音經過了音高調整，而側鼓音同樣也經過了音高的調整。從而完全斷定側鼓音是古人有目地按程序在鐘體上刻意鑄成的另一個樂音。”

黃翔鵬以上關于一鐘雙音的論證是全面完整的，但雜志社把這部分刪了，沒有發出來，理由是文章太長，分兩次發。就這樣，寫于1977年關于一鐘雙音的后半部分，直至1980年才發表在《音樂論叢》上。

As to the presumptionof onebell-one-tone and one-bell-dualtone feature,we’ll have to start from the very beginning.

In 1957,a set of chimes of the Spring and Autumn Period(770–476 BC) was unearthed in the southern part of Xinyang City of Henan Province in China,and Wang Shixiang,Meng Xianfu,and Guo Ying,all of whom were revered masters in the Chinese music industry,were sent there for a site survey and their reports were filed in the name of the investigation team.Subsequently,Mr.Yang Yinliu also published his research findings.

All of their investigations into the chimes unearthed in Xinyang was carried out on the basis of their knowledge of one bell with a single sound.

There and then the investigation team recorded the tune “The East Is Red” played with the chimes unearthed in Xinyang,which was later made the signature tune of the China National Radio.But what skyrocketed its fame was when the melody played on the chimes was taken into outer space with the first man-made satellite of China in 1970,and has since been resounding throughout the universe.

The Spring and Autumn Period chime set unearthed in Xinyang is composed of 13 bells,and was considered only capable of producing a scale of tones in 13 different pitches due to the onebell-one-tone feature.Yet,in different parts of the bass section of the song there existed two seventh“ti” tones which were absent from the 13 bells.

In order to complete the recording task,the team members played the bass chimes in search of a tone with a pitch similar to that of the bass seventh tone “ti,” even if it was not the pure tone.

In the end,they completed the recording of “The East is Red”after locating the bass seventh on a mei (a round stump-like stake protruding on the upper part of the bell body) of one of the bells.Both the pitch and timbre of these two seventh tones were somewhat indistinct,but could do in a pinch.

The team didn’t further delve into how it was possible to play a bass seventh tone on the mei of a bell.Because of their one-bell-onetone mindset,they overlooked the possibility of two tones on one bell.

From March to May in 1977,Huang Xiangpeng,together with Lü Ji,Wang Xiang,and Gu Bobao,went around to Gansu,Shaanxi,Shanxi,and Henan Provinces for investigation.

In the course of their investigation,Huang Xiangpeng examined many chime-bells cast in the pre-Qin Period.During their tone-testing of these bells,he noticed that striking the right bottom of most of the bells could produce a clear pitch different from those produced at the central bottom of the bells,and the musical interval relation between the two was fairly regular,basically forming a minor third.

It could be concluded that it was the result of the focused work of the bell-casting craftsmen.

The chimes were cast with birdshaped patterns on the bottom parts,which played the role of emphasizing that the places where they were located had another tone with a different pitch.It became powerful material evidence for us to understand the purpose and regularity of one bell with two tones.

Although our Chinese ancestors invented dual-tone bells and cast bronze chimes with clear double tones made with sophisticated craftsmanship,when bronze crafts were on their way out and vocal music was on its way up,double-tone chimes had also been forgotten for more than 2000 years.

Huang Xiangpeng first put forward his discovery on the onebell-double-tone phenomenon in his paper,which was immediately questioned by the music world.People reckoned that this was unimaginable and impossible.Even Huang Xiangpeng’s most respected

所幸的是，1978年湖北隨縣發掘了曾侯乙墓，出土了曾侯乙編鐘，黃翔鵬等專家有幸從北京到隨縣為編鐘測音。

黃翔鵬不僅測出了曾侯乙編鐘一鐘雙音的結果，而且他和專家們從編鐘的銘文中發現了一鐘雙音的記載，銘文對各個音的名稱都寫得清清楚楚。他百感交集，一夜之間，專家們都接受了一鐘雙音的事實。

有趣的是，黃翔鵬的論文下半部分發出來時，已是曾侯乙編鐘一鐘雙音空前轟動之后，黃翔鵬的文章倒沒人注意了。之后，很多文章與專論都認定曾侯乙編鐘一鐘雙音是音樂界的偉大創舉，是中國古人對世界音樂的偉大貢獻。

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說了半天黃翔鵬，還是讓我們來了解一下這位終生為音樂勤奮研究奉獻的音樂大家以及他的學者風范。

黃翔鵬1927年出生于江蘇南京，抗日戰爭時就加入團結救國社從事抗日活動，1945年加入中國共產黨，曾任中國藝術研究院博士生導師，《中國音樂文物大系》主編，中國音樂研究所所長。

他的研究主要在中國音樂史和中國傳統音樂的理論兩個領域，對出土和傳世音樂文物的研究、傳統音樂的型態學特征及其歷史發展和中國樂律學史、曲調考證等諸方面都具有理論建樹和新發現。在中國傳統音樂的基礎理論探索中，他提出過諸多理論。在發掘古曲、古樂發展問題和邊緣學科建設，諸如音樂與聲學、文物與古文獻研究方面，他也有較深造詣。

The chime-bells of Marquis Yi when unearthed 編鐘出土

Huang Xiangpeng pointed out in his article,“In actual investigations,generally the inner side of the central bottom of the bell bodies and those of the left and right bottom part (now called the side drums) have file marks left by tuning operations.It was apparent that the pitch of the central bottom had been retuned,along with the side drums.Thus,it can well be concluded that the side drum sound is another musical sound deliberately cast on the bell body by the ancients according to a pattern.”

Huang Xiangpeng’s argument about the double tones on one bell was comprehensive,but it was deleted during the editing of the paper by the press for the reason that the article was too long to be published entirely at one time.For this reason,it was not until 1980 that the second half about the double tones on one bell,which was written in 1977,was released in theMusic Forummagazine.

Fortunately,in 1978,Hubei Suixian County excavated the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng,unearthed the chime bells,and Huang Xiangpeng and other experts made a discovery trip from Beijing to Suixian County for acoustic testing on the bells.

Huang Xiangpeng not only tested the result of the two-tone bells of Marquis Yi of Zeng,he and the other experts also discovered the records of the one-bell-doubletone effect from the inscription on the chimes.The name of each tone was clearly described in the inscription.He was overcome by a wave of emotions,and meanwhile,the experts accepted the doubletone effect in short order.

Interestingly enough,when the second half of Huang Xiangpeng’s paper was published,it failed to make much impact at all,even though it was after the dual-tone bells made such an unprecedented sensation.Later,many articles and monographs affirmed that the dual-tone chimes were a great pioneering work in the field of music and a great contribution of the ancient Chinese to world music in general.

Seal inscription on a chime-bell 編鐘上的篆體銘文

With so much writtenabout Huang Xiangpeng’s great contributions,it’s time to get to know more about this great master and his scholarly style.He was a man who devoted his whole life to the study of music.

Huang Xiangpeng was born in Nanjing,Jiangsu Province in 1927.He joined the United National Salvation Association during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and engaged in national salvation activities.He joined the Communist Party of China in 1945,and was a doctoral supervisor of the Chinese Academy of Arts,chief editor of A Collection of Chinese Musical Relics,and director of the Chinese Institute of Music.

His research is mainly focused on two fields:the history of Chinese music and the theory of Chinese traditional music.He has made theoretical achievements and new discoveries in the study of the unearthed musical instruments and heritage,the morphological characteristics and historical development of traditional music,the history of Chinese musicology,and the textual research of melodies.He has put forward many theories in the exploration of the basic theory of Chinese traditional music and has profound attainments in the excavation of ancient musical instruments,the development of ancient music,and the construction of marginal disciplines,such as music and acoustics,cultural relics and ancient literature.

Huang’s wife has described him as a good man and an excellent individual with few material demands.And as a man with great inner peace,indifferent to the fame and interests of official positions,and extremely dedicated to his cause.She also extolled his sense of responsibility to her and their marriage.

From the discovery of the onebell-dual-tone effect in the pre-Qin chimes to the certification of one-bell-dual-tone feature in the Marquis Yi Chime-bells,he had only utter joy brought on for China’s contribution to the world music.During the two decades from 1977 to his departure in 1997,Huang Xiangpeng never claimed that he was the discoverer of the onebell-dual-tone effect.People have speculated that this was due to the humility and magnanimity of a highly traditional scholar,and the expression of a person who did not care about fame and wealth,only his beloved cause.In Huang Xiangpeng’s case,it is a reflection of the nobility of his character.

After Huang Xiangpeng’s departure,people in the music industry purported him to be the discoverer of the two tones on one bell,a discovery that stunned the music world.And whenever mention should be made of the one-bell-dual-tone effect,Huang Xiangpeng’s name should immediately come to mind,along with warm feelings of adoration,respect,and reverence.

(Translation:Luo Dongyuan)

黃翔鵬的妻子評價他是一個好人，一個優秀的人，一個對物質生活幾乎無所求的人，一個隨遇而安的人，一個對官位名利淡泊至極的人，一個對事業極端負責的人，一個對愛情婚姻極端負責的人。

從發現先秦編鐘一鐘雙音到曾侯乙編鐘證明了一鐘雙音，他只有喜悅，對中國給世界音樂做出貢獻的喜悅。從1977年到1997年去世的20年間，黃翔鵬從未自陳過自己是一鐘雙音的發現者。有人說，這是傳統文人的謙虛、灑脫，也是一個人不計名利、只計事業的表現，在黃翔鵬身上，這確是一種高尚人格。

黃翔鵬去世后，關于他是一鐘雙音的最早發現者，是由音樂界的人士說出來的。一鐘雙音的發現震驚世界。提到一鐘雙音，我們應該記住黃翔鵬。