-1 101 Z The central chamber of the tomb was packed with musical instruments. These included zithers, mouth-organs, pan-pipes, flutes, drums, bells and stone chimes. In addition there were many bronze sacrificial vessels, lacquered tables, cups and utensils and many objects used for eating and drinking.
#Central chamber zoom - opening PW
1 101 X Two instruments ('paixiao') belong to that most ancient family of wind-instruments, pan-pipes. Made in this case from thirteen lengths of bamboo tubing, of different lengths, tied together with cord and then lacquered, they closely resemble ancient pipes of both European and American traditions. The longest pipes are just under 9 ins (21 cm) long. Still played in many parts of the world today, it was from instruments of this broad type that the drilled wooden pipes of ancient Rome and the large, sophisticated pottery pipes of the Nazca evolved.
2 101 X Three handsomely lacquered and intricately decorated mouth-organs ('sheng') were found. Their bodies are made traditionally, from hollow gourds, 8 ins (20 cm) long including the blow-pipe. This forms a pressure-chamber into which the ends of eighteen bamboo pipes are inserted and sealed. Finger-holes in each pipe enable its tuned reed, inside the gourd, to sound in a complex sympathetic manner, just as in later instruments. Modern survivals using precisely the same curious voicing system, though often now with metal reeds instead, are widespread throughout East and South-East Asia.
3 101 X On a bronze rack, 43 ins (1.1 m) high, supported at each end by fantastic animals, were hung thirty-two chime-stones ('quing') of stone and jade. In the wet conditions inside the tomb these did not survive as well as the bronze of the bells, but they do have inscribed on them the names of the tones to which they were tuned. Two hammers found among the silver vessels against the east wall of the chamber are believed to be the mallets used to play them.
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5 101 X There are several stringed instruments, all of zither (that is to say, board- or box-shaped) form, but included among them are three distinct types: a short, ten-string zither under 27 ins long (70 cm), a longer and narrower five-string instrument and seven large 'se'-zithers measuring more than 66 ins (165 cm). In contrast with West Asian and European tradition, where harps, lyres and lutes predominate, it was the zither family which was most prominent in the East; numerous varieties occur not only in China but also in Korea and Japan. These were all plucked or strummed instruments, with strings probably of silk.
