The Musical Archaeological Research on Niu-Bell of Eastern Zhou Dynasty in Henan

Niu-Bell (a kind of ancient knob bell) is a new bell-type instrument combined by and derived from the bell body of Yong-Bell and the knob of brass bell in the Western Zhou Dynasty. It appeared at the turning of the end of Western Zhou Dynasty and the beginning of Spring and Autumn Period, and has played an important role in the instrumental suspension system of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. The Niu-Bell of Eastern Zhou Dynasty unearthed nowadays are mostly seen in Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and other provinces, among which, Henan occupies the largest part with a quantity reaching389pieces (see Schedule1). Therefore, the selected topic of the author:Music Archaeology Research of Niu-Bell in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty Seen in Henan, begins with an angle of music archaeology, takes the Niu-Bell of Eastern Zhou Dynasty seen in Henan as the research object, applies the research methods of archaeological typology, theory of tone-system, philology and other multiple subjects, and conducts in-depth investigation on aspects such as the model, decoration and series of sound of Henan Niu-Bell of Eastern Zhou Dynasty. It is planned to make a thorough inquiry on the development&evolution rules and regional features of Henan Niu-Bell in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, which has certain academic meaning on the research of chime phylogeny of Zhou Dynasty. Meanwhile, it has provided certain theoretical basis for the archaeology circle’s determination of division of generation of the Niu-Bell in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.