This article features a set of Chinese bell stamps from China in 2000. The set has four stamps, each featuring a different bell. Cast bronze bells have existed in China for more than three thousand years. Metallurgists and founders developed ways to create elaborately decorated cast bronze bells. In addition, they found ways to create bells with specific pitches that could play in large sets. Incredibly, Chinese makers even developed a type of bell that could play two distinct pitches. Bell making in China is certainly an ancient and remarkable cultural achievement to take pride in and it is fitting that a set of stamps celebrates these ancient marvels. You can learn more about ancient bells from China in a Smithsonian exhibition here.
Jingshu (or Yong) Bell
Scott Number: CN 3074
The most remarkable type of bell from Ancient China are those that can make two pitches. Bells that have no clappers inside are part of the zhong family and make sound when they are struck with a mallet. The yong and similar two-tone bells have a distinctive shape, with a mouth that is kind of an oval with corners, known as a lentoid shape. Additionally, the corners are raised at the end. When the corners are hit they create one pitch, while a second pitch sounds when the bell is hit in the center. The two pitches are around a third apart. This paper helps to explain the physic of how this works.
From the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, 433 BC, during the interregnum between the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period of ancient China., CC BY-SA 3.0
The yong would hang as a part of a graduated set of bells on a wooden frame. The entire set is known as the bianzhong. The most important and complete bianzhong is a ceremonial set of 65 bells excavated from the tomb of the Marquis of Yi, from around 430 BCE.
Su (or Bo) Bell
Scott Number: CN 3075
The bo type of bell has a suspension loop cast into the bell. Ancient examples of the bells have the same lentoid shape as the yong bells above and were capable of playing two pitches. Over time, bo bells became circular and could only make one pitch. While bo bells appear in many contexts, notice that there is a large one right in the middle of the Marquis of Yi bianzhong above.
Jingyun bell
The next two stamps both features specific bells. The third stamp in the set features the giant Jingyun bell made in 711 during the Tang dynasty. The bell measures more than two meters in height and weighs approximately six-and-a-half tons. It was originally for the Jinglong temple in the city of Xi’an, then during the Ming dynasty it was moved to a large bell tower. In 1997, the city of Xi’an made a copy of the bell that can be played and is exhibited for tourists to visit.
Scott Number: CN 3076
The Qianlong Court Bell
The final stamp also features a specific bell. It is another large bell standing more than two and a half meters tall and weighing more than three tons. The elaborate decoration on the bell includes twenty-two dragons with flowing beards and sharp claws. In addition, the dragons fly within scenes of clouds, the sea, and towering cliffs. It is thought that the bell was made during the reign of Qianlong, in the Qing dynasty. The bell is now at the historical bell museum in Hai-dian District of Beijing. Learn more about this bell.
Scott Number: CN 3076
A Colorful Cover
I also have a cover that features all four of the Chinese bell stamps. The cover was sent from China to Luxembourg in 2001.
