Technology in a New Key: Toward a Reexamination of Musical Theory and Practice in the Zeng Hou Yi 曾侯乙 Bells

Abstract

This paper takes a fresh look at music-theoretical information to be gleaned from a comparison of pitch-frequency measurements to inscriptional information from the massive bronze bell-set excavated from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng and attempts to place it in the context of knowledge derived from received texts of Warring States China. After examining several textual witnesses to conceptions of music theory from that era, the paper observes how similar conceptions may have informed the inscribers of the Zeng bells, who employed a system of nomenclature that diverged in subtle yet important ways from formulations of their philosophical counterparts. The final two sections explore possible implications of the bells’ relatively unique terminology from the standpoints of scale structures and musical temperament, respectively, looking for consistent patterns of tone-to-key distributions and clues to the possible deployment of a system of intonation designed to temper the twelve-tone gamut.