See artifacts| it is the originator of percussion instruments Rarely seen in archaeological finds

The pottery bell is a simplified pottery instrument with a handle. When used, hold the bell handle in one hand, and strike the bell body with a stick or mallet in the other hand to make a sound. The pottery bell is rarely found in archaeology, and its shape is very close to the bronze instrument of the Shang Dynasty, so some people call it "Tao Zhen".

The pottery bell is said to be a ringer used by the ancestors to sacrifice gods, mountains, lakes, wind and rain, and stars to pray for wind and rain, so it is actually a kind of "ritual instrument" for the gods. It was later replaced by a bronze bronze cymbal.

Road snow photo

The Doumen Town Pottery Bell in the picture above was excavated in 1955 in Doumen Town, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. It is a relic of the Neolithic Period (Longshan culture, about 2300 BC to 2000 BC), with a height of 12.5 cm.

The pottery bell body is short and broad, rectangular in shape, and the cross-section is approximately elliptical. The abdomen is hollow, the anterior and posterior walls are slightly thinner, the lateral walls are slightly thicker, and the lower mouth is flush. Cylindrical solid, thick on top and thin on the bottom, round at the apex. The dance is flat, where the surface meets the dance, and there is a round hole on each side that can be suspended.

The excavation of this cultural relic provides an important physical data basis and clue for the instrumental musicology of musicology and the study of Chinese music history, and has academic significance and research value that cannot be ignored.

Editor-in-charge: Jia Tingyi