THE SOUND OF CHIME BELLS OF 2400 YEARS AGO

The discovery in 1978 of a magnificent undamaged set of chime bells mo re than 2000 years old created a sensation in Chinese musical circles. As their immense value severely limited direct investigation, it was decided to make replicas and use these for research purposes. This com plex task was completed in 1984. An important result of the investigat ion was the discovery that the bells were cast not by the cire perdue method but by casting in clay moulds. In the West bell-casting was not practised until about the eighth century A.D. and the bells were circ ular in section: Chinese bells have an approximately ellipsoidal secti on.