Master Archaeologist

Now that the stone chime has been discovered.

It shows that the sacrificial activities of the ancient Shu people were also carried out in full accordance with the etiquette of rituals and music.

Although the text is still not found, Shi Qing's discovery shows that the ancient Shu people must have a ritual and music system that we don't know yet.

Ritual and music were a very important tool in the Shang and Zhou dynasties.

Not only is it used to restrain the king, but it can also be used to regulate the behavior of the people, thereby maintaining the stability of social order.

It can be imagined that a huge stone chime is hung at the gate of the ancestral temple. Whenever there is a sacrifice, the priest will hit the stone chime hard to make a clear and long sound, which can not only shock but also comfort people's hearts. Unite together and condense into an indestructible force.

The birth of music was originally intended to enrich the spiritual world of mankind, with the effect of soothing and uniting people.

Everyone has heard the "lullaby" sung by their mother when they were young, and this kind of lullaby and nursery rhyme is actually the earliest birth of human music.

Soothes the heart, comforts the heart.

This is a spontaneous behavior of human beings, and it is also something engraved on human DNA.

Human beings have evolved step by step from ancient times to modern humans.

Perhaps writing is not necessarily something that will necessarily evolve.

For example, in the jungles of Africa and the Amazon, there are still a lot of slash-and-burn, primitive tribes without writing. They have no writing, and they still live to this day.

However, even these primitive tribes have a culture of "music".

They would sing together around the campfire and make primitive percussion instruments out of some bones.

African culture is not brilliant, but the musical instruments of African indigenous people are not lacking at all.

Music is something that is inherent in human beings.

As long as it is a modern Homo sapiens, it will definitely develop its own music and musical instruments.

This is the same all over the world.

Whether it is the Angsa people on the British Peninsula, the Indians in North and South America, or the Chinese people, they will develop their own musical instruments in the process of civilization development.

It's just that the Chinese people have developed "music" from a simple form of entertainment to a part of the ritual system.

It can be said that music is a necessity for human beings, but words are not necessarily.

The discovery of musical instruments in the sacrificial pit in Sanxingdui can only be said to be a matter in line with the law of human evolution.

But it was a stone chime that was discovered, so it was different.

The stone chime is the earliest ritual musical instrument in the Chinese civilization, and it was born earlier than chimes and the like.

The chime originated from some kind of flaky stone labor tool. In ancient Jiawen, the left half of the character chime resembles a hanging stone, and the right half resembles a hand holding a mallet to strike.

Its shape changed in many ways later, and its texture changed from the original stone to jade and copper chimes.

Evolved from labor tools, it was originally used for music and dance activities of the ancestors.

The name of the chime can be found in "Shiben Zuopian", and it is said that it was made by Wuyu in the time of Yao and Shun.

Or pass: "Qing, made by uncle."

It can be seen that by the end of the Neolithic Age, when Yao or Shun was the chief of the tribal alliance, the chimes were already in use.

"Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals Ancient Music" contains: Yao ordered Kui to hit the chime "to resemble God" and "to dance with beasts", depicting a scene of music and dance life in an ancient primitive society. …

In the 20s, a large stone chime was unearthed at the Dongxiafeng site in Xia County, Shanxi Province. It is 70 cm long and has a perforation in the upper part. The sound of hitting is pleasant.

It has been determined that this chime is about 4000 years old, and it is the earliest chime found so far.

The Longshan Culture, 4000 to 4500 years ago, also unearthed a stone chime.

Basically, it can be confirmed that the appearance of the stone chime, a musical instrument, and silk fabrics are actually about the same time.

By the time of the Shang Dynasty, chime musical instruments were relatively complete. In the Shang Dynasty, chime had been widely circulated and used by royal court bands.

In the Zhou Dynasty, the chime became even more important. It was already an important ritual instrument in the Zhou rituals, and it was also an important part of the elegant music with percussion as the main body.

From then until the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, chimes were the most important part of court ritual and music culture.

It wasn't until the chaotic times at the end of the Qin Dynasty that all the rites and music in Zhou rites completely disappeared in the chaos of war, and the chime, a traditional Chinese musical instrument, gradually disappeared in history.

The Han Dynasty was the last period in which the chime existed. After the Han Dynasty, this instrument did not appear in "ritual music" again.

It is worth mentioning that.

Stone chimes appeared in many places at the same time in the Longshan period, which contained special social functions and political colors.

Stone chime is mainly used as a special tool for tribal chiefs to convene tribesmen and command battles, and as an instrument for dancing and music.

As a funeral object, its appearance is very meaningful.

In the ancient times of China, stone chimes were used as ritual instruments for clan chiefs to teach rituals and command clansmen.

According to the "Shang Shu Shun Dian": "The emperor (Shun) said, Kui, ordered you to play music, teach the stomach,... the gods and men are in harmony, Kui said, Yu Yu hit the stone and smashed the stone, and all the beasts danced together."

It can be determined that from the Three Emperors and Five Emperors to the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the stone chime was not a musical instrument for the ruler Yan Xiang, but a ritual vessel used for sacrificial occasions.

"Book of Songs Shang Song Na" mentioned that in the sacrifice of "Yan Wo Lie Zu", there are both "playing drums and bamboo slips" and "the sound of 嚖嚖 pipe", and finally reached the "Yi Yi chime sound". "Peace and peace".

This shows that chime music is an indispensable sound for large-scale ceremonies such as sacrifices and Daxiang food, and has a strong hierarchical meaning.

What is recorded in "Ode to Shang" is the way merchants used to live, and it is the folk customs and customs of merchants.

In the Shang Dynasty, the chime was already a very important ritual instrument.

In the Zhou Dynasty, due to the increasingly prominent position of chime in sacrificial activities, the ruling class gradually joined in the development of this musical instrument, and regarded this musical instrument as a symbol of their identity and status.

As we all know, the Zhou Dynasty was a dynasty with etiquette regulations everywhere, and everything about food, clothing, housing and transportation paid attention to etiquette.

Zhou people also had a clear classification of the suspension of stone chimes at that time.

For example: the monarch—the bells and chimes are hung on the four gates, which are called Gongxuan.

The princes - go to the bell to the south, named Xuanxuan.

Doctor Qing——Only hung on the east and west sides, called Judgment Xuan.

Scholars - only chime hanging, but no bell, called Texuan.

There are also differences in the names of the hanging chimes in different directions. In the east, they are called Sheng chimes, and in the west, they are called Song chimes.

All these have brought a very heavy "identity" to the "Qing" instrument.

It has a completely different status from instruments such as pianos and guitars in later generations.

Moreover, in the tombs unearthed from the stone chimes of the Longshan Culture, the shoulder blades of cattle used for sacrifice and divination were also unearthed in the same period.

Divination bones were commonly used in prehistoric religious ceremonies, and religious sacrificial activities mainly based on divination should have existed objectively and prevailed during this period.

The stone chimes were buried together with the oracle bones, which also shows that in the Longshan culture, besides the function of percussion instruments, the stone chimes buried with them also have the nature of ritual instruments for worshiping gods and offerings.

Coincidentally, the Sanxingdui people also put the stone chime together with the priest's items in the sacrificial pit.

The ritual and music system of the Sanxingdui people seems to be connected with the ancient culture of the Central Plains!