Hubei Provincial Museum

The tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, sealed in 433 BC and excavated in 1978, produced one of the most extraordinary finds in Chinese archaeology: a set of sixty-five bronze bells hung on a three-tier wooden frame, each bell producing two distinct pitches depending on where it is struck, together covering five octaves and playable in a twelve-semitone scale, which rewrote understanding of ancient Chinese music theory. The museum holds them along with the tomb's lacquerware, the Sword of Goujian, a bronze blade from around 500 BC still sharp and untarnished, and the spear of Fuchai, King of Wu and Goujian's rival, unearthed in Hubei in 1983. Replica bells are performed several times daily.

History

The museum grew out of the Hubei Provincial Public Scientific Experiment Hall of 1928. It was established in 1953, moved to its present site near East Lake in Wuhan in 1960, took its present name in 1963, and has added new buildings since 1999 for collections that now pass 460,000 objects, among them the Sword of Goujian, the bells and other finds from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, and part of the Guodian bamboo slips (Wikipedia, Hubei Provincial Museum).

What to look for

• The chime bells - sixty-five bronze bells from 433 BC, each with two pitches.
• The Sword of Goujian - a 2,500-year-old bronze blade still bright and sharp.
• The tomb lacquerware - painted coffins and objects from the Zeng burial.
• The bell performances - replicas played on a daily schedule.

When to go

Year-round; the museum closes on Mondays. Free entry requires advance online booking, which fills quickly at weekends. Bell performances run several times daily and are worth timing for.

Practical notes

Booking is compulsory and difficult without a Chinese app. The originals are displayed but not played; performances use replicas. English labelling is partial. Weekend crowds around the bells are heavy.

Nearby

East Lake surrounds the museum; Yellow Crane Tower lies west.

Key facts