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CHINESE MUSIC. 55 In subsequent ages various kinds of chimes were made : some were composed of 24 bells, corre– sponding to two series of lus ; others of 16 bells, corresponding to the 12 lus plus the fast four liis of the acute series ; others of 14 bells, corresponding to the notes of the diatonic scale, C, D, E, etc. ; in a word, this instrument underwent the same changes as the " stone-chime." Anciently the bells were quadrate ; under the T'ang (A.D. 6 00, a1td after) and subsequent dynasties the bells were oval and ·were adorned with mammre in groups of nine each ; the mouth was crescent-shaped, and they were hm1g obliquely. The Sung (A.D. moo) provided each bell with a knob, by v/hich it could be hung in a vertical position. But K'ANG Hs1, of the present dynasty, abolished the ancient forms and adopted round bells, ornamented with .the pa-kua symbols, and having on t he top a dragon, by which they could be suspended. Chimes were made of r 6 bells, all of the same size and diameter, but differing in thickness and weight. These are t he chimes now in use. The music, the pitch, the notation, etc., of the pien-chung_ is exactly the same as that of the " stone-chime;" and, like this latter instrument, it is exclusively devoted to court and religious ceremonies. Wherever a stone-chime !s used, a bell-chime is requisite ; they are necessary one to the other: the bell-chime sounds and the stone-chime answers. At the Confucian temple the pien-chiing is placed on the east side on a line with the po-chung: I t gives one note at the beginning of each word, to intimate the pitch to the singers. , No. 9.- The Ifo-chiing (~ ~), or '' singers' bell-chime," is now no longer in use. It was constructed exactly on the same principle as the pien-chiing, but it sounded an octave higher. I t was the~companion of the lco-ch'ing. The bells were either 12 or 24 in number, nd they were quad.rate or crescent-shaped. The place of this instrument during the Confucian