Yue Kingdom Porcelain Instruments Unearthed in China

HANGZHOU, CHINA—According to a Xinhua report, porcelain musical instruments dated to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (771–256 B.C.) have been discovered at the Dahutou site, which is located in eastern China. The instruments include six bells and three cylindrical percussion instruments thought to have been produced by the Yue Kingdom to be played with drums to signal troops on the battlefield. Luo Rupeng of the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology said that instruments like these were usually made from bronze, but it is possible that Dahutou’s residents reserved metal for the production of weapons and farm tools. Building foundations, ash pits, ditches, wells, pottery, and several wooden oars for traveling by boat were also uncovered at the site. To read about another discovery from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, go to “(Un)following the Recipe.”