Scattered bronze bells in Chinese lord's 2,600-year-old tomb point to ritual deactivation

July 5, 2026 feature Scattered bronze bells in Chinese lord's 2,600-year-old tomb point to ritual deactivation Sandee Oster Author Stephanie Baum Scientific Editor Robert Egan Senior Editor When archaeologists opened the 2,600-year-old tomb of an ancient Chinese lord, they discovered his magnificent bronze bells had been scattered, their wooden hangings broken. But the most mysterious part of all: This was apparently no accident, with the family of the tomb's owner having chosen to "deactivate" the bells when their powers were no longer needed. Around 656 or 625 B.C., Lord Qiu of the Zeng state commissioned a set of bells intended to summon the ancestors' powers against the enemy state of Chu. But before Qiu had even died, the Zeng and Chu had made peace, and the bells' chimes calling for protection had lost their purpose. Upon his death, his mourners dismantled the bells in an effort to reshape his role in the afterlife. "If archaeologists treat objects as tools, they risk projecting the image of a modern, rational, secular man onto the past," said Chinglong Tse, a Ph.D. candidate at the University College London Institute of Archaeology. He argues that for the Zeng, bells were not just instruments but an active part of a world filled with spirits, ancestors and power. His work is published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal. The bells' ringing in the Spring and Autumn period Qiu lived during a turbulent period in Chinese history, when rival states within the Zhou dynasty fought for power, known as the Spring and Autumn period. Qiu's own state, Zeng, lay in the valley that linked the Yangtze River and the heartland of the Zhou dynasty. According to the study, Zeng had proclaimed that heaven itself had mandated it to "protect and lead southern China." But its position was challenged by the rival Chu state, a powerhouse of the ancient Zhou dynasty. In an effort to protect his territory, Qiu commissioned a spectacular set of bronze bells, decorated with dragon motifs and inlaid with sparkling quartz. They were inscribed with praises for the heroic actions of his ancestors and a call that they use their powers to protect the territory of the Zeng. But when the king of Chu married off his own sister to Lord Qiu, the bells that rallied the powers of the ancestors had become an awkward relic of the state's past rivalry. Silencing the birdsong of the bells In the Zhou dynasty, bronze bells were more than decoration. They were intrinsically tied to their owners and lineages, and their ringing carried messages like "birdsong" to the heavens. But the power of the bells worked only when they were arranged properly and hung upon their rack. So when the former enemies became allies, Qiu and his mourners had the bells dismantled and scattered to stop them from calling into the afterlife. Although looting could have disturbed the bells, the intact tomb suggests that the targeting of the bells was intentional. According to Tse, the evidence "indicates deliberate dismantling at the time of burial." In the Zhou world, a person's relationship with their ancestors did not end at death and needed to be maintained by ritual. Thus, after the old bells were dismantled, Qiu commissioned a new set of smaller, simpler bronze bells. These bells were neatly stacked, facing southeast, with inscriptions intended only for the afterlife. Tse's larger argument is that archaeologists too often treat artifacts as mere tools, thereby missing how differently people in the past understood the things around them. He suggests that archaeologists should "let the ancient things and people speak" by combining the objects with ancient writings and analyses. Simply documenting them and "assigning them functional or symbolic meaning is not always sufficient," Tse said. To explore these ideas, Tse hopes to excavate one of the Zeng cities where bronze bells were made. "We still know very little about how bronze bells were produced in the Zeng state," he said, noting that understanding how they were made could give a clearer picture of the worldviews and beliefs these people linked to their bronze bells. Written for you by our author Sandee Oster, edited by Stephanie Baum, and fact-checked and reviewed by Robert Egan—this article is the result of careful human work. We rely on readers like you to keep independent science journalism alive. If this reporting matters to you, please consider a donation (especially monthly). You'll get an ad-free account as a thank-you. Publication details Chinglong Tse, 'The Bells Are Harmonious and Resonant': Numinous Ancestors, Resonant Bells and the Personhood of Lord Qiu of Zeng in Tomb M190 at Zaoshulin, Hubei, Cambridge Archaeological Journal (2026). DOI: 10.1017/s0959774326100651 Journal information: Cambridge Archaeological Journal © 2026 Science X Network