A large gilt-decorated spinach-green jade 'dragon' 'guxi' musical chime, bianqing, Qing dynasty, dated 29th year of Qianlong, corresponding to 1764 | 清乾隆二十九年（1764年）　碧玉描金雲龍紋「姑洗」編磬　《乾隆二十九年製》款

Collection of A.V. Harvey, accountant at Yuin Yeh Bank, acquired in Beijing in 1924.

An Australian private collection, acquired from above, acquired in Sydney, 7th June 1960.

Bonhams London, 11th November 2010, lot 219.

Exhibition of Asian Documentary and Art Materials, 28th International Congress of Orientalists, Canberra, 1971.

John P. Rogan, Antiques in Australia from private collections, Milton, Queensland, 1975, p. 81.

Known in China as qing or bianqing, these musical stones were made in sets of sixteen, comprising twelve lü tones plus four repeats in a lower octave for full harmonic range. The thickness of each stone was carefully varied to produce distinct pitches, with the inscription guxi marking this piece as the fifth lü of the twelve.

A similar full set of dark green jade stones, also dated to the 29th year of Qianlong (1764), is preserved in the Beijing Palace Museum. It was displayed suspended from a wooden frame as intended in China: The Three Emperors 1662–1795, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2005, cat. no. 32, noting that jade chimes of this type were reserved for Grand Sacrifices at the Altar of Heaven and Altar of Land and Grain, their clear tones once resonating through Beijing's grand altars, unlike limestone chimes for other state rites.

See also examples exhibited in Chinese Jades from the Shang to the Qing, China Institute, New York, 1968, cat. no. 66 (nanlü tone); Chinese Jades, Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1948, cat. no. 235 (tone not catalogued); and The Chinese Collection, Norton Museum of Art, Florida, 2003, cat. nos 91–92. Auction examples include one sold in these rooms, 8th/9th November 1982, lot 364 (linzhong tone); our London rooms, 16th June 1999, lot 761 (huangzhong tone), and 6th November 2013, lot 168 (peinanlü tone).

These chimes trace to archaic prototypes as early as the Shang dynasty. An eight-stone limestone set, excavated in 1979 from a Warring States site at Dafuguan village, Shandong, featured in Confucius: His Life and Legacy in Art, China Institute Gallery, New York, 2010, cat. no. 18.

來源

A.V. Harvey（前鹽業銀行會計師）收藏，1924年購於北京

澳洲私人收藏，1960年6月7日於悉尼購於上者

倫敦邦瀚斯2010年11月11日，編號219

展覽

《Exhibition of Asian Documentary and Art Materials》，第28屆國際東方學者會議，坎培拉，1971年

出版

John P. Rogan，《Antiques in Australia from private collections》，米爾頓，昆士蘭，1975年，頁81

這種樂器在中國稱為「磬」或「編磬」，通常以十六枚為一組製作，包含十二律正聲，外加低八度的四枚倍律，以構成完整的和聲音域。每枚磬片的厚度經過精心調節以產生不同音高，其上銘文「姑洗」標示此件為十二律中的第五律。

北京故宮博物院現藏有一套類似碧玉編磬，同樣製作於乾隆二十九年（1764年）。在 2005 年倫敦皇家藝術學院舉辦的《China: The Three Emperors 1662–1795》（中國：三個皇帝，1662–1795）展覽，編號32，該套編磬曾依古制懸掛於木架之上展出。展覽資料特別註明，此類玉磬專用於天壇、社稷壇的大祀，其清越之音曾迴盪於北京宏偉的祭壇之上；至於其他國家祀典，則使用石灰岩製的石磬。

相同例見《商至清中國玉器展》，China Institute，紐約，1968年，編號 66（南呂）；《中國玉器》，東方陶瓷學會，倫敦，1948年，編號 235（圖錄未標註音律）；《The Chinese Collection》，諾頓藝術博物館，佛羅里達，2003年，編號 91–92。拍賣例售香港蘇富比1982年11月8/9日，編號364 （林鐘）；倫敦佳士得1999年6月16日，編號761(黃鐘）及2013年11月6日，編號168 （倍南呂）。

此類編磬的形制淵源可追溯至商代的古老原型。1979 年，山東大埠官村一處戰國遺址出土了一套八件的石灰岩編磬；該組實物曾展出于紐約華美協進社2010 年舉辦的《Confucius: His Life and Legacy in Art》（孔子：其生平與藝術遺產）展覽，編號 18。