Ancient Chinese lord buried with bells meant to silence ancestral war rituals

Imagine, for a moment, that you lived in ancient China, with a rival state threatening your people’s very existence. In the quest for any advantage, one strategy might involve performing a ceremony to invoke assistance from the ancestors.However, life and politics are not static; old rivals can transform into close allies. This transformation raises an intriguing question: do ancient war ceremonies simply fade away when they lose relevance? A recent discovery in China indicates that, at least during the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC), people believed the answer was “no,” suggesting that old ceremonies needed to be “turned off.”The research, published by Cambridge University Press, indicates that individuals – excluding thieves – had intentionally tampered with the resting place of Lord Qiu, a member of the political elite from the state of Zeng.Chinglong Tse, the study’s author and a PhD candidate at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, posited that these intruders likely sought to “turn off” a connection to ancient ancestors established by Qiu, which had become politically inconvenient amid shifting social dynamics.These authentic, 2,600-year-old bronze bells are ritual artefacts excavated directly from the tomb of Lord Qiu of Zeng. Photo: Cambridge University Press“It mattered a lot whether particular ceremonial instruments coupled with the dead because it determined which kind of ritual capacities the mourners wanted the deceased to sustain in his/her afterlife,” Tse stated.“In Lord Qiu’s case, the evidence suggests that the capacities of his first bell set were deliberately deactivated during burial,” he told the SCMP.Archaeologists uncovered an array of bronze bells within Qiu’s tomb, inscribed with the names of his ancestors. The deceased were depicted as perfect beings who shared the Mandate of Heaven with Zhou kings.Qiu likely commissioned the production of bells specifically to emulate those ancient ancestors, aspiring to demonstrate to them that he embodied their culture and values. He hoped that the ceremony would bestow upon him their characteristics as he confronted an impending threat from the rival Chu state.Qiu’s intention was probably to prove his moral capacity to receive ancestral mandates – which, for him, would have meant ruling over portions of China. Notably, historical records reveal that Qiu addressed his ancestors in the form of a small child, highlighting his devotion and humility.To engage with these ancestors, Qiu could not simply request their guidance over tea; he needed to invoke their presence through rituals conducted at designated locations.“To attract and engage these ancestral persons, their histories had to be recounted through the recitation of prayers accompanied by the ornithomorphic sounds of the bells,” Tse noted in his study.Cast masterfully into the bronze, these ancient inscriptions served to communicate directly with ancestral spirits. Photo: Cambridge University PressNonetheless, life and politics are ever-evolving, and Qiu’s invocation of his ancestors against the Chu state became problematic after Zeng and Chu formed an alliance through marriage.Further ReadingThis political shift raised a significant concern: Qiu had sought ancestral guidance to pursue a strategy antagonistic to the Chu state, which was no longer suitable within the new alliance.According to Tse, the mystical essence of the bells was “deactivated” by disassembling them and carefully distributing the parts in a deliberate pattern around the tomb.Interestingly, the Chu-Zeng alliance was established before Qiu’s death, and he seemingly commissioned a new set of ritual bronze bells arranged in parallel lines. Tse contended that this was intended to afford Qiu the ritual advantages of the bronze bells in the afterlife while neutralising the old bells’ capacity to disrupt the new political order.Tse emphasised that his research serves as an important reminder to consider ancient China within its unique context.“For Lord Qiu and his contemporaries, they lived in worlds where ancestors, wandering spirits, Heaven, and chimerical creatures were active participants capable of influencing the course of historical events.”Instead of dismissing these beliefs as mere superstitions, Tse argued, understanding them is essential to grasping the motivations behind the creation of certain objects and their specific uses.“Similarly, practices that seem entirely rational to some of us, including astrology, cryptocurrency, or even our confidence in certain scientific authorities and tools, may have appeared strange to Lord Qiu and his contemporaries,” he remarked.“Studying past worlds thus requires us to be reflective on the societies of others as well as our own.”