Ancient Chinese stone instruments

A natural substance from the earth, symbolic of longevity and stability, stone was of obvious value for usage in ancestral rituals. Only one instrument type is found in this category, the qing stone chime. Single stones are known as teqing ('special qing'); sets of chromatically tuned stones are known as bianqing ('arranged qing'). Stones in the ancient sets are (like the bells) usually of similar thickness but of graded size. Instruments made between the twelfth and eigh- teenth centuries are more commonly of identical size but of graded thickness, and usually L-shaped in construction (unlike the ancient classical design). Sets of sixteen are most common for this period. In performance of Confucian ritual music, qing are employed to punctuate melodies in a manner similar to the bells.