On April 24, 1970, the melodious “The East Is Red” was played by China’s first man-made satellite in the vast space. This pre-recorded music was played by two ancient Chinese musical instruments: stone chime and chime bells.

Stone chime is the oldest percussion musical instrument in China. It is used to play ceremonial court music, a symbol of kings’ “governance by five musical instruments”. It is a sacred artifact for banquets, sacrificial ceremonies, and court rituals. Correspondingly, it is “the ancestor of ancient music”.

The places, where stone chimes were unearthed, deserve to be as the nation of greatness and courtesy.

In Beipiao, Liaoning Province，two stone chimes were excavated. One was unearthed at Kangjiatun Stone City Site in Dabanzhen. This site is an important large-scale cultural city relic at the lower stratum of Xiajiadian Site, dating back to 4,000 to 3,500 years ago.

The Kangjiatun Stone City Site provides significant archaeological material for studying the form, layout, and life in the early northern cities, the defence mechanism in particular. It was awarded as one of ten latest national archaeological discoveries in 1998.

The stone chime unearthed at Kangjiatun Stone City Site dates back to the similar age as the famous stone chime with tiger-engraving of Yin Ruins in the Shang Dynasty. The time of carving might date back to an earlier age. It is 30.6cm in length, 18.8cm in width, and a remarkable size for that ancient age.

The chime is made of stone or jade, resembling a carpenter’s square. It was hung on a shelf and played by mallets. The single ones are named “Te chime”, whereas the ones arranged by pitches are named “Bian chime”. The stone chime unearthed in Kangjiatun is a “Te chime” used to worship heaven, earth, mountains and rivers.

The Kangjiatun stone chime shows that clan societies that played stone instruments and moved beasts to dance along existed in West Liaoning during the Xia and Shang dynasties.

The Kangjiatun stone chime implies that there existed a political structure of peace and stability and assembling people by playing stone instruments in Beipiao thousands of years ago.

Besides the Kangjiatun Te chime, the stone chime collected by Chaoyang Defu Museum has clear and melodious notes and can even play the sounds of nature.

These sounds of stone chimes convey ancestors’ long-lasting belief and present the resilience and continuous growth of the Chinese civilization.