The Warring States era was a period of 250 years in ancient Chinese history, between the years 475 and 221 BC, relative to the frequent wars these states were having amongst them, until 221 BC, when the state of Qin, eventually growing to become the strongest, conquered them all, successfully annexing the other six states and thus becoming the first unified Chinese empire.
The "Warring States Period" derives its name from the Record of the Warring States, an ancient Chinese text compiled early in the Han dynasty that contains anecdotes of political manipulation and warfare during the Warring States perio The Seven Warring States namely were: the State of Qin, in the far west, Han, Wei and Zhao, also known as The Three Jins, on the Shanxi plateu, Qi, in the Shandong Peninsula, Chu, on the south, and Yan, in the northeast, corresponding more or less with modern-day Beijing. Over the Warring States period, many of the seven states underwent bureaucratic and military reforms in order to mobilise resources on a greater scale. This led to an intensification of warfare over the period, but also led to economic and cultural developments on a large scale. Zhong is an ancient Chinese musical percussion instrument consisting of a set of clapperless bronze bells which are played melodically. These sets of graduated chime bells, used as polyphonic musical instruments, were hung by a wooden frame and struck with a mallet. They were an important musical accompaniment in China's ritual ceremonies and court music. Under the ritual and musical institutions of the period, such an instrument was also considered a symbol of the owner's rank, power and position and transcended all other musical instruments, for it’s design, craftsmanship and use embodied the apex of elevated culture in those days. The suspended bells fall into two main categories: the yongzhong, with a straight handle plus a lug at the top, which are suspended slantwise on a wooden frame, and the niuzhong, with a ring that allows for vertical suspension. Sets of zhong in graduated size are called bianzhong (“set of bells”) and were arranged according to size and pitch, suspended on a wooden frame from the lug at the top, and sounded by striking the exterior of the bottom rim with a mallet. Longer and narrower than their predecessors and with their upper section decorated with protruding knobs grouped in four sections of nine, the zhong first appeared during the Zhou dynasty.
The most impressive bianzhong discovered to date is a set of 64 bells excavated in 1978 from the tomb of Zenghouyi (Marquis Yi of Zeng) in the area of Leigudun, Suizhou, Hubei province. Dated about 433 BC, the bells were mounted on an L-shaped frame and suspended in three tiers and nine groups. The largest bell weighs 202.7 kg whereas the whole chime of bells weighed more than 2,500 kilograms.. . The names of the pitches are carved at the two striking places (the mouth and the right side of the bell) on each of the 64 pieces.
Each bell could produce two notes three intervals apart. The instrument’s total range is five octaves in a key close to the key of C in Western music, and chromatics are found in the middle octaves. With three and a half octaves, the yongzhong bells on the middle tier had a wide range and clear timbre, playing the major role in a performance. The big and thick yongzhong bells on the lower tier produced a deep and long sound, creating harmony and enriching the atmosphere. The niuzhong bells on the upper tier could be used as a supplement to the yongzhong bells on the middle tier. The set also includes a bo bell, a large and single bell, a gift from the duke of Chu (a larger state), suspended at the centre in the lower tie