Special chime (pinyin: tè qìng), special hanging chime, made of jade or stone. The ones unearthed from the Yin Ruins are semi-circular and slightly zigzag, and later more zigzag.
The special chime is an important musical instrument in the ancient court music - Zhonghe Shao music. The texture is mostly jasper, and there are also Lingbi stones. A whole set of twelve, in order to respond to the twelve laws. The chime body is a rectangle with obtuse angles, the long side is called the drum, and the short side is called the strand. The whole set of special chimes have the same size, and the pitch is fixed according to thickness. The two sides of the chime are decorated with golden clouds and dragon patterns, one side is the inscription made by Emperor Qianlong in seal script, and the other side is the name of the law chime. The chime hole is hung with a silk rope. Each of the twelve chimes is hung with a bi, which is roughly the same as the bell frame, except that the upper chimney is carved with a phoenix head on the left and right, and the left and right two bear the lying mallard with white feathers and red beaks. The use of the twelve chimes is the same as that of the bells, and they are displayed according to the monthly laws. They are located in the west of the chimes. When making music, it is advisable to first strike the bell to announce its sound, the music will stop, and then strike the special chime to close its rhythm, which is the so-called "golden sound and jade vibration".
In the twenty-fourth year of Qianlong's reign (1759), there were the unearthed ancient bells and the tribute of the five-year Northwest War. The two originally independent events were linked together. In addition, Emperor Qianlong's appraisal of the ancient bells made the manufacture of bells full of energy. A mysterious and auspicious atmosphere. The bell and the special chime have been recorded in the records of music in all dynasties, but they were vacant in the Ming Dynasty. Now that the bell is already available, the special chime should also be available, which is called "the sound of gold must be accompanied by jade vibration". Therefore, all the ministers played on the emperor, requesting to buy a special chime, and both the bell and the bell to be hung in order to prepare for the prosperity of neutralization. And please pluck Hetian beautiful jade, cut it into a special chime, which is better than the Lingbi stone chime used in the past. So far, the production of the special chime bell was determined in the twenty-sixth year of Qianlong (1761). The special chime was originally made, but due to time constraints, Lingbi stone was still used, and it was shipped from the origin to the Jingshi Club within a limited time. The first use of special chimes in the Qing Dynasty should have begun in the Winter Solstice Ceremony in the twenty-sixth year of Qianlong's reign. Later, with the continuous tribute of Xinjiang jade, the special chime was changed to jasper.