Bianzhong (編鐘) (pronunciationⓘ) is an ancient Chinese musical instrument consisting of a set of bronze bells, played melodically.

Along with the stone chimes called bianqing, they were an important instrument in China's ritual and court music going back to ancient times.

[3] Bianzhong from this era had varied numbers of individual zhong (between 13 and 64), each of which could produce two distinct pitches and were suspended obliquely or vertically.

The instrument's role is to lead the orchestra (doubling the melody of the winds and strings), while larger bells punctuate hymn phrases.

This is defined by a leaf-shaped cross-section, concave mouth (or rim) and an overall shape expands slightly from top to bottom.

The most common type of suspension in the zhong family is when the bell has an elongated handle with a small ring at its base and is then hung at a diagonal angle.

It under protection by the government as an esteemed cultural relic, and has been performed on three times since its excavation in 1978, the most recent being for the Hong Kong Reunification ceremony in 1997.

This special shape gives zhong bells the remarkable ability to produce two different musical tones,[11] depending on where they are struck.

The ends and intersection of each pair of beams are fitted with decorated bronze caps and front part of the brackets supporting the largest bells are cast in the shape of animals.

The longer pair of main beams are provided with extra support in the middle in the form of two slender bronze columns.In 1992, Ma Chengyuan, director of the Shanghai Museum, purchased the 3,000-year-old Jin Hou Su bianzhong (晉侯穌鐘) from the Hong Kong antique market.