Xiangxiang Malong Zhong (Bronze bell with phoenix motif)

Preserved in good condition. One end of the handle (yong) and the mouth(yu) are slightly broken. The colour of the whole body of the instrument is green. The body of the bell is shaped like a combined pair of tiles. The upper surface(wu) is flat and the two xian points are straight. The mouth(yu) is curved. The bell has an elongated handle (yong) on the top. The handle has a raised collar (xuan) and a small lug (xuanchong) attached to it, which is used for suspending the bell [on a wooden frame] when being played. Linked-pearl patterns are used as frames to define the central panel (zheng), the areas (zhuan) between the studs, the studs and the gu. There are 36 columnar studs on the body of the bell. The wu is decorated with thick-line cloud patterns. The areas between the studs and the gu are decorated with thin-line cloud and thunder patterns. The left side of the gu is decorated with a bird design.