Liuyang Chengtan Zhong (Bronze bell with studs)

Preserved in good condition. One end of the handle (yong) is slightly broken. The colour of the whole body is dark green. The body is covered with some mud and patina. 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 between the studes (zhuan), the studs and the gu. The upper surface (wu), the areas (zhuan) between the studs and the gu are all decorated with panchi patterns. There are 36 columnar studs on the body of the bell.