Zeng Houyi bells recreated to match sound of original design

A team of Chinese scholars has recreated a set of Zeng Houyi bells with the sound matching that of the original designers' idea.

Sui Yu, secretary of the recreation project with the China Conservatory told Xinhua on Thursday that this has been done by making use of modern acoustic devices.

The sound of the bells unearthed in Suixian County in central China's Hubei Province in 1978, did not match their designers' expectations because of defects in the craftsmanship at that time, Sui said.

The set of bronze bells, which date back to the Warring States (475-221 B.C.), is known as the gem of the Chinese art.

Zhao Talimu, head of the team and president of the conservatory, said the recreation drew on the inscriptions written on the bells and the results of decades of research by scholars.