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| | Chinese Chimes and Chariots |
 | | The more than 2,000 objects comprise the largest and best preserved collection of artifacts from the Chu State, one of the strongest of the seven Warring States, which at its peak ruled all of southern China. |
 | | Ongoing excavations have revealed a three-foot-tall elevated drum on a bronze support of phoenixes standing atop tigers, one of the largest drums ever found; a se, a twenty-five-string plucked instrument, the first of its kind; and dozens of chimes, including a set of bianzhong bronze chimes, which were symbols of high status, wealth, and power. |
 | | Along with inscriptions on bronze vessels and swords found at this and other Chu period sites, bamboo slips from the Chu State represent the only Chinese historical documents that pre-date the Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.), during which the historical documents of all previous states were destroyed. |
| www.archaeology.org /0303/newsbriefs/china.html (586 words) |
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