Marquis Yi of Zeng

Also known as Zeng Hou Yi

Marquis Yi of Zeng was an early Warring States ruler of the Ji-surnamed state of Zeng. Unknown to transmitted pre-Qin texts, he became known through the 1978 excavation of his tomb at Leigudun in Suizhou, Hubei, which held more than fifteen thousand objects, among them a set of sixty-five bronze bells whose bells, frame and fittings carry over 3,700 characters of inscription and span five octaves, together with chime stones and other instruments. A bo bell made for him by King Hui of Chu in the king's 56th year (433 BCE) gives the earliest possible burial date. Skeletal study puts his age at death at about 42 to 45.