Made of clay in Neolithic times, the zhong was crafted in bronze during the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1066 BC). In performance the early zhong was either held by hand or placed on a seat with its mouth upward and struck with a mallet. This kind of zhong is also called nao in order to differentiate it from the suspended type.

The suspended bells fall into two main categories: those with a straight handle plus a lug at the top, which are suspended slantwise on a wooden frame, are called yongzhong; those having a ring that allows for vertical suspension are called niuzhong. The earliest known yongzhong dates to the 10th century BC, and the earliest niuzhong to the 8th century BC. At the time, the shape of both the yongzhong and the niuzhong was not round but rather like a squashed cylinder or two tiles attached on three sides. A large and single zhong, usually of the bo variety (having a loop top, a flat bottom rim, and a rounder body shape), is considered a tezhong (“special bell”).

Sets of zhong in graduated sizes—called bianzhong (“set of bells”)—were arranged according to size and pitch, suspended on a wooden frame from the lug at the top, and sounded by striking the exterior of the bottom rim with a mallet. Naos of the Shang dynasty (16th–12th century BC) were mostly arranged in sets of three, but the zhong of the Zhou dynasty were mostly grouped in 9, 11, 12, or 13 pieces.

The most impressive bianzhong discovered to date is a set of 64 bells excavated in 1978 from the tomb of Zenghouyi (Marquis Yi of Zeng) in Hubei province. Dated about 433 BC, the bells were mounted on an L-shaped frame in three tiers. The largest bell weighs 447 pounds. The instrument's total range is five octaves in a key close to the key of C in Western music, and chromatics are found in the middle octaves. The set also includes a bo bell, a gift from the duke of Chu (a larger state), suspended at the centre in the lower tier. The names of the pitches are carved at the two striking places (the mouth and the right side of the bell) on each of the 64 pieces.

By the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) the two-tile type of zhong had been replaced by the round-shaped bell, which could produce only a single note. According to historical records, complete sets of round-shaped bells in the Tang dynasty (618–907) were made in combinations of 14, 16, and 24 pieces. The 14-piece combination is arranged in a seven-note scale while the other two are in scales of 12 semitones. From the Song dynasty (960–1279) onward, complete sets of round-shaped bells were used specifically to perform yayue (“elegant music”) in the royal courts, and their use gradually diminished.

With the unearthing of the Zenghouyi bells in 1978, the manufacture and performance of sets of dual-pitch bells have been revitalized. Replicas of ancient instruments are also used in programs that feature reconstructed ancient music and dance.