Drum and Bell Towers

Introduction

Located on the north south axis line of Beijing City on a small square north of the Forbidden City, the towers were used for telling time until 1924. They were built in 1272 during the reign of Kublai Khan and were rebuilt after two fires during the Ming and Qing dynasties. During ancient times in the Ming, Qing and Yuan Dynasties they were used to tell time but they were originally constructed for musical purposes. In the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220) people didn’t have a means of keeping time so there used to be a morning bell and a dusk drum that guided people to keep time as they lived and worked. Over time these structures became widely constructed in almost every city in China for the sole purpose of telling time. They were always conspicuous as they were humongous and very high and took the fore and aft layout opposed to the traditional right and left layout.

Legend has it that long time ago there used to be an iron bell in the tower but it was not resonant enough. So the emperor gathered all the best artisans to cast another magnificent bell but three years passed without them achieving the goal. Frustrated, the emperor beheaded the supervising eunuch and then again ordered the artisans to finish the bell within 80 days or else he would behead all of them. Days passed they worked day and night without stopping and on the last day, Hua Yan; the artisan who was in charge was told by his own daughter, Hua Xian that the furnace temperature wasn’t high enough to cast the desired bell so to save his father’s life she jumped into the smelter making the fire blaze powerfully and strongly to the point that the perfect bell was cast. To this day people remember Hua Xian as the Bell Lady to honor her lifetime sacrifice. The huge copper bell hangs at the top of Beijing Bell Tower called and is known as the King of Ancient Bells because its sound can be heard from a long distance away.

Things to do and see on a visit

Drum Tower

Standing at 47 meters high, the Drum Tower was originally built in 1272 during the reign of Kublai Khan but was later rebuilt in 1297, 1420 and 1539. Visitors can see a two-storey structure that was made of wood and on its second floor were 25 drums. One big drum and 24 other smaller drums.

The big drum symbolizes a year and the 24 small drums symbolize 24 solar terms of China. Currently, there is only the big drum that has been hit four times a day at 15 minutes intervals. Every New Years Eve, they are also beaten together 108 times to send blessings to the people of China.

In addition to seeing the humongous drum visitors can also shop for souvenirs at the many stores on the first floor of the building. Visitors can now ascend the tower to have a birds-eye view of the entire city and knock the drums in addition to watching dragon and lion dances.

Bell Tower

The bell tower is situated on Di'anmen Outer Street in Dongcheng District of Beijing at the place where the northern end of the Beijing axle line is located. It is around 100 meters north of Beijing Drum Tower and was first built in the ninth year of Zhiyuan (1272 AD) as the central court of the Wan Ning Temple in the Yuan Dynasty but was destroyed in the war.

The Drum Tower was later rebuilt in the 18th year (1420 AD) of the Ming Dynasty as a bell tower but was unfortunately destroyed again. It was then reconstructed using a brick masonry structure to prevent it from catching fire in Qianlong in the 10th year (1745 AD) of the Qing Dynasty.

The building has two floors, an arched door on all four sides on the first floor and the second floor. In addition, there are stone stairs and a stone window on each side of the four doors. On the second floor is the largest and heaviest bell in China hanging on an eight square wooden frame. The octagonal bell cot with a huge copper bell cast in it measures 7.02 meters in height, 3.4 meters in diameter and 63 tons in weight. The bell is referred to the King Bell since it was the biggest and heaviest ancient bell in ancient China and it also made the most powerful sound that could be heard from dozens of miles away. Initially, the iron bell was rung in the Yongle era but its sound wasn’t as pleasant and was later replaced by the copper bell but it remains against a wall and has been part of the collection belonging to the Ancient Bell Museum attached to the Great Bell Temple for many years. They are also two 2 meters long wooden logs hanging sidewards that are used to ring it