Introducing the Drum & Bell Tower (Zhong Gu Lou)
Located
on the north end of central axis of Beijing, the Drum and Bell Tower are two of
the iconic buildings and most popular tourist attractions in Beijing. Bells and
drums were musical instruments in ancient China and were used as timepieces by
the government. The Bell and Drum towers were important to official timekeeping
in Beijing during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties and continued to serve as
the official timepieces of Beijing up to 1924. After the last Qing Emperor Puyi
was kicked out the Forbidden City, western-style clock started to be used as
the official means of time-keeping in Beijing.
Drum Tower
The
Drum Tower (Gulou) was first built in 1272 during the reign of Kublai Khan and marked the center
of the old Mongol Capital. Originally built of wood, the Drum Tower has been
burned down several times and was rebuilt in 1420. Since then it has been
repeatedly destroyed and restored. The Drum Tower is a two-story building with
a height of 47 meters and 69 steep staircases. In ancient times the upper story
of the Drum Tower used to house 25 drums, of which only the biggest one
survives. The 24 smaller drums used to represent the 24 Solar Terms, while
biggest one representing a year and has been destroyed partially. The present
25 drums are replicas according to the designs in the Qing Dynasty. There are
seven rounds of drum beating ceremony being performed now. The performance is
created according to the 24 Chinese Solar Terms to reflect changes of the four
seasons as well as the agricultural life of ancient Chinese people. In the
1980s, after much repair, the Drum and Bell Towers were opened to the public.
In
ancient china, people divided the night into 5 Gengs, one Geng equals to 2
hours. Starting from Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799), the time was announced only
twice in the evening: the first time was at the first Geng (19:00-21:00), the
Drum would be beaten to mark the end of transportation with all the city gates
closed; the second time would be at the fifth Geng (03:00-05:00), the Bell
would be stroke and all the city gates would be opened. Colloquially, Chinese
people called it “Down Bell, Dusk Drum”. The way of beating the Drum and
striking the Bell is similar: 18 times of normal speed, 18 times faster, 18
times slower and repeat that again for 108 times striking or beating. Because
the ancient Chinese used 108 to represent a year which is formed by 12 months,
24 Solar Terms and 72 Hou (five days).
Bell Tower
The
Bell Tower (Zhonglou) is located further north behind the Drum Tower with a
height of 48 meters, slightly higher than the Drum Tower. It was first built of
wood in 1272 and rebuilt in 1420, and later was burned down and rebuilt of
stone in 1745. The Bell Tower used to house a huge iron bell built in 1420
which was not loud enough. Later it was replaced by a big bell made of copper,
whose sound could travel more than 10 kilometers. The copper bell is 7 meters
in height, 3.4 meters in diameter with a weight of 63 tons, which makes it the
biggest and heaviest ancient copper bell in China now.