BEIJING – Great Bell Temple
Located in Haidian District in Beijing City. Great Bell Te
mple was initially built in 1733 during the Qing Dynasty with the original name of Juesheng Temple. In the winter of 1743 a great bell was installed, and the temple got its name of Great Bell Temple.
The Great Bell Palace is a unique building in the Temple and a core of the Temple with a height of 17 meters. It sits on a huge bluestone terrace. The whole Palace appears to have a round upper part and a square lower part symbolizing “The heaven is round and the earth is square”.
The bronze great bell hanging in the Great Bell Palace is said to have been made during the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644) and has a history of more than 500 years. The seven meters high, 47-ton bell was so skillfully made that its sound can be heard 40 to 50 kilometers away. This bell was praised as “the King of Ancient Bells”.
An octagonal Sound Dispelling Pool was built on the terrace of the Great Bell Palace. It is 70 centimeters deep and one meter from the mouth of the great bell. When the bell rings, the pool soon vibrates with the sound.
In a yard to the east of the Great Bell Palace about 40 strange-looking ancient bells are displayed. Bells made during the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279) and the Yuan Dynasty (1271 – 1368) are shaped like barrels. Bells made since the
beginning of the Ming Dynasty have mouths like trumpets.
This change shows that the Chinese made progress in realizing the acoustics and mechanics. Note that Chinese bells normally do not have clappers like Western bells.They are
struck instead with a thick stick.
The Great Bell Temple in the past saw emperors praying for rain, Buddhists conducting Buddhist affairs and travelers visiting. When a new year came during the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911), the great bell would be struck 108 times. Someone said that human beings have 108 troubles. When the great bell was beaten 108 times, all the troubles and worries would be gone.
More than 180 ancient bells from past dynasties have been collected inside the Ancient Bell Museum, which was built in 1986, in the Temple. Most are from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. One ancient pottery bell was said to have a history of more than 4000 years.
