A song sets a city on fire. Ahead is the Beijing Drum Tower. Zhao Lei's song completely ignited the enthusiasm of the Beijing Drum Tower.
During this year's May Day, many tourists came here to take pictures and check in. For this reason, guardrails were specially placed here, police cars came to maintain order, and assistant managers were arranged at each intersection to be responsible for directing traffic. Tourists don't seem to have come to Beijing to take a photo and look at the No. 107 tram, just like they haven't been to Beijing. So what is the inside of the Beijing Drum Tower and the Bell Tower in the north? Today's "Parade of China" will take you to find out.
Beijing Drum Tower is the north end of the central axis of Beijing, was built in the ninth year of Yuan to Yuan (1272), is the time center of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, this drum tower was damaged to different degrees many times in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and has been repaired several times.
The main building of the drum tower we see now was built in the eighteenth year of Yongle (1420). About 100 meters north of the Drum Tower is the Beijing Bell Tower.
Let's talk about the Drum Tower first. The image of the drum tower in Beijing is similar to that of the city tower, with a city platform under it. However, the platform of the Drum Tower is different from the platform of the gray brick Beijing Tower, and the platform of the Drum Tower is painted vermilion, which shows the solemnity and grace of the Drum Tower.
There are 3 gates on the north and south sides of the castle platform, and 1 gate on the east and west. Above the city platform is a two-storey pavilion, with a "three drops of water" roof, gray tiles and green glazed trimming, and a height of 46.7 meters.
As soon as we entered, we were given a "dismount", the first step is 60 knots high and steep, and there are 9 knots after turning right above. Some people say that "60" represents a "Jiazi reincarnation", while "9" is the largest number, and some people say that it represents the emperor's "Ninety-Five Supreme". We don't know if this is a deliberate design or a coincidence.
Come to the second floor. We can see that there are 25 drums on display, which is the ancient Chinese time system. 24 of them are imitated from historical sources, and the remaining side is the main drum left over from history. This main drum is made of whole cowhide and was performed at the opening ceremony of the 1990 Beijing Asian Games, with a length of 2.25 meters and a diameter of 1.34 meters.
In addition, there is a broken drum. The drum surface of this drum has the knife marks left by the Eight-Nation Coalition Army when it invaded Beijing in the 26th year of Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1900). Did you know that there were originally copper engravings and leaky pots of Song Dynasty relics, but unfortunately they were lost at the end of the Ming Dynasty.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, every night the drum (8 p.m.) and the bright watch (5 a.m.) were struck first and then the bell was struck to tell the time. The drum and bell are first struck 18 times quickly and then slowly 18 times, commonly known as "tight eighteen, slow eighteen", and so on repeated 6 times, each hitting 108 times. At the beginning of the watch, the bell rang, the city gates were closed, and traffic was cut off
So how many times does this drum have to be struck when it tells the time? In ancient times, the night was divided into five watches: one watch, also called the watch, from 19 o'clock to 21 o'clock. The second watch is from 21 o'clock to 23 o'clock. The third watch is from 23 o'clock to 1 o'clock in the morning, which is what we often say "three watches in the middle of the night". Four is from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. The fifth watch is called the bright watch, which is from 3 o'clock to 5 o'clock.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, every night the drum (8 p.m.) and the bright watch (5 a.m.) were struck first and then the bell was struck to tell the time. The drum and bell are first struck 18 times quickly and then 18 times slowly, commonly known as "tight eighteen, slow eighteen", and so on 6 times, each hitting 108 times. At the time of the watch, when the bell rings, the gates of Beijing are closed.
You may be asking, why do you want to knock on 108 rings? In fact, there is a moral here, which represents a year, that is, 12 months plus 24 solar terms, plus 72 seasons. Nowadays, people use "week" and "wait" very little. In ancient China, every 5 days was a wait, and a year was 72 days, which is equivalent to 52 weeks a year today. What we now call "time" is actually a collective term for "time" and "wait".
Now, the Beijing Drum Tower has regular drumming performances every day. If you come to visit, you must not miss it. Listening to the deafening drum sound in the drum tower is still very shocking.
Outside the second floor of the Drum Tower, you can overlook the central axis of Beijing from a high place. This street is Di'anmen Street. The highest pavilion in front is the Wanchun Pavilion in Jingshan. Further south is the Forbidden City.
As the saying goes, "It's easy to go up, but hard to get down." "It was really painful to walk down from the Drum Tower. When I came up, I didn't think it was so steep. But when I went down, I was a little dizzy.
On the first floor of the Drum Tower is about the Drum Tower, as well as the introduction of Beijing's central axis, where you can still hear the shouting of "Old Beijing". After listening to these sounds, I close my eyes and feel like I have traveled back in time.
It is said that there was also a drum tower in the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, and the location is the west side of the current Ming and Qing Dynasty Drum Tower, that is, on the first line of the old Drum Tower Street. There is also a central pavilion built in the city center of the Yuan metropolis. Now, some scholars believe that the current drum tower shape is relatively ancient, may be a relic of the Yuan Dynasty, and it is very likely that it was built on the basis of the central pavilion of the Yuan capital. However, this statement has not yet found a historical basis.
Now that we've talked about the Drum Tower, let's talk about the Beijing Bell Tower. The Beijing Bell Tower was rebuilt in the tenth year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1745). The original bell tower was made of wood, but it was later destroyed by fire, so it was completely rebuilt as a masonry structure. In this way, it can also be more compatible with the brick and stone drum tower in the south.
The Beijing Bell Tower is 47.9 meters high, the shape is beautiful and straight, and the color is bright and generous. There is a very steep staircase to climb the bell tower in the brick platform, the huge bronze bell hangs in the middle of the bell tower, the current bell is cast in the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, the height is 5.55 meters, the diameter at the bottom is 3.4 meters, the diameter at the top is 2.52 meters, it weighs about 63 tons, it is the largest and heaviest time chiming bell in the mainland.
The sound of this bell is very loud, and it can be transmitted more than ten miles away at night. Before the casting of this bronze bell, an iron bell was hung here, but it was replaced by a bronze bell because the bell was not loud enough. The original iron bell is now in the collection of the Great Bell Temple in Beijing.
Regarding the casting of the bronze bell of the bell tower, there is also a beautiful legend of "the bell lady". According to legend, when this bronze bell was cast, it always failed to achieve the desired effect. Seeing that the deadline is approaching, if the recasting fails, the craftsmen will face the disaster of death.
This matter was known by the craftsman "Huayan Master" daughter Hua Xian, by others unprepared, this Hua Xian jumped into the furnace, the bronze bell was cast, the sound is loud and long, inside and outside the capital, more than ten miles, all sensational.
In order to commemorate the Huaxian girl who has saved her father, people built a "Golden Furnace Virgin Bell Niangniang Temple" on the west side of the bell tower, but now this temple no longer exists, and the original site is now a private residence.
Now that the "May Day" has passed for two days, there are many people who have gone to Di'anmen Avenue to beat the drum tower and the No. 107 tram, which is now driving towards us. But why does the car's electronic screen keep flashing? Can someone tell me why?
It is said that on May Day, there was a queue to take pictures here, because there were people who cut in line and quarreled. In fact, there are so many places where you can take pictures of red walls and buildings like the Drum Tower in Beijing, and there is really no need for everyone to gather here. Finally, I would like to remind everyone that you must pay attention to safety when taking photos on the side of the road, and do not stand on the roadway to take pictures.
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