First Storey
Front Courtyard Topics
First Storey Topics
Bell Tower
Location Description
The Temple Bell is placed inside the second storey of the Bell Tower, which is located to the right of the Mountain Gate. The Temple Bell is the most important musical instrument in a temple; listening to the sounds produced by the bell is believed to give one a clear mind, improve one’s wisdom, help one avoid disasters and receive blessings. Tolling the Bell is one of the ways to welcome the Chinese New Year and wish for good fortune.
About Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum Bell
Measuring roughly 211 cm (height) × 136 cm (diameter), our Temple Bell, with an inverted 'U'-shaped body, is a prime example of a traditional Chinese zhong or bell.
The Bell is surmounted by a handle in the form of a double-headed dragon with their heads facing in opposite directions and gazing up and back towards the centre of the Bell. Its body is segregated into six distinct sections from top to bottom (see diagram above). The upper and lower sections (1) are borders rimmed with an ornate floral pattern.
Below the upper decorative rim is a section (2) consisting of twenty-eight (seven columns by four rows) raised bosses (round ornamental protuberances or studs). This portion is divided cardinally into four. Separating these are four long panels, two of which are undecorated panels with a single middle dividing vertical line (3) whilst the other two, on opposite sides (facing South-West and North-East) contain vertical Li Shu-styled (隶书) calligraphy.
The South-West panel (4) spells out the name of our temple together with the date of construction while the North-East panel has names of sponsors followed by the name of the bell foundry at the bottom. Directly below the temple's name on the South-West paneland located approximately two thirds down, is a circular disk (5) (diameter: 21 cm) with an eight-petalled lotus motif which marks the spot where the gong stick should strike. A similar disk is found below the sponsors' name list on the North-East panel.
Encircling the bell horizontally and connecting the two disks are four parallel straight lines with the middle two closer to each other (6). Where these four lines meet , their top and bottom lines converge and meet the middle two lines, forming an 'X' (7).
A smaller model of the temple bell can be found displayed in our main prayer hall.
About Temple Bell Tower and Bell
A bell tower (also belfry), as its name suggests, is a tower which holds one or more bells. The initial design of the bell tower is to hold bells, though later some bell towers no longer have bells, they continued to retain the name of bell tower.
Bell towers (Chinese: Zhonglou, Japanese: Shōrō) are common in China and in countries of related cultures. They may stand as part of a temple complex or as an independent civic building and are often paired with a drum tower.They are also found in church buildings. Among the best known examples in China are the Bell Tower (Zhonglou) of Beijing and the Bell Tower of Xi'an.
In the Eastern world, the traditional forms of bells are temple and palace bells. The small bells are rung by raps from small sticks, and the big bells are rung by swinging large suspended wood beams against their sides.
The bell is rung mainly to report the time, and sometimes to call people to visit the temple or church for worship activities. It is also used on special events such as weddings and funerals. Historically, it was used during defence in war or as fire alarms.
Bells and drums were musical instruments in ancient China. They were later used by government and common people as timepieces. The Bell and Drum towers were the centre of Chinese chronology during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. In more recent times, the top of bells in China was usually decorated with a small dragon, known as pulao. According to Chinese legends, the dragon gave birth to nine sons, and pulao was the fourth. He stayed at the seaside and was very afraid of whales. When attacked by a whale, the small dragon would scream out of fear. Because of this tale, pulao became a part of the bell. Apart from serving as a hook, its unique characteristics gained recognition far and wide. The beam used to hit the bell was also carved into the shape of a whale. People believed that, by doing so, it would help the bell sound clearer and louder.
The introduction of Buddhism to Japan in the mid-sixth century led to the development of large hanging bronze bells which were rung without using bell clappers. They were rung with mallets or hanging beams instead. They are generally suspended inside dedicated bell towers or shōrō. The oldest extant of these bells date back to the late-seventh century and have been designated as National Treasures. Often these bells were either engraved or cast in relief, with their outer surfaces showing vertical or horizontal relief bands. On the upper part of some bells, texts were also included in the embossed patterns and the bell handles were typically shaped in a dragon motif.
Bells intended to be rung are usually made by casting bell metal (a high-copper bronze alloy) of a size appropriate for the pitch the bell is intended to produce. Fine tuning of metal bells is achieved on a lathe where a precise amount of material is removed from the inside of the bell in order to produce a true tone with correct harmonics. Often bells of different sizes are used to play a chime sequence together, therefore, they must be well tuned in order to produce a correct scale of musical notes.
After exhaustive visits to numerous bell foundries in search of the best bell foundry, Venerable Chao Khun Fa Zhao finally awarded the construction of our Temple bell to Wuhu Shipyard of the China State Shipbuilding (Group) Corporationin Wuhu (along the Yangtze River)Anhui China. This Corporation has been publicly acknowledged to have produced the best and most melodic temple bells in China.
Casting of Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum Bell
The Tang inspired design Temple Bell was cast in the Wuhu factory, China on 24th June 2006, following a blessing ceremony, together with the sponsors.
The Temple Bell was shipped to Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum and placed in the Bell Tower.
Consecration Ceremony
The Temple Bell was consecrated in a blessing ceremony on 28 April 2007.
Temple Daily Opening and Closing Ceremony
Bell ritual takes place at bell tower during the morning opening ceremony and evening closing ceremony.
Bibliography:
- Japanese Architecture and Gardens, Hirotaro Ota, Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai, 1966, page 90
Websites:
- Bell tower - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Shōrō - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Bell (instrument) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- JAANUS / shourou 鐘楼
- Bellfounding - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia