周边景点

DRUM TOWER

The Drum Tower was known as “Tower of Seven Elements” (I. e., the sun, the moon, metal, wood, water, fire and earth) when it was first built in 1271, the 9^th year of the ZhiYuan reign of the Yuan Dynasty. Funnels were built into the corners of the tower so as to echo the tolling of the bell in the Bell Tower in the north.

A new tower was rebuilt on the site of the Tower of Seven Elements in 1420, the 18^th year of the YongLe reign of the Ming Dynasty, only to be rebuilt twice later on--in 1800, the 5^th year of the JiaQing reign of the Qing Dynasty, and 1894, the 20^th year of the GuangXu reign.

The Drum Tower itself is 46.7 meters high, 34 meters long and 22.4 meters wide; it stands facing south on a brick platform 4 meters in height, 56 meters in length and 33 meters in width which is set in an area of about 7,000 square meters. A vermilion wall runs around the tower, while a pair of stone lions stands heroically in front of it. Three arched brick doorways are built into the northern and southern side, and a similar doorway is found in the eastern and western walls respectively. The doorways cross each other in the center of the platform to form a domed vault. The tower is a two-storeyed brick-and-wooden structure crowned with a three-eave gable-and-hipped roof covered with unglazed cylindrical tiles whose horizontal ridge is ornamented with mythical animal sculptures. The hall on the second floor, five bays wide and three bays

deep, is propped up with 36 wooden pillars; this was where the original twenty-four drums were stored which were 2.25 meters tall, 1.34 meters in diameter, and covered with whole sheets of cow hide. Each drum was poised on a stand 1.8 meters in height, 1.9 meters in width and 2 meters in length. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, when dusk had fallen, the drumswould be first beaten 18 times in rapid succession and then another 18 times in slow succession. A total of 108 drum beats were required to mark a single two-hour period in the evening. The drum beats were so loud that the entire city of Beijing was alerted. The gate in the northeastern corner opens into a 69-step stone stairway which conducts to the top of the tower.

In 1900, the 26^th year of the GuangXu reign, the Drum Tower was looted by soldiers of the Eight-Power Allied Forces. A drum remaining in the Bell Tower today wears a yawning hole in its surface inflicted by an invader with his bayonet. During the Republican years, the Drum Tower was renamed “Tower for Remembering Humiliation” to mark the sack of Beijing in the hands of foreign invaders.

After the founding of the People’s Republic, the tower served for a time as the Cultural Club of DongCheng District. On August 10, 1987, having received a major facelift, the tower was opened to tourists as yet another tourist attraction in Beijing. While the top of the tower provides a vantage point for observing the landscape of Beijing, exhibitions are held from time to time to showcase the city’s history and culture.

Last year the Drum Tower acquired a huge drum, known as “Soul of Drum in China”, which is 2.61 meters in diameter and 625 kilogram’s in weight, and covered with whole sheets of cow hide. Scaffolding had to be erected to shift the drum into the tower through the door on the second floor. On New Year’s Eve, echoing the toll of the bell in the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower sends forth its greetings to residents throughout the capital city.