The Big Bell Temple was built in 1733 during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911).The temple’s name came after the famous “Yongle” Big Bell that is housed inside the temple, which was cast during the reign of the Yongle Emperor (1403-1424) of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). According to a test by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Yongle Big Bell’s sound could reaches up to 120 decibels and can be heard 50 kilometers away from the temple in the depth of night. Many music experts, including some from the Chinese Acoustics Institute have found its tone pure, deep and melodious with a sprightly rhythm. Its frequency ranges from 22 to 800 hertz. According to about.com: The Yongle Big Bell weighs about 46 tons, 6.75 metres tall with a diameter of 3.3 metres and weighing in at 46.5 tons. The bell is famous not only because of its size, but probably more importantly because of the over 230,000 characters of Buddhist scriptures engraved on it. — About.com The temple has housed a bell museum (Guzhong Bowuguan; engl. Ancient Bell Museum) since 1985, featuring hundreds of bronze bells from temples throughout China.
» Sonorous Bells of an Ancient Temple
The Inscriptions and Features of the Yongle Bell
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There are several myths and motivations for the casting of the Yongle Bell. Like the other massive bell (hanging in the Bell Tower), several versions exist of a legend that the daughter of the foundry owner “jumped” into the molten bronze mixture in order to save her father after several unsuccessful attempts to cast the item. Another legend involved the necessity of human sacrifice to make a bell perfect. As for reasons behind the bell in the first place, Yongle’s instruments were considered one of three noteworthy engineering projects undertaken in his reign together with construction of the imperial palace and re-establishment of an Altar of Heaven. Aside from being a symbol of investiture, the tolling of a bell in religious ceremonies was said to reach the depths of hell giving sinners a path leading to paradise. Yongle possibly worried about retribution for his bloodthirsty ways. The inside and outside of the bell is covered in multiple Buddhist sutras totaling more than 230,000 Chinese and Sanskrit characters. The Yongle Bell, 6.75 metres tall with a diameter of 3.3 metres around its outer lip and weighing in at 46.5 tons is aptly referred to as the “King of Bells.” It is the second largest after one in Moscow, but has the distinction of being the largest suspended functioning bell in the world.