What are the origins and uses of the Bell Tower and Drum Tower?

1, the origin of bell tower and drum tower:

In human society, in order to unify people's actions, it is necessary to unify time, so it is necessary to establish a time service system. In ancient China, the time service system was what people often called "morning bell and evening drum", that is, ringing the bell in the morning and the drum at night, thus the bell tower and drum tower came into being.

2, use: alarm clock time

For example, in the Tang dynasty, the morning bell and the evening drum, the city gates were closed and a curfew was imposed; Zhong Ming, the city gate is open and every household is active. Ordinary people are used to it.

In order to keep accurate time, the Bell and Drum Tower is first equipped with four copper clefts, which are called Tiandi, Pingshui, Wanji and Shuishou. A bronze musical instrument named Rao was installed in the center of leaky cauldron. It was controlled by machinery and attacked Rao all the time.

Extended data:

Other ways of telling the time in ancient times:

(1) Overtime

In the past, overtime was a common occupation in Chengdu. In Chengdu in the past, people lacked accurate means of telling time, and almost all of them worked overtime at night. Even many rural towns have overtime. At that time, there was little cultural and entertainment life at night, which was basically made at sunrise and stopped at sunset. When people hear the beat of the night watchman, they know the time and what to do according to the usual practice. People live a quiet life step by step.

Although the shift is small, there are many doorways. For example, when the night shift is on (that is, at 7: 00 pm), it is slow and fast, and it is played three times in a row, and the sound is like "Knock!" , "Knock, knock!" , "Knock, knock!" ; I called my watch for the second time (9 pm), and I called it again and again, many times in a row. It sounds like "Knock, knock!" . "Knock, knock!" ; When you hit the third night (eleven o'clock at night), you should slow down and accelerate, and the sound is like "Dong! -Hey! " ; When the fourth watch is dialed (1 am), it should be slow three, with a voice like "Dong-Dong, Dong-Dong"; When playing the fifth watch (three o'clock in the morning), one is slow and four is fast, and the sound station is "Knock, knock, knock!"

On the whole, the rhythm of playing is from slow to fast, and it ends after playing for three times. But why not play the sixth watch (5 am)? Because Chengdu people go to bed early and get up early, they start to get up and do housework after the fifth watch. "A day's plan lies in the morning", and even the emperor began to prepare for the court in the fifth watch. In addition, there is a saying that there is a ghost on the string in the Wugeng. It is not appropriate to disturb them at this time, so as not to affect their inability to return to the underworld and cause disaster to the dead. Of course, this is the feudal superstition of the ancients. Watchmen in ancient times had a hard time. He can't sleep at night, so he can only watch the drip (a kind of timing thing) or burn incense (also a kind of timing thing) to grasp the accurate time.

The noon bell struck.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, when towering buildings blocked the bell, people found a louder equipment-cannon, and entered the era of noon cannon striking time. There is a battery on the wall on the east side of Deshengmen in Beijing, and the "noon cannon" used to tell the time is here.

The battery has a telephone connected to the Beijing Observatory. Whenever it is almost noon, two people on duty work together, one by the phone, listening to the instructions on the phone. The other man uncovered his gun suit, packed his gunpowder, and stood on the gun emplacement, holding the lighted incense, waiting for instructions. When the Beijing Observatory issued an instruction by telephone, the people on the battery immediately lit the gun powder, and the guns roared in the afternoon. The sound resounded through the streets, and people knew it was noon 12. People with clocks quickly set their watches.

(3) The western unique way: when the ball falls.

In Europe, when people in China reported the noon cannon, they developed another way to report the ball. The Greenwich Observatory in London, England, was the first to give the time of falling the ball. Every day at noon 13 (noon in some places 12), the ball on the top of the clock tower of the Observatory falls on time, and the ships moored in the nearby waters adjust their clocks accordingly, and then set sail with the adjusted clocks.

Although we look at this method a little rough today, sailors have reverence for it because it has faithfully served seafarers for nearly a hundred years. /kloc-after the 0/7th century, the navigation industry has developed vigorously, and sailors need accurate timing more urgently than anyone else. For sailors, an accurate clock is like a lifeline. Without it, it is difficult to know the position of the ship and there is a danger of hitting the rocks. For seafarers, "falling the ball at noon 13" is extremely cordial.

In China, the ball is timed in Shanghai. /kloc-In the 1980s of 0/9, the French Concession authorities set up a signal station at the French pier, and used the signal tower to inform the pitching time at noon, serving the ships of various countries coming and going to Shanghai Port. The time is controlled by Xujiahui Observatory.

References:

People's Daily Online: Beating: Ancient Time Telling Means

China Science Fair: Do you want to look at the time without looking at the watch?