Where is the Great Bell Temple and are there any tourist attractions nearby?

In Beijing

Dazhong Temple (Ancient Bell Museum)

Formerly known as Juesheng Temple, it was built in the 11th year of Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty (1733). It is named after a large bell cast during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty.

The Ancient Bell Museum has foreign bells (European) and Warring States bells. There are more than 400 different bells in total; of which there are 65 Warring States bells. To the east is a bell from the Qing Dynasty, and to the west is a bell from the Ming Dynasty. In 1985 it became a museum.

Buddhist and Taoist bells (1): The Qing Dynasty was the late stage of the development of ancient Chinese bell culture. It was also the stage when ancient Chinese bell culture went from prosperity to decline. In the early Qing Dynasty, the three dynasties of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong were prosperous. By the middle and late Qing Dynasty, with the decline of national power, various casting techniques became more and more crude. Not only did the number of iron Buddhist bells increase, but their shapes became smaller and smaller, and their patterns became rough.

Buddhist and Taoist bells (2): Buddhist and Taoist bells appeared in the later stage of the development of bell culture in ancient China. Buddha bell, also known as Buddhist bell, refers to the bell used in Buddhism. Daozhong: Taoism is China’s native religion. Watching clock: Watching clock refers to a device used to uniformly tell the time to the public in ancient Chinese cities. Buddhist bells: Buddhist bells refer to bells used in the field of Buddhism, mainly serving as Buddhist musical instruments, ritual implements and decorations of Buddhist buildings. Vajra Bell: The Vajra Bell is one of the magical instruments of Buddhist Tantric Buddhism.

Bell casting: The texture of bells in ancient China was mainly bronze. Bronze is mainly composed of a fusion of copper, tin and lead. Its methods include: lost wax method, split casting method, stack casting (building) method, and pottery molding method.

Excellent products of the Ming and Qing dynasties: The exquisite ancient bells cast in Beijing during the Ming and Qing dynasties are on display here, which not only reflects the brilliant artistic achievements of ancient Chinese bell casting, but also reflects the profound history of the Beijing area. and culture. Among them are: Tianning Temple Bronze Bell, Cloud Pattern Bronze Bell, Hongzhi Dao Bell, Bronze Bell Made by Zhang Huai, Thirty-Five Buddha Name Bronze Bell, Berlin Temple Bronze Bell, Maha Temple Bronze Bell, Yaowang Temple Bronze Bell, Maitreya Temple bronze bell, cast Buddha bronze bell, Shanyuan Temple bronze bell, etc.

Yongle Bell: The Yongle Bell was cast under the order of Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty. It has a height of 675 cm, a diameter of 330 cm, and a weight of 46,500 kg. There are more than 100 Buddhist sutras and mantras on the inner wall of the bell body, with a total of more than 230,000 words, composed of Chinese and Sanskrit. With a history of more than 600 years, it is the largest clock in the world.

In the courtyard to the east of the Bell Tower, there are more than 40 ancient bells of different shapes displayed according to historical periods. The bells of the Song and Yuan Dynasties are barrel-shaped, such as the big bell stored in the Sutra Library. It was cast during the Xining period of the Song Dynasty and has a history of more than 900 years. It is the oldest bell in the Dazhong Temple. Starting from the early Ming Dynasty, the mouth of the bell gradually expanded into a trumpet shape, reflecting people's understanding of the principles of acoustics and mechanics in the history of the development of ancient bells in my country.

Historical evolution

The Dazhong Temple was once the place where the emperors of the Qing Dynasty prayed for rain. The temple faces south from south to north, including the mountain gate, the bell and drum tower, the Tianwang Hall, the Main Hall, and the rear. Hall, Sutra Tower, Bell Tower, East and West Wings, and six annexes distributed on both sides. The big bell tower is the unique core building in the temple. It stands on a huge bluestone platform. The entire bell tower is round at the top and bottom, symbolizing the "round sky and earth". The bluestone platform is built with an octagonal "Sanyin" Under its influence, when the bell is struck lightly, the pure and elegant bell sound can be heard in a radius of more than 100 miles, and the lingering sound can last for 3 minutes.

In the 11th year of the reign of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty (1733), a temple was built here (formerly known as Zengjiazhuang), covering a total area of ??30,000 square meters. In the eighth year of Qianlong's reign, the Yongle Bell was moved from Wanshou Temple to Juesheng Temple. In the fifty-second year of Qianlong's reign (1787), it became a place for the royal family to pray for rain, and this activity continued until the end of the Qing Dynasty. On October 28, 1957, the Dazhong Temple was announced as the first batch of cultural relics protection units in Beijing. During the Cultural Revolution, due to lack of management, the temple was turned into a factory, and the buildings inside the temple were desolate and dilapidated. In October 1985, the state allocated special funds to rebuild the Dazhong Temple and established the Dazhong Temple Ancient Bell Museum. It is currently the only museum in the country with the purpose of collecting, exhibiting, researching, developing and utilizing ancient bells and ancient bell materials, and disseminating ancient bell cultural knowledge. Thematic museum.

The temple fair of Dazhong Temple is still open to this day. In the old days, it took place on the first day of the first lunar month every year and half a month after the temple was open. Tourists gathered and there were activities such as "making money eyes", which was very lively. In recent years, tourism has developed, temple fairs have been restored, and the tradition of ringing bells for the New Year has been added.