Quanzhou bell tower

Quanzhou bell tower was built in 1934 when dongxijie cross road was built. It was completed the following year. The clock tower, 13.8 meters high, is designed by a British designer with European style. Quanzhou bell tower, east-west tower and Qiao tower have become the unique scenery of the ancient city, attracting tourists at home and abroad. At present, the clock tower is replaced by a mechanical clock with a quartz clock. The clock tower is also equipped with festival lights. Under the curtain of night, the clock tower radiates new brilliance and is more brilliant.

Quanzhou bell tower

The bell tower, the central landmark of Quanzhou, the cultural capital of East Asia, was built in 1934. It is built in western style and integrated with Minnan style. It is one of the leading landmark buildings in Fujian Province.

Quanzhou bell tower

Quanzhou bell tower was built in 1934 when dongxijie cross road was built. It was completed the following year. The clock tower, 13.8 meters high, is designed by a British designer with European style. Quanzhou bell tower, east-west tower and Qiao tower have become the unique scenery of the ancient city, attracting tourists at home and abroad. At present, the clock tower is replaced by a mechanical clock with a quartz clock. The clock tower is also equipped with festival lights. Under the curtain of night, the clock tower radiates new brilliance and is more brilliant.

Folktales

It is said that in 1934, Shen fazao, the commander of a Kuomintang garrison, wanted to marry a young aunt. When Zhang sigian, the head of Jinjiang County, learned of this, he found a nurse surnamed Huang. Nurse Huang resolutely refused and was forced to commit suicide, which caused great public indignation from all walks of life. In order to maintain justice, teachers and students of Liming high school (now Liming University) united with teachers and students of Quanzhou women's Association, Peiyuan middle school and Peiying women's middle school to march on the streets. In order to ease the situation, Zhang sigian negotiated with student representatives and was forced to agree to build a clock tower to apologize.

Historical truth

Chen Meisheng, a 93 year old man who lives in Guandong lane, East Street, Quanzhou City, pointed out that these rumors are inconsistent with the fact that they crown the clock tower builder. According to what he witnessed and witnessed at that time, the construction of the clock tower and the suicide of the nurses caused by forced marriage were two different things. The then county magistrate built the building not to atone, but to promote punctuality.

Forced marriage tragedy

According to the history of Quanzhou Education (1999 edition), Huang Binbin, a girl who worked as a nurse in Quanzhou civilian hospital, was liked by Li, the leader of the militia, and agreed with Wu Shixian, the county magistrate. Nurse Wu forced nurse Huang to marry leader Li, but Huang Jian refused and committed suicide. Huang's tragic death caused students to rally and protest. County magistrate Wu felt aggrieved and agreed to build the bell tower as an example. However, before the bell tower was built, Wu took up his post, and the new county magistrate Zhang Silin appropriated funds to continue the construction.

The reporter noted that in some reports, the media often quoted Zhang's apology for building the bell tower.

So, is it Wu Shixian or Zhang Silin who made the forced marriage tragedy? Is building a clock tower a atonement?

Clock tower construction

Chen Meisheng was born in Shishi. At the age of 4, he moved to Guandong lane of Quanzhou East Street with his parents and lived here for nearly 90 years. Chen Meisheng, 93 years old, is a senior researcher in Quanzhou music circle, a member of China Musicians Association, China Traditional Opera Music Association, a member of expert research group of Quanzhou Nanyin declaring "representative works of human oral and intangible heritage", and a winner of the highest prize of the second world Puppet Festival. Their house is one or two hundred meters away from the clock tower.

He said that in recent years, rumors about the forced marriage tragedy of the county magistrate of Jinjiang county (the county government at that time was in Quanzhou City) in the period of the Republic of China and the atonement for the construction of the bell tower, which were published in the media and books, are very different from the truth. The events and time are in disorder, and the merits and sins are reversed, which damages the personality of the people and covers up the bad deeds of the bad people. Although it is hearsay, the speaker has no intention, but it is very uncomfortable after reading.

He pointed out that the county magistrate forced marriage tragedy occurred in 1934, and the bell tower was built in 1935. These are two unrelated things. At that time, he was in middle school, or witnessed or witnessed the construction process. Although it was nearly 80 years ago, his memory is still fresh.

In his opinion, it is necessary to sort out the past and restore the truth.

Petition in person

Chen Meisheng said that nurse Huang committed suicide by forced marriage. He also witnessed the protest and assembly movement. His mother, as the main participant in the movement, wrote an article to record the incident. It can be determined that the county head who committed suicide by forced marriage was not Zhang, but Wu Shixian.

According to Chen Meisheng, young Yongchun Huang Binbin was forced to marry Li, head of Nanan Jiudu security corps, because she was dissatisfied with her family. She took the opportunity to escape to Quanzhou and worked as a nurse in the county civilian hospital (now Quanzhou First Hospital). The Li family bribed Wu Shixian, the head of Jinjiang county. Wu coerced Huang into cohabiting with Li. Huang strongly pleaded that he would rather die than surrender. He took up the water and drank it all. He died in hatred on May 28, 1934.

The tragic death of Huang Binbin caused a sensation in the society and aroused the indignation of the public. Three newspapers in Quanzhou and Xiamen exposed the process of Wu Shixian's bribery and forced marriage. Dozens of middle school students and women representatives from Quanzhou met in Pangong to discuss support. They elected Chen Kan, Shi Xiumin, Huang Zhimin, Liu Yubi (Chen Meisheng's mother), Guo Weifei, Wang wenjue, Zhang Zhuoying, Chen Yucheng, Chen Ruyu and others as executive members. In the name of "Jinjiang youth voice aid Huang Binbin massacre conference", they formed a support petition team of more than 100 people and asked the competent department to support them Bring Wu Shixian to justice.

Chen Meisheng said that at that time, his family was in Guandong lane. During the summer vacation, he could see clearly at the entrance of the lane. Members of the support Committee, including his mother Liu Yubi, walked in front of the team, and the crowd around the street was indignant. Wu Shixian was embarrassed by the protests from all walks of life.

Advocating punctuality

Chen Meisheng said that Huang Binbin's forced marriage suicide shocked the society and made people angry, which sounded an alarm for Jinjiang county government.

In 1934, because of his infamous reputation, Wu Shixian left the post of county magistrate of Jinjiang. Soon, Yu Gongwu took over as the county magistrate. He advocated the construction of a new deal. Since 1935, Zhang Si Lu (Yin Tonglin) succeeded as the county magistrate, and also attached great importance to the construction of county administration, including the construction of the bell tower.

Chen Meisheng said that the new county magistrate advocated being punctual and punctual, so he chose to build the bell tower in the crossroad of the South Street (Zhongshan Road) in the urban area, which is densely populated and accessible on all sides. We purchased high quality four side clock made in Germany and placed it on the top of the clock tower.

At that time, Chen Meisheng was already in middle school. He had to pass under the bell tower to study in Zhaowei Guoxue every day. In his impression, the clock tower was built in 1935, and the construction process lasted about half a year. After completion, the left side of the building in the north of the middle has the signature of "Jinjiang county magistrate Zhang sixiaojian". He did not know how many times he had seen the signature. In the 1950s, when the building was renovated, the signature disappeared.

After nearly 80 years of renovation, the clock tower is still in good condition. It not only facilitates people's life, but also gradually becomes a landmark of the city, so it has been talked about by people all the time.

Chen Meisheng pointed out that in 1934, Jinjiang county magistrate Wu Shixian committed a forced marriage tragedy, and in 1935, he succeeded county magistrate Zhang Sixiu to build the bell tower. In terms of events, time and characters, the tragedy and the construction of the bell tower are totally irrelevant.

The apology is false

After interviewing Chen Meisheng, the reporter went to Quanzhou Archives again

Looking up the information, we try to further confirm the origin and development of these two events. With the help of the staff, the reporter read several materials.

Quanzhou City annals (published in 2000) did not record the construction of the clock tower, but the chronicle of events introduced the suicide of nurse Huang. It was confirmed that nurse Huang Binbin was forced to commit suicide by Jinjiang county magistrate Wu Shixian, which caused a demonstration and a sensation in the city. There are the same records in the historical materials of women's movement in Jinjiang area and the records of women's organizations in Quanzhou City.

According to the records of Licheng District and Jinjiang City, Wu Shixian, a native of Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, served as the head of Jinjiang county from April 6, 1934 to October 16, 1934; after Wu left, Yu Gongwu, a Cantonese, took over from October 16, 1934 to October 1, 1935; later, Zhang Silin, a native of Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, continued to serve as the head of Jinjiang county from October 1, 1935 to November 1, 1937.

Interestingly, the reporter noticed that the last word in Zhang's name is written differently according to different materials, such as "Lin", "bunting" and "■", and it is simplified as "stingy".

Chen Meisheng said that the name of the county magistrate at that time should be "Zhang siliu". In his impression, at that time, some illiterate people read "Lu" as "Lu". Chen Meisheng studied Chinese culture. It's not hard to recognize such a rare word. He was also puzzled that people mispronounced the name of the county magistrate.

Customs bell tower

Built in 1987, the customs bell tower is located at the intersection of Wenling road and Quanxiu Road, with a total of 8 floors, including 12 floors of the bell tower, with a height of 48.83 meters. The tower bell tower above 9 floors is embedded with an electronic clock with a diameter of 4.5 meters. The South music is played regularly. The facade of the building is beautiful. At that time, there were few high-rise buildings in the urban area, and the customs building became a landmark building in the urban area, with ancient and modern style.

Bell tower of Jindi commercial building

The bell tower of Jindi commercial building is a symbolic public treasure integrating modern culture, art and architecture. The clock tower is built of steel structure, with a height of 18 meters, a width of 10.5 meters and a square shape. The area of the clock dial is 16 square meters, and there are four clock faces in four directions. The hour key of the clock dial is the luminous screen. This is the tallest clock tower in the city, with the largest dial and the most beautiful bell shape.

Address: Licheng, Quanzhou City, Fujian Province

Chinese PinYin : Quan Zhou Zhong Lou