Drum Tower in Xi'an

Drum Tower in Xi'an

Xi'an Drum Tower is located in the center of the ancient capital Xi'an, about 200 meters northwest of Xi'an Bell Tower at the intersection of four streets in the Ming city wall. It was built in 1380, the 13th year of Hongwu reign of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of Ming Dynasty. It is one of the largest and most complete drum towers left over from ancient China.

The drum tower in Xi'an is built on a square base. It is a brick and wood structure with double eaves on the top. The total height is 36 meters, covering an area of 1377 square meters. There are stairs in it that can spiral up. The eaves are covered with dark green glazed tiles, the building is decorated with gold, painted pillars and carved beams, and the top is gilded. It is a landmark building in Xi'an.

On August 6, 1956, the people's Committee of Shaanxi Province announced the drum tower as a key cultural relic protection unit at the provincial level. On November 20, 1996, the State Council announced that the drum tower is a national key cultural relic protection unit.

Historical evolution

Xi'an Drum Tower was built in 1380, four years earlier than the bell tower

. There was a huge drum on the upper floor, which was called "Drum Tower" because it beat the drum to tell the time every day. The drum tower is just 200 meters away from the bell tower, which is across Beiyuanmen street.

Geng Bingwen, the Marquis of Changxing, and Wang Zongzhou, the magistrate of Xi'an, presided over the construction of the drum tower. It is said that they laid the foundation for the Drum Tower Project in the misty light rain. It was rebuilt twice in 1699 and 1740 respectively. According to the records of rebuilding the drum tower in Xi'an in the fifth year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the wheat harvest in Shaanxi Province last year was good. There was a peaceful scene of "men marry women, rites promote litigation", and the drum tower was reorganized by following the example of the ancient event of "revitalizing history in prosperous times, building buildings in bumper years". Wang Rui, the magistrate of Chang'an County, was specifically responsible for the repair.

Xi'an City in the Ming Dynasty has a circumference of 11.9 kilometers and an area of 8.7 square kilometers. The drum tower is located in the southwest of the central part of Xi'an city. In order to make the drum sound spread throughout the city, it is necessary to build tall buildings and set up big drums. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the drum tower was mostly surrounded by all levels of Yamen of Shaanxi Province and Xi'an government. The office of these Yamen and the life of the residents around them were inseparable from the drum sound, which became the most familiar sound at that time. Li yunkuan, a famous Confucianist in Xianning, wrote the plaque of "sound in the sky", which makes the finishing point and illustrates the practical significance of the drum tower. There are stairs in the building. You can have a panoramic view of the whole city by climbing upstairs. The drum tower in Xi'an is one of the main symbols and representatives of the buildings in Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Architectural features

The drum tower, built on a tall rectangular platform, is a brick wood structure with a height of 34 meters. The high platform brick base is 52.6 meters long from east to west, 38 meters wide from north to South and 8 meters high. In the center of the base, there is a 6-meter-high and 6-meter-wide arched door opening for people and vehicles to enter and leave, Nantong West Street and Beiyuanmen in the north. Covering an area of 1998.8 square meters, the landing steps have been changed from the original northwest side to the current east side.

The drum tower is a timber structure pavilion with two upper and lower floors and three double eaves. The front (South) is seven. According to the distance between the pillars, there are nine on the front and seven on the side, which is commonly known as "seven nine" in ancient architecture. The roof is covered with cut edge grey tiles, and the building foundation is not decorated except at both ends, showing its vigor and solemnity.

The architectural form of Drum Tower is Xieshan style with double eaves and three drops of water. The drum tower is rectangular and has two floors. On the first floor, there is a waist eaves and a flat seat. On the second floor, there is a double eaves Xieshan style roof, covered with grey tiles and green glazed tiles. The width of the upper and lower layers is 7, the depth is 3, and there are corridors around. The eaves and seats of the building are decorated with green painted brackets, which makes the whole building clear-cut, gorgeous and beautiful.

On the basis of the application of Tang Dynasty style and Song Dynasty architectural rules, there are many innovations in the construction technology of Drum Tower. There is no iron nail in the structure of the whole building. The eaves and seats of the building use the principle of Dou Gong structure. The appearance of the building is elegant and vigorous, full of national characteristics.

The roof is the crown of ancient Chinese architecture. As early as the Han Dynasty, the working people created many kinds of roofs, such as veranda, Xieshan, Xuanshan and zanjian. In the autocratic monarchy society, the roof has a strict hierarchy, and the double eaves is a form monopolized by the ruling class in order to improve its authority: the double eaves veranda hall is the most respected, such as the Taihe Hall of the Forbidden City; the double eaves mountain is the second, such as Tiananmen Square. The roof form of the drum tower, namely "Xieshan mountain top", is the same as Tiananmen Square, but one meter higher than it.

Architectural painting is also one of the main features of traditional Chinese architecture. All kinds of patterns depicted in rich colors not only have decorative effect, but also can protect wood. In China's autocratic monarchy society, the use of architectural color also has strict hierarchical restrictions: gold, pearl and yellow are the most noble and seal painting, which is the first class, only used for the buildings of emperors and nobles symbolizing imperial power; green and green spiral painting is the second, which is used for the houses of civil and military officials; Soviet style painting is the third. Xi'an Drum Tower was painted with Hexi and xuanzi respectively, and painted with Lifen Jinlong, which became a masterpiece of ancient architectural painting

. Throughout the Ming Dynasty, Xi'an Drum Tower's architectural form and level were even higher than that of Nanjing.

Cultural relics

Plaque

Under the third eaves of the drum tower, a plaque is hung in the north and the south respectively. In the south, it is the place where culture and martial arts flourished. In the north, it is the place where sound is heard in the sky.

"Wenwu Shengdi" was originally inscribed by Zhao kehuai, the governor of Shaanxi Province, in 1580, after the completion of rebuilding the drum tower.

After the drum tower was rebuilt in 1740, it is said that Zhang Kai, the governor of Shaanxi Province, imitated the Emperor Qianlong's "imperial pen" to write the southern plaque of "prosperous land of culture and military" for the drum tower, while the northern plaque of "sound in the sky" is said to be written by Li yunkuan, a famous Confucian in Xianning county. The two plaques, 8 meters long and 3.6 meters wide, are made of gold lettered wooden plaques with blue background. The north and South plaques were once known as two "bright pearls" inlaid on the drum tower in Xi'an. They have experienced a lot together with the drum tower.

During the "Cultural Revolution", a large number of cultural relics and ancient buildings were destroyed, and the two plaques were not spared. In this movement, the two "bright pearls" that Xi'an citizens are proud of "bid farewell" to the historical stage and "bid farewell" to the drum tower accompanying them. Since then, there has been only one of the two Chinese plaques, Shanhaiguan's "No.1 pass in the world" and Xi'an Drum Tower's "place of culture and military prosperity".

In 1982, Xi'an Bell and Drum Tower Museum began to restore two plaques and began to investigate and collect evidence. Since 1988, there have been motions and proposals on the restoration of plaques at each session of the Municipal People's Congress and the Municipal People's Political Consultative Conference. At the same time, the active participation of the general public in Xi'an has greatly promoted the process of restoration of plaques.

From March to July 2004, the Xi'an Municipal Committee of the Chinese people's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Shaanxi Provincial Bureau of cultural relics held several symposiums on "discussion and Research on the history and culture around the drum tower" and "restoration of the plaque on the drum tower" respectively, and widely solicited the opinions and suggestions of experts and scholars attending the Symposium on the restoration of the plaque. At the Symposium on July 9, 2004, relevant leaders and experts from Shaanxi Provincial Bureau of cultural relics, Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Preservation Center, the former Xi'an Municipal Bureau of cultural relics and landscape architecture, Shaanxi Provincial calligraphy college and other units finally deliberated and improved the preliminary plan, and formulated the principle of "using the original words, the same size and form as the original, using modern light-weight materials, but using traditional technology to make the original plan" Two plaques.

After years of unremitting efforts, on April 29, 2005, the two plaques were re hung on the drum tower, reappearing the style of 40 years ago.

Calligraphy and painting

In 1953, after the renovation of the drum tower, Xi'an Municipal Bureau of culture set up the drum tower exhibition hall. In the process of preparation, the idea of collecting Qi Baishi's calligraphy and paintings for its prosperity came into being. At that time, Ma Yi, a staff member of the culture section of Xi'an Municipal Bureau of culture, whose father knew Premier Zhou Enlai and took the letter from his father to Premier Zhou, undertook the task of contacting Qi Baishi to paint for the drum tower exhibition hall in Beijing.

After Premier Zhou communicated with Qi Baishi, Qi Baishi agreed to this idea. In 1954, Ma Yi and his colleagues took back the paintings from Beijing, including 10 paintings by Qi Baishi and a couplet, as well as the paintings by Li Keran and Chen banding. These paintings are all excellent works created by Qi Baishi at about 90 years old.

Drum Tower Drum

In order to restore the "morning bell and evening drum", Xi'an city decided to remake the drum tower drum in 1996. The drum is 1.8 meters high and 2.83 meters in diameter. It is made from the whole piece of high-quality cow hide. Its diameter is 3.43 meters and its weight is 1.5 tons. There are 1996 foam nails on it, which means that it was made in 1996. With four copper rings, it will last for 2000 years. It symbolizes the year 2000 A.D.

Cultural relics protection

On August 6, 1956, the people's Committee of Shaanxi Province announced the drum tower as a key cultural relic protection unit at the provincial level.

On November 20, 1996, the State Council announced that the drum tower is a national key cultural relic protection unit. At the same time, the protection scope is announced; the key protection area is around the base of Drum Tower (including steps); the general protection area is 34 meters outside the key protection area; the construction control area is from the east to the North Street, South to the West Street, north to the front of the municipal government, and the west side is 70 meters outside the general protection area.

In 2007, Xi'an Bell and Drum Tower successfully joined the Protection Committee of historical and cultural buildings of China cultural relics society

Chinese PinYin : Xi An Gu Lou