Quick Answer: What Is a Chinese Temple Bell?
A great monastic bell (梵钟, fànzhōng) is a large bell used in Chinese Buddhist temples. It hangs from a support and can be struck from outside with a separate beam. The tone can mark a time of day, call people together or sound as part of a ceremony.[1][2][3]
- Construction: The bronze body itself vibrates after it is struck.[1][2]
- Writing: Cast inscriptions can preserve Buddhist texts or record the object and its context.[1][4]
- Use: The great bell can mark a sequence of daily events alongside a temple drum.[2][3]
The size, schedule and number of strokes depend on the bell and the local practice.[1][2][3][4]
A great bell can be heard before it is seen. A person standing outside the bell house may hear the low ring of the bronze continue after the sound of the initial impact has passed.[2]
How a Suspended Bell Is Struck
In a bell house documented in a University of Maryland study, both the great bell and a striking beam hang from supports. The player brings the beam against the outside wall of the bell. The beam swings back after the blow while the bronze continues to vibrate. The bell itself can stay in place.[2]
This arrangement differs from a rack of bianzhong. A player at that rack chooses among tuned bells to produce a succession of pitches. A large temple bell can mark time and be heard from beyond the immediate space where it hangs. The guide to Chinese bronze bells compares other ways cast bells were mounted and sounded.[1][2]
What Two Ming Bells Preserve
Beijing’s Dazhong Temple Ancient Bell Museum houses the Yongle Big Bell, cast in the Yongle reign of the Ming. The museum listing gives a height of 6.75 meters, a diameter of 3.3 meters and a weight of 46.5 metric tons. Buddhist scriptures, mantras and other inscriptions on its surface amount to more than 230,000 characters, according to the listing.[4]
At Dajue Temple, a different bronze bell was cast in 1430, in the Xuande reign. The Beijing Municipal Cultural Heritage Bureau records a height of 2.17 meters and a mouth diameter of 1.3 meters. It describes lotus petals around the shoulder and identifies the Heart Sutra among the inscriptions. The lotus band gives a detail to look for on the Dajue bell. The much larger Yongle bell is notable for the extent of its writing.[1]
How Bells Mark Monastic Time
The phrase morning bell and evening drum (晨钟暮鼓, chénzhōng mùgǔ) describes a temple routine. A Guangdong historical account describes the bell preceding the drum in the morning, with the order reversed in the evening. The shift in order helps mark the opening and closing of the daily routine.[3]
The Dajue Temple account also describes 108 strikes at morning and evening. The documented routine is one example of how a temple can assign meaning to the order and count of sounds. Inside a hall, other instruments such as the wooden fish in Chinese woodblock percussion can mark a different rhythm, such as the rhythm of chanting.[1][2][3]
FAQs About Chinese Temple Bells
Are Chinese temple bells always struck 108 times?
The Dajue Temple account describes 108 strokes for morning and evening. The count should be understood in relation to a documented occasion or routine.[1][2][3]
Is every bell in a temple a great bell?
Temples can use different bells for different functions. The great bell in a bell house is one type. Smaller bells can be used in a hall or for other signals.[2]
資料來源
[1] Beijing Municipal Cultural Heritage Bureau. Dajue Temple’s Xuande Bronze Bell
[2] University of Maryland Digital Repository. Study of Bells and Sound in Buddhist Monasteries
[3] Guangdong Provincial Cultural and Historical Research Institute. The Evening Bell at Nanhua Temple
[4] Beijing Municipal Government. Dazhong Temple Ancient Bell Museum