There
is something ineffably eternal about the “drum beating and bell chiming
from sundown to daybreak” when it comes to the Bell Tower and the Drum
Tower standing in the north end of ancient Beijing.
There
can hardly be equal structures around the world when it comes to
architecture as music. They are like two powerful, solemn notes being
played over and over again for centuries – the sounds and echoes
reverberating across the mega-metropolis.
Both
towers are part of the so-called Beijing Central Axis – and serious
scholars make no bones about their essential role in reflecting people’s
existence in History. In China after all, architecture is regarded as
frozen music.
Liang
Sicheng, the father of modern Chinese architecture, regarded the
Beijing Central Axis as the world’s greatest urban symphony - sorry
Place de la Concorde or Piazza San Marco – with the Drum Tower and the
Bell Tower as the grand finale.
The
same might apply to the Drum/Bell couple in Xian, former Chang’an, the
imperial capital, which today is the privileged stage for scores of
young Tang Barbies from all parts of China posing night after night.
In
Beijing of course it’s way more solemn. The Bell/Drum couple is
regarded as the guardian buildings of the Forbidden City – announcing
time after time the proper regulation of people’s lives.
But
it’s a stele built during the Qing dynasty, with an inscription written
by Emperor Qianlong, that provides us with an intriguing parallel with
our current geopolitical volatility.
It
reads: “The resonant sound of the Bell heralds good governance. The
magnificent buildings of the Bell and Drum Towers symbolize the
loftiness of imperial power. The bell chimes and drum beats tell time to
regulate people’s lives. These solid towers stand forever to carry
forward benevolent governance.”
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