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Stories Behind Architectural Charm
Drum and Bell Towers
How did they tell time
the Drum Tower
the Bell Tower
The Drum and Bell towers are situated at the northern end of the central axis of the Beijing Inner City to the north of Di' anmen Street.
The Bell Tower used to send out chimes at dawn and the Drum Tower told the time in the evening. They ceased this function more than 80 years ago.
In the Qing Dynasty, the hours were marked at night beginning at 7:00 p.m., a procedure that was popularly called "setting the watch." At this hour, the drums were sounded 13 times. After the watch had been "set" in this fashion, each subsequent two-hour interval was marked by a single drum beat.
Civil and military officials oriented their lives around these time signals. At the sounding of the third watch (1:00 a.m.) officials attending the morning court audience rose from there beds and at the fourth (3:00 a.m.) assembled outside the Meridian Gate (Wumen). At the sounding of the fifth
watch (5:00 a.m.) they entered the Imperial Palace and knelt on the Sea of Flagstones (Haimen) before the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihedian) to await instructions from the emperor.
The towers are still surrounded with crisscrossing Hutongs (lanes and allays) and courtyard residences, setting off the magnificence of the imposing tower gates and imperial palaces along the central line.
Walking westward from the Drum Tower, one comes to Houhai, literally ‘back sea’. It’s a place of old and new, boasting not only well-preserved Hutong but chic bars.
Editor: Dong Jirong
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