The Bianjing Drum Tower ,
[1] also known as the Bianjing Pavilion and by its Chinese name as the Bianjing Lou , is a
drum tower in
Shangguan , the seat of
Dai County ,
Xinzhou Prefecture ,
Shanxi , in the
People's Republic of China . It dates to 1476 and is 39.3 meters (129 ft) high.
History
Yanmen Pass was an important defensive
choke point for ancient and medieval China. The nearest major town to its south was the seat of what is now
Dai County , previously known variously as
Guangwu ,
Yanmen , and Daizhou. The tower was constructed in
Hongwu 7 (1374
CE ), for the purpose of
military observation and
signaling by means of
drums . That original structure was destroyed by a fire in
Chenghua 7 (1471). The present tower was built on the site of the first in Chenghua 12 (1476). It was further restored 4 times under the
Qing , as well as in 1957, 1976, and 1986 under the
People's Republic . The more recent renovations dealt with water damage on the first floor. The Bianjing Drum Tower was named a
Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level by the
State Administration of Cultural Heritage in 2001.
Structure
The present drum tower is 39.3 meters (129 ft) high. The stone base is about 40 meters (130 ft) long, 33 meters (108 ft) wide, and 13 meters (43 ft) high. The wooden tower
[5] faces south. The traditional Chinese units of measurement are 7
jian in length and 5 in width; it has 3 stories and reaches 26 meters (85 ft) high. Its two large placards read "First Tower of Yanmen" (
t
鴈門
第一
樓 ,
s
雁门
第一
楼 , Yànmén Dìyī Lóu ) and "Audible in All Directions" (
t
聲
聞
四
達 ,
s
声
闻
四
达 , Shēng Wén Sì Dá ).
Museum
The tower holds a local museum.
[5] One artifact is a 1.9-meter (6 ft 3 in)-tall
stone lantern (
t
燈臺 ,
s
灯台 , dēngtái ) that was carved into the shape of
Mount Wutai in
Dongzhang
c. 720 .
[1]
See also
References
Citations
Bibliography
"Yanmenguan Pass" ,
Official site , China Unique Tour, 2016, archived from the original on 2016-08-18 {{
citation }}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link ) .
Allen, Edward (2014),
"Border Politics in Ming Datong" ,
Datong: A Historical Guide , Beijing: China Atomic Energy Press, pp.
251–324 ,
ISBN
9787502261443 .
Hua Chenlong; et al. (2000), "Designs for the Restoration of Bianjing-lou", China Archaeology & Art Digest , vol. 4 .
Li Yuming; et al. (2001), An Overview of Shanxi's Old Architecture , Shanxi People's Publishing . (in Chinese) & (in English)
Lin Wei-cheng (2014),
Building a Sacred Mountain: The Buddhist Architecture of China's Mount Wutai , Seattle: University of Washington Press,
ISBN
9780295805351 .
Datong: A Historical Guide , China through the Looking Glass, Beijing: China Atomic Energy Press, 2014,
ISBN
9787502261443 .
External links
39°03′49″N 112°56′53″E / 39.0635°N 112.948°E / 39.0635; 112.948