Is the Yongle Bell a masterpiece of the Bronze Age?

How could it be? The Yongle Bell was built during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, while the Bronze Age was in the late Spring and Autumn Period, the early Warring States period.

The big bell of Juesheng Temple was cast during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, so it is called "Yongle Bell".

After a comprehensive analysis and research of the Yongle Bell placed in the Great Bell Temple, the scientific researchers restored the casting method and process of the Great Bell in that year. They pointed out that the skilled craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty were already familiar with the use of the Tao Fan method.

The craftsmen first created a large manufacturing site for the main body of the bell. They dug a 10-meter-square deep pit in the ground, made an outer model for casting according to the designed model of the bell, and then dried it at a low temperature and baked it into pottery; Then according to the radius and thickness of different sections of the bell body, the car scraper film is designed as the inner fan of the bell; Around the exterior of the van, craftsmen fill it with earth and tamp it layer by layer to withstand the pressure of casting and ensure sufficient strength; The craftsmen used the most typical rain casting method, and the four pouring openings are located in undetectable positions next to the bell buttons; After the hearth filled with Wan Hu Jin Tang rushed out, this Wan Jun bell was completed in one go.

Yongle Bell. After the main body of the bell is completed, another process is carried out - cooling. Cooling is a very important process in bell casting, and its requirements for cooling rate are very strict.

If the cooling rate is too fast, the bell body will burst, and the previous efforts will be lost, making the big bell a useless dumb bell. To this end, the craftsmen who made the Yongle bell skillfully used the unextinguished earth fire and flowing flame in the bell pit as a natural cooling system to ensure the smooth cooling of the bell and finally complete the basic casting procedure of the bell.

After the bell is completed, it is necessary to install a puff that can be hung and fixed, that is, a load-bearing bell knob. In order to be able to suspend the large bell, which weighs tens of tons, the craftsmen cleverly added a steel core in the middle of the knobs. They first boiled the bell button with the lost wax method, placed it in the designated position between the inner and outer fans, and let it be heated and poured together with the bell body, and perfectly integrated with the big bell to achieve a natural effect.

The four ends of the thin rooting are all expanded into a ball, ensuring that the bell will never be pulled out and slip after being lifted.

The handicraft production of Yongle bell in the Ming Dynasty has the scale and momentum of modern industry.

In Chinese history, ancient bells have a unique status and function, and their history is even older than the history of writing, and their inherent cultural significance is also more far-reaching. The ancient bell can be used as a percussion instrument, a musical instrument, but also can reflect the political majesty of the first centralized power, with the introduction and prevalence of Buddhism, the ancient bell is also used as a Buddhist instrument. Yongle bell is a giant bell that collects all kinds of ancient bells in our country.

There are different theories about the reason for its casting: some people infer from the poems of Shen Deqian and Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty on "relying on the power of the Buddha to eliminate the black karma" and "repenting and reciting the bell of the Buddhist temple" that the Ming Chengzu cast the bell as a repentance for his too brutal behavior in the "Battle of Jingjing" to usurp the throne; Some people also believe that Ming Chengzu is to express the good wish of "wishing the peace and happiness of the people of the country"; First, it is explained that the ancestor used the bell to promote Buddhism; In addition, some people think that Ming Chengzu is commemorating the relocation of the capital and showing off his achievements.

The Yongle Bell demonstrates the advanced level of craftsmanship and technology in the Ming Dynasty of China, and is a successful example of combining politics with Buddhism.

The main entrance of the Great Bell Temple today.

Known as the "King of the World", the Yongle Bell is amazed by its size, its internal structure, and the words it is all over its body. Why is it called Yongle Bell? Why does it amaze countless heroes?

Its charm is reflected in the **? What is the inscription on the bell? How did the ancients cast more than 500 years ago?

After repeated research and research, scientists have been able to clearly describe the method and process of casting the bell in those years. This is the Tao Fan method that was first created in the Shang and Zhou dynasties more than 2,000 years ago. In the hands of skilled craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty, it has already become a mastery and perfect craft.

They created a spectacular and grand scene: digging a 10-meter-square deep pit in the ground, first according to the designed large clock model, divided into seven sections for casting of the outer model, low temperature drying, baking into pottery. Then according to the radius and thickness of different sections of the bell body, the scraper mold is designed to make the inner fan of the bell.

When the seven pottery outer rings are docked in turn, such as the seven-level floating tu.

At that time, the integrated bell was successfully assembled.

This celebration is a seamless operation, and the slightest gap and the difference of cents will cause "fire" and lead to total failure. In order to withstand the pressure of casting and ensure sufficient strength, the outer fan is undoubtedly filled with earth and compacted layer by layer. Imperceptible scars on the side of the knob leak the exact location of the four sprues.

We have seen the most typical rain casting method: dozens of furnaces are lined up along four channels, and the furnace is boiling with gold and copper juice; The inside and outside of the pit are preheated at high temperatures at the same time. When the hearth is filled with ten thousand golden soup.

After the phase rate rushed out, this Wanjun bell was completed in one go. Looking back at this situation, the handicraft workshop production of 500 years ago has clearly revealed the scale and spirit of modern large-scale industry.

Cooling is another lethal process. The pit is a mass of unextinguished earth fire and flowing flames, and the cooling speed must be controlled to prevent the bell from exploding. The world-famous Russian bell was lost during the cooling process.

cracks appeared, and as a result, they were reduced to a dumb bell. The pit that gave birth to the Yongle Bell is a natural automatic cooling system at this time. It is conceivable how much meticulous care the hard-working craftsmen paid back then to ensure that the Yongle Bell was born safely in a safe and cool down.

However, in the Ming Dynasty, when science and technology were not very developed, it is still a mystery how to cast and melt so many metal components into a bell.

In Chinese history, the ancient bell has a unique status and function, and its history is even older than the history of writing. Far away at the end of the primitive society, China has a bell, or wooden, or bamboo, or pottery, is a simple percussion instrument, play the role of listening to the sound of entertainment, in the past the big bell temple was the emperor prayed for rain, Buddhists do Buddhist things, people worship and visit the place.

With the development of human society, people's understanding of musical scale and rhythm has gradually improved, and in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, there were playing instruments such as cymbals, bell bells, Ningbo bells, and chimes made of bronze. "Zhong Ming Ding Shi" has increasingly become a symbol of the power of aristocratic rulers. Hanging bells, in strict accordance with the etiquette system stipulates the rank of the title, the heavenly palace hanging (four-sided hanging bell), the princes Xuan hanging (three-sided hanging clock), the Qing Dafu sentence hanging (two-sided hanging clock), Shite hanging (one side hanging clock).

Making ceremonies and making music became a major event in the governance of the country at that time.

Qu Yuan, a great poet of the Warring States Period, recited the poem "The Yellow Bell is destroyed, the tile kettle is thundering, the greedy are high, and the wise man is nameless" has been recited to the world. In addition to reflecting the social situation of the collapse of etiquette and happiness at that time, it also shows that the ancient bell has become a symbol of noble, just, virtuous and beautiful Chinese civilization in people's hearts. In the Qin Dynasty, there was a giant bronze bell that symbolized the centralization of power - the bell.

Since China is the hometown of the bell, with the gradual introduction of Indian Buddhism to China, Chinese Buddhist monks have created a ritual instrument with Chinese characteristics - the Buddha bell. In the future, all dynasties have competed to cast all kinds of bells, Buddha bells, road bells, and music bells. The Yongle Bell that is treasured in the Great Bell Temple today can be said to be a giant bell that collects all kinds of ancient bells in China.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, every time the old and the new are welcomed, the monks of the Great Bell Temple have to ring the bell 108 times. It is said that one is because there are l2 months, 24 solar terms, and 72 Hou in a year; The second reason is that Buddhism believes that people have 108 kinds of troubles, and when they ring the bell 108 times, people can listen to the bell and relieve their worries. Nowadays, in order to protect the Yongle Bell, and at the same time can make the majority of visitors appreciate the wonderful sound of the Bell King, the Ancient Bell Museum of the Great Bell Temple implements the first day of the first month of the first month of the year to the third day of the first month of the first month of the year every year, and rings the bell three times each time.

Each bell rings for 70 seconds in the temple.

In 1957, the Beijing Municipal People** announced the Great Bell Temple as a key cultural relics protection unit. In 1986, an ancient bell museum has been built, and now more than 180 ancient bells have been collected. Most of them are ancient bells of the Ming and Qing dynasties, with exquisite patterns.

One of them, a pottery bell made at the end of a primitive society, is said to be about 4,000 years old. The various ancient bells displayed in the Ancient Bell Museum of the Great Bell Temple are not only of great value for the study of China's ritual and music system, the history of thought, the history of the first dynasty, the history of the dynasties, etc., but also because they gather the essence of ancient Chinese craftsmanship and skills, representing the superb technical level of casting, acoustics, music rhythm and mechanics at that time, and are also valuable materials for the study of traditional Chinese science and technology. Every festival, the Yongle bell rings three times, and the bell rings far away.

This big bell can be said to be the "King of Bells" in China.

China's ancient clock-making skills are superb, especially the casting of large bells can be called a must. In the big bell hall of the big bell temple in Beijing, there is a huge bronze bell cast in the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, up to the meter, the diameter of the bell mouth is meters, the shape is exquisite, the shape is magnificent, it has lasted for more than 500 years, the sound is still mellow and loud, the penetration is strong, and the sound can be transmitted for hundreds of miles. Regarding the weight of this Yongle bell, there have been inconsistent historical records and become a difficult mystery.

In 1980, Chinese researchers used ultrasonic velocity meter to measure by cross-trigger pulse overlapping method, and learned that the thinnest part of its bell waist was centimeters, and the thickest part of its bell lip was centimeters, and calculated its exact weight to be tons. What is striking is: the inside and outside of the bell body neatly cast 17 kinds of Buddhist scriptures, a total of more than 10,000 regular characters, the font is neat, tough, according to legend for the Ming Dynasty calligrapher Shen Du's handwriting.

Yongle Bell, with a long history, exquisite casting technology, first-class acoustic characteristics, splendid calligraphy art and Buddhist art, well-known at home and abroad, enjoys the reputation of "Ancient Bell King", international friends praised: "Yongle Bell, skillful craftsmanship, music forever, infinite wisdom".