1.8 Bells, Drums and Time Keepers

 

Conception of time is the holistic philosophical one, but at the same time it is quite concrete one, we easily use it on a daily basis. Time is a continuing concern throughout Chinese history. One of the first responsibilities of any new dynasty was to regulate the calendar of the Kingdom of Heaven: if time were ever allowed to become disordered, the consequences would be dire.

The fundamental conception of time was already in place in the Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BC). The basic unit of time (at least for most record-keeping purposes) was the day. Days were enumerated in a cycle of 60, produced by combining a set of ten “heavenly stems” (tiangan) with another set of twelve “earthly branches” (dizhi). This same cycle of 60 was later used to number consecutive years creating the full astrological cycle.

The 60-days cycle was divided into six weeks of ten days each. The moon was the basis of the month, actually the same word, yue, means both moon and month. Months alternated between long ones of 30 days and short months of 29 days to account for the 29.53-day mean period of a lunar cycle. Since this produced a year lasting only 354 days, it was necessary roughly every three years to add an extra month to bring the lunar year into line with the solar year. Echoes of these traditions can be felt these days: this is why the Chinese New Year fluctuates between late January and late February.

Nowadays Beijing as any other big city in China is filled with various sounds with automobile signals and bicycle rings rising above all others. This abundance of sounds create unimaginable and unique cacophony that millions people worldwide immediately associate with Asia. But long before these associations entirely different sounds filled ancient Chinese cities – and those of drums and bells were the most often to be heard. The instruments were used not only for entertainment. From of old Beijing had a notion of “morning bell and evening drum” and during 652 years they were the main time-telling device for the people of the capital. All big cities of the Kingdom of Heaven had the same devices for the very same purposes. Bells and drums not only said to people what time is it but also told what to do during this particular hour.

The Drum Tower and the Bell Tower were built in 1272 in Beijing’s Gulou especially for this loud “clock”. They served as timepieces and warning devices for the capital during the three dynasties – Yuan (1271–1368), Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911). Fortunately they have survived to this day. Both towers have been destroyed by fires and then rebuilt several times over the years. In 1925 the Drum Tower was converted into a Beijing Popular Education Center and the neighboring Bell Tower – into a cinema under the Education Center. After the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949, special funds were allocated to restore the towers on a large scale. An automatic fire-extinguishing system was adopted to protect the wooden structures against fire, their main enemy. The towers were opened to the public in the 1980s as a place of historical interest and tourist attraction. Since 1990, the age-old bell in the Bell Tower regenerated its clock function by ringing on the Chinese New Year’s Eve as part of the celebrations.

There used to be one big bell in the Bell Tower and 25 drums in the Drum Tower, a big drum in the centre surrounded by 24 little ones. The 24 surrounding drums symbolized the 24 solar terms in China’s lunar calendar.

In accordance with the conception of twelve heavenly stems daily time consisted of a dozen hours, each lasting 120 minutes. The first hour of the Chinese day began at 23.00. Minutes and seconds were captured by a water-powered clock called a clepsydra.

During Qing Dynasty, the bell boomed through Beijing 540 times a night preceded by an equal number of beats from the drum. How Beijingers managed to keep sleeping amidst such a roll – is still a big mystery for me. In five separate two-hour intervals (wugeng) between the hours of 19.00 and 5.00, the bell was struck quickly 18 times, slowly 18 times, then 18 times more neither slow nor fast – in moderate tempo. Then the cadence was repeated once again for a total 108 rings as 108 is the most auspicious Buddhist number (actually it is the number of beads of Buddha’s rosary).

The first evening bell indicated xu hour (19.00-21.00) and spelled the end of the working day for the people of the city. The second period (hai, 21.00-23.00) indicated it was time to seal the city gates and to shut the transportation. The third (zi, 23.00-1.00) meant it was time for the emperor to prepare for the court; the fourth (chou, 1.00-3.00) summoned officials to the palace while the last (yin, 3.00-5.00) set served as the end of the imperial business.

The first morning bell was the one rang at mao hour – 5.00. It was a peculiar alarm clock for the townsfolk – the city gates were opened and a new day for the bustling capital was about to begin.

The tradition of striking the bell as a means of keeping time carried on for more than a decade into the Republican era, stopping in November 1924 when the last emperor Pu Yi left the Forbidden City. 

Nowadays bells and drums are not used for time-telling any more – everybody can afford to own his/her own wrist-watch and set personal time for going to bed and to wake up. But in fact many old traditions are still alive and many Chinese today – exactly like centuries ago – go to bed early and get up also very early, often with sunrise. It is not rare to see people in parks and on streets at 6.00 doing morning exercises. It looks like the “morning bell and evening drum” are in their blood.

One fifth of the world population lives in accordance with the Beijing time. What is the time-telling device of today? In fact, Beijing time doesn’t come from the capital, it comes from the Shaanxi Observatory in the northwest China. This observatory is operated by the Academy of Sciences.

The observatory’s four 208-metre iron towers are surrounded by guards and high walls. Before 1949, Chinese time relied on the United States Navy Observatory. In the early 1950s, China’s time service was provided by the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory but due to inadequate equipment, and an unsuitable geographical position – Shanghai is too far east of the centre of the country – the time service was not accurate. Mao Zedong said that China must have its own standard time. On March 26, 1966 the decision was approved to set up China’s standard-time service centre. Project 326 began and the number eventually became the code number for the time-service centre which started providing standard Beijing time on December 15, 1970. China Central Television Station and Central People’s Broadcasting Station adjust their clocks according to the standard time frequency reported by the Pucheng Time Service Centre, and they provide the people of Beijing and the whole country with the correct time. Despite China actually stretches for five time zones, the official time in any corner of the country is the same, that of Beijing.

Bells and drums are long gone, now scientists in white smocks are the main keepers of the Chinese time.

 

Book “Chinese Customs and Wisdoms” (translated into English by the author) was published in Beijing in 2007 by the Foreign Language Press