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Bell Tower of Xian
The Bell Tower of Xi'an built in 1384 during
the early Ming Dynasty, is a symbol of the city of Xi'an and one of the
grandest of its kind in China. The Bell Tower also contains several
large bronze-cast bells from the Tang Dynasty. The tower base is square
and it covers an area of 1,377 square meters. The tower is a brick and
timber structure and close to 40 meters high.There are several legends regarding the Bell Tower, one of them tells: In Ming Dynasty, several earthquakes struck Guanzhong area, thousands are dead and injured. Then a legend appeared: There was a great river flowing across the center of Xi'an City. A dragon in the river was always active and caused trouble, so the earthquake happened. An official of Xi'an government believed these words, so he ordered the blacksmith of the whole city to make a several thousand feet long iron chain in order to lock the dragon and sink it to river. He then ordered 5,000 craftsmen to repair the Bell Tower day and night. In order, to use the tower to lock the dragon - the central of the city. He believes this should suppress the dragon firmly under the river and so it not longer can be active and cause trouble again. After establishing the Bell Tower, earthquake did not occur in Xi'an again. Source
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