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A drum tower () or gulou is a tower in the center of an old Chinese city or village, housing signal drums. There was usually also a
A drum tower () or gulou is a tower in the center of an old Chinese city or village, housing signal drums. There was usually also a bell tower
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...
nearby.
There were once found all over China in villages, marking the symbolic center of the settlement and used to mark nightfall and to summon the people for civic ceremonies and significant occasions, such as Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...
.
The drum tower often being located in the symbolic center of a city, downtown districts of several Chinese cities have been named after the tower.
See also
*Drum tower (Chinese Buddhism)
The drum tower is an important building in Han Chinese Buddhist temples. Together with a bell tower, they are usually placed on both sides of the Hall of Four Heavenly Kings. It is usually located on the right side while the bell tower is usually ...
, a different type of drum towerIndividual drum towers
*Gulou and Zhonglou (Beijing)
The Drum Tower of Beijing, or Gulou (), is situated at the northern end of the central axis of the Inner City to the north of Di'anmen Street. Originally built for musical reasons, it was later used to announce the time and is now a tourist at ...
(Drum Tower and Bell Tower of Beijing
The Drum Tower of Beijing, or Gulou (), is situated at the northern end of the central axis of the Inner City to the north of Di'anmen Street. Originally built for musical reasons, it was later used to announce the time and is now a tourist at ...
)
* Drum Tower of Xi'an
The Drum Tower of Xi'an (), located in the heart of Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, Northwestern China, along with the Bell Tower is a symbol of the city. Erected in 1380 during the early Ming Dynasty (Hongwu era), it stands towering abov ...
* Drum Tower of Nanjing
The Drum Tower of Nanjing () on Gulou Mountain in the Gulou District of downtown Nanjing, was first built in the 15th year of the reign of Hongwu, of the Ming Dynasty (1382 AD).
The Drum Tower, which is an important part of Drum Tower Park, is ...
* Bianjing Drum Tower
The Bianjing Drum Tower, 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 ...
References
Architecture in China * Towers Traditional East Asian Architecture {{PRChina-struct-stub