Photography Bell Tower Zhonglou in Beijing

A black-and-white photograph showing the Bell Tower in Beijing (Beijing Zhonglou 北京鐘樓). This tower and the Drum Tower, the Gulou 鼓樓, are the oldest buildings in Beijing. They stand together at the end of a long boulevard in Inner City (Neicheng 内城). The boulevard begins at Mei Hill (Meishan 藝山) or Coal Hill and runs north almost to the outer city wall. As early as the Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368), the towers were part of Kublai Khan’s military infrastructure, providing effective control over the area inside and outside the city walls. The bells in the tower were also used for official announcements of the times of day.

The Bell Tower was later destroyed but was rebuilt under the Yongle Emperor (1402-1424). Despite this and other reconstructions, it has remained unchanged in its basic form to this day and measures almost 48 metres high. The original bell still hangs in the tower, but is no longer used. The wooden roof was built using the traditional dougong 斗拱 technique.

The photograph is the 113rd of 449 photographs of Beijing and its surroundings in the album of Ivan Skušek Jr., purchased during his stay in Beijing (1914–1920). In the handwritten inventory of the album, the photograph is referred to as Glocken-Turm (Tschung-Lo). (DZ, MV)