Drum Tower of Zhenhai
2 min readThe Drum Tower of Zhenhai，also known as Zhenhai Tower，is located in Mount Zhaobao，a subdistrict of Zhenhai.As a part of the military architectures of the county defense in the ancient times，it was built for the purpose of watching out and time report as one of the highest buildings in the county then.The Drum Tower was originally built in the reign of Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty.In 1387，Lord of Sincerity Tang Hetuo established the Guard of Dinghai County.In 1396，the captain of Dinghai Guard set up the Drum Tower in order to observe the military situation.The Drum Tower was rebuilt in 1794，during the Qing Dynasty.There were time-recording and time-reporting facilities equipped in the tower such as time drum，copper clock，and clepsydra（an ancient device of measuring time）.The time measuring devices would report time every Shichen，a Chinese traditional way of time measuring，to the army and civilians in the city.The season and time were also indicated in the Drum Tower.
The arch corridor downstairs are equipped with a 2-meter-long arc stone bar shaped invault suspended 5 meters high above the ground. There are two steles at each end along the north-south direction with inscriptions of Chinese characters, namely “the historic trace of the Song Dynasty”at the south end and “the barrier of south-east”at the north end respectively.”The historic trace of the Song Dynasty”here refers to the events of Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty traveling to the south and “the barrier of south-east”here refers to the important military position of Zhenhai in coastal defense in history.
The platform base is 5.9 meters in height, covering an area of 500 square meters. We can get to the platform through the stone steps of six meters in width. The four corners of the Drum Tower’s roof form eight hips each with couching dragon molding on it. The couching dragon is vivid as if it is resting to recover strength for another soar. Along the central ridges there are ornaments of sparrow hawks with mouths widely open to gnaw atthe eaves. The cyan pantiles are arranged in the perpendicular ridges, corner ridges, and the top of roof. There are five rooms on the second floor of the platform, which are eight meters high,19.5 meters wide, and 6.9 meters deep inside with a total floor space of 200 square meters. The hall in the center and the gallery enclosing the rooms make the magnificence of the tower. The stele of the “Drum Tower of Zhenhai”is hung in the south side. In 1987, the tower was re-built to keep its original architecture style typical in the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty. The tower was honored as a county-level cultural relic protection unit in July,1981.
