According
to legend, an official named Deng tried unsuccessfully for over a year
to cast the bell.  On the eve of the final casting, his daughter, fearing
that further delays and loss of working
time would bring blame on her father, decided to sacrifice her life
in order to move the gods to bring about a perfect casting, and threw
herself into the molten bronze. Her panic-stricken father could only
recover a single embroidered slipper from the flames. The casting was
a success and the emperor, moved by the young girls spirit of sacrifice,
named her the Goddess of the Golden Furnace and built a temple in
her honor near the foundry. By the ordinary people she was remembered
as the Goddess Who Cast the Bell.
After the
bell was installed, the chimes could be heard clearly and resonantly
all across the city. But on stormy evenings, the bell would emit a desolate
moaning sound similar to the word xie, which means shoe in Chinese.
Recalling the old legend, mothers would comfort their children with:
Go to sleep! The Bell Tower is tolling. The Goddess Who Cast the Bell
wants her embroidered slipper back.
Beijing Tour Routes Includes Bell and Drum Tower
Photo of Drum and Bell Tower
   
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