Yuzhou Bell Tower

Yuzhou Bell Tower

The Yuzhou Bell Tower is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Yuzhou Bell Tower is located on Gulou Road Pedestrian Street in the downtown area of Yichun City, Jiangxi Province.

The Yuzhou Bell Tower is the world’s oldest surviving local astronomical observatory dedicated to timekeeping. The structure was built in the second year of the Baoda era of the Southern Tang Dynasty (944 AD) by Prefect Liu Renzan and was part of the Yuzhou government offices. In the twelfth year of the Jiading era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1219 AD), Magistrate Teng Qiangshu of Yuzhou “renovated the bell tower slightly” and installed a copper clepsydra, night water tank, day water tank, level tank, universal water tank, water reservoir, shadow indicator, south-pointing needle, water replenishing bucket, timekeeping tally, iron plate, and drum and horn. He assigned yin-yang scholars to take turns on duty, observing the tallies and announcing the time, thus creating an observatory that integrated the three major functions of time measurement, timekeeping, and time announcement.

In 2006, the Yuzhou Bell Tower was included by the State Council in the sixth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units as an ancient architectural structure dating from the Song to Qing dynasties.

Further reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units