The Evening Bell at Shengji Temple

The Evening Bell at Shengji Temple

Where does the evening bell sound again and again? The ancient temple still bears the name of Shengji.

Though one may say the realms of mortals and immortals differ in character, the sound of the bell still brings peace to the heart when heard.

From this poem "The Evening Bell at Shengji Temple" by the Qing Dynasty poet Tan Zhongyue, we can see that the wonder of this scenic site lies not in the ancient temple that still carries the name of Shengji, but in how the bell’s sound brings tranquility to the listener. The Qing poet Wang Rizeng also praised this bell in his poem "The Giant Bell": "Cast from how many thousand taels of gold in what year? Long it wails like a dragon, scattering the morning mist. Left to guard the mountain gate, it opens the path to enlightenment, each resounding note piercing the heights of Mount Emei."

Shengji Temple, formerly known as Cifu Monastery, is located 2.5 kilometers south of Emeishan City and is the first major temple encountered on the way up the mountain, set in an ancient and serene environment. Outside the temple stand two ancient yellow parasol trees, each several people could hug, which from a distance at Baoguo Temple look like a giant elephant. The temple houses numerous cultural relics, among which the most famous are the bronze statue of Samantabhadra riding an elephant, the Eight Trigrams Bronze Bell, and the Bronze Pagoda. The Eight Trigrams Bronze Bell was originally hung in the temple’s Old Treasure Tower, also known as the Shengji Bronze Bell. Cast during the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty, it was commissioned through the fundraising efforts of Master Biechuan. The bell is made of sturdy copper, weighing 12,500 kilograms, and is said to be the largest bronze bell in Sichuan Province. A local legend says: Back then, after Master Biechuan had the bronze bell cast, he hung it in the bell tower of Shengji Temple and instructed his disciples: “I am going on a pilgrimage. Only strike the bell three days after I leave—remember this!” But not long after the monk left the temple, a young novice, eager to hear the bell, ignored his master’s warning, grabbed the striker, and gave the bell a mighty ring. With a “dong,” the grand sound echoed through the air, reverberating through the valleys and spreading far and wide, eventually reaching the ears of the monk. By then, the old master had only walked thirty li. Hearing the bell, his expression changed drastically, and he lamented, “Had the bell been rung three days later, its sound would have accompanied me all the way to where I would have traveled in those three days.”

The monks were quite particular about the timing and method of striking the bell, whose sound was like a dragon’s roar and brought peace to the listener. According to the 1935 publication "Mount Emei" compiled by Zhao Xunbo, “The bell is struck on the evenings of the last and fifteenth days of each lunar month. There are two methods of striking: ‘slow eighteen’ and ‘fast eighteen.’ With each strike, a bell verse is chanted, four characters per line, one strike every four lines, continuing for over a hundred strikes (some say 108 strikes), each strike lasting one minute and fifty seconds.”

Heard up close, the sound is loud and powerful; heard from afar, the tone is clear and resonant; it is said that on quiet nights, the sound can reach the Golden Summit. The 1936 publication "Detailed Guide to Mount Emei" by Liu Shangxi also states: The bell is struck on the first night of each new and full moon, only twenty-four times a year. The so-called evening bell is so called because the monks, after nine o’clock at night, carry lanterns upstairs, chant scripture verses—commonly referred to as bell verses. Initially, they chant one line and strike the bell once; each line has four characters, and upon finishing the line, they strike the bell. At first, the strikes are slow, but as the chanting speeds up, the strikes become more rapid. There are eighteen slow strikes and eighteen fast ones, done in three rounds, known as the “three strikes,” with the full text chanted each time. In total, there are 108 strikes. The sound of the bell is extraordinarily majestic. It is also recorded that the 108 strikes of the evening bell are related to China’s ancient phenological calendar. This calendar divides time into five-day periods called “hou,” three hou make one “qi” (solar term), and there are twenty-four solar terms in a year, totaling seventy-two hou. Each hou corresponds to a natural phenomenon, called a...

“hou response.” Adding together the 12 months of the year, the 24 solar terms, and the 72 hou responses gives a total of exactly 108.

In 1959, Shengji Temple was abandoned, and the bell was left by the roadside.

In 1978, the relevant cultural authorities on Mount Emei relocated the bronze bell to Fenghuang Fort, opposite Baoguo Temple, and built a pavilion to cover and protect it. The towering, shady firs and cypresses on Fenghuang Fort, the dignified and elegant octagonal spire bell pavilion, and the surrounding ancient stone tablet forest of over a hundred inscribed stelae blend seamlessly with the solemn and weighty giant bell, merging natural beauty with cultural heritage into a remarkable landscape. Enthusiasts slightly modified the aforementioned poem to capture its magnificence:

Towering pines stand dense on Fenghuang Fort, the evening bell still roars like a dragon’s cry;

Though monks and laypeople hold different beliefs, the same sound brings clarity to the heart.

Though monks and laypeople may hold different beliefs, the same sounds soothe the heart when heard.