Zhongwei Drum Tower

Zhongwei Drum Tower

The Zhongwei Drum Tower is a cultural relic protection unit of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

The drum tower is located right in the center of Zhongwei’s urban area. In the early Qing Dynasty, it was called the Wenchang Pavilion and was first built in the fourth year of the Ming Chongzhen era (1631). On July 14th of the 22nd year of the Qing Jiaqing era (1817), during a temple fair, a fire accidentally broke out and destroyed the structure, leaving only the foundation. In the 11th year of the Daoguang era (1831), Magistrate Ai Chunnian, along with County Clerk Shen Yuan and local gentry, pooled funds to rebuild it, and it was completed the following year.

After the liberation, the drum tower received high attention from the People’s Government. In 1955, special funds were allocated to renovate and brick the tower; in 1984, it was listed as a county-level key cultural relic protection unit of the former Zhongwei County; in 1988, 1992, and 1997, the then Zhongwei County People’s Government allocated special funds on three separate occasions for repainting and embellishment, restoring the drum tower to a brand-new appearance standing proudly in the center of the city.

The base of the drum tower is rectangular, measuring 22.4 meters from north to south and 16.65 meters from east to west. At the center of the base is a cross-shaped passageway, connecting to the streets on all four sides. Each passageway is 3.75 meters high, with a dome at the center. At the top of the dome is an eight-trigram caisson ceiling, around which are hung wooden carvings of the Eight Immortals, while the four corners are inlaid with stone-carved dragon heads facing each other. On the four sides of the base are gate towers bearing plaques that reflect the geographical features of Zhongwei based on orientation. The eastern plaque reads “Locking the Bronze Pass,” the southern “Facing the Fragrant Cliff,” the western “Refreshing Breeze from the Sandy Mountain,” and the northern one originally read “Controlling the Border Barbarians.” In 1984, during renovation, in accordance with the Party’s ethnic policies and the principles of cultural relic preservation, it was changed to “Controlling the Borderland.”

The drum tower itself is 23 meters tall, with a total height of 30 meters, featuring a triple-eaved, three-story pavilion structure. It is a square-platform archway-type tower building, designed as an integrated form facing all directions. There is a small door on the southwestern corner leading up to the upper part of the base. At the center of the base is the main tower topped with a triple-eaved, cross-shaped hip-and-gable roof. Each façade has three bays, and across three stories and three eaves, each level has 12 upturned corners. The topmost level features an observation corridor on all four sides. Around the base of the tower are four smaller auxiliary towers, the inner walls of which are inscribed with the background, time, process, and related details of the original construction and rebuilding of the drum tower. At the very top of the tower sit six stacked black pottery spheres, surrounded by coiled dragons forming a scene of dragons playing with a pearl—though from different angles, it appears as two dragons playing with a pearl.

Originally, each level had statues, but these were dismantled in 1951. In October 1992, the former Zhongwei County Cultural Relics Management Office, in the spirit of restoring the relics to their original appearance and with the consent of relevant departments, used self-raised funds to begin the restoration. On the upper level, the god Kuixing was sculpted; on the middle level, Wenchang; and on the lower level’s four sides were sculptures of Thunder Ancestor, God of Wealth, the True Deity of Fire, and Guanyin Bodhisattva. Climbing the tower and looking into the distance, one sees misty waters, beautiful scenery, and the landscape stretching as far as the eye can see. Visitors here can’t help but pause in admiration and marvel at the breathtaking view.

Wenchang Town: Wenchang Town administers 7 neighborhood committees and 8 village committees: Bank Lane, Unity Lane, Caiqiao Road, Ethnic Lane, West Garden, East Garden, Huaxi; and Huangwan Village, Yonglou Village, Shuangqiao Village, Guoying Village, Caiqiao Village, Dongguan Village, Dongyuan Village, and Wuli Village. … Wenchang Town detailed information++