Juesheng Temple

　　   Juesheng Temple is located at No. Jia 31, North Third Ring Road, Haidian District, in the northwest part of Beijing’s urban area. Commonly known as the Great Bell Temple, it covers an area of over 3 million square meters and was built in the 11th year of the Yongzheng reign during the Qing Dynasty (1733).

　　   The temple faces south and is oriented along a central axis. The main structures from south to north include a screen wall (now destroyed), the mountain gate, bell and drum towers, the Heavenly King Hall, the Mahavira Hall, the rear hall, the scripture depository, the Bell Tower, and east and west scripture depositories, with side halls on both sides of the main buildings. The Bell Tower is the core structure of the temple, standing 20 meters tall with a round top and square base, symbolizing the ancient Chinese cosmological concept of a round heaven and a square earth.

　　   Hanging inside the tower is the Yongle Bell, also known as the Avatamsaka (Huayan) Bell because it is inscribed with the Avatamsaka Sutra. It was cast by the imperial bell foundry under the order of Emperor Chengzu (Zhu Di) of the Ming Dynasty and was initially placed at the Han Scripture Office. During the Wanli era, it was moved to Wanshou Temple, and later to Juesheng Temple during the Yongzheng reign. The bell stands 6.75 meters tall, has a diameter of 3.3 meters, and weighs 46.5 tons, making it the largest bronze bell in the world. Its inner and outer surfaces are inscribed with over 100 types of Buddhist scriptures and mantras, totaling more than 230,000 characters, which also makes it the bell with the most inscriptions in the world. The calligraphy is said to have been done by Shen Du, a renowned calligrapher of the early Ming Dynasty. The bell is suspended from a large wooden frame consisting of eight thick beams and three crossbeams, with a copper bolt 1 meter long and 6 centimeters wide at the suspension point. The sound of the bell is loud and resonant, audible within a radius of a hundred li (approximately 50 kilometers), making it one of the greatest ancient bells in the world. In the early 1980s, the temple underwent renovation and was opened to the public as the Ancient Bell Museum at the Great Bell Temple, exhibiting over 400 ancient bells from the pre-Qin period to the Qing Dynasty, showcasing the history of bell development in China.

　　   In November 1996, Juesheng Temple was designated by the State Council as part of the fourth group of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level.