Kaifeng Drum Tower, known as the earliest drum tower in China, was built in the 12th year of Ming Hongwu (1379). Drum tower abutment is three feet high, with brick urn door and east-west avenue. There are two floors and three rooms on the platform, about 70 feet above the ground. There are veranda railings around the upstairs, and you can see the whole city from upstairs. There is a huge cowhide drum on the upper floor and the south frame, with a diameter of about 1 m. A deep and powerful voice can travel dozens of miles. There is a huge plaque hanging under the east and west eaves. Under the west eaves, it says "the sound is high in the sky" and under the east eaves, it says "there is no future". Henan is in the middle of Kyushu, Kaifeng is in the middle of Henan, and the Drum Tower is in the center of Kaifeng. No wonder the inscription on the drum tower is "ringing in the sky" The drums here are naturally "far". Kaifeng Drum Tower is magnificent, and only the later built Xi 'an Bell Tower can match it, so there is a saying that "China Bell Tower is in Xi 'an and Drum Tower is in Kaifeng". Chronology of construction and repair of Kaifeng Drum Tower in Ming and Qing Dynasties. .
At the end of Ming Dynasty, the governor of Henan Province thought that the bell tower and drum tower hindered the geomantic omen of the governor's yamen, and ordered the bell and drum on the second floor to be replaced, and the bell tower was changed to the drum tower, and the drum tower was changed to the bell tower. In the process of unloading and replacing the clock, the button of the clock was broken and the clock fell from the upstairs and broke. Later, a new clock was recast after melting the broken iron pieces, but the pronunciation of the new clock was far less loud than that of the old one. The governor was very angry, but he was helpless and had to give up. From then on, the governor ignored the bell tower and allowed it to be damaged, collapsed and not repaired.
By the Qing Dynasty, the bell tower had been damaged and collapsed. In the tenth year of Kangxi (167 1), Lang Tingxiang, the governor of Henan Province, ordered the demolition of the bell tower, and there was no bell tower in Kaifeng. Demolished bricks and wood built a Buddhist scripture building in Suoguo Temple. When the bell tower existed, that place was called the bell tower mouth. After the bell tower was demolished, it was called the "demolition mouth" (homophonic mispronounced as "car intersection").
After the Revolution of 1911, a square building with a steeple was built in the center of the Drum Tower, surrounded by giant automatic clocks, which were used to tell the time in the whole city. 1948 when Kaifeng was liberated for the first time, two floors above the abutment were destroyed by gunfire, leaving only one abutment.
After the founding of New China, Kaifeng renovated the platform for many times, which was used as the observation deck for holiday review and the broadcasting and publicity center of the whole city. 1976,1/kloc-0 In June, the foundation of the Drum Tower was demolished and turned into a square. This building, which survived wars, floods and even the Cultural Revolution, was unfortunately demolished. Since then, the Drum Tower has disappeared in Kaifeng.