中国陕西省西安市的鼓楼 Drum Tower of Xi’an, Shaanxi, China.

WS 143 – 中国陕西省西安市的鼓楼 Drum Tower of Xi’an, Shaanxi, China.

西安鼓楼，位于市中心，建于明太祖朱元璋洪武十三年(1380)，是中国古代遗留下来众多鼓楼中形制最大、保存最完整鼓楼之一。 鼓楼建于长方形台基之上，高台砖基高八米。鼓楼为砖木结构，顶部为重檐形式，总高三十六米。内有楼梯可盘旋而上，分上下两层，四周环有走廊。楼内贴金彩绘，画栋雕梁，明朝标志性建筑。 

楼上原有巨鼓一面，每日击鼓报时，故称“鼓楼”。现在放在楼下的巨鼓，是1996年重制，鼓面直径二点八三米。在鼓楼第三檐下，南北各悬匾额一块，南面为“文武盛地”，初悬於1580年。“文革”时期，受到人为毁坏，现在悬挂的是2005年的复制品。我们2017年曾第二次登楼一游，楼上北侧和南侧走廊陈列着二十四节鼓。小博物馆内则展出五花八门的小鼓。 

西安还有一座钟楼，同时代建筑，和鼓楼相距仅两百米，互相对应。第八张照片是钟楼的夜景。 

The Drum Tower of Xi’an, located in the city centre of Xi’an, Shaanxi, China, was built in 1380 during the Ming Dynasty. It is one of the largest and well-preserved drum towers in China. The tower and the base have a combined height of 36 m and the tower is double storied. It is a brick-wood structure with decorative elements typical of Ming architecture. We visited this tower twice, the second time in 2017. 

It used to have a giant drum on the top level to be hit to signal time. The original was lost and a duplicate was made in 1996 and placed on the ground floor near an entrance. It has a diameter of 2.83 m.  

Along the corridor on the upper floor are 24 small drums on display. These represent the 24 days in the lunar calendar signifying changes in weather and times for specific agricultural activities. There is a small museum on the upper level displaying all sorts of drums. 

200 m from the Drum Tower is the sister tower called the Clock Tower. It is of similar construction. The last photo shows a night view of the Clock Tower.