Page 46 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book
P. 46
A-Z 39
A bronze bell of the Zhou Dynasty
It is a Buddhist custom to sound a temple bell at midnight and on the occasion of the
death of a high official. No two bells sound exactly alike: some are harbingers of
good fortune, some of bad.
There are many legends involving bells. Some fly through the air to the place where
they are to be hung; holy men can lie under a heated bell without coming to any harm;
evil monks put a man under a bell so that he starves to death, etc. Bells sound particularly
sweet-toned if a young girl has jumped or been thrown into the molten metal.
Ceremonial chariots in ancient China were adorned with small bells; and little bells
were attached to birds, so that people might be entertained by their musical flight.
‘Burmese bells’ (mian ling) are tiny silver bells containing tiny gold beads or grains of
sand, which are inserted in the vagina or the foreskin as sexual excitants.
Another Chinese character pronounced zhong means ‘to bring something off‘, ‘to hit
the mark’, ‘to obtain a degree’; hence, a picture showing a bell is to be understood as
good wishes in this sense.
