Chinese Temple Bell

A large bronze temple bell cast during the Ming Dynasty silently rested in the Powerhouse Collection for almost 60 years. Since its acquisition in 1965, the museum has cherished this important object and showcased its dignified beauty in several exhibitions. However, its true beauty as a bell – its sound – had not been shared for many decades.

In April 2024, Powerhouse invited Master Venerable Shi Ming Shang from the Ming Yue Lay Buddhist Temple in Western Sydney to conduct a bell ringing ritual at the museum’s Ultimo workshop, which was recorded for the Sounding the Collection archive.

Venerable Master Shang was accompanied by his assistant Venerable Shi Miao Li and followers Louisa Cheung, Haddy Lau and Kathy Wunfor the ritual and recording, which honoured Buddhist tradition.

The tone of a temple bell is sacred in Buddhist tradition, as the lingering and solemn sound is believed to reach into the spiritual world. Buddhists believe its peaceful chime can gladden the hearts of immortals, stop ghosts from evil-doing and break open the gates of hell to relieve the suffering and distressed.

Buddhist temple bells are usually briefly rung during the day to announce the time and summon people, though more importantly, they are traditionally sounded longer – 108 times – in the morning and again in the evening. This number represents the 108 defilements that Buddhists believe cloud the mind and lead to suffering. These defilements include worldly desires, aversions and delusions experienced through the six senses (sight, touch, sound, taste, smell and consciousness) in three ways (good, bad, and neutral), which can be further multiplied by the dimension of time (past, present, and future). Ringing the bell 108 times symbolises the purification of these defilements, helping to clear the mind towards attaining enlightenment.

To truly resonate spiritually, a temple bell must produce the perfect tone. The legend of ‘The King of Bells’ illustrates the enormous difficulties involved with casting a spiritual object. According to the legend, the craftsman working on the bell by order of Emperor Yongle (reigned 1403–24CE) repeatedly failed to use the metals to properly cast the bell. One day his daughter dreamt the only way to achieve perfection was to throw herself into the molten metal. When she acted on her dream the great bell was immediately cast. This story alludes to the tremendous efforts required to make sophisticated spiritual objects.

The bell in museum’s collection weights 610 kg and stands 155 cm tall. It was cast during Ming dynasty (1358–1644CE) using highly skilled lost wax techniques. An inscription in Chinese characters on the exterior of the bell reads, ‘Cast on an auspicious day of the second month in the third year of Emperor Zengton’s reign of the Ming dynasty’ (1438CE). Four other inscriptions explain that the most essential emotion of the Buddhist people should be patriotism.

Translations of these inscriptions read:

‘The territory of the Emperor will remain stable forever’

‘The ideals of the ruler (Emperor) will be lasting and flourishing’

‘The wheel of transmigration turns unceasingly’

‘The shine of Buddha will be increasingly brilliant’ 

When Master Venerable Shi Ming Shang sounded the bell in April 2024 its resonance spread from the museum’s workshop throughout the entire building. 

The people present during the recording remarked how its echo touched their minds with its calm beauty, including his assistant Shi Miao Li from the Ming Yue Lay Buddhist Temple and Powerhouse staff from the Sounding the Collection, conservation, registration and Workshop teams.

This tranquil sound of the bell once purified the minds of the Chinese people, and now it is hoped the recording of its sound will touch the minds of many more people throughout the world.

* Note: This bell was identified as an object that requires further research on provenances. Please refer to the museum's provenance page

From an automated bird cage to an art deco clock, toy robots, tuning forks and steam engines, Sounding the Collection is a sonic archive from Powerhouse that brings objects sitting silent in the collection to audition.

The archive hosts more than 100 recordings designed to be shared publicly, inviting artistic interpretation and collaboration. These recordings allow musicians, researchers and sound designers globally to repurpose and interpret them via a ‘sample pack’ — potentially finding their way into sonic identities, movie soundtracks, foley, pop songs and sound installations.

Powerhouse is working to fold sonic archives and sonic interpretation of the Collection’s material culture. In addition to Sounding the Collection, the museum is host to a range of projects that activate and listen closely to its objects. This includes the Oscillations podcast series, collaborations with Research Fellows and performances with collection instruments.