Soul of the Great Bell

Summary

Nearly 500 years ago, The Celestial August, Son of Heaven, Yong-Lo, of the "illustrious" of Ming Dynasty, commanded a worthy official Kouan-Yu to create a bell that could be a heard for one hundred li. Kouan-Yu assembled the master moulders and renowned bellsmiths of the empire. They labored exceedingly, neglecting rest and sleep. But when the metal had been cast, they discovered that, despite their great labor, the result was void of worth; for the metal had rebelled one against the other. The Son of Heaven heard and was angry, but spoke nothing of it.

The bell was cast for the second time but the result was even worse. The Son of Heaven heard these things, so he sent his messenger with a letter containing the message that if Kouan-Yu can't fulfill the command, he shall be beheaded. Now Kouan-Yu had a daughter named, Ko-Ngai. She was a peerless beauty. Ko-Ngai loved her father so much that she refused all her suitors because she didn’t want to leave her father alone, and when she had seen the letter, she secretly sold some of her jewels to hire an astrologer. She paid the astrologer to advise her on how to save her father from danger. The astrologer said that “Gold and brass will never meet in wedlock, silver and iron will never embrace, until the flesh of a maiden be melted in the crucible; until the blood of virgin be mixed with the metals in their fusion.” So Ko-Ngai returned home sorrowful at heart; but she kept secret all that she had heard, and told no one what she had done.

At last came the day when the third and last effort to cast the bell. And Ko-Ngai with her lady-in-waiting, accompanied her father. The workmen wrought in silence and Kouan-Yu prepared to give the signal to cast. Suddenly, Ko-Ngai had cried and leaped through the crucible. Wild with grief, Kouan-Yu had attempted to leap after her but was held by strong men until he fainted. Her lady-in-waiting stood before the furnace, still holding a shoe, a tiny, dainty shoe. The men who had seen the display continued to work because the command of the Son of Heaven must be obeyed. When the metal had been cast, it was found that the bell look beautiful. And when they sounded the bell the tone was deeper and mellower and mightier than the tone of any other bell. And each stroke there is a low moaning ends with a sound of sobbing. Now the Chinese mother would tell to their little ones: “That Is Ko-Ngai crying for her shoe! That is Ko-Ngai calling for her shoe!”

Introduction

The Soul of the Great Bell was retold by Lafcadio Hearn. Hearn was an American journalist whose parents were Irish and Greek. His interest in the oriental culture inspired him to write the English version of well-known Chinese and Japanese folktales.

My blog will be talking about the traditions of Chinese people, their emperors, and dynasties. It will also be talking about the bell and why the author told the story.

Body

Foot Binding

Foot binding was the custom of applying tight binding to the feet of young girls to modify the shape of the foot. The practice possibly originated among upper-class court dancers during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Imperial China (10th or 11th century), then became popular among the elite during the Song dynasty and eventually spread to all social classes by the Qing dynasty. Foot binding became popular as a means of displaying status (women from wealthy families, who did not need their feet to work, could afford to have them bound) and was correspondingly adopted as a symbol of beauty in Chinese culture. Foot binding also relates from the story “The Soul of the Great Bell” when Ko-Ngai jumped and her lady-in-waiting tried to stop her but could only saved the shoe or when the Chinese mothers would tell to their young ones the Ko-Ngai is crying for her shoe.

The Yong-Le Bell The Big Bell Temple was built in 1733 during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperorof the Qing dynasty (1644-1911).^[1] The temple's name came after the famous "Yongle" Big Bell that is housed inside the temple, which was cast during the reign of the Yongle Emperor (1403-1424) of the Ming dynasty. According to a test by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Yongle Big Bell's sound could reaches up to 120 decibels and can be heard 50 kilometers away from the temple in the depth of night.^[2] Many music experts, including some from the Chinese Acoustics Institute have found its tone pure, deep and melodious with a sprightly rhythm.

A dynasty is a succession of people from the same family who play prominent role in business, politics, or another field. There are actually 13 dynasties that ruled China before. These are Xia dynasty, Shang dynasty, Chou (Zhou) dynasty, Qin dynasty, Han dynasty, Six dynasty, Sui dynasty, Tang dynasty, Five dynasty, Song dynasty, Yuan dynasty, Ming dynasty, Qing dynasty. In the story, Yung-Lo was one of the emperors in Ming Dynasty. The Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty was the ruling dynasty of China. The last of the great Chinese dynasties, the Ming dynasty finished the Great Wall and built the Forbidden City, an enormous palace for the Emperor. The Ming dynasty came into power by overthrowing the rule of the Mongols. The last emperor of the Ming dynasty hanged himself when army of peasants led by Li Zicheng entered Beijing. The Manchus invaded China in 1644 AD and defeated the army led by Li Zicheng. This way Manchus set up a new dynasty called the Qing dynasty.

An emperor is a sovereign ruler of great power, especially one ruling an empire. China was ruled by an emperor for over 2000 years. The first emperor was Qin Shi Huang who took the title in 221 BC after he united all of China in one rule. The last emperor was Puyi of the Qing Dynasty who was overthrown in 1912 by the Republic of China.

Conclusion

Love could conquer anything even going to the point on sacrificing yourself just to make that person happy and Ko-Ngai is an example of that because she jumped from the crucible without hesitation just to save her father from being killed by the emperor.