The bell was made by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Cultural
Relics and the Big Bell Temple Museum to mark the return of Hong
Kong to the motherland on July 1, 1997. The bell is 1.97 meters in
height, 1.14 meters in rim diameter and 1,000 kilograms in weight.
The front of the bell was cast with the design of the emblem of the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. More than 400 characters
engraved around the bell form the "Inscription to Admonish the
World", recording the history of imperialist aggression against
China and the heroic struggle waged by the Chinese people to resume
the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and incisively
expounding Deng Xiaoping's great concept of "one country, two
systems" and his historic contributions to the final settlement of
the Hong Kong question. The artistic and imposing shape of the bell
follows the traditional style of ancient bells in
China.?
After his visit to the Big Bell Temple, Hu Sheng, a noted
historian, wrote a poem:
???
???????? ?"The bell at
the ancient temple is pealing out,
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Celebrating peace and the year of bumper harvest.
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Constantly it implies a message of admonition,
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To guard against arrogance
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???? and not to spoil all that has been
achieved."
