Wei Bin's Temple Bell

The carved words on the bell state that Wei Bin's Temple Bell was made in the 13th year of the Zhengde regnal period of the Ming Dynasty, which was 1518. The bell was bestowed by the Director of Ceremonial () Wei Bin. Zhengde delegated his powers to his chief eunuch Liu Jin. When Liu Jin died in 1510, Wei Bin took his place as Director of Ceremonial, a powerful office with responsibilities over the emperor's correspondence, the imperial seal, and palace rituals. ==Temple location==

As stated on the bell, it was suspended, with imperial permission, in the Hongshan Si (; Temple of Great Bounty) in Beijing, just outside the Zuoan Gate (). In the Ming Dynasty, this area was a suburb of the palace Forbidden City. ==Museum==

George Crofts (1872–1925) acquired the bell for the museum. He found it in the former Austro-Hungarian Legation, where it had been brought, reportedly by Italian troops, after the Boxer uprising of 1900. ==Patterns on the bell==

On the top of the Bell, a 2-heads-no-tails dragon appears, with four legs and five toes on each leg. The wall is divided into panels and bands by raised lines and filled with cartouches containing a dedicatory inscription. Around the lower edge, the eight trigrams in a band separated by cloud, and a band of waves runs around the lower edge. Most of the text is from the Sutra of the Names of the 35 Buddhas and the Vinaya Sutra. ==References==