Ring in the New Year!!!

There are many different ways that people and cultures across the world mark the turn of the New Year. However, in many places the ringing of bells plays an important part in these traditions. In western culture, it was common to ring church bells to mark the occasion. That is where our expression “Ring out the old, ring in the new” comes from. Or the simpler “Ring in the New Year.”

In fact, long before people gathered in Times Square to watch a ball drop to celebrate the new year in New York City, people would gather around Trinity Church to hear the bells ring at midnight. Learn more here.

Japanese New Year’s Tradition

In Japan, it is customary to go to a Buddhist temple for New Year’s Eve. There, a large bronze bell is rung 108 times. In general, 107 of those rings occur before midnight. The final stroke occurs sometime after midnight. There main theory about this custom is that each ring of the bell represents a worldly desire and ringing the bell helps people to shed these lusty behaviors and thoughts. Kyoto is the cultural center of Japan with numerous Buddhist temples, including twenty that ring large bells on New Year’s.

Byodo-in Temple Bell

Perhaps the most famous bell in Kyoto is in the Byodo-in Temple. Originally, a courtier created a villa on the site in 998. In 1052, the villa was converted into a Buddhist temple. Soon after, the Amida-do Hall (Phoenix Hall) was built along with its famous 2.4 meter tall statue of Buddha. In 1336, a fire set during a war destroyed almost all of the original buildings on the site. Between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries the complex grew with many additional halls. Today, the only original building still standing is the Phoenix Hall.

The tower on the south side of Phoenix Hall was originally home to a large and exquisitely beautiful cast bronze bell made in the 12th century. The original bell survives, but is not exhibited in the Hoshokan Museum also on the Temple complex, and a replica hangs in its place and is played on ceremonial occasions, including on New Years. The originaly 12th century bell is known as sugata no byodoin. The original bell stands of six and a half feet tall. On its top is a ryûzu (dragon) head sculpture. The bell is distinguished and identified by its surface decoration. The instrument is covered with dense carvings, except on the upper portion that has raised dots or nipples, known as chi.

This is the only bell in Japan with such decoration. It is renowned as one of three important ancient bells in Japan. The praise of these bells survives in a saying that translates roughly into English as “Byodoin Temple Bell for the Best Figure (decoration), Onjo-ji Temple Bell for the Best Sound, and Todai-ji Temple Bell for the Best Resonance.” The Temple Bell has been designated as a National Treasure of japan.

The Stamp

In 1980, Japan created a postage stamp that depicts the Temple Bell from Byodoin Temple. On the stamp the bell has a green color, like oxidized bronze. I find it interesting that the green is far closer to the color of the replica bell than to the ancient bell on exhibit in the Museum. I really wonder which bell was the model for the stamp. While the stamp is very plain, the nicest element is that it shows the profuse engravings of the Byodoin Temple Bell. For those viewers who are “in the know,” it is obvious that the stamp features the famed bell from this ancient Buddhist temple.

Instead of playing the ringing of the replica bell at the Byodoin Temple, here is another bell in Kyoto. This video shows the ringing of the Chion-in Temple Bell in Kyoto on New Years. The Chion-in bell is the largest in all of Japan, and you can see that it takes many monks working together to ring it. Enjoy!