The Yongle Bell (yǒng lè dà zhōng 永乐大钟) was cast during the reign of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty early in the 15th century. The story goes that when Emperor Chengzu (míng chéng zǔ 明成祖)  moved the capital to Beijing, he initiated three great projects, that is, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Yongle Bell.

This attests to the historical position of the Yongle Bell in those days. Emperor Taizu (míng tài zǔ 明太祖) overthrew the Yuan Dynasty and founded the Ming Dynasty. He made Nanjing the capital. In order to strengthen the frontier defense in the north, Zhu Yuanzhang made his fourth son Zhu Di the Prince of Yan and gave Beiping to him as his domain.

History
Lion dance (wǔ shī 舞狮) is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture, in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume. The lion dance originated in India. The lion is traditionally regarded as a guardian creature. It is featured in Buddhist lore, being the mount of Manjusri. There are different variations of the lion dance in other Asian cultures including mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Okinawa, Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Sydney, and Singapore, with each region possessing their own styles.

Chinese lion dances can be broadly categorised into two styles, Northern (běi shī 北狮) and Southern (nán shī 南狮). Northern dance was used as entertainment for the imperial court. The northern lion is usually red, orange, and yellow (sometimes with green fur for the female lion), shaggy in appearance, with a golden head. The northern dance is acrobatic and is mainly performed as entertainment. Sometimes, they perform dangerous stunts.