According to a description of Kircher, in a book previous to the China Illustrata, European bells, especially the Erford one found in Germany, are the “queen of bells”.
However, Grueber, after having visited a remote city near Beijing contradicts Kircher saying: “ I went and saw in one place, all of them are beautifully cast in the European manner (…) moreover they are larger than European ones.”
The Chinese bell is the one on the right-hand side of the drawing which is said to have a height of 12 cubits (approx. 5.48m). On the left-hand side is the European one with a height of 8 cubits (approx. 3.65m).
In a temple near Datong, we found one example of the Chinese bell, which indeed appears very huge!
