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- <td valign="CENTER" nowrap="1" bgcolor="#660033"> <font size="-2" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><a class="white" href="http://hua.umf.maine.edu/China/china.html"> China Index </a></font> <font size+1 class="white"> |</font></td>
- <td nowrap="1" bgcolor="#660033"> <font size="-2" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><a class="white" href="http://hua.umf.maine.edu/Chinese/welcome.html"> Ting Chinese English Dictionary </a></font> <font size+1 class="white"> |</font></td>
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- <td nowrap="1" bgcolor="#660033"> <font size="-2" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><a class="white" href="http://hua.umf.maine.edu/China/beijing.html"> Beijing </a></font> <font size+1 class="white"> |</font></td>
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- <td nowrap="1" bgcolor="#660033"> <font size="-2" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><a class="white" href="http://hua.umf.maine.edu/China/xian.html"> Xi'an </a></font> <font size+1 class="white"> |</font></td>
- <td nowrap="1" bgcolor="#660033"> <font size="-2" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><a class="white" href="http://hua.umf.maine.edu/China/shanghai1.html"> Shanghai </a></font> <font size+1 class="white"> |</font></td>
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- <a href="china.html"><IMG ALIGN=RIGHT BORDER=0 WIDTH = 223 height = 112
- SRC="beij10ny.gif" ALT="Bei Jing"></a><font class="times"><H1>Beijing</H1></font>
- <HR size=5 >
- <font class = "verdana" size=-1>
- <P>Although Beijing is an ancient city and was often used as the capital by one
- warlord or another, its modern history as a capital begins in the Yuan dynasty
- (1271-1368) with Kublai Khan, grandson of Ghengis Khan. It is here that Marco
- Polo made his base as he visited and travelled with the Khan. He spent over 20
- years
- as a guest of the Khan before returning to Europe with his vivid descriptions of the
- great civilization to
- the east. Most of what we see today in Beijing was built during the Ming dynasty
- (1368-1644).</P>
- <P>It is a city built to inspire; to awe the populace with the power of the emperor.
- Built for the rites and ceremonies performed to maintain the Mandate of Heaven as
- well as for defense, it achieves grace through power and size rather than through
- ornament and variety.</P>
- <P>The Mings looked to the past for their design. Beijing, like most major cities in
- China was built with a series of concentric walls. The outermost wall surrounded
- what was the Chinese city. A major highway which provides access to the outskirts
- and links the city with the major arteries to the rest of the country sits on its bed. At
- various points along the highway you can see the guard towers which loomed above
- the old gates to the city and provided early warning of invasion. One might regret
- the loss of this ancient wall, but the alternative would have been to raze whole
- neighborhoods in one of the most densely packed cities in the world. </P>
- <H3><EM>Tiananmen Square</EM></H3>
- <P>Tiananmen Square lies within the area defined by the next wall. Formal access to
- the square is through the Zhengyang Gate, which marks the boundary of what was
- once
- an enclosing wall of grey stone and brick. The tomb of Chairman Mao is centered in
- the path of the gate. The square itself is fairly recent. It used to be filled with shops
- and alleys, as the streets surrounding it still are today. Tiananmen is large enough to
- diminish
- the impact of two enormous and recent additions to the center of the city. On one
- side of
- the square lies the People's History Museum and on the other, the Great Hall of the
- People. The Great Hall is used for major meetings of the government and State
- occasions. Elaborate receptions are held there for foreign dignitaries and it contains
- over
- 50 rooms, each dedicated to a particular province or minority.</P>
- <P>The square serves as a setting for the Imperial City in which lies the Forbidden
- City. The red walls, golden roof tiles, and the portrait of Mao Zedong contrast
- strongly with the surroundings of grey and buff. Thousands of tourists from all over
- China visit the Forbidden City daily. Fred observed at this point that we were of
- as much interest to the Chinese as was the Forbidden City.
- <A HREF="mens.jpg">Westerners still are a</A> rare
- sight.<P>
- <P>At one time there were vast gardens and parks adjacent to the Forbidden City
- where the elite could walk freely. Although urban encroachment has swallowed
- many, we visited Zhongshan Gongyuan, named after and anchored by a statue of
- Sun Ya-tsen. If that is confusing try this; Sun Zhongshan is the formal name for Sun
- Yixian which is the new spelling of the informal name of the person we call Sun
- Ya-tsen or Sun Yatsen.
- Sun is the family name and Zhongshan is the given name. In China, to indicate
- respect, admiration, <em>and</em> fondness the given name is often used.
- Therefore, Zhongshan Gongyuan is Sun Ya-tsen Park. By
- whatever name, the park was beautiful.</P>
- <P><A HREF="bkay328.jpg"><IMG ALIGN=LEFT BORDER=0 WIDTH = 150 HEIGHT = 227
- SRC= "bkay.gif" ALT="Kay picture"></A><BR><BR>It was a Sunday and the
- <A HREF="pictu.jpg">place was filled</A> with the
- laughter of children and the
- sight of couples strolling among the trees. Children were often dressed in their finest
- so that
- their parents could take their pictures. There was a long winding covered walk that
- ran through the trees. A path eventually led us to a building which housed a
- formal garden. Kay discovered the magic and shed off the fatigue of 35 hours of
- traveling to relax and discover China. </P>
- <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>
- <H3><EM>The Imperial City</EM></H3>
- <A HREF="ic2s.jpg"><IMG ALIGN=LEFT BORDER=0 WIDTH =250 HEIGHT = 170 VSPACE =
- 10
- HSPACE = 20 SRC = "ics2.jpg" ALT="Tian An Men Square Picture"></A><P>As you cross the bridge in front of Mao's
- portrait and enter the Imperial City through Tiananmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace)
- you
- see the Meridian Gate which leads to the Forbidden City. Only those who had
- official business with the emperor or one of his ministers were allowed inside the
- Forbidden City. That doesn't mean that it was a quiet place. It was the center of
- vast empires. There
- were hundreds of ministers who had offices there or in the immediate area, there
- were probably over a thousand servants, and then there were the palace guards . . .
- At one point there were over 70,000 eunuchs attached to the Forbidden City in one
- capacity or another.
- Today the area is filled with museum offices, ministries, tourists, small souvenir
- shops, and restaurants.</P>
- <P>The first Ming capital was at Nanjing. The first Ming emperor Hung Wu
- wanted to rid the
- country of Mongol influence just as he had rid it of Mongol rule. Traditional rites
- and ceremonies
- of the Chinese were brought back and celebrated. Nanjing was close to the supply
- routes from the southern breadbasket and provided much better
- communication with the provinces both for defense and administration. Yongle (Yung Lo), the
- third
- Ming emperor, overthrew the second Ming emperor from his stronghold in the
- northern
- provinces. He gave up the advantages of the southern capital and moved his capital
- to Beijing for political support. </P>
- <P>He continued to emphasize Chinese and Confucian principles and incorporated
- them into his design for the new
- northern capital. The design of the city
- reflects a return to Confucian principles of order, ethical
- conduct, and the importance of rites to express filial duty. The emperor was the Son
- of
- Heaven and this was the source of his Mandate to rule. All others owed filial duty
- to the emperor.</P>
- <P>Yongle sent a survey team to catalog the city of the Yuan dynasty and then he
- had it destroyed. The new city would be Chinese. Over two hundred thousand
- workers
- dedicated 20 years to the building of the new city and palaces. The Palace wasn't
- finished until 1421. As you go through the gates and penetrate the depths of the
- city, it
- is still possible to feel the remove, the isolation from common concerns required by
- and of the emperor.</P>
- <P>As you cross an open courtyard, you approach the Hall of Supreme Harmony
- where vigorous final examinations were given to scholars during the early Ming
- dynasty. The Ming emperors revived and expanded the civil service system which
- required mastery of the classics to enter government service. If a family could
- educate a son to this level, the entire family benefited and the scholar became a
- revered figure among the ancestors in following generations. The system continued
- until the early 1900s and provided stability to successive governments. </P>
- <P>After the Supreme Hall of Harmony, you encounter two more major structures;
- the Hall of Middle Harmony and the Hall of Perfect Harmony, which were also used
- for public functions. Only as you retreat further and further into the center of the
- palace do you find some sort of quiet and repose. The actual quarters of the emperor
- are rather simple by palatial standards. The low slung buildings have large rooms,
- but not so large as to uncomfortable for daily living. </P>
- <P>The Imperial family would never be alone. There would always be someone in
- attendance. The emperor ate with an attendant at his elbow to remind him not to
- take more than three bites from any dish. If he had a favorite dish, he had to keep it
- to himself and hope that by accident it would show up again. Poison and
- assassination was a constant presence in daily life by dint of the measures used to
- prevent them. Imagine living and accepting a life of such paranoia that your fears
- of those close to you were as great as the fear of threat from outside. Mao Zedong
- lived a
- similar life in his compound adjacent to the Imperial City. His thorough knowledge
- of classical history led him to adopt many of the same personal safeguards developed
- through
- the centuries of dynastic reign.
- <H3><EM>The Temple of Heaven -- Tiantan Park</EM></H3>
- <P>The Forbidden City and the three Halls of Harmony look directly south,
- toward the Temple of Heaven. Twice a year at the Winter Solstice and again
- in the fourth lunar month the
- emperor would proceed from the Forbidden City to the Temple of Heaven to ask for
- blessings for the people. He would dress in the Hall of Middle
- Harmony and then go to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to form the procession.
- <P>The streets between the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven were cleared.
- All
- doors and windows would be shuttered, the people closed in behind them. It was
- forbidden that a commoner look upon the person of the divine emperor. The
- procession, made of all high ranking ministers marching in order of importance,
- would go through the Meridian Gate, out through the main gates, and cross what is
- now Tiananmen Square. Only the emperor could use the center doors. The two side
- doors were designated for either the military or the civil ministers. Separating the
- military and civil ministers was a custom which arose after many squabbles about
- rank and order of precedence between the two branches of government.
-
- <P><A HREF="mainbln2.jpg"><IMG ALIGN=right BORDER=0 WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=286 SRC="mainbuln.gif" ALT="Tian Tan Picture"></A>When
- they arrived at
- the Temple of Heaven, the emperor would retire to the Hall of Abstinence to
- meditate
- and pray alone for the night. <A HREF="maint2s.jpg">Sacrifices</A>
- would be prepared in the triple roofed Hall of Prayer for a Good Harvest.
- Just before dawn, he would rise
- and prepare. Each ritual, movement, utensil, and costume had purpose and symbol.
- The emperor wore a blue gown embroidered with gold, the roofs of the
- buildings were tiled in blue -- a sacred color symbolizing Heaven. Just as the gold
- roofs of the Imperial Palaces were only used on buildings of the emperor, blue was
- reserved for Heaven. The procession passed down a long elevated concourse
- to arrive at the Altar of Heaven. </P>
- <A HREF="tt2ds.jpg"><IMG ALIGN=LEFT BORDER=0 WIDTH = 250 HEIGHT = 173 SRC=
- "tt2.gif" ALT="Three Tiers of White Marble Picture"></A><P>Three tiers of white marble glistening in the false light of
- predawn lent beauty
- and
- majesty to the ceremony, the only roof -- the Heaven above. There, as the tip of the
- sun shown over the horizon, the emperor would offer the animal, grain, and silk
- sacrifices which had been prepared the previous day.</P>
- <P>This ceremony was first performed in the Zhou dynasty (1100-771 B.C.). The last
- time it was performed (December 23, 1914) a republic had been founded and Yuan
- Shikai,
- the President, wore the imperial robes of the emperor.</P>
- <P>These rites linked culture and tradition through multiple dynasties.
- The cost of this heritage was painful. Hundreds of thousands of workers labored
- to
- build the palaces and fortifications at Beijing, Xi'an, Nanjing and other major cities of
- the
- Ming dynasty. Taxes were deep and production was diverted to provide
- material for the construction. Due to graft and corruption, much of the good farm
- land
- was used by the nobility for pleasure sports or mismanaged until it was barely
- productive.
- By the end of the Ming dynasty, the population of the country
- had been reduced by about half through starvation. While reviving
- Neo-Confucianism
- the rites and rituals, they forgot the Confucian ideal that good government takes
- care of the needs of the people first. </P>
- <P><A HREF="bflynet3.jpg "><IMG ALIGN=LEFT BORDER=0 WIDTH =200 HEIGHT =289
- VSPACE = 10 HSPACE = 20 SRC = "bflynet3s.jpg" ALT="Butterfly Kites Picture"></A>Today the grounds of the
- Temple of Heaven are a welcome relief from the dense
- crowding of the city. Each day, but especially on Sunday, thousands come to walk,
- play,
- practice Dai Qi, listen to or play music and fly kites. I spent an hour listening to a
- group
- play selections from the Beijing opera.
- <A HREF="tt-operc.jpg">An elderly woman sang</A>.
- I was told that she had only studied for the past four years --
- after her retirement. Her voice
- was as clear as a bell; she easily sang some of the most difficult trills.</P>
- <P>The long covered walk which leads to the main Temple is a meeting place,
- gaming
- room, private club, and way of life. Mahjongg and dominos are the most popular
- choices, but you also find <A HREF="s-game1s.jpg">Chinese chess</A>, card
- games, and dice. A
- <A HREF="ladies2s.jpg">group of women</A>
- were doing complicated march/dances in formation while playing a straightforward
- beat
- on their drums. They may or may not have been practicing <EM>for</EM> some
- future
- performance; just doing it is enough for many groups. Watching is also a popular
- pastime. Activities from a game of mahjongg to the women marchers were
- surrounded
- by groups of spectators.</P>
- <BR><BR>
- <H3><EM>The Summer Palace</EM></H3>
- <P>It takes three days to get to the Summer Palace if you go by barge along the
- canals
- and river to Kunming Lake in an imperial convoy. It takes about a half-hour by bus.
- The Summer Palace seemed like a remote "get-away" for the emperors who were
- enclosed in their own stifling prison. </P>
- <P>The "palace" is actually a garden encompassing a small mountain, a lake, a river,
- and innumerable buildings. Most gardens in China are places to enjoy the
- shape and contour of nature. The gardener creates a perfection of nature and
- tries to encourage appreciation of its beauty. It has little resemblance to
- what we would call a garden.</P>
- <P>Qianlong of the Qing dynasty, built a garden here in honor of his mother in
- 1750. He expanded an earlier Ming temple, enlarged the lake and called
- it Kunming Lake, and renamed the mountain the temple stands on from Jug
- Mountain to Longevity Mountain. His name for The Summer Palace was the
- Garden of Pure Ripples.</P>
- <P>In 1860 the British and French destroyed the Garden of Pure Ripples as
- well as Yuan Ming Yuan (what we call the Old Summer Palace). Yuan Ming Yuan
- comprised acres and acres of buildings housing the treasures of China.
- The British and French were "negotiating" with the emperor to get
- better trade agreements. Victor Hugo wrote an open letter at the
- time, deploring the action and calling it one of the great tragedies of
- history. </P>
- <P>The Dowager Empress Cixi began rebuilding the Summer Palace in 1873 for
- her retirement and renamed it Yi He Yuan -- Garden of Peace and
- Harmony in Old Age. That remains it proper name in Chinese.
- The Dowager Empress Cixi served as regent and was able to
- channel funds from the treasury which had been targeted for the navy. She
- is often blamed for the easy victory won by the Japanese navy and the
- subsequent humiliation of the Chinese government in 1895. </P>
- <P>It was
- burnt again by Russian, British and Italian troops in 1900 as retaliation
- for the Boxer Rebellion. Cixi began rebuilding in 1902 and actually got
- to use it for awhile. She died in 1908. </P>
- <P>We entered the grounds through the back door to visit "little Suzhou" in
- full sunlight. This village was build to replicate one near Shanghai to
- give the emperor the illusion of shopping and exploring its beauty. Eunuchs
- and ladies from the court would play the roles of shopkeepers and
- artisans while the emperor meandered through the stalls. There is still
- a feeling of play-acting as you go from shop to shop. The only thing
- that seemed quite real was the river.</P>
- <P>We climbed Longevity Mountain to the Lama Temple at the top. On the
- way you could begin to appreciate what Cixi had planned. The entire garden is
- laid out to create moments. Cixi would have an entire wall built so she
- could put a window in it. As you walked along the wall, your senses would
- relax and the sudden view framed by the window would recall the freshness
- of the view. </P>
- <A HREF= "suboat.jpg"> <IMG ALIGN= LEFT HSPACE = 20 VSPACE =10
- BORDER=0 WIDTH =278 HEIGHT =206 SRC = "suboat1.jpg" ALT="The Marble Boa Picture"></A><P>The Marble Boat was
- built by Qianlong who compared the boat to
- the state and the water to the people. The people keep the state
- afloat and without their support the ship sinks. Cixi changed the
- top of the boat, adding the superstructure and paddle-wheels. She
- also installed a large mirror in the cabin so she could sit gazing
- at it on rainy days. The mirror would act as a frame for the
- different views behind her. </P>
- <P>The names of the sights at the Summer Palace are as much a part of the
- experience as are the structures themselves: Hall of Dispelling Clouds,
- Strolling through Painted Scenery, Floating Heart Bridge, Gate of Welcoming
- the Moon, Hall for Listening to Orioles Sing. While the Summer Palace is not
- a simple thing, part of its purpose is to enhance the perception of and
- enjoyment of simple things. </P>
- <P>At the end of the day, as were were waiting for our bus, Denise and
- <A HREF="sud-fs1.jpg"><IMG ALIGN=RIGHT BORDER=0 WIDTH =250 HEIGHT =366
- VSPACE = 10 HSPACE = 20 SRC = "sud-fs1.gif" ALT="Denise and Fred Picture"></A>
- Fred were talked into doing one of the simple things. We not only had
- a great time setting this up, I am afraid I missed the best picture; when
- I finished shooting with the various cameras from the group and was
- paying the vendor, I noticed that a crowd of about 50 people had gathered
- to watch the show. I imagine we made an interesting story over the dinner
- table that night.</P><br><br>
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