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Hello everyone!
Shine had a jam-packed day planned for us, so we lit out like a whirlwind from the Jade Palace to one of the great symbols of Dynastic Rule: the Forbidden City! Formerly known as Zǐjinchéng, the Purple Forbidden City (after Polaris, the “purple” star, home to the Jade Emperor), this impressive complex has lately come to be known as Gùgōng, the Former Palace, one of many ways in which China has become less poetic over the years. Nonetheless, the first sight of those famous gates was truly magnificent!
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Holding a map that rubbed off under his fingers, Shine told us that work started on the Forbidden City in 1407, during the Ming Dynasty, and housed emperors continuously until the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1924. It spans 74 hectares and is built from bricks made of rice! What yummy architecture! I wouldn’t recommend trying to bite it though; it’s particularly strong! The doors were all decorated with exactly 81 gold knobs, nine by nine to symbolize eternal power. The dragon-head knockers (I believe the dragon was named Huanglong) were supposed to admit only the virtuous; if a non-virtuous person were to come to the gates, the gates would not open! They must have installed the gates after the emperor was already inside, because a person who sacrifices so many people to build his palace surely isn’t virtuous!
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Shine was in a hurry today, too, and he sped us through the gardens and right into a small, cloistered area that he called the “Fork Room,” where the emperor spent a lot of time with his forty-nine concubines. Shine really enjoyed this spot, and we bypassed the famed Nine Dragon Screen and the Imperial Pathway to see it! But, this didn’t stop me from admiring the artistry of the rooftops. Each bamboo slat was tipped with a dragon carving, and the bricks were held up by sculptures of nine mythical beasts led by a man on a chicken. The beasts were named Lóng, Fèng, Shīzi, Tiānmǎ, Hǎimǎ, Suānní, Yāyú, Xièzhì, Dòuniú, and Chīwěn (son of the Dragon King)! There was one extra on the Hall of Supreme Harmony, named Hángshí. He peacefully watches over the rest but holds a sword, in case the country is threatened. I’m sure he could have taught me a thing or two about the Deadly Arts!
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Despite our quick pace, we did get to see the Halls of Preserving, Complete, and Supreme Harmony, in the last of which, we saw the Dragon Throne! These halls were surrounded by enormous plazas, full of sculptures and giant cauldrons for dousing fires! I wanted to frolic here, but there was no time. Shine was bored, and we had places to be.
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So, we passed through the front gate into Tian’anmen Square, a symbol of the new China. Mr. Mao’s face peered down at me over the patient guards, none of whom looked older than eighteen. Mr. Mao had his portrait placed over the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City to show that China had overcome its imperial past, and since then, it has become one of the symbols of Beijing! The plaza was bordered by the National Museum of China, Mao’s Mausoleum, and the Great Hall of the People. As we hustled across the massive flat space, we were serenaded by the sights and sounds of the symphony, playing across three jumbo screens. It was hot and bright, and full of ghosts, but the sounds were lovely.
It didn’t take long to find out why we were in such a hurry. After a yummy lunch at the Park Restaurant (which was a restaurant in a park), Shine bustled us over to the Silk Factory. This was why we had to hurry. It was time for Tourist Trap #2! At least with this one, there was some neat information attached. We got to see the different stages of the silk worm larvae, and they showed us the apparatus for spinning silk thread from the cocoons.
There are two types of cocoons too: big ones and little ones. The little ones are used for clothing, but the big ones, made from two caterpillars spinning a cocoon together (how romantic!), are used to make quilts. The nice ladies who worked there showed us how they peeled off the silk covering and stretched it all the way over a mattress to make the stuffing for a quilt. Then came the sales pitch, and I thanked them for their time and ran for the door. I felt kind of bad for all those caterpillars, getting boiled to death, but I guess, being in a cocoon, they died in their sleep?
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We had two more stops left on our wild tour. The first was the Temple of Heaven, where once a year, the Emperor would take a break from his “Fork Room” to make sacrifices to the gods and pray for a good harvest. The temple was colored blue on top for the gods, yellow in the middle for the emperor, and green on the bottom for the peasants. Its support pillars corresponded numerically with the seasons, the months, the hours, and the constellations, really an extraordinary structure! We were not allowed inside, which was okay by me: this was the sort of place where they used to sacrifice animals! Even though it’s now surrounded by tourists and old timers playing poker, I still felt a little uneasy being here.
Our final destination today was the Chun Yi Kung Fu Show! We were greeted by a young monk at the door, thumping intently on his Muyu then made our way inside. The show was about a young monk named Chun Yi, who trains at a monastery much like Shaolin, becomes a man, loses his way, and reclaims his honor. There was so much I loved about this show! There were so many animal styles I’d never seen before: duck, frog, and scorpion! They had fire! Masks! Balancing on spear tips! The show reminded me of the importance of focus. It has been a while since I really took some time to practice my Five Arts. I will have to do that while I am here.
Oh, and one more note about the show. I noticed that here, by contrast to the United States, there was no starring actor but a number of different performers playing the same lead role: everyone contributed to the greater performance, not individual fame. This characterizes the country very well, but it also brings to mind the necessity to focus on the big picture, like tomorrow when I will take in the landscape from atop the Great Wall! Oh my gosh, I’m so excited!
Good night!
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