Ch’in Shi Huang Ti - The first emperor in China
If you are going to see the Great Wall and Terra-Cotta Warriors
in China, you should know this great person in China’s history.
Yes, he is Ch’in Shi Huang Ti - The first emperor in China.
Why did he build the Great Wall and Terra-Cotta Warriors ?
In the area of Shensi Province in the Yellow River valley, China’s
earliest emperors lived and died. From the time the king of the
feudal State of Ch’in conquered his rivals and became emperor
in 221 B.C. After becoming king of Ch’in, excavations and
building had been started, while after he won the empire, more
than 700,000 conscripts from all parts of the country worked there.
They dug through three subterranean streams and poured molten
copper for the outer coffin and the tomb was filled with models
of palaces, pavilions and offices, as well as fine vessels, precious
stones, and rarities. It took 36 years to construct a subterranean
palace in which he could spend eternity in other world during
his reign.
The underground army we saw was discovered in the spring of 1974
by peasants and workers of the Yen Tsai commune in Lin-t’ung
county. The position of the underground guards east of the tomb
leads to speculation that, in keeping with Chinese ideas of symmetry,
the same distances west, north, and south of the tomb, perhaps
containing arrays of life-size statues of the officials, ministers,
and ladies of the first imperial court. The emperor’s warriors
carried real weapons and the horses pulled actual chariots. Each
face of the pottery figures had distinctly different characteristics.
The Archeologist believe this is because the emperor ordered the
artists to model realistic portraits of each warriors, servants
and footman in his live honor guard, so they can continue to guard
him after death. All figures stand about six feet tall. They look
as alive today as their models were 22 centuries ago. Some appear
fierce, others, proud and confident, A few seem to be on the verge
of a smile. The horses stand four abreast before their royal war
chariots. Some are incredibly intact, while others sag against
one another with broken backs and necks, though their magnificence
remains undiminished. Their classic simplicity and smooth, pure
lines have survived the test of time. A thousand years later,
the clean, curved jawline of these early creations became the
mark of the famous T’ang Dynasty horses (A.D.618 -907),
which are still imitated today. The tails of the Ch’in horses
are knotted at half length. The manes are short, standing straight
at the crest of the neck, except for the forelocks, which were
left long and parted in the middle to curl around the front of
each ear, The ears are set forward and appear tense, indicating
alertness.
Ch’in Shi Huang Ti was a tyrant who buried 460 Confucian
scholars alive. He felt that the scholarly but conservative Confucian
philosophy, which supported the old feudalistic system of the
previous dynasty, was a threat to his authoritarian, centralized
rule. He burned all books of the Confucian school. The emperor’s
eldest son, Fu-su, attacked his father’s decision to kill
the scholars and was exiled to the northwestern frontier where
he spend the rest of his life helping direct the building of the
Great Wall. Emperor Ch’in let thousands of workers perish
while building the Great Wall, and spent more than 30 years building
his tomb with forces labor. He also did good things during his
reign. He erected a new and splendid capital city called “Ch’ang-an”
meaning “eternal peace”. He transported 120,000 wealthy
families from all parts of the empire. He built the Great Wall
by joining walls and ramparts that had been erected earlier by
the contending feudal states. He created the nation’s first
standing army. He also accomplished the sweeping changes that
made his dynasty a turning point in history. He radically altered
the political and social structure of the state by destroying
the ancient fedual system and establishing a centralized empire.
He codified laws and standardized weights and meansures and they
system of writing Chinese characters, so that the written language
could understood all over China. To ensure communication and the
transport of food and other essential goods to all parts of his
empire, the emperor ordered a vast network of roads built, radiating
from the capital and he standardized axle lengths of wagons and
chariots to enable vehicles to travel in the same ruts. By a series
of canals, he began what was to become the greatest inland water-communcation
system in the ancient world. Some of these canals are still used,
and one can still travel from north to southy by water. He also
reclaimed wasteland for the cultivation of crops and introduced
irrigation systems still in use.
Ch’in Shi Huang Ti spent his last years seeking the fountain
of youth.. According to a Magician, three fairy islands in the
Eastern Seas where old age and death were unknown because their
inhabitants had discovered the elixir of immortality. He sent
a fleet of vessels loaded with precious gifts in search of the
Islands of Immortals. After some time, it is reported that elixir
is too expensive to be given. Instead giving gifts, 3,000 of the
empire’s finest young people had to be provided. Emperor
sent 3,000 young people away and never returned. A legend says
that they colonized Japan.
Note: reference article from “China’s Incredible
Find” written by Audrey Topping for National Geographic
in April 1978
My Visit to China ...
China is an old and mysterious oriental country, and for many
western people, China is sometimes still seen as an unfriendly,
oppressed country, living under one of the last communist governments.
With some of this thought in our minds, our family took a tour
to China last month and experienced 17 exciting and enjoyable
days exploring this ancient country. “Seeing is believing?”
Everything we saw and everything we learned made us feel that
we made the right decision to make this trip. We will never forget
the sights, sounds, smells and experiences we had in China.
Our trip started from Beijing, then to Shanghai, Xi’An,
Guilin and ended in HongKong. We never expected the trip to China
to be so interesting and so much fun. The people we met were all
extremely friendly and gracious. In the less touristy areas we
“Westerners” were still a novelty. Often a child would
point at us and stare with glee. Many times parents asked the
fair haired woman from our group if we would have our picture
taken with their child.
China is famous for its delicious food. There is a Chinese saying
which goes “People regard food as their prime want”
- and food safety is a top priority in China. Cooking is an ancient
Chinese art. Some 3,000 years ago, the Chinese people already
knew how to deliciously blend the five flavors, which are spicy,
sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Today Chinese cuisine is ranked
among the world’s favorites, as can be witnessed by the
many Chinese restaurants that can be found almost anywhere in
the world. Chinese cooking places great stress on the colour,
fragrance, taste and form. To preserve the food’s nutrition,
Chinese cooks are very particular about food preparation and temperature
control. According to the rough estimates, there are more than
5,000 different local cooking styles in China. The most popular
cooking styles in China are those of Sichuan, Guangdong, Shandong
and Huaiyang. In our tour, both western cuisine and the Local
fare were served. In fact, we were surprised to learn that some
of the Chinese foods were the same as we would order in Winnipeg,
including Dimsum. Our lunch and dinner were usually made up of
many dishes presented on a lazy Susan. Watermelon was served at
the end of each meal. When plate after plate of food kept coming
out, and you wondered when it would ever end, the watermelon was
a welcome sign. In most big cities in China, you can also find
KFC, Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Friday, and all kinds of foreign restaurants.
Everyone knows China has a large population with 1.3 billion people.
Interestingly, population was not a problem until the 1960’s
when Chairman Mao Zedong introduced his radical population policy.
He proclaimed that a great mother had to have a minimum of 8 children.
The population exploded from 400 million to 1.3 billion over the
next 40 years. Because of this population density, in 1979, the
government introduced the one child per family policy.
Even today, at least half the people in China live on farms.
The population density makes real estate expensive, compared to
income levels. Most urban people live in an apartment. For example,
buying an apartment in Beijing costs roughly $8,000 RMB yuan (CDN
$1,143) per square meter and ShangHai would be $10,000 RMB yuan
per square meter ($CDN$1,430).. Salaries range widely, but the
average salary per month is about CDN$300.00.
July is hot and humid in most cities in China. The interesting
thing is that ladies carry parasols to avoid the sun. Chinese
people, especially ladies, don’t like to get tanned at all.
A“tanned face” is considered as an unpleasant look.
This leads to the vast array of advertisements for skin whitening
agents. Many people have to ride bicycle to work everyday and
have to wear sun hats or grass hats to avoid sun-tanning.
Beijing was our first stop. It has an area of 16,800 square kilometers
with a population of 12 million, plus another 4 million commuting
in and out of the city. Beijing, formerly known as Peking, is
China‘s capital. Her history dates back more than 3,000
years. Half a million years ago, in the time of Peking Man, the
remote ancestor of Chinese nation, already lived at Zhoukoudian
Village, southwest of Beijing. The famous Great Wall , Forbidden
City, Temple of Heaven, Ming Tombs and Summer Palace are all located
in Beijing. The 4000 mile long Great Wall is the only man-made
project that can be seen from the moon. A famous Chinese saying
about the Great Wall is that one is not a true man till you get
on the wall. There are thousands and thousands of people from
home and abroad visiting it every year. The Great Wall is the
great creation of ancient Chinese people. The United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) listed it at Badaling
as one of the sites of the World Heritage in 1987.
Peking Opera is one of the entertainments in Beijing. It is a
mixture of athletics, theatre, dance and songs. In fact, Peking
Opera has entertained audiences for more than 200 years with its
elaborate costumes, ear-splitting arias, dazzling martial arts
and musical dialogue. Characters are classified into three basic
categories; the male roles, called “sheng”, the female
roles ”dan” and clowns called “chou”.
The nature of each character is shown through the different colours
of the facial makeup. For instance,a red face usually means evil
or sly, and black and white face makeup denotes authority.
The so-called “Eighth Wonder of the World” is the
Terra Cotta Warriors located in Xi’An. Xi’An is the
capital of Shaanxi province with an area of 190,000 square kilometers.
The province has a population of 36 million, a little more than
all of Canada. This province used to be the most prosperous area
within China, especially in the Han Dynasty (200 BC - AD 220)
and Tang Dynasty (618 -907), creating advanced social productivity
and prime civilization of feudal society prior to that of other
countries in the world. It is one of cradles of ancient Chinese
civilization and the center of ancient China. Numerous relics
have made Shaanxi a favourite place for tourists both from home
and abroad.
ShangHai, is China’s most important commercial center, with
the largest port in the country, and plans to make it even larger.
Shanghai is the only Chinese city with two international airports.
By 2010, it will have the annual capacity to handle 100 million
passengers and 5 million tons of cargo. Between one of the airports
and downtown, you will find the ShangHai Maglev Train, the world‘s
first commercialized operating magnetic levitation line. It takes
only seven minutes to get to the airport. Shanghai has already
become the most exciting and fashionable city in China, and quickly
earning an international reputation as one of the world’s
fashion centers.
Because of the fast development of economy, more and more people
can afford to buy a car. In Shanghai, one has to pay $5,000 USD
for a license to drive.
Guilin is called the paradise city in China. Every part looks
like a park. It encompasses 27,000 square kilometers with a population
of 4 million. It is famous for green mountains, clear waters and
strangely shaped rock formations. It is said that since ancient
times the landscape of Guilin has been second to none under Heaven.
Guilin is unique in four aspects : enchanting hills, lovely waters,
strange caves and charming rocks. In addition, there are four
excellent views : deep ponds, dangerous shoals, flowing springs,
and torrential waterfalls. It takes years to appreciate each of
these features. Cruising down the Li River, you will enjoy more
than 40,000 hills that lie along the two sides of the river. With
their astonishing resemblance to bamboo shoot, screen, elephant
and camel, these mountains, together with the cottages and fishing
boats, contribute to form a scenic picture; a haven of peace dominated
by green.
Hong Kong, has a population of 7 million with an area of 1,000
square kilometers, which enjoys fame as an international financial,
trading, shipping, information, tourism and free port the world
over. It is acknowledged as a shopping paradise, culinary world,
leisure resort and culture window. The city is full of towering
skyscrapers, set amoung the hills and oceans that make up Hong
Kong. Despite a 100% tax, it is amazing to see the roads covered
with expensive cars like Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar, and Lexus. Everyone
has a cell phone, which they all seem to be talking on at once.
Located in a quiet bay outside of the downtown area is Stanley,
with its wonderful market that is a true shopping paradise.
Even though this trip is over, we are left with our wonderful
memories forever...... China is indeed an amazing country and
so many things to see and so many adventures to have......
