China Trip, Kaifeng 14th Nov

We travelled to Kaifeng, the famous Song （宋）dynasty capital on 14th Nov. Our very 1st stop was Justice Bao's Temple（包公祠）. The stories of Justice Bao were passed down by word of mouth by the commoners from Song dynasty, and with the drama serial by China and Taiwan, most Chinese Singaporeans would have heard a bit about him.

All stories of Justice Bao depict him as a righteous and upright offical, helping to redress innocents' woes and punishing the evil doers who were rich and powerful. In his temple, we learnt that Justice Bao was not actually as dark skin as most of us believed him to be. This is because in traditional Chinese opera, upright figures have a black or red face, hence the tales and opera has changed the colour of his skin and included the crescent moon to signify his status among the commoners. A huge black tablet was placed in Justice Bao's temple, and the names of all the magistrates that have served Kaifeng were all carved on the black tablet. As Justice Bao was so popular among the commoners, people who visited Justice Bao's temple used their fingers to touch Justice Bao's name on the tablet. After many centuries, his name has been "erased" due to all the rubbing action of the visitors' fingers, leaving a black dent behind.

In the following photos, we see Justice Bao's court in session, giving trial to the all famous case of Chen Shimei （陈世美）betraying his wife for fame and power. In the story, Chen Shimei headed to Kaifeng to sit for the imperial exams, leaving his wife behind in their hometown. When he became the top scholar, it was customary for the emperor to bestow his daughter's hand in marriage to the top scholar and award him a post. Desiring power and faithless to his wife, Chen accepted the marriage proposal and became the royal consort prince.

Chen's wife waited in vain for his return, and her case was brought to the capital. Justice Bao presided over the case, declaring Chen Shimei to be lying to the emperor about his marital status and betraying his wife. Needless to say, Justice Bao had to pit himself against the empress dowager, who seeked to protect her son-in-law. In the photo on the right, you see the whole court of Justice Bao present in court. The scholar is Gongsun Ce （公孙策）, Justice Bao's advisor and reputed to be quite intelligent himself. The constables by the side are the famous quartet, Zhang Long（张龙）, Zhao Hu（赵虎）, Wang Chao（王朝）, Ma Han（马汉）.

Despite the strong resistence, Justice Bao prevailed in the end and ordered the execution of Chen Shimei by the dragon head execution blade（龙头铡）.

The dragon head execution blade is used to execute royalty, especially those convicted of treason or upsurping the throne. The tiger head execution blade （虎头铡）is used to execute those corrupt officials who abused their powers. The dog head execution blade （狗头铡）is used to execute those ruffians and robbers.

After touring Justice Bao's temple, we proceeded on to Long Ting（龙亭）to see the replicated palace of Kaifeng. Right at the entrance to Long Ting, we see a model of what Kaifeng used to look like during the Song dynasty. From the model, it seemed that Kaifeng was pretty big at that time, indicating the wealth and prosperity of China during peaceful times.

As the flower represeting Kaifeng is chrysanthemum and it just so happens that chrysanthemum is in full bloom during our visit, the streets of Long Ting are aligned with pots and pots of chrysanthemum. After some photo-taking and ice-cream savouring (no doubt started by the student), we went on to view the Kai Bao Si Pagoda（开宝寺塔）,or better known as Iron Pagoda（铁塔）because the colour of the bricks resemble that of iron.

The pagoda is unique because it is built using singular bricks of coloured glaze（琉璃）, which was not a common building material then and now. Also, each singular brick is crafted with designs and carvings. This means the process of building this particular pagoda took more efforts than usual in terms of collecting building materials and design. It was originally tilting towards the northwest direction. Due to constant strong winds in the area, the pagoda now slants towards southeast.

China Trip, San Men Xia Luoyang 13th Nov

From Xian, we took a 2.5hr coach ride to San Men Xia, passing 1 of the 5 famous peaks in China, Hua Shan （华山）. In Jin Yong's pugilistic world, the top 5 exponents went to Hua Shan and fought for days to decide who was the best.

For those who did not know, there are 5 famous mountains in China which were bestowed titles by the emperors of various dynasties. The chief of them all was the Eastern Peak（东岳） Tai Shan （泰山）, Southern Peak（南岳）Heng Shan (衡山）,Western Peak（西岳）Hua Shan（华山）, Northern Peak（北岳）Heng Shan（恒山）and Central Peak（中岳）Song Shan（嵩山）. In Chinese mythology, the ancient Chinese revered mountains, believing in the existence of mountain gods. Hence some emperors will choose their coronation to be held on mountain peaks, so as to receive the mandate of Heaven to be the Son of Heaven （天子）and rule the country. During times of disasters like drought or famine, emperors will also ascend mountain peaks to pray for good harvest or rain for the good of all his people.

As we arrived in San Men Xia, the tour guide explained that the gorges were formed when the mythological figure Da Yu （大禹）was trying to prevent the annual flooding of the Yellow River. It was claimed that he paved 3 gateways to spread the waters, namely the Human Gate（人门）, Ghost Gate（鬼门） and God Gate（神门）, hence the name “三门峽”. The next day, we visited the famous Bao Lun Si Pagoda（宝轮寺塔）. The pagoda is 1 of the few buildings in China which has an echo effect when people try to produce a sound. Hence whenever someone uses the rock to hit on the rock base, the sound will travel to the pagoda and the resulting echo will sound like a frog croaking. The other more famous echo structure would be the echo wall （回音壁）of Tian Tan （天坛）in Beijing. Though I am not well versed in Physics, I believe the unqiue structure of the pagoda is the cause of the echo effect. The pagoda that we visited was an enclosed stone pagoda （密岩室塔）with no other openings, therefore the sound waves will enter the pagoda through a very small doorway at the base of the pagoda, bounce inside the walls of the pagoda before coming out as an echo.

In China, most pagodas were built in the past to store the shahira （舍利／舍利子）, or the relics of a monk after he has been cremated. It was said to contain the essence of the person, and that venerable monks would have a huge amount of it in their ashes.

We then proceeded on to Luoyang, another ancient capital of ancient China. The famous White Horse Temple （白马寺）is situated in Luoyang, and the temple was built to comemorate the 2 white horses that carried the 1st Buddhist scriptures into China during Eastern Han dynasty (东汉）. It was said that emperor Ming dreamt of a golden man from the west flew into the great hall in the palace and ordered his personal study to be renovated into a Buddhist temple. Hence, the White Horse Temple is the 1st government-built Chinese Buddhist Temple in China. Buddhism is mainly divided into 2 broad categories, the Tibetan Buddhism （藏传佛教）and Chinese Buddism（汉传佛教）. The biggest contrast is that Tibetan Buddhism is mainly in Tibet（西藏）with lamas （喇嘛）blowing huge trumpets and wearing unqiue hats while Chinese Buddhism is known throughout most parts of China with the all-familiar shaven head monks with 6-9 burnt marks on the head.

The next day, we travelled to the world famous Longmen Grottoes （龙门石窟）which houses tens of thousands of Buddha statues carved into the cliff face from Northern Wei to Sui & Tang dynasties （北魏、隋、唐）. As it houses so many carved Buddhist statues from different eras, the Longmen Grottoes has long been recognised as a cultural, historical, artistic and religious site. As such, it is listed under United Nations' World Heritage. Sadly, many selfish collectors will gladly pay huge sums for robbers to deface many of the Buddha statues, leaving a decaptitated body behind.

The bigger statues were mainly carved under imperial orders to pray for prosperity for good health. The smaller statues found near the big statues were mainly ordered by other officials.

In 1 particular cave, it was said to house at least 15000 Buddha statues. This cave is aptly named "Ten Thousand Buddha Cave" （万佛洞）.The little grooves on the side walls are all filled with small Buddha statues. This is a testimony of how the artisans painstakingly made such pieces of religious masterpieces. It is truly our fortune to be able to inherit such rich heritage from our forefathers. I do hope that as China continues to prosper, the Chinese will be able to devise new technology to preserve such art and cultural relics for future generations to keep.

The grottoes are actually on both sides of the river, but due to time constraints, I chose to retrace my steps back to the coach rather than visit the rebuilt Xiang Shan Temple （香山寺）across the river.



It was truly a humbling experience viewing the work of ancient artisans at this site. I only wish that those private collectors will one day realise the damage they have done to all humanity and restore the stolen heads back where they belong.

After lunch, we went on to Guan Lin（关林）, where the famous 3 Kingdoms gereral Guan Yu（关羽） was buried. The Chinese differentiated the names given to the tombs of ancient figures. Emperor tombs were known as "Huang Ling"（皇陵）,the tombs of the 2 sages Guan Yu as "Guan Lin"（关林）and Confucious as "Kong Lin"（孔林）, with the tombs of other officials and common people as "Mu"（墓）. This is to differentiate between the different social classes and the honour accorded to them when they passed from this world.

Probably due to the respect for Guan Yu,

I have somehow decided to take very few pictures of the entire Guan Lin. In fact, in my zest to explain some of the stories of the 3 Kingdoms era, I have forgotten to take the tablet in front of Guan Yu's tomb! I will have to pinch myself for that. It was a known fact that when Guan Yu was serving Cao Cao during a short period of time, Cao Cao hosted a small banquet every 3 days and a grand banquet every 5 days. It was also said that Guan Yu was rewarded a tray of gold ingots whenever he rode his horse and a tray of silver ingots whenever he alighted from his horse. Cao Cao also gave Guan Yu an official duke title and a dozen of beauties to serve him. Guan Yu remained unmoved until Cao Cao also gave Guan Yu the famous "Red Hare" horse （赤兔马）,which was reputed to be able to travel a thousand miles in a day. Guan Yu knelt when he recognised the horse, explaining that with the horse, he could return immediately to his sworn brother, Liu Bei's （刘备）side. Such was Guan Yu's loyalty towards his sworn brother.

Upon hearing news of Liu Bei, Guan Yu carved a painting of bamboo for Cao Cao, and researchers claimed that the leaves of the bamboo resemble Chinese characters. Thus, they carbon-copied the painting, and copied the words to form a poem:

不谢东君意，单青独立名。

莫嫌孤叶淡，终久不凋零。

which translates loosely to "Many thanks to your kindness. I would prefer to carve out a name for myself in history by my own efforts. Do not think of the bamboo leaves as plain, for they are evergreen and do not wilt." It is also important to note that ancient Chinese adore bamboo as it represents integrity and the upright character that a man should possess. A poem within bamboo leaves, how creative...

China Trip, Xian 11th Nov - 12th Nov

After a plane flight from Chengdu, we have finally arrived in Xian. Being 1 of the ancient capitals of China, Xian is a city I have always wanted to visit. On the evening of our arrival, we were brought to a Halal restaurant for steamboat. Yes, China does have Muslims, and they form the 2nd or 3rd largest minority in China, especially in the west and northwestern region. All Halal restaurants in China will have the descriptor "Qing Zhen" （清真）to indicate that it sells Halal food.

After dinner, we proceeded to Big Wild Goose Pagoda Square （大雁塔）to watch the musical fountain. Every night, the fountain performance will start at 8:30pm and last for about 15mins. Although Singapore's Sentosa had something similar to offer, the musical fountain there beats us in sheer scale due to the size of the fountain square. The water fountain displays were quite limited, but it was a treat for the eyes nonetheless. I believe quite a number of students used their video recording function to record the entire performance.

The next morning, the coach took us to Qin Shi Huang's tomb with the world famous terracotta warriors. I have always thought they were all biege in colour till the tour guide explained that there is no current technology that can preserve the colours on the warriors, hence the majority of the warriors lay buried in their original state. Also, the Chinese have detected a great amount of mecury surrounding Qin Shi Huang's tomb, suggesting that he had trapped the entire tomb to prevent tomb robbers from robbing his grave. Since there was no way of ensuring that the items within the tomb would not be destroyed by the mercury, the Chinese decided to leave the tomb alone. The sheer size of the mound of the tomb is enough for us to imagine the grandeur of the entire tomb.

China Trip, Chengdu 9th Nov - 10th Nov 2006

It's been donkey ages since I have blogged, and my fans are screaming for signs of me still alive and on Earth.

I was away in China from 9th Nov to 21st Nov, leading a group of 32 girls & 3 boys to China., plus Miss Lee Choon Lin, Mr Quek Chin Keong & Mdm Gao Song. We travelled from Chengdu （成都）to Xian（西安） to San Men Xia（三门峽） to Luoyang（洛阳） to Kaifeng（开封） to Zhengzhou（郑州） to Dengfeng（登封） then retrace our steps all the way back to Chengdu.

Upon arrival in Chengdu, we went straight to Wang Jiang Lou（望江楼）, the memorial for Xue Tao（薛涛）, a relatively unknown Tang（唐）dyanasty female poetess due to her social status as a courtesan. Despite her low status, she was the one who used bamboo as materials to produce paper, especially small pieces of paper to write the short poems so popular during her time.

It seemed that she was not very well loved by her significant other, for he seemed to have married another woman.

That very evening in Chengdu, we had the chance to shop at 1 of the preserved streets of Chengdu, Jin Li Street. （锦里步行街）

Most of the buildings definitely looked rebuilt, but I like the feel of the place, except it is a tad too commercialised for my taste. The moment I started to walk into the place, I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera along. However, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because my old Olympus would not have been able to take such clear pictures in poorly lit conditions.

One thing that caught my attention was a stall that invited people to try shooting at straw target boards with a chinese crossbow. The stall claimed that it was a "Zhuge Nu"（诸葛弩）, meaning a crossbow designed by the famous strategist Zhuge Liang（诸葛亮）in the Romance of the 3 Kingdoms. What is so intriguing about the crossbow is that it was known to be a rapid-firing crossbow, capable of shooting up to 10 bolts, increasing Shu（蜀） army's firepower back in the 3 Kingdom Era.

On the second day, we went to Qingyang Gong （青羊宫）, a taoist temple in Chengdu. Unfortunately for the students, the taoist priest guide was talking at such a rapid speed that most of them could not catch what he was saying. The fact that he was talking about Chinese mythology and taoist beliefs did not help the students to understand the place better too. The goat has the characteristics of all 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac: Dragon horn, Mouse ears, Roster eyes, Goat beard, Monkey neck, Cow nose, Horse mouth, Tiger claws, Dog belly, Pig bottom, Rabbit back and Snake tail. By touching the part of the goat belonging to your own zodiac, you can pray for harmony within the family and smooth ride for the year ahead.

According to the priest, this pavilion was built to represent that the sky was round and the earth square, so the pavilion is circular and built on a square raised platform. The raised platform is built on the centre of 9 big square tiles, thus signifying that the pavilion is positioned in the middle of a 9 square 8 trigrams （九宫八卦）. Being in the centre of the temple grounds, this pavilion will maintain the equilibrium of all the forces in the area. The pavilion has 5 colours to symbolise the 5 Chinese elements. Red for fire, yellow for earth, green for wood, black for water and white for gold.





After the temple visit, we went to another famous street in Chengdu, Qin Tai Street （琴台街）and did some shopping for souvenirs and local produce. After lunch, we proceeded to Chengdu's airport and flew over to Xian in the afternoon.