Wo Bu Zhidao

Goodbye Beijing

Welcome to Shenyang...From Mao Zedong and Bai Yang

Fuling

Apple and I went to go see the burial site of the first emporer of the Qing dynasty, Nurhaci.


One reason that I was quite interested in checking it out is that Apple is Manchurian on her father's side. While we were there Apple was able to show me which one of the eight banners her family was grouped in.


There were lots of people with cameras at the tomb. I can't say that I blame them as the day was quite beautiful.

Like all the other imperial tombs I have visited after entering the main gate there was a long path with statues depicting real and imagined animals flanking it.

This complex had an interesting feature, before you got to the main area you had to cross a small bridge, climb 108 steps and then cross another small bridge. The number 108 is often used in construction of these tombs as it is thought to be particularly auspicious fengshui. I really don't know alot about the whole fengshui thing. I do know that there is supposed to be water to the south and mountains to the north. At this tomb I aw neither. I am sure that they are there, although I wonder how I could overlook a mountain.

Few people realize that it was Nurhaci's invention of the automobile and his environmental policies that allowed him to conquer China. Just in case you are here working on a paper for school the above is a lie. If you are here researching, stop using google for research. You realize that anyone can put anything they want on the internet don't you?


The main building in the complex houses the ceremonial stones that were inscribe with the interning of the body. Here future emporers could come and pay their respects to their progenitor.

We passed through the back door and then were able to see Nurhaci's final home.

There it is the nice hill on the right. I think it is a good place to spend eternity.

五女山

Recently there has been a little bit of controversy over the ancient kingdom of Koguryo. This controversy has even caused the censorship of the Chinese version of a Korean newspaper in China. The newspaper will get no sympathy from me, afterall I didn't see them trying to get my website uncensored in South Korea. When I left Korea on the 20th I still couldn't look at my website or post to it. Now back in China, where my site is also censored, at least I can post to my web page just not look at it.

With all of this modern excitement over ancient history I thought I would take a trip to one of the sites of the ancient kingdom.

Outside of Huairen is a mountain called Wunvshan (Five Women Mountain), it is named for five 'Florence Nightingales' that were buried on the mountain. The mountain was also the home of the first king of Koguryo.

It was quite a climb to see the king's home. Not only was a great deal of climbing involved but we also had to get through some massive ancient walls.

The beautiful woman in the picture above then showed me the other major archaelogical finds on the mountain. First we saw the foudation of the main building of the settlement.

Not much to look at but don't forget it is over 2000 years old. Of interest is the trench through the foundation which was possibly used for heating or plumbing. Next to the main house was a couple of pools that were built 2000 years ago but are still in use today. In Koguryo times they were used for bathing and now for wishing.

So where do I stand on this controversy? Is ancient Koguryo Korean, Chinese, or Japanese? Frankly I think that it is as silly as asking if the Anasazi are American or Mexican. I do think it is important though to ask the people who live in the area what they think and so I did. The kingdom is dead but the remains are in the hometown of the people of Huairen. The people living there now also informed me that regardless of what the dictionary says the name of their town is not pronounced Huanren it is pronounced Huairen.

Gyeongbokgung

The DMZ, Prehistory, and Meat

Who Was First With Movable-type?

The Great Wall

I took the family to the Great Wall today. It seemed that most of China decided this would be a good day to visit. As we were leaving though we passed by a different section of the Great Wall that appeared like it would have been a much more peaceful place to visit.

老外老头老二

Matteo Ricci and Morgan Rocks

Guess which one is wearing a sweater.