There were four of us: two fellow teachers and one of the teacher's brother-in-law. He was a big part of the reason why we went where we did. He will only be here for a week, so he has to see things before heading back to England. (He is currently off spending time with his brother a couple of hours north, so he had limited time in Beijing.) The leader of the day (sister-in-law) found a tour group online, and for a ridiculously small amount of money, we spent the day sight-seeing. (By ridiculously small, I mean that for about $25 U.S. each, we got picked up at our apartments, driven to all five locations, and were fed lunch. Oh, and then got dropped off back at our apartments.)
The best part (besides the photos and brag factor to all you back home) was the tour guide. Andy didn't just sit up front and buy our tickets, oh no. He actually spent time explaining Chinese mythology and beliefs.
He explained the five elements (water, earth, fire, wood, metal). In the beginning, the raw energy was split by a great knife, and the energy began moving up and down, creating yin and yang. We discussed the two sides -- up/down; male/female; black/white; day/night; sun/moon. He explained how to begin to decipher what things are yin and which are yang. (Yang is male, rising, sun, strength, while yin is female, falling, moon, and fluidity. I found it interesting that the male/female ideals are fairly similar to ancient European beliefs about the nature of the sexes.) Yang is right; yin is left. He then went into the characters for 1, 2, and 3. From them you can create king, which leads to jade, which then creates country.
Once we arrived at the Ming Tombs, he had us primed to stand on the Dragon Line. Much like a Ley Line in a Western construct, the Dragon Line is the line of energy that unlied the Emperor's power. The Tombs stand at the dragon's head, in the north. The Emperor is buried there, because although he is dead, he is not gone. Much like yin/yang, he has just moved to the other side of existence (as the sun moves to the other side of the earth every day). So, this is his home in death. This Tomb has not been opened, because to do so would essentially cut the Dragon's head and would be exceedingly bad luck for China. Even modern China doesn't mess with the Dragon Line.
We also discussed the three doors in the Chinese gates. The center door is for the Emperor, and lies on the Dragon Line. There is also a door to the right and one to the left. While you might think the door on the right is the one for the military generals, because right is yang and yang is strength, you'd be wrong. (I was wrong.) The academics entered on the right because the mind is stronger than the body. Oooooh. Suddenly Teacher's Day doesn't seem so strange. Teachers are yang. I like that.
The bottom of the Dragon Line (where we didn't visit on the tour) is at the Forbidden City. That is the Dragon's Tail. What you might not know is that the Bird's Nest (the Olympic Stadium that is tres cool) also lies on the Dragon Line. Look at a map, all three locations lie in a straight line. Why? Because it's good luck. It's feng shui. (Which means wind water, by the way -- add two more words to my lexicon.) We also discussed some feng shui and how it has much to do with the ancient Taoist beliefs. It is not superstition our guide was sure to point out.
It was a wonderful tour. It was also really the first time someone had even attempted an explanation of the more traditional aspects of Chinese culture. Here in the big city, a lot of that gets lost in the hustle and the bustle. While the Chinese might have it as a part of their world view, they aren't really concerned with talking about it: we all have jobs to do.
The next day the four of us went to Tiananmen and the Forbidden City and walked at the foot of the Dragon Line. We then took a trip to the middle and saw the Olympic Stadium and again walked on the Dragon Line. It was a very lucky couple of days.
You can check out some pics here, if you haven't seen them already.http://picasaweb.google.com/caroline.sco
No comments:
Post a Comment