the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses

The Terracotta Army of China was discovered in March 1974 by local farmers drilling a well to the east of Mount Li. Mount Li is the name of the man-made necropolis and tomb of the First Emperor of Qin; Qin Shi Huang. Construction of this mausoleum began in 246 B.C. and is believed to have taken 700,000 workers and craftsmen 36 years to complete. Qin Shi Huang was interred inside the tomb complex upon his death in 210 B.C. According to the Grand Historian Sima Qian, The First Emperor was buried alongside great amounts of treasure and objects of craftsmanship, as well as a scale replica of the universe complete with gemmed ceilings representing the cosmos, and flowing mercury. representing the great earthly bodies of water. Recent scientific work at the site has shown high levels of mercury in the soil of Mount Li, tentatively indicating an accurate description of the site’s contents by Sima Qian.

The tomb of Qin Shi Huang is near an earthen pyramid 76 meters tall and nearly 350 meters square। The tomb presently remains unopened। There are plans to seal-off the area around the tomb with a special tent-type structure to prevent corrosion from exposure to outside air। However, there is at present only one company in the world that makes these tents, and their largest model will not cover the site as needed.

Qin Shi Huang’s necropolis complex was constructed to serve as an imperial compound or palace. It is comprised of several offices, halls and other structures and is surrounded by a wall with gateway entrances. The remains of the craftsmen working in the tomb may also be found within its confines, as it is believed they were sealed inside alive to keep them from divulging any secrets about its riches or entrance. It was only fitting, therefore, to have this compound protected by the massive terra cotta army interred nearby.

Emperor Qin Shihuang

The terracotta figures were buried with the first Emperor of Qin (Qin Shi Huang) in 210-209 BC। Consequently, they are also sometimes referred to as "Qin's Army."

Emperor Qin Shihuang (259-210B।C.) had Ying as his surname and Zheng as his given name. He name to the throne of the Qin at age 13, and took the helm of the state at age of 22. By 221 B.C., he had annexed the six rival principalities of Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao and Wei, and established the first feudal empire in China’s history.

Emperor Qin Shihuang，for his own pleasure, conscribed several hundred thousand convicts and went in for large-scale construction and had over seven hundred palaces built in the Guanzhong Plain. These palaces stretched several hundred li and he sought pleasure from one palace to the other. Often nobody knew where he ranging treasures inside the tomb, were enclosed alive.

Beijing

Beijing， the capital city of China， is a very beautiful and important city. It is one of the most ancient cities in China. There are many famous wonders and beautiful spots， such as the Great Wall， the Forbidden City， the Summer Palace， Beihai Park and so on. Beijing is also the centre of politics， economy and culture of our country. Owing to the open-door policy， great changes have taken place since 1978. Many new houses and tall buildings can be seen everywhere. The living condition of Beijing citizen is getting better and better. Beijing has been successfully in her bidding for the 2008 Olympic Games. I'm sure greater changes will take place in Beijing in the next few years. I love Beijing!

Beijing will host(主办) the Olympic Games in 2008,so people are doing a lot to make the city more beautiful.In 2008 the streets in Beijing will be wider.The building in Beijing will be higher and there will be more trees and flowers.Not new lights, and not cross the line, and not drink driving, not Luantingluanfang.Arbitrarily and lines, stop, drink driving, etc., these uncivilized acts, not only to Lu Tian Du, the more people they Tiandu. The Beijing transit, a taxi driver driving initiatives civilization is the civilization with their own actions contribute to the improvement of the Beijing traffic, but also for Olympic glory. Only people are civilized, to comply with laws, regulations and public morality, I believe 08 of the Olympic Games will be the best Olympic Games ever.

Suzhou gardens

The Suzhou Garden is one of China Classical gardens, it is different with the China Northern Royal Garden.

Give the Enemy a Ray of Hope

In 206 B.C., Cao Cao (155-220), a great statesman, artist of war and man of letters, led his army to attack the city of Huguan. As the city was strategically located and very difficult to access, Cao's army could not take it in spite of great efforts. Cao got extremely outraged and said, "Once I get into the city, I will have all those in it buried alive."
Soon his words were spread throughout the city. As the defenders in the city feared that it would really happen to them, they waged a desperate resistance. As a result, Cao's army found it even harder to win the battle. They made months of attempts to get in but in vain. Cao became more uneasy and consulted with his generals for a scheme.
At a meeting, General Cao Ren rose from his seat and said, "The art of war tells us that we should not put the enemy in too tight a ring, that the enemy should be left a way to survive. But now we have been trapping our enemy in a deadly corner. What's more, you have declared to have them all buried alive. This will only make them battle desperately against us, for they would rather fight to death than be buried alive. As I estimate, the enemy has almost run out of supplies. If we now give them a ray of hope by leaving an open in the ring, they are very likely to surrender to us, for they would rather survive than fight to death for nothing."
Cao Cao thought the idea quite sensible and ordered to do as the general said. As had been expected, the defending troops in the city soon crossed over to Cao's side. The city was finally seized without a cruel fight.

A Foolish Man Buys Shoes

In the past there lived a foolish man in a small kingdom called Zheng. One day he wanted to buy himself a pair of new shoes. He measured his feet with a ruler first and wrote down his size. But he was in such a hurry to set out that he left it at home.
When he arrived at a shoe shop, he felt in the pocket only to find that it was not there. So he said apologetically, 'I have left the measurement at home and don't know the size. I'll fetch it in one minute.' With these words he hurried off as fast as his legs could carry him.
He ran back home, found it and then to the shop again. But still it took him quite a while and the shop was already closed then. He had gone to all this trouble for nothing and did not get his shoes.
Then someone asked him, 'Did you buy the shoes for yourself or someone else?' 'For myself, of course.' he answered. 'Then why don't you try the shoes on by yourself?'

The Donkey of Guizhou

Once upon a time there was no donkey in Guizhou. So someone officious shipped one there, but。finding no use for it, he set it loose at the foot of the mountain. A tiger ran out from the mountains. When he saw this big tall thing, he thought it must be divine. He quickly hid himself in the forest and surveyed it from under cover. Sometimes the tiger ventured a little nearer, but still kept a respectful distance. One day the tiger came out again. Just then the donkey gave a loud bray. Thinking the donkey was going to eat him, the tiger hurriedly ran away. After a while he sneaked back and watched the donkey carefully. He found that though it had a huge body it seemed to have no special ability. After a few days the tiger gradually became accustomed to its braying and was no longer so afraid. Sometimes he even came near and circled around the donkey. Later the tiger became bolder. Once he walked in front of the donkey and purposely bumped it. This made the donkey so angry that it struck out his hind legs and kicked wildly. Seeing this the tiger was very gleeful, 'Such a big thing as you can do so little!' With a roar he pounced on the donkey and ate it up.

Plucking Up a Crop To Help It Grow

XChinese proverbs are rich and they are still widely used in Chinese people's daily life. There are often stories behind Chinese proverbs. We will introduce one proverb, 'plucking up a crop to help it grow.' This Chinese proverb is based on the following story.
It is said that a short tempered man in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) was very anxious to hope his rice crop growing up quickly. He was thinking about this day and night. But the crop was growing much slower than he expected.
One day, he thought a solution to this. He plucked up all of his crop a few inches.
Even though he was very tired after doing this for a whole day, but he felt very happy since the crop did 'grow' higher.
His son heard about this and went to see the crop. Unfortunately the leaves of the crop began to wither.
This proverb is saying we have to let things go in its natural course. Being too anxious to help an event to develop often results in the contrary to our intent.

Oriental Philosophy

Whenever the terms Buddhism and Taoism are mentioned, one tends to invoke the vision of temples, idol worships, incense sticks, fortune telling etc.. Unfortunately, like many other systems of philosophy and religion that had deviated from their origins; corrupted by clerics and usurped by religious leader for purposes of their own; Buddhism and Taoism started not as a religion, but rather, as a philosophy.
Contrary to the superstitious versions of Buddhism and Taoism that come with a multitudes of gods, the original Buddhist and Taoist philosophy considered the concept of god as irrelevant.
In Buddhism, the ultimate goal is to reach a state free from earthly pains and sorrows. This state could be attainable by following certain ways of getting rid of earthly attachments and desires. Buddhist believed in that anxiety is a result of desire. By getting rid of your desires, you release yourself form all anxieties. "Buddha" is not a god but a "state of being" to strive for.
The central idea in Taoism is the harmony of nature and the need for man to be part of that harmony. Everything we know is encompassed in nature. The universe, and all things in it, run according to the "Tao" . The concept of a rewarding and punishing god is considered to be ludicrous.
"Nature holds no prejudice and cares for all things the same. It views everything as so many straw dogs, neither loving nor hating them." Lao-Tzu , Tao, Chapter 5 About 25 years ago, during an incident involving 5 unwanted baby cats put away for euthanasia by the SPCA , I came to the conclusion that the universe is "indifferent". The universe runs on in its own merry way without taking notice. It is us who created god in our own image: a god whose attributes are nothing but a mere extension of our view of an all-seeing, all rewarding, all punishing parent.
Some years later, I came across a presentation of Lao Tzu's book in a format that I can understand and I found the passage about nature holds no prejudices etc.. and I felt justified.
Although I do not agree with everything that is presented by the Taoist and Buddhist, I think many parts of their philosophy do have a lot of merit.
Many religions have God as the creator of the universe and left it at that. Everything is assumed to be concrete. There is no discussion about space, time, reality , perception etc.. These religions are more concern with how men and women should behave in order to please god and how god must be glorified and worshiped. In other words, men and women are created so that there is some one around to glorify the work of god. I strongly believe that if there is a god that have the ability to create all the universe and the wonders in it, he/she would be beyond this pettiness of needing someone to constantly chanting about how great he/she is.
In Buddhism and Taoism, there is a considerable part of their doctrine devoted to the search for an understanding of the concepts of space, time, real reality and perceived reality.
In Quantum Mechanics we talk about a measured quantity as being the result of an interaction between the measuring instrument and the quantum states of a system. The true quantum state cannot be measured without having the state being altered. In Buddhism, the world of our perceptions is the result of the interaction between our senses and the true world. The reality we perceive is but a distorted image of the true world; a construction of our sensory perception. Of course, this idea is not unique. Plato talked about the shadows in the caves and Immanual Kant talked about noumenal and phenomenal world. I once heard some one said," Philosophy is a continuous process of re-discovering past illuminations."
It is sad to see that Buddhism, Taoism and even Confucism have degenerated to become religions of idols and incense burning. But then, so are all the other religions: One version for the hierarchy and one "concessional " version for the masses.
If you are interested in finding out more about Buddhism and Taoism and is baffled by the cryptic and metaphorical language that most texts are written in, I recommend a series of books written by a Taiwanese Comic Strip writer which have been translated into English by Brian Bruya. Each book is composed of a series of comic strip style illustrations along with text quoted from major Buddhist and Taoist works. For the bilingual reader (Chinese and English), let me warn you ahead of time that not all the Chinese text on the side of the comic strips are in synchronization with the English Translation in the strip itself.

Chinese Legends and Gods

Houyi Shot the SunsHouyi (or Yi) was the hero who shot the suns in the ancient mythology of China.Chinese GhostThe story about Zhuxi and ghosts.
The Gate GodsThe custom for the Chinese New Year.
Kitchen GodThe tradition of Chinese New Year.
Yellow EmperorHuangdi (Yellow Emperor) is generally regarded as the ancestor of the Huaxia race.
ShennongShennong, also called Yan Emperor, was the god of farming and Chinese medicine in the mythology of ancient China.
Yao EmperorYao was an emperor in the ancient legend of China. He was regarded as an ideal emperor in people's mind.
KuaFu Chased the SunA god named KuaFu determined to have a race with the sun.
Mulan Goes to DisneyDisney's latest animated movie.
NianA story about the monster and Chinese New Year.
Nvwa Mended the FirmamentThe story about Nvwa, the ancestor of mankind in the mythology of ancient China.
Nv WaThe first heroine in Chinese history.
FuxiFuxi is the legendary god in the mythology of ancient China.
Pan Gu Creates the WorldThe Chinese legend about Pan Gu.
Town God TempleIn almost every large and medium-sized city in China, one can find a Chenghuang Temple or Town God Temple. In the temple, sits a statue of the town god.
Chinese StoriesInclues tales, legends, folk stories and Chinese traditions.

China Dragon(Long)

Dragon occupies a very important postion in Chinese mythology. It shows up in arts, literature, poetry, architecture, songs, and many aspects of the Chinese conscience. The origin of Chinese dragons is unknown, but centainly pre-dates the written history.
Wine Jar, Ming Dynasty, early 16-th centuryThese brilliantly colored large stoneware vessels are one of the most popular wares of the Ming period. The lively design features two pairs of dragons pursuing the flaming jewel amidst sea acn cloud motifs. - From Two Thousand Years of Chinese Ceramics by V. Reynolds,P.H. Curtis, and Y.F. Pei
Vase, Chia Ching reign (1532-1455)Porcelain, with five-color enameled decoration of imperial five clawed dragons sporting amid waves. Art Treasures of the Peking Museum.

Gilded bronze dragon Tang Dynasty (AD618-906). Excavated 1975, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province. Shaanxi History Museum
Royal Dragon Robes of Emperors
A portrait of Emperor Tai-Tsung, Tang Dynasty (626-649). Both the dragon motif and the yellow color are restricted to the royalty only.
The "100 boys" jacket of Empress Xiao Jing is embroidered with figures of dragons, bamboo, flowers, and 100 boys playing games, flying kites, catching birds, and pretending to be officials. Empress Xiao Jing is a comtemporary of Elizabeth I of England.
Painting of Emperor Chien-Lung [Qianlong] , Ching [Qing] Dynasty (1736-1795).
Robes
Dragon robe Minneapolis Institute of Art, Ching [Qing] Dynasty (1821-50).
Dragon robe of a MandarianThe Rising Celestial Dragon. Details of a mandrarin robe of embroidered silk, Chia-ching period (1796-1820), Qing Dynasty.
Dragon robe silkChuba, Qing Dynasty (17-th century). Metropolitan Museum, New York
Emperor KangXi at his deskEmperor KanXi of Ching Dynasty. This is his favorite location to pose for a portrait. Peking Museum, Beijing. (208k)
Red DragonA pair of dragons on a painted lacquer brush-pot, Wan-li period (1573-1620), Ming dynastry, h. 13 in.
Nine Dragon WallA very popular tourist site in Beijing is this Nine-Dragon Wall in BaiHai Park. After hundreds of years, the colors of the ceramic tiles are just as brilliant.
The wall was built in 1756. It is 21m long, about 15m high and i.2m thick. It is faced with 424 7-color ceramic tiles. At the center of the wall, there is a giant dragon, flanged by four dragons on each side. In addition to these nine large dragons, the wall is covered from edge to edge with many smaller dragons. In all, there are 635 dragons.
Overall view of the 9-dragon wall
A closer view
Jade Coiled Dragon Jade coiled dragon, Hongshan Culture (c. 4700-2920 B.C.)Liaoning Provincial Institute of Archaeology, Shenyang
Nine Sons of Dragon-And where to find them.
Tales from the Land of Dragons-Boston Museum of Arts
Discussions about Dragon robes- The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Calendar of Dragon Boat Races
Dragon and Phoenix
Tricia's Chinese Water Dragon page Have you ever seen a Chinese water dragon before?
Chinese alligator sinensis
Chinese alligator
Celestial Dragons

China cuture

Calligraphy has traditionally been regarded as China's highest form of visual art - to the point that a person's character was judged by the elegance of their handwriting! Decorative calligraphy is found all over China, in temples and adorning the walls of caves and the sides of mountains and monuments.The basic tools of calligraphy - brush and ink - are also the tools of Chinese painting, with linework and tone the all-important components.
Despite the ravages of time, war and ideology, there's still a lot to see architecturally. Traces of the past include the imperial structures of Beijing, the colonial buildings of Shanghai, the occasional rural village and Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist temples. Funerary art was already a feature of Chinese culture in Neolithic times (9000-6000 BC), ranging from ritual vessels and weapons to pottery figures, jade and sacrificial vessels made of bronze. Earthenware production is almost as ancient, with the world's first proto-porcelain being produced in China in the 6th century AD, reaching its artistic peak under the Song rulers.
China's language is officially Mandarin, as spoken in Beijing. The Chinese call it Putonghua. About 70% of the population speak Mandarin, but that's just the tip of the lingusitic iceberg. The country is awash with dialects, and dialects within dialects - and few of them are mutually intelligible. Of the seven major strains, Cantonese is the one most likely to be spoken in your local Chinese takeaway. It's the lingua franca of Guangdong, southern Guangxi, Hong Kong and (to an extent) Macau.
China's literary heritage is huge, but unfortunately its untranslatability makes much of it inaccessible to Western readers. Traditionally there are two forms, the classical (largely Confucian) and the vernacular (such as the prose epics of the Ming dynasty). Chinese theatre is also known as opera because of the important role played by music, and has spawned such diverse arts as acrobatics, martial arts and stylised dance. Many Western film-lovers are fans of Chinese cinema, with releases enjoying success at film festivals and art-house cinemas. Recently there has been an emergence of talented 'fifth-generation' post-Cultural Revolution directors, including Zhang Yimou (Red Sorghum, Chen Kaige (Farewell, My Concubine), Wu Ziniu and Tian Zhuangzhuang. Add to them Hong Kong's East-meets-West action directors John Woo (Hard Boiled) and Ringo Lam (Full Contact) and you have a full-fledged, extremely successful film industry.
Chinese cuisine is justifiably famous, memorably diverse - and generally not for the squeamish. The Chinese themselves like to say they'll eat anything with four legs except a table. For the most part, however, it's a case of doing ingenious things with a limited number of basic ingredients. The cuisine can be divided into four regional categories: Beijing/Mandarin and Shandong (with steamed bread and noodles as staples), Cantonese and Chaozhou (lightly cooked meats and vegetables), Shanghainese (the home of 'red cooking' and wuxi spare ribs) and Sichuan (spicy, with lots of chilli). Tea is the most common nonalcoholic beverage on sale, although Coca-Cola (both original and bogus) is making inroads, while beer is by far the most popular alcoholic drink. 'Wine' is a loose term which can cover oxidised and herb-soaked concoctions, rice wine and wine containing lizards, bees or pickled snakes. Another favourite is maotai, a spirit made from sorghum which smells like rubbing alcohol and makes a good substitute for petrol or paint thinner.