Thursday, January 10, 2008

Confucius' Temple






Yesterday we went as a group to the Confucius Temple district of Nanjing. The area is in ancient downtown Nanjing and is primarily a pedestrian area with carved and cobblestone walkways and plazas. Confucius' Temple, built in 1034 as a shrine to the ancient philosopher Confucius, is the center of the district, along with a museum memorializing the history of Nanjing as a capital city. (Nanjing means "southern capital.")

The temple (more of a memorial than a religious site) is on the grounds of the Imperial Academy, first erected in the fourth century AD. For centuries, aspiring civil servants from all around China came to Nanjing to take the civil service examination. The examinations would take three days, and testtakers were confined to small cells for the duration. They had to bring in their own food and use a toilet in the cell, which was little larger than a phone booth. Because a good result on the exam would bring imperial employment and lifetime security, cheating was harshly punished (up to and including execution!). Still, the museum had many examples of cheat sheets -- palm-sized pieces of rice paper written on with whiskers dipped in ink.

The temple and old imperial buildings have been rebuilt several times, particularly in the aftermath of World War II, when the Japanese army devastated the city. This week, the area was in the process of being decorated for the Chinese New Year. The district has become a trendy shopping area too, and because there are so many pedestrians, there are very few bikes or vehicles. That may have been why the four guys in the photo were hauling rock manually. On the other hand, we have seen in Beijing and Nanjing that, even though there is construction going on everywhere, and heavy machinery abounds, much work is still done manually.

The last photo is an inside joke for those of you who knew Kari's Grandma Gracie. Lillian is a squatter too -- especially when she's eating Cheerios or studying something on the floor. She can move around swiftly in that position, just like her great-grandma!

3 comments:

The Vincent Austins said...

Great Grandma Gracie would have loved this blog as well as we all do. Lily will have a wealth of background
for her to study as she grows. It becomes a tour for us all to see what you're seeing. I imagine your tales will be interesting and can't wait to hear them all. Lily gets cuter every day! Love, Mom and Dad

Unknown said...

Funny, without even reading, my first thoughts were," oh, that's just like Grandma Gracie."

Brenda Chelvan said...

The Grandma Gracie pose is just too funny! Lily and Josh can play together, both in that pose one of these days....that will be quite a photo op! :)

Thanks for keeping us all updated.

Love,
Brenda, Chris, & Josh