China...a country just as mysterious as Japan and equally rich in history.
The Great Wall of China, built in the Qin Dynasty, was erected by the hands of over 75 million slaves and soldiers working together to create an impenetrable border against the Mongol hordes of the north. The walk at the top is thirty feet wide. Every several hundred feet stands a fort which had been home to the soldiers who fought for their land. One fact about this immense piece of human technology: it is the only man-made object which can be seen from outer space!
The Imperial Palace in the center of what was once called The Forbidden City. The walled city received its notorious name due to the fact that only the empress lived within, served by chattles (female servants) and eunuchs who waited on her hand and foot. The feet of the empress never touched the floor because it was considered ungodly for her to appear before the emperor with soiled feet. She was lifted by castrated male servants and placed within a sedan chair, which was then carried out from her palace, across the square, out of the wall which encircled the palace and brought to the palace of the emperor. This ceremony was performed solely at times of conception and anniversaries, both of which were elaborately celebrated with music, singing...and fireworks.
The Beijing Opera. Everybody in the outside world believes that the artists of China perform only Chinese works. But, this is not true. The Beijing Opera, as well as its ballet and circus, performs works by world famous composers as Tchaikovsky, Verdi and Bizet. But, the most famous, and favorite, opera performed constantly in Beijing is Puccini's Turandot (pictured), which tells the story of a Chinese princess who is the reincarnation of another princess murdered 5,000 years earlier. Every suitor is given three questions which he must answer. If he answers correctly, the princess will become his bride. If not...his head joins the countless others on stakes in the courtyard. An unknown prince, entranced by her beauty, demands to be put to the test against the wishes of his father, a deposed king, and his servant-girl, Liu. The emperor himself wishes the prince to quit his endeavor. But the prince is adamant and demands to be put to the test. The prince quickly answers the first two questions, which raises applause and cheers from the people who wish to put an end to the princess's bloodshed. When he becomes stumped by the third question, the princess begins to gloat over her apparent victory...a victory lost when the correct answer comes to the prince. The princess cries out that she will never marry the prince. But, the emperor reminds her that his oath is sacred and that his daughter must marry the man who had defeated her. The prince decides to take some pressure off of the princess's shoulder...he will die for her only if she learns his name by the next sunrise. She does everything within her power to force the people of the town to discover his name...even going as far as trying to pry the name from the lips of his father and Liu. The faithful servant-girl, however, takes a dagger from one of the soldiers and kills herself. As the soldiers carry the girl's body offstage, followed by the deposed king, the prince tells the princess that he will melt her cold heart and kisses her. Having felt the kiss of a man, the princess starts to feel warmth for the first time in her life. Just short of dawn, the prince tells the princess his name. When the court is assembled, she tells her father that she now knows the prince's name...and his name is Love. As she and the prince embrace, there are cheers from the people and the emperor, who is happy to die now in the knowledge that all the bloodshed is ended.
China is so huge that it has over thirty different dialects, of which I speak four...Mandarin, Cantonese (the most famous and widely used dialect...even in Chinese towns in the United States), Shanxi (which is used mainly in Shendong Province) and Min Nan (the language of Nationalist China, the island of Taiwan). Other languages are Tibetan, Lhasan (which my wife speaks as well as the four I do), Hockian, Khitan and many others.
China's main staple is rice, which is served with every other meal like beef and chicken. Maybe that's why many of the Chinese people are slender or muscular.
China is also the one country where there are more people using bicycles than automobiles.
Once one of the poorest countries, China is now an extremely wealthy nation due to its mining and selling of pure silver.
Traveling through this magnificent land, one would never know that this is one of the few countries which still follows Communism....if not for a small red book which everybody, young and old, carries. The book contains the published teachings of Chairman Mao Tse-tung, who not only wanted his people to spread the wealth but to also go forward in progress.
By the way...at the time which I am entering this piece into my blog, I am in Hong Kong, working on a film.
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