Vignettes of the World
The afternoon heat was waning. I debated whether to see just one more site in the Zhongshan National Park before heading back to the hotel. I felt like I have seen what I wanted to see in terms of history. Yet I told myself to …
Once described as the First Villa of the Far East, the Former Residence of the Chairman of the Republican Government provides an intimate glimpse into the lives of Chiang Kai-shek and his wife Soong Meiling. Nanjing called it fondly as the Soong Meiling Villa, as …
The Ming Filial Tomb (Ming Xiaoling) had historical significance on China’s imperial burial rites. The architecture and formalities of the Ming emperor mausoleums preserved some features of their predecessors. Yet in breaking many new grounds, the Ming Filial Tomb established itself as a milestone development in imperial burials. It became the standard for all imperial burials in the Ming and Qing dynasties for five hundred years after.
In 1381, construction for the Ming Filial Tomb began. In 1398, Zhu Yuanzhang lied in rest here. Construction for all the structures completed in 1413. As the tomb of the founding emperor of Ming Dynasty, this mausoleum is the most extensive out of the nineteen Ming Dynasty imperial tombs. The other Ming tombs are spread in different regions in China, in Jiangsu, Anhui, Beijing and Hubei.
Visitors would go through the key structures on the site by walking straight on the central path. First structure to greet the visitors was the Gate of the Civil and the Military, then the Monument Hall, which was built pursuant to the order of Qing Dynasty’s Kangxi Emperor. Then the Sacrificial Hall housed the memorial tablets of Zhu Yuanzhang, his empress and the concubines. Having passed the Neihong Gate, visitors would soon arrive at the Ming Tower. Finally, one would arrive at the Treasure Mound, where Zhu Yuanzhang was actually buried.
This site presented visitors with an interesting experience. All along the central avenue I was awestruck by the grand structures. At the Ming Tower, there was a thorough exhibition showing visitors the structures and history of all nineteen Ming tombs. I was excited. Would I see something like a terracotta troop at the burial?
I walked down from the Ming Tower and came face-to-face with the burial ground. It was, for the lack of a better word, a pile of bricks. Etched onto the brick wall were the words, “here lies the Ming Taizu (Founding) Emperor.” When I saw that, I exclaimed, “that’s it?” At ground level, I was unable to view fully the circular mound that housed the remains of Zhu Yuanzhang. As such, I did not get a full perspective of the burial ground.
The tree-lined Scared Way had two sections. One featured twelve pairs of stone statues of six different species of animals. Shi Xiang Lu, the stone path that featured real and mystical animals, was named after the elephant, which was the largest animal on the path. The lions symbolized the authority and power of the emperor. The Xiezhi were mythological creatures that symbolized justice and fairness. The camels were animals of the desert, as such it conveyed the marvel at Ming Dynasty’s large territory. The elephants, with its enormous size, symbolized stability. The unicorns symbolized kindness and brought forth auspiciousness. Finally, the horses were the animals of warfare and victory.
The Weng Zhong path featured four civilian officials and four generals. Together the civilians and the generals guarded the dignity of the tomb. They symbolized loyalty. These statues were each carved out of one piece of stone slab. The statues were innovative because they broke with the Tang and Song Dynasties’ convention of lining the sacred way with columns. In these earlier sacred ways the carving were lotus designs on the top of the columns. Furthermore, the location of the Sacred Way was also unconventional. It did not align with the central avenue of the Ming Filial Tomb.
The original Sacred Way that led to the Ming Filial Tomb was very long, stretching all the way outside the Zhongshan Mountain National Park into Nanjing City. The two paths with stone statues captured the Ming Filial Tomb’s glory.
Next to the Sacred Way was the beautiful Sakura Garden. I could not resist its beauty and took a good walk within. Nanjing certainly cared for its gardens. I could tell that there was a careful balance between man-made structures and nature. Pagodas, pavilions and stone bridges stood amidst blooming cherry blossoms, ever so humbly. Some ladies were harvesting tea leaves from the bushes. This area was also the burial site for Sun Quan, an emperor of the Wu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms Period.
As I passed through the Tablet Tower of Great Merits and exited the Da Jing Gate, I came upon the next site: the Soong Meiling Villa.
Despite having done some research, I made some critical mistakes on this trip. Although I did learn that the museums of China (all over the nation) close on Mondays, I did not know that it includes the Dr. Sun Yatsen Mausoleum. Furthermore, the staff told …
There were two reasons why I visited Zhan Yuan (Zhan Garden). First and foremost, it was only in Zhan Yuan that one could find an exhibition devoted exclusively to the history of Taiping Rebellion in China. Secondly, Zhan Yuan itself is a site of significance. …
Having learned that the museums of Nanjing are closed on Mondays, I was determined to visit the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Jiangdongmen on Sunday, my second-last full day in Nanjing. For it was one of the main reasons why I visited Nanjing in the first place.
At 7:30 I was up and by 8:30 I was in line at the museum. There was a long queue. Some prepared flowers to present to the victims at the memorial. In contrast with other tourist areas, the crowd was very quiet at the Memorial Hall, and solemnity was apparent. Perhaps the people there, most of whom likely to be Chinese tourists from other provinces, felt a need to prepare our emotions for what the museum was about to show. I took deep breaths as the line proceeded smoothly into the museum.
There were some expectations. I wanted to see exhibits that were educational, fair and communicative.
By 8:45 I was inside the museum.
Entering the museum, I met the living spirits of Nanjing. The first recognition went to the survivors of the Nanjing atrocities. Book-like titles displayed their names, lining up individually across a vast wall. Then came the portraits of those who survived and lived to old age. The message was clear: we celebrate the survivors.
The narrative then proceeded to the historical. Informative exhibits introduced the visitors to the beginning of Japan’s invasion of Nanjing. Displays showed the routes that the Japanese Imperial Army took to take down Nanjing, leading up to the Fall of Nanjing on December 13, 1937. These displays were very powerful emotionally. At the eve of the invasion, Nanjing stood helpless as a prey.
A memorial plaque displaying the names of the fallen martyrs of Nanjing reminded visitors of the enormous human costs of war. By then, the visitors knew that displays of heartbreaking atrocities would follow. The witnesses’ powerful testaments showed that survival was really a matter of chance in face of senseless killings. Hatred, racist ideology, the desire for revenge and sadistic pleasure motivated these atrocities.
As the narrative proceeded, and having seen graphic pictures of murders, mass executions, vandalism, arson, robbery and rape, I came to one question.
Was there hope?
Then came a very good section on the angels that guarded Nanjing throughout the Japanese occupation. Testimonies of the foreigners and foreign missionaries that maintained the Safety Zone and the refugee camps showed their commitment to human dignity. Their solidarity with the Chinese people and amongst themselves served as the only source of hope for the refugees.
To name a few, there were Minnie Vautrin, John Magee, George Fitch, Lewis Smythe, Robert Wilson, Clifford Trimmer, E. Sperling, John Rabe, and many others. Some were pastors, some were missionaries, some were teachers, some led the Red Cross, and many were heads of the China divisions of large foreign enterprises. By drawing on their own connections in China and abroad, these foreigners were able to save lives. More importantly, they preserved the truth of the atrocities by their own witness accounts and daring attempts to document the atrocities on film. The systematic documentation of the atrocities could have cost them their own lives.
If there was just a slimmer of hope in Nanjing at the time, these foreigners were the ones that kept the light from extinguishing.
Finally, I encourage visitors to see the pit of the ten thousand corpses. Mass graves were discovered in the Jiangdongmen area of Nanjing during the 1980s. This discovery resulted in Jiangdongmen being chosen as the site of this Memorial Hall.
Simplified Chinese, English and Japanese captions were available on every exhibit. I thought the museum has well-exceeded my expectation. The spirit of truth, justice, survival, solidarity and dialogue came through. Overall, I did not feel the dogged, argumentative patriotism that so commonly feature in China’s diplomatic discourse, perhaps with the exception of the concluding remarks.
Three hours later, I stepped out of the darkness in the museum into the bright, hot day outside. I said to myself, “the sun will always shine in Nanjing.”
When travelling solo, I am always aware of the ebb and flow of my mood. There is a kind of rhythm, a leap of the heart at the excitement of observing unfamiliar scenes and appreciating similarities at the same time. Unforeseen circumstances, be it bad …
The afternoon was bright and it was becoming very hot. I headed to the southwestern part of the city looking for food. The plan was to visit the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Jiangdongmen after lunch. I was …
I booked this trip to Nanjing in April 2019 for a brief three-and-a-half days, originally hoping to relax. If not for this blog, I would not have pushed myself over the limit on this trip. I walked so much that my feet swelled. On my last day, I almost could not fit in my runners.
But that is another story.
In Day 2, I woke by 7am and was ready to go. I planned to see the Rooster Crow Temple (Jiming Si), the Ming Dynasty City Wall of Nanjing (Ming Cheng Qiang), and the Xuanwu Lake (Xuanwuhu) in the morning. The afternoon would be either the Sun Yatsen Mausoleum or the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Jiangdongmen.
If readers are looking for tips on Nanjing, I think the above-mentioned sites are must-see. That was why I tried to pack all that into the first two days.
The Rooster Crow Temple prides in its long history as one of the first temples in Nanjing. As early as the first year of the Yongkang Reign during the Western Jin Dynasty (300AD), the temple has served as a site of Buddha worship. During the Southern Dynasty, the first Emperor Liangwu Di of the Liang period built the Tongtai Temple in this site. As such, the Rooster Crow Temple’s predecessor was the first of the 480 Temples in the Southern Dynasty. Himself dedicated to the study of Buddhism here as a monk, Liangwu Di declared the decree of vegetarianism for Buddhist monks in 511AD. That would be the beginning of the vegetarian diet in Chinese Buddhism.
The first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty (Ming Tai Zu, whose name is Zhu Yuanzhang) rebuilt the temple compound here in 1387. He named this temple Rooster Crow Temple (Jiming Si). It means that at the Rooster’s Crow, people rise to practice swordsmanship. The Ming Emperor certainly appreciated the virtue of discipline and diligence.
Today, the Rooster Crow Temple is both a place of Buddha worship and a monastery.
As early as I was at the temple at 8:30, there was already quite a crowd in the temple compound. By the time I left the Xuanwu Lake, the whole area became extremely crowded.
At the end of the tour route at the temple, one will enter the famous Ming Dynasty City Wall (Ming Cheng Qiang). Because the Taiping Gate was closed for renovation when I visited, the walk on the City Wall was rather short. It might have been less than half a kilometer.
Perhaps what sets the Ming Dynasty City Wall apart from the other defensive walls of China was the existence of bricks with embossed wordings. The wordings denote the identity of the kilns. In early Ming Dynasty when the Emperor built the wall, he demanded bricks from the kilns all over the country. If a shipment was defective, the brick maker would have one chance to make good. If the second shipment was also defective, it was an offense punishable by death.
Along the city wall there was a display of ancient materiel, mostly of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was truly an open-space museum.
Looking on, the Xuanwu Lake lies ahead within walking distance. From the high vantage point of the City Wall, one could take a panoramic view of the Lake.
Exiting the City Wall, I walked over to two of the five Isles on the lake, called Huan (Ring) Isle and the Ying (Cherry Blossom) Isle. The springtime cherry blossom welcomed the visitors in a very festive atmosphere. The vast body of surrounding water soothed my mind. Just a short walk around the carefully landscaped gardens provides respite within Nanjing’s developed urban-scape.
The Xuanwu Lake served a few purposes for the ancient dynasties that named Nanjing as the capital. It was once the site of naval training during the Six Dynasties period. The ancients fully appreciated its beauty and it was also a recreational facility for the royalties during the Six Dynasties. The location of the lake being at the northern side of Nanjing also made it perfect as a natural barrier against invasion, as it was considered a moat surrounding the city wall. Finally, it was also the source of fresh water supply for the capital during the Ming Dynasty, as the existence of ancient water gates attest.
I savored the views of the natural lake in awe, at the same time taking in the lessons of history that I learned along the way.
It was only in the Xuanwuhu Tunnel that I noticed flashlights about once every ten seconds or so. I asked the driver what those were. “Those are cameras. They capture the cars that pass by, thereby tracing the movement and direction of every car in …