heritage of china

THE HISTORY OF CHINA BY LIANG JIA EN

China can be found from as early as 1200 BC under the Shang dynasty (c. 1700–1046 BC).[2] Ancient historical texts such as the Records of the Grand Historian (ca. 100 BC) and the Bamboo Annals describe a Xia dynasty (c. 2100–1700 BC), which had no system of writing on a durable medium, before the Shang.

Much of Chinese culture, literature and philosophy further developed during the Zhou dynasty (1045–256 BC). The Zhou dynasty began to bow to external and internal pressures in the 8th century BC, and the kingdom eventually broke apart into smaller states, beginning in the Spring and Autumn period and reaching full expression in the Warring States period. This is one of multiple periods of failed statehood in Chinese history, the most recent being the Chinese Civil War that started in 1927.

There is interesting part about China

THE MING TOMBS

The Ming tombs are a collection of imperial mausoleums built by the Chinese Ming dynasty emperors. The majority of the Ming tombs are located in a cluster near Beijing and collectively known as the Thirteen Tombs of the Ming Dynasty.From the Yongle Emperor onwards, 13 Ming dynasty emperors were buried in the same area. The Xiaoling tomb of the first Ming Emperor, Hongwu, is located near his capital Nanjing; the second emperor, Jianwen was overthrown by Yongle and disappeared, without a known tomb. 

The "temporary" Emperor Jingtai was also not buried here, as the Emperor Tianshun had denied him an imperial burial; instead, Jingtai was buried west of Beijing.[1] The last Ming emperor buried at the location was Chongzhen, who committed suicide by hanging (on 25 April 1644), was buried in his concubine Consort Tian's tomb, which was later declared as an imperial mausoleum Si Ling by the emperor of the short-lived Shun dynasty Li Zicheng, with a much smaller scale compared to the other imperial mausoleums built for Ming Emperors.

The siting of the Ming dynasty imperial tombs was carefully chosen according to Feng Shui (geomancy) principles. According to these, bad spirits and evil winds descending from the North must be deflected; therefore, an arc-shaped valley area at the foot of the Jundu Mountains, north of Beijing, was selected. This 40 square kilometer area—enclosed by the mountains in a pristine, quiet valley full of dark earth, tranquil water and other necessities as per Feng Shui—would become the necropolis of the Ming dynasty.

At present, only three tombs are open to the public. There have been no excavations since 1989, but plans for new archeological research and further opening of tombs have circulated. They can be seen on Google earth: Chang Ling, the largest; Ding Ling, whose underground palace has been excavated; and Zhao Ling.

The Ming Tombs were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in August 2003. They were listed along with other tombs under the "Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties" designation.

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

The history of the Great Wall of China began when fortifications built by various states during the Spring and Autumn (771–476 bc)[1] and Warring States periods (475–221 bc) were connected by the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, to protect his newly founded Qin dynasty (221–206 bc) against incursions by nomads from Inner Asia. The walls were built of rammed earth, constructed using forced labour, and by 212 bc ran from Gansu to the coast of southern Manchuria.

The Great Wall of China visible today largely dates from the Ming dynasty, as they rebuilt much of the wall in stone and brick, often extending its line through challenging terrain.Some sections remain in relatively good condition or have been renovated, while others have been damaged or destroyed for ideological reasons, deconstructed for their building materials,or lost due to the ravages of time.For long an object of fascination for foreigners, the wall is now a revered national symbol and a popular tourist destination.

THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN

The Temple of Heaven, founded in the first half of the 15th century, is a dignified complex of fine cult buildings set in gardens and surrounded by historic pine woods. In its overall layout and that of its individual buildings, it symbolizes the relationship between earth and heaven – the human world and God's world – which stands at the heart of Chinese cosmogony, and also the special role played by the emperors within that relationship.

Literally the Altar of Heaven.The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest. It has been regarded as a Daoist temple,lthough Chinese heaven worship, especially by the reigning monarch of the day, predates Daoism.

The temple complex was constructed from 1406 to 1420 during the reign of the Yongle Emperor, who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The complex was extended and renamed Temple of Heaven during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor in the 16th century. The Jiajing Emperor also built three other prominent temples in Beijing, the Temple of Sun in the east, the Temple of Earth in the north, and the Temple of Moon in the west . The Temple of Heaven was renovated in the 18th century under the Qianlong Emperor. Due to the deterioration of state budget, this became the last large-scale renovation of the temple complex in the imperial time.

In ancient China, the Emperor of China was regarded as the Son of Heaven, who administered earthly matters on behalf of, and representing, heavenly authority. To be seen to be showing respect to the source of his authority, in the form of sacrifices to heaven, was extremely important. The temple was built for these ceremonies, mostly comprising prayers for good harvests.

Twice a year the Emperor and all his retinue would move from the Forbidden city through Beijing to encamp within the complex, wearing special robes and abstaining from eating meat. No ordinary Chinese was allowed to view this procession or the following ceremony. In the temple complex the Emperor would personally pray to Heaven for good harvests. The highpoint of the ceremony at the winter solstice was performed by the Emperor on the Earthly Mount. The ceremony had to be perfectly completed; it was widely held that the smallest of mistakes would constitute a bad omen for the whole nation in the coming year.

THE SUMMER PALACE

The Summer Palace (simplified Chinese: 颐和园; traditional Chinese: 頤和園; pinyin: Yíhé Yuán) is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing, China. The Summer Palace is mainly dominated by Longevity Hill and the Kunming Lake. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometres (720 acres), three-quarters of which is water.

Longevity Hill is about 60 metres (200 feet) high and has many buildings positioned in sequence. The front hill is rich with splendid halls and pavilions, while the back hill, in sharp contrast, is quiet with natural beauty.

The central Kunming Lake covering 2.2 square kilometres (540 acres) was entirely man-made and the excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill. In the Summer Palace, one finds a variety of palaces, gardens, and other classical-style architectural structures.

In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List. It declared the Summer Palace "a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value." It is a popular tourist destination but also serves as a recreational park.

When the Jin Dynasty emperor Wányán Liàng (February 24, 1122–December 15, 1161 CE) moved his capital to the Beijing area, he had a Wang hill Palace built on the site of the hill. In the Yuan Dynasty, the hill was renamed from Wang hill to Jug Hill (Weng Shan). This name change is explained by a legend according to which a jar with a treasure inside was once found on the hill. The loss of the jar is said to have coincided with the fall of the Ming Dynasty as had been predicted by its finder.

The Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735-1796) of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), who commissioned work on the imperial gardens on the hill in 1749, gave Longevity Hill its present-day name in 1752, in celebration of the 60th birthday of his mother, Empress Dowager Chongqing.

The Summer Palace started out life as the 'Garden of Clear Ripples' (simplified Chinese: 清漪园; traditional Chinese: 清漪園; pinyin: Qīngyī Yuán) in 1750 (Reign Year 15 of Qianlong Emperor). Artisans reproduced the garden architecture styles of various palaces in China. Kunming Lake was created by extending an existing body of water to imitate the West Lake in Hangzhou.

In 1888, it was given the current name, Yihe Yuan. It served as a summer resort for Empress Dowager Cixi, and 3 million taels of silver, said to be originally designated for the Chinese navy (Beiyang Fleet), went into the reconstruction and enlargement of the Summer Palace. This diversion of funds away from the military came just six years before the First Sino-Japanese War, which China lost. The palace was, in 1894, due to be the center of the celebrations of Cixi's sixtieth birthday; yet, the war with Japan forced her to cancel the elaborate plans.

THE FORBIDDEN CITY

The History of the Forbidden City begins in the 15th century when it was built as the palace of the Ming emperors of China. It is located in the centre of Beijing, China, and was the Chinese imperial palace from the mid-Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1912. It has been a museum since 1925.

Built from 1406 to 1420, the palace complex has undergone many changes. After serving as the imperial palace for some five hundred years; the Forbidden City became a museum, the Palace Museum, in 1925. In 1987, it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The site of the Forbidden City was situated on the Imperial city during the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. After the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty, the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty moved the capital from Beijing in the north to Nanjing in the south and in 1369 ordered that the Yuan palaces be razed. His son Zhu Di was created Prince of Yan with his seat in Beijing. In 1402, Zhu Di usurped the throne and became the Yongle Emperor. He made Beijing a secondary capital of the Ming Empire, and construction began in 1406 of what would become the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City's plan was designed by many architects and designers, and then it was examined by the Emperor's Ministry of Work. The Chief Architects were Cai Xin and Nguyen An, a Vietnamese eunuch, and the Chief Engineers were Kuai Xiang and Lu Xiang.

Construction lasted 15 years and employed the work of 100,000 skilled artisans and up to a million labourers. The pillars of the most important halls were made of whole logs of precious Phoebe zhennan wood (Chinese: 楠木; pinyin: nánmù) found in the jungles of south-western China. Such a feat was not to be repeated in subsequent years — the great pillars seen today were rebuilt using multiple pieces of pinewood in the Qing Dynasty.[8] The grand terraces and large stone carvings were made of stone from quarries near Beijing. The larger pieces could not be transported conventionally. Instead, wells were dug along the way, and water from the wells was poured on the road in deep winter, forming a layer of ice. The stones were dragged along the ice.

From 1420 to 1644, the Forbidden City was the seat of the Ming Dynasty. In April 1644, rebel forces led by Li Zicheng captured it, and Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, hanged himself on Jingshan Hill. Li Zicheng proclaimed himself emperor of the Shun Dynasty at the Hall of Military Eminence. However, he soon fled before the combined armies of former Ming general Wu Sangui and Manchu forces, setting fire to parts of the Forbidden City in the process.

By October 1644, the Manchus had achieved supremacy in northern China, and prince regent Dorgon proclaimed the Qing Dynasty as the successor to the Ming. A ceremony was held at the Forbidden City to proclaim the young Shunzhi Emperor as ruler of all China. The Qing rulers largely maintained the Palace's Ming Dynasty scheme, except for the names of some of the principal buildings. The Ming Dynasty names favoured the character ji (simplified Chinese: 极; traditional Chinese: 極), meaning "supremacy" or "extremity", while the new Qing names favoured names meaning "peace" and "harmony"; for example, Huangji Dian, the "Hall of Imperial Supremacy", was changed to Taihe Dian, the "Hall of Supreme Harmony".

The Forbidden City thus became the power centre of the Qing Dynasty. In 1860, during the Second Opium War, Anglo-French forces took control of the Forbidden City and occupied it until the end of the war. In 1900 Empress Dowager Cixi fled from the Forbidden City during the Boxer Rebellion, leaving it to be occupied by forces of the treaty powers until the following year.

After being home to twenty-four emperors, fourteen of the Ming Dynasty and ten of the Qing Dynasty, the Forbidden City ceased to be the political centre of China in 1912, with the abdication of Puyi, the last Emperor of China. However, under an agreement signed between the Qing imperial house and the new Republic of China government, Puyi was allowed, in fact required, to live within the walls of the Forbidden City. Puyi and his family retained the use of the Inner Court, while the Outer Court was handed over to the Republican authorities. A museum was established in the Outer Court in 1914.

 

Currently, the Palace Museum is responsible for the preservation and restoration of the Forbidden City. Building heights around the Forbidden City are restricted. In 2005, a sixteen-year restoration project was started to repair and restore all buildings in the Forbidden City to their pre-1912 state. This is the largest restoration of the Forbidden City undertaken in two centuries, and involves progressively closing off sections of the Forbidden City for assessment, repairs, and restoration. Also as part of the project, some derelict or destroyed sections are being rebuilt. The gardens of the Palace of Establishing Prosperity, destroyed by fire in 1923, were rebuilt in 2005, but remain closed to the public. The interior was also designed in a different style, and the buildings are used by visiting dignitaries.

An area enclosed on three sides by red walls in traditional Chinese architectural style. All have screened windows and entrances; behind the rear wall is an even higher one. In the middle are tables, and at the right foreground are an ice cream cart and a red umbrella

A food court in the Six Western Palaces

While effort has been made to prevent the commercialisation of the palace, a variety of commercial enterprises exist, such as souvenir shops and photography stands. These commercial enterprises often rouse controversy. Chinese media also took notice of a pair of souvenir shops that refused to admit Chinese citizens in 2006. According to the reports, the purpose was to preserve an atmosphere where foreigners could be victims of price gouging. The Palace Museum promised to investigate the matter. Some commentators, such as influential Phoenix TV host Luqiu Luwei, have further questioned the whole practice of renting out premises in the Forbidden City as retail space.