Buddhist monks have established many temples within Beijing's city limits. One that stands out the most for me is the Fayuan temple which was constructed over a thousand years ago and rebuilt about 600 years ago. Thinking about how old not only this temple is but China itself is humbling. America has been around 240 years. That's not even half of how old this temple's rebuilding is. This video pretty much says everything I could possibly say about the temple. Having seen a few Buddhist temples while on a trip to Bhutan it would be interesting to see how these ones look in comparison. This temple rests in south Beijing only about 5 miles away from the hotel we are staying and the directions are pretty straight forward.
So while browsing Reddit I discovered the single piece of Americana that we should indulge ourselves with while in foreign travels. Obama Fried Chicken.
Ni Hao! My awesome assignment this week is to show off my extremely limited knowledge of Chinese culture and history. So sit back and prepare to be blown away by this presentation of the facts as known by me, Skyler Veselis.
First Up, What do I know about China? Be specific. Well, I wish this was assigned to be due earlier in the school year. Why, because as juniors at Champlain College in your fall semester you are required to take classes about China. I have learned a lot in the month I have been at school about China and more importantly the people of China. China has about 1.3 billion people living in their country. That is almost 20% of the world’s population. That is an incredible amount of people living in the 4th largest country in the world. China has been the stomping grounds for western powers from about 1840 until the communists led by Mao Zedong defeated the nationalists in 1949. Their country was pillaged during the age of imperialism while their population was being drugged by the most powerful drug cartel in the world the British.
China has a very long history; they are one of the older if not the oldest civilizations in the world. It stretches back 5000 years. Everyone that ever ruled China had the mandate of heaven granted to them by the god(s?). With this mandate they were able to unite the people of China under one banner. Until he stopped ruling as a fair and harmonious emperor the people were content to live their lives. Usually great floods or famines were the death knell for ruling parties. It showed that heaven was no longer happy with them and that it was time for change. So many rulers created infrastructure to avoid these catastrophes.
Confucius was very important to most every aspect of life for the Chinese. As far as I have been able to gather he is responsible for the Chinese temperament and idea of social hierarchy in modern China. From what I know from my brain is that he believed that everyone had a place and it was folly to abandon that place. He also taught that the wellbeing of the group was greater than the wellbeing of the individual. Again this is what I “know” about China not what I can look up about China mmmkay? And now for a word from our sponsor.
Most of my knowledge about China comes from the classes I have been taking at school this past semester, from high school global class with Mr. Kelly, and the history channel. What did I do when I was bored and there was nothing to do at home after school? CHANNEL 47 all day. (that was the history channel where I lived). Back before it was filled with trash like Ax-men, Ice road truckers, and Swamp folk the history channel was actually about history and I learned a lot from watching it. Including things about China’s tough past. The BBC documentary named Wild China really helped me out. You can find out plenty about china by searching Wild China in the box if you follow the link. Youtube is the lifeblood of video embeds and its been my best friend for projects like this. But it was only until I got to school did I learn about the staggering about of people that have died in China since European Imperialism.
Finally, What Do you wish to learn more about China? Well, their history is incredible and I feel that only in China will you find something as cool as this . And they have probably been doing that with the birds for centuries. Going to a museum about ancient China would probably be pretty neat. Learning about China before it got wrecked by the West would be fascinating or about when the Mongols forced the Chinese to build the great wall.
Pictures credited in order of appearance. First Second
