I got into the dilemma when the two Great wall tour options were offered to me. One is the most visited Badaling or the North Pass and Mutianyu in the South East which also connects with Badaling. I chose Badaling mainly to check out the famous Ming great wall and the fortress. With the itinerary settled, I concentrated on the business side of the trip. The most awaited Saturday arrived. The Beijing morning was sunny, the tour guide chirped the history of Beijing and its famous city gates that separated the royals from the commoners.
After hearing a nice lecture about FengShui, we stopped at the Ming Tombs. The ancient faith in life and death and sending the soul to the nether world follows the same belief system be it a Pyramid built in Egypt or in Mayan land. Apparently, immortalizing a mortal king or queen must have reinforced the power and monarchy. The Ming tombs contain beautiful jade artifacts.
The museum has some of the treasures that are recovered from the tombs. The history of the Ming dynasty unfolds like a suspense thriller. The penniless Buddhist monk who had overthrown the powerful Mongolian Yuan dynasty and to become the famous Ming emperor Hongwu. He got support from the red turban rebellion, the White Lotus secret society, and the scholars from the school of Confucius. These factors helped to change the fate of China from 1368 onwards. The original ethnic group Han regained their power in the Chinese history. The cities Nanjing and Beijing flourished developing a class conscious society with a powerful monarchy. I was thinking that the human race is always trying and experimenting with changes and like a volcano where the old lava is being pushed out to churn the new one the old ideology and belief system are pushed out to pave way for the new one!
After touring the tomb, and when crossing the gate that supposedly divide the mortal from the immortal World, the guide asked us to shout in Chinese that "we are back into the World again" ! We promptly shouted in unison so that our names will be taken out of the register of death for a while! We headed to a nearby Jade mine and factory and had our lesson Jade 101- difference between jadeite and different types of jade. A fascinating experience but expensive as one is tempted to buy the gift items.
Having visited the netherworld and back into the earth again, our mortal souls craved for a nice lunch. The guide took us to the restaurant and I had the vegetarian clay pot. Sometimes part of heaven can come in disguise as food!!!
China chronicles will be continued.....
PEACE ON EARTH
All content copyright © by Sobana Iyengar.
The museum has some of the treasures that are recovered from the tombs. The history of the Ming dynasty unfolds like a suspense thriller. The penniless Buddhist monk who had overthrown the powerful Mongolian Yuan dynasty and to become the famous Ming emperor Hongwu. He got support from the red turban rebellion, the White Lotus secret society, and the scholars from the school of Confucius. These factors helped to change the fate of China from 1368 onwards. The original ethnic group Han regained their power in the Chinese history. The cities Nanjing and Beijing flourished developing a class conscious society with a powerful monarchy. I was thinking that the human race is always trying and experimenting with changes and like a volcano where the old lava is being pushed out to churn the new one the old ideology and belief system are pushed out to pave way for the new one! 
Your travels are incredible. What memories you must have in your head and on record!
ReplyDeleteDigital Csmera! Thanks Bea
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