Putting the Pieces Together

I’ve been home for over a week now, but it has taken time to process everything – and to recover from the jetlag. Because of layovers it took 30 hours (all wrapped into one never ending day) to get home. I know you’re supposed to catch up on your sleep on the plane, but I was too busy listening to the stories of other passengers. I was on a flight from Tokyo, which is a major hub for Asian flights, so I heard about travels to a variety of places – Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia. Listening to their adventures made me want to turn the plane around. There is still more to see! I wish I had planned to stay longer – my tour of China was far too short and I want to see so much more of Asia – but at the same time I’m anxious to get back to my son and husband.

Now how to work through everything…I’ve learned so much. Since I’ve gotten home I’ve spent my time writing, trying to get everything down on paper. I went to China with textbook knowledge, but seeing things in person makes the pieces fall into place and gives me such a greater understanding. Now the major task before me is to redo the Chinese curriculum in our world history classes. I’ve been pouring through resources and compiling them along with everything I learned on my journey in order to write my own versions of student textbook readings. There is still so much work to do. China has 5000 years of history, and at this point my writings haven’t yet reached year zero! So many thoughts and plans in my head, and now time to put them altogether.

My students are fascinated by China, but words by historians and pictures in a textbook only give a cursory view of a very complex society. I’m ready for school to begin so I can show them what I’ve learned, so that I can help them understand as this journey has helped me.

Shanghai

I’m enchanted by Shanghai. I knew I would be impressed by the city, but it is truly mesmerizing. The skyline is like nothing I’ve ever seen. The towering skyscrapers are beyond compare. The word Shanghai brings to mind a lot of images – an exotic city, full of vice and somewhat dangerous. The Shanghai of today is a bustling metropolis like so many of China’s cities, but it has an unmistakable charm. It is geographically smaller than Beijing, but its population is around 25 million if you include the migrants who move to Shanghai from the countryside for work.

You can experience the last few hundred years of Chinese history by exploring Shanghai. There is the old section of the city, which reveals what Shanghai was like before the arrivals of the European merchants – a small fishing town near the Huang Pu River and not far from the Yangzi.

After the Opium Wars, the West rolled into area. As part of the Treaty of Nanjing, which ended the war, the British established their own “concessions” throughout China where they lived free of Chinese law. With the doors of China thrown open, the French and Americans established their own concessions. Seemingly overnight, the little town turned into a major trading port as the westerners made their forturns by trading in opium, silk, and tea. You see the mark the foreigners left in the posh European-style buildings that line the river, remnants of the days of neo-imperialism.

Shanghai also played a critical role in WWII. Even after the rest of the world closed its doors to Jewish refugees fleeing Europe, Shanghai accepted them. Refugees flooded into the city by boat and tried to start a new life in a country so completely different than what they knew back home. You can still visit their synagogue. However, they may have escaped the Germans, but not the Japanese. The Japanese had their eyes on China even before the start of the war, and they invaded Shanghai in 1937. Like those in Europe, the occupiers pushed the Jewish refugees of Shanghai into ghettos. The people knew they could lose their lives at any moment, but the Japanese ignored the wishes of Germany and did not establish concentration camps for the Jews.

By the late 1940s, WWII was over and the Communist Party held control. The party’s new economic policies transformed the area across from the Bund. Just in the past 10 years, the region now known as Pudong was demolished and transformed into a bustling district of business and commerce with the most elaborate skyline I have ever seen. We took a late night cruise along the Huang Pu and were hypnotized by the dazzling lights of the elaborate buildings.

Shanghai seems to have everything. It’s a bit of Paris, a bit of Manhattan, and a bit of China all in one city. I could even imagine myself living here, though I could never actually afford life in Shanghai.

Nanjing High School & The Buddhist Nunnery

As part of our tour of the city, we visited the Nanjing #1 High School. It is the top school of the city. Only students with the best scores are admitted. Although it is technically a public school, students in China have to pay for high school.

They have a very impressive campus. The students were still here, taking their final exams. Their schedule sounds exactly like Bolles except they start 1 hour earlier. They have 8 45-minute class periods. Teachers only teach 2 classes per day, because the Chinese system wants them to have ample time to prepare for class, grade, follow up with students, and contact parents. There is a lot of pressure put on the teachers, so they have to make sure their students do well.

The administration was very hospitable and proudly showed us their campus. They also prepared a long buffet for our lunch. We walked through the students having their lunch – rice, bok choy, and beef.  It looked great. When we arrived to our room, the food was a bit different. Being excellent hosts, they prepared foods they knew Americans would want to eat – french fries, tator tots, marzapan, chicken nuggets on a stick, fried pork, and fried rice. To drink , we had Coke and Sprite. Of course we all filled our plates and told them how much we loved the food!

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The Buddhist Nunnery

While in Nanjing we also visited a breathtaking Buddhist nunnery. The women who live here are relatively young, about 18 to 24. Out of respect I didn’t take any photographs of the nuns, but they were very similar in appearance to Buddhist priests. Each woman wore long colorful robes wrapped around her, and her hair was shaved very close to her head. Through the doorways, we were able to watch their afternoon prayer service. First each crouched all the way to the ground, then up again, repeating this movement over and over as she read from a Buddhist text, each woman in her own personal devotion. Then the sound of a drum marked the beginning of the prayer service. As the drum kept a rhythm, the women chanted the same words over and over, creating a beautiful harmony.  I could not understand the words, but the ceremony was enchanting. These services generally last 30 minutes, but I left to explore the grounds and to give the women their privacy.

Daoism & Confucianism

Anyone who has studied Chinese history is very familiar with the civil service examinations. In order to obtain any position with the government, one had to pass the civil service exams, which tested one’s knowledge of the Confucian classics. There was the local entry level exam, the regional exam, and finally the imperial exam. The imperial exam was given here in Nanjing. The imperial exam lasted 7 days and nights, with students sleeping in the same space they took the exam.

Students would come from all over to take the exam, and each of them would go to the Confucian Temple to pray to do well on the exam. We visited the temple and the surrounding square today. Across the street from the temple is the river where scholars would float up and down with their servants while studying.

On the way out of the temple, I asked the professor about western conceptions of Daoism and Confucianism. Do we teach them correctly? Our concept of Confucianism is accurate, though modern Confucianist put more emphasis on being a gentleman, being a good citizen, etc. Daoism, it seems, we misunderstand. Daoism does include the idea of inaction, but our textbooks misinterpret that to mean “do nothing.” One should do something, be a productive member of society. What it means is that you have to recognize your place in the scheme of things – nature, the heavens, are all vastly bigger than you. You cannot change them, so do not try. Doing so will only bring frustration and unhappiness. Instead, look for peace by living harmoniously. Stress and disorder comes when you try to force things. A large percentage of modern Chinese are Daoists. American students also push to categorize Daoism and Confucianism. Are they religions or philosophies? For the Chinese, they are both.

The Nanjing Massacre

Last night we took a flight out of Xi’an and arrived in Nanjing. We arrived too late to see anything last night, but we started our tour of the city this morning.

Nanjing is an ancient city, but it is especially important because it has been the capital of China. Despite its long history, the word Nanjing has become  synonomous with massacre. We spent much of our day at the Nanjing Massacre mueseum. In 1936 Japanese forces pushed through the ancient city walls of Nanjing and took the city. Air bombings preceded the land invasion, so the civilians of Nanjing had already suffered greatly beore they ever saw the first Japanese soldier.

The Japanese picked Nanjing because, at this time, it as the captial of the Republican government. (This was the government led by Chang Kai-Shek, between the fall of the Qing Dyansty and the communist revolution). Japan wanted to build its empire in the pacific, and it wanted China. To be a modern, industrial power, it needed China’s vast resources. I also think  the invasion of China had much to do with ego. For most of Japan’s history, China was the dominate force in the region. It was the center of the universe – easily the most powerful and most advanced. By the 1930s, the tables had turned. China was weak after the long period of Western encroachment (Opium Wars, etc.) and the transtition to a new government as the Republican powers tried to maintain control. Meanwhile, Japan had adopted western techonolgy and developed a very strong military force. The tables had turned – Japan was strong while China was weak.

The military faught against the Japanese soldiers that poured into Nanjing, but eventually lost the fight. They surrendered and, according to international laws, the fighting should have stopped. Instead, the Japanese went on a mass killing spree. The orders came down, kill everyone. Kill all prisioners. Kill all soldiers who surrendered. They killed indescrimenatley - men, women, little children, it did not matter. There are stories of them shooting people for sport. They killed others wtih sabers and bayonets. They dug huge pits and buried people alive. They tied weights to people and threw them into the river. At least 20,000 women were raped within the city. That figure does not include the countless in the countryside. Women were taken to be slaves.  It is the brutality that is most shocking. One cannot comprehend how one human can do this to another.  

In total, at least 300,000 people were killed – 1/3 of the city – but we don’t really know because no one could recover all of the bodies. To hide some of the remains, the Japanese soldiers burned bodies en masse. They threw others into the river, which floated from Nanjing into the Yangtze river and washed ashore. The true total casualties could be much higher.  

There was some humanity left in the city. I had never heard of these people before, but part of the museum is dedicated to German, American, and British citizens who were living in Nanjing when the invasion began. Instead of fleeing, they stayed behind to care for the numerous orphans, refugees, and wounded. With other local charities, they also buried the dead.

I hesitated to include such graphic reports in my blog, but it is a part of history that everyone should know. That was the theme of the massacre museum – remember. Remember these people, remember what happened here, so it will never happen again.

Xi’an’s Muslim Quarter

Xi’an’s Muslim Quarter

During the era of the silk road, Muslim traders settled in a section of Xi’an. Their descendents are still there, living in their own section of town. They consider themselves to be Chinese, but they have maintained the faith of the ancesctors for centuries upon centuries. Walking down their street, it felt like I was transported to Old Shanghai – or at least the way I always imagined it to be. A narrow brick street, lined with thin, decorative trees. On each side, one story gray brick buildings stretched all the way down the block, topped with traditional tile roofs. Each shop sold it’s individual speciality – dried fruits, nuts, noodles, etc. There were Muslim restaurants that were a fusion of Chinese ingredients with Arabic spices and techniques. The residences of this quarter work with the rest of the city and have friends who are Han Chinese (Han is the ethnic majority of China), but for all this time they have maintained their own lifestyle in the Muslim quarter. Although they interact with the Han Chinese as friends and coworkers, they never share a meal together. By tradition they will only eat with each other. By the way, under the one child policy they are considered an ethnic minority so they can have two children.

Wild Goose Pagoda

Wild Goose Pagoda

There is a misconception in history that ancient China was closed off to outside ideas. China imported many ideas from the Middle East and, most importantly, Buddhism from India. It traveled to China from India, and became the dominate religion of the country.

Xi’an is site of the Wild Goose Pagoda. A major Buddhist Pagoda which naturally leans about 1 meter to the left. Behind the pagoda is a statue honoring a priest who walked all the way from Xi’an to India to learn more about Buddhism. He was gone for decades, but when he returned he brought many sutras (Buddhist texts) back to Xi’an. These sutras were stored in the pagoda. He spent the rest of his life translating them into Chinese.

As I mentioned before, the neighborhood where the pagoda stands is now the trendy part of town. (I couldn’t resist taking a picture of the Pizza Hut that faces onto the same square dedicated to the pagoda.) Prada is also nearby.

Importance of the Tang Dynasty

This one is for the history teachers…

In the US we put a lot of emphasis on the Han Dynasty. Textbooks say it was the most important because it lasted the longest and, as westerners, we see parallels with the Roman Empire. The newer textbooks dedicate entire chapters to the Han dynasty, and the essay on the AP World exam for the last two years was on the Han.

The Chinese would disagree. It’s the Tang that is most significant. I’ve heard this sentiment from our Chinese students, but it’s so obvious when you are here in China. They see the Tang dynasty as an era of peace, harmony, prosperity, technological development, etc. According to our guide, who is a woman, the Tang dynasty was also a great time period for women. They experienced more equality with men than they ever had before. They had legal rights to make their own decisions. For instance, they could initiate a divorce, get remarried, whatever they chose.

Especially in Xi’an, they are very proud of the Tang architecture and continue to use it in the newer parts of the city. I just find it interesting that the west tries to dictate what must be the “best” dynasty.  Perhaps we should let the Chinese decide.

Terra Cotta Warriors

Most visitors come to Xi’an because it the site of the famous terra cotta warriors, the tomb of the Emperor Qin Shihuang, the man who unified China. As the emperor who unified the 6 kingdoms to create China, he had a lot of enemies. Believing that he needed his army forever, around 220 BC he ordered the construction of the soldiers – a full, life-sized army – who could be him in the afterlife. They say that he actually wanted his real army to be buried with him, but his generals and advisors convinced him to leave the real army for the living. So, the construction began. I’ve heard that as many as 700,000 peasants worked to build his army. There are over 7000 (though the Chinese round up to 8000, a luckier number) infantry, cavalry, archers, and generals – all life sized complete with every detail and each of them has an individual face. No two look alike. Researchers now speculate that the faces belonged to the workers themselves. It would be too difficult to imagine 7000 different faces, so a worker would just copy the face of the guy working next to him. An earthen roof was built over them (level to the ground, as they were dug down in pits) and the ground covered so they wouldn’t be seen. Once the work was completed, he had all of the workers killed – reportedly by burying them alive. Mass graves have been found nearby. He didn’t want to leave anyone who could reveal the location of his secret army.

The emperor died unexpectedly while traveling. (It’s unclear why, but probably from mercury poisoning. He exposed himself frequently to mercury.) A few years after his death, there was an uprising against his successor.  The secret was out, because the peasants knew exactly where his army was located. They broke into it, smashing and breaking the soldiers. The infantry soldiers had spears in their hands, and the peasants took the weapons with them. They then set the site on fire. You can still see the ash from the fire. The chariots – made of wood – burned completely. Eventually the fire caused the earth roof to cave and the terra cotta army was buried.  There they stayed until farmers digging a well found them in 1974.

There are actually 4 different pits that make up the site. Pit #1 is the most famous. It is the site of the warriors that have been recovered and put on display. It was also the first pit to be discovered. Pit #2 is still primarily covered with earth. Pit #3 is the command center for this army. It is much smaller and set back from the other two. It seems as though the emperor imagined he would leave his grave and rejoin his forces here. Much of the site is still covered with earth, because archeologists realized the best way to preserve the artifacts is to keep them covered. For instance, the warriors were originally painted with bright colors. Occasionally the diggers uncovered a piece that still had its paint, but exposure to air quickly faded it. They’ve decided to leave the rest of the soldiers buried until the technology is developed to better preserve them.

By the way, the Emperor himself isn’t buried with his army. He’s under a burial mound about 1 km away from the army. Archeologists have not excavated the site, however, because there are extremely high levels of mercury present.

It seems so strange that his army would be buried for 2000 years, completely forgotten. People did find pieces here and there over the years, but superstition made them quickly rebury what they found. 1974 was an especially dry year and a group of farmers was digging a well. When one of them uncovered a soldier while digging, the others told him to put it back and leave it alone. This farmer felt like he’d found something special, however, so he turned it over to the government. As a thank you to the farmers, the government gave each of them $5. Many years later when the farmers realized the value they brought to China, they asked the government for more money. The government said no, but offered them government positions of which brought them lots of dignity and respect. The original farmer who found the first soldier is an old man now, but he spends his days in the gift shop signing copies of museum books for tourists. Of course I asked him to sign my book and pose for a picture.

When Bill Clinton did a tour of the site with his family, he asked if he could meet the farmer. The farmer was terrified to meet a president, because he couldn’t speak any English. They gave him a quick English lesson. All you have to say is “How are you?” wait for a response, and then follow up whatever he says with “me too.” The farmer was so nervous that when he spoke to the president he mixed up his words. They came out as “Who are you?” The president responded with, “I’m Hillary’s husband.” Happy to be done with his English conversation, the farmer exclaimed, “Me too! Me too!”

On to Xi’an

We flew from the modern metropolis of Beijing to the ancient capital of Xi’an. This is where China began. The Qin (pronounced “Chin” as in “China”) Emperor conquered the surrounding kingdoms, uniting them together as the Qin Empire. He is remembered as the founder of China, the first emperor. He also started the Great Wall of China (though its current form is much different than the one he built) and he’s famous for his tomb of terra cotta soldiers. Despite his fame, he’s also remembered as a brutal dictator. He ruled with an iron fist in order to keep everyone under control. There are stories of him burying hundreds of philosophers alive for questioning the government and burning their books so their ideas would not spread. His dynasty was the shortest because soon after his death, there was an overthrow. There is new research, however, that history may have been too hard on the Qin Emperor. Perhaps we trusted the scholars of the next dynasty too much, scholars who would want to portray him as an evil man in order to justify the overthrow of the government. New research suggest that the overthrow didn’t happen because of the emperor’s rule, but because of a power struggle that happened after his death.

Xi’an is very different than Beijing. It’s still a massive city by US standards – 8 million people live here – but it feels  more intimate. One of the things that I appreciate about the city is that they are embracing their history and trying to maintain its character. For instance, the Wild Goose Pagoda is here (we’ll visit it tomorrow) and that area of town is the new hot spot. In order to preserve the character of the neighborhood they’ve started the “Imperial Revival Project” in which all of the buildings must reflect Tang architecture. New apartment buildings, stores, even the McDonalds must reflect Tang architecture. Tang is less ornate than what came later with the Ming (which you see in the Forbidden City).  Xi’an also kept most of the city wall, which is so enormous it’s hard to imagine how people built them. The style is similar to the Great Wall, but much much higher and much thicker. Now they run marathons on top of the city wall. The site of it drives home how old this city is. It dates back to a time when man always had to be watchful for enemy invaders.  This city is also important as the starting point of the silk road. The trade routes that stretched all the way to the Roman Empire began here.

Although I love the character of the city, the air pollution is more obvious here. There is a thick smog over the city which makes it difficult to see very far. Just outside of town, you can see the factories with white smoke billowing out of their chimneys. It reminded me of the old paper factories that used to be in Jacksonville, but on a much larger scale. I hear that Beijing used to have this smog as well, but it cleared after they moved the factories away from the city.