A huge stone turtle carrying a huge stone tablet, on which records of important events of the empires are carved. Most of these history-changing events are suppression of riots or winning of wars.
Look closely, the graffitti on the tablet says “the great unity of revolution”. It must has been written on it during the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, during which time lots of these ancient relics were destroyed for stupid reasons.
More of these small houses for the stone tablets.
A 700 years old tree, called Chu Jian Cypress. It got the name because it is said that the tree has the ability to identify corrupted officials.
In Ming Dynasty, one of the branches of the tree, driven by wind, lifted one of the ministers’ black guaze hat (worn ay an imperial official to indicate their position) when they were offering sacrifices to Confucius. The minister was later found to be wicked and corrupted.
I hope the tree can still perform the magic today.
This is where you pay your respect to Confucius.
Ancient music instrument used during sacrificing ceremonies.
An old picture of a sacrificing ceremony.
A very interesting cartoon telling the story of young confucius.
Tomorrow we’ll continue our Chinese learning sessions, after which I’ll talk about the influence of Confucius and his philosophy around the world.
