Greeting Words： Good morning Ladies and gentlemen, it’s so nice to meet you here. My name is Jo, come from China International Travel Agency, and I’ll be your guide for these 3 days in Henan. On behalf of CITA, welcome to Henan.Here seated our driver Mr Lee, who has good skills and rich experience in driving. During your stay in Henan, we two would do our utmost to make your stay pleasant！And your cooperation would be appreciated！ If any requirement is needed,please just feel free to let us know. We would be pleased to help you.Wish you a wonderful stay in Henan！ Thank you！ Now our car is drivingon the expressway, it takes about three hours to our destination— scenic area. During this period of time, I’d like to give you a brief introduction about Henan and the place we’re going to visit. Henan, one of the largest provinces with richest tourism resources in China, has numerous tourist attractions of both naturalness and humanity, and it is hard to name them over.Among them, the is one of the tourist attractions with widest popularity in the world. Now, let’s focus on it and talk it over in detail and try to keep some of the main points in mind since we’re going to pay a visit to it .Now, we have arrived at the scenic spot, please close the window tightly, carry on your belongings and get off the bus. Our car number Yu A12345, and my phone number isplease bear them in mind. At12：00pm, we’re supposed to assemble here, please hold the time.
The ShaoLin Temple The shaolin temple was first completed in 495, during the reign of Northern Wei Dynasty. In 527, Bodhidharma, the disciple of Sakyamuni of the 28th generation came here to practice Zen creed. As it was concealed in the thick woods of the shaoshi hill, it was given the name Shaolin Temple meaning “temple in the woods of Shaoshi Hill”. As you know, the shaolin temple is widely known not only for its ancient and mysterious Buddhist culture, but also for its martial arts, that is Kungfu in Chinese, which enjoys a tradition of some 20__ years. So that’s the saying “Chinese Kungfu taking the first place under the heaven” and “the best kungfu originating from shaolin temple.” In the year 20__, the temple sightseeing zone was designated to be one of the AAAAA—grade tourist attractions of China by the National Tourism Administration
Now we’re standing in front of the Front Gate Hall. Please look up at the plaque hanging above the lintel, and you’ll find the plaque bears three Chinese characters, Shaolin Si, the name of the temple. This is said to be handwritten by Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. This work is very precious because the emperor r wrote. Ok please follow me. Just now, we have visited the Front Gate Hall, steles, ginkgos, and the Hall of the Heavenly Kings, and now, we are just in the principal hall in the temple, the Hall of Mahavira. This hall is enshrined with three main Buddhas in the central part. They are Sakyamuni Buddha sitting in the middle and Pharmacist Buddha of the Eastern Glazed World and Amitabha Buddha from the Western Paradise sitting on both sides. Along the gable walls, sit 18 Buddhist Arhats, who were enlightened Buddhist monks. On both sides in front of the Hall of Mahavira, stand the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower symmetrically. They were rebuilt in 1994 used to report hours for the temple. Normally the bell is used in the morning, while the drum, in the afternoon, hence the saying “morning bell and afternoon drum”.
In front of the Bell Tower is the stele called “the Stele of Li Shimin” telling the story about how the monks from the Shaolin Temple rescued Prince Li Shimin from being pursued and attacked by Wang Shichong during the late Sui Dynasty. Li Shimin, who later became the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty wrote the inscriptions on the stele personally,and left with a signature of Shi min on the stele. Ok please come with me, we are going to the next hall. So now, the pavilion in front of us, not like the Zangjingge and the Abbot’s rooms we visited just now, enjoys a moving story. It’s named Dharma’s Pavilion or Lixue Pavilion, that is “Standing in the snow” in English. It says： After Boddhi Dharma came to China, many Chinese Buddhist believers wanted to be his followers, and Shengguang was the most prominent of all of them. Healways followed him whenever and wherever he went and served Dharma with heart and soul. But Dharma didn’t agree to accept Shengguang as a disciple. Shengguang didn’t lose heart and became even more steadfast. On a snowy night, he begged as usual with Budhidharma outside, standing in the knee—high snow. The master set forward a prerequisite： he would not meet his demand unless it would snow in red flakes. Suddenly Shengguang drew out the sword and cut off his left arm and stained the snowy ground. Bodhidharma was so moved that he passed his mantle, alms bowl and musical instruments on to Shengguang and gave him a Buddhist name of Huike. He was regarded as the second founder of the Zen sect. Emperor Qianlong wrote a phrase on a plaque in commemoration Alright everyone, now we are in the last hall, Pilu Hall, also called a Thousand Buddha Hall. It’s also the largest structure of the Shaolin Temple. This is just the highlight of the sightseeing zone. So until now, the visit in the Shaolin Temple is almost over. I think you may have some questions about the temple, or you want to take some photos. So, please do remember, you have half an hour. After half an hour we will gather in our bus, and make sure you’ll be there on time. And then we are going to the Pagoda Forest. Thank you for your attention！
The longmen grottoes Around 13 km south of Luoyang, there are two picturesque hills confronting each other with the Yi River flowing northward between them, connected by an arched stone bridge resembling a natural gate tower. This is the right place named Longmen, where the well—known Longmen Grottoes is located. The grottoes, which earns the fame of one of the Three Treasure Houses of Stone Sculpture in China, was created over 1500 years age. It was first known in the year 493 AD, when Emperor Xiaowen moved his capital to Luoyang from Datong, Shannxi Province, which marked the initiation of development and expanse of Buddhism in Central China. It prolongs for 1000 meters from north to south. According to the statistics conducted in recent years, there are 2300 caves and niches with over 100000 Buddhist figures. In addition, more than 2800 tablet inscriptions and some 40 Buddhist pagodas were preserved in or out of the caves.
Now, we’ve got to the grottoes. In front of you, here is the Qianxi Temple. It was built in the early Tang Dynasty around 640 AD. It has altogether 7 Buddhist statues inside, of which, AmitabhaBuddha is sitting in the central part with 2 of his favorite disciples, 2 Bodhisattvas, and 2 Heavenly Kings. Please come with me. Now we are in front of the Bin yang Caves. The Bin yang Caves consist of 3 large caves, the North, the Middle and the South caves. The Mid and the South caves were built under Emperor Xuanwu for practicing the merits and virtues for his diseased parents, late Emperor Xiaowen and late Empress DowagerWenzhao. While the North Bin yang cave was added for the late Emperor Xuanwu by a eunuch in the palace. In the Western Hill of Longmen, there are several “the most” caves to feast your eyes. Just now, we visited the Ten—thousand Buddha Cave with 15000 Buddhist images, which has the most Buddha images, and the Lotus Cave with 2cm—high Buddha images, which are the tiniest Buddha images. And now, we’ve come to another “most”, the Fengxian Temple. Fengxian Temple was built in the Tang Dynasty and it is the largest grotto in Longmen Temple with a width of 36 meters and a length of 41 meters. The most impressive figure is the statue of Vairocana Buddha sitting cross—legged on the eight—square lotus throne. It is 17.14 meters in total height with the head 4meters in height and the ears 1.9 meters in length. At the sides of Vairocana there are two statues of Vairocana Buddhas disciples, Kasyapa and Ananda, wearing prudent and devout expressions,next are 2 Bodhisattvas, Heavenly Kings, andGreat Men of Strength. Vairocana means illuminating all things in the sutra. The Buddha has a well—filled figure, a sacred and kindly expression and an elegant smile. The chief Buddha gives you an impression of dignified manner, magnificent looking, wise, farsighted and kind nature. The various appearances and delicate designs are the representations of Empire Tangs powerful material and spiritual strength as well as the high crystallization of peoples wisdoms. Looking around the overall arrangement, we would rather say that the Fengxian Temple is a scene of a grand imperial court than a spot of Buddhism. Generally speaking, the Fengxian Temple is the most magnificent and artistic among all the shrines of the Tang Dynasty as well as an example of success in integrating politics with Buddhism in ancient China. Ok everyone, now you can take photos here. Or you can ask questions that you don’t understand. After 15 minutes we will gather right here. See you then.
Yuntai Mountain Situated in Xiuwu county, Hennan province, Yuntai Mountain has edged onto the China National Natural Heritage Candidate List due to its unique geological landforms, rich natural resources and cultural relics. It is characterized by its structural cuesta, flying waterfalls on faulted cliffs, quiet valleys and clear springs.Known as a world geopark, it was one of the first world geoparks to be approved by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 20__. The park is known for its massive gardening areas, overhanging high cliffs, flying waterfalls, secluded valleys and spring water, with a spring in every 3 steps, a waterfall in every 5 steps, a pond in every 10 steps .Covering an area of 190sqm, the scenic spot is composed of many sightseeing places, such as Tan pu Gorge, Quanpu Gorge, Red Stone Gorge, Zifang Lake, Macaque Valley etc.
The Red Stone Canyon, which is a rare canyon sight in north China with waterfalls, lakes, pools and gullies, is highly acclaimed by gardening experts as a “natural gallery for mountain and river collections” because of its grand and exclusive landscapes. The most splendid waterfall in the canyon is the Bailong Waterfall, divided into three falls, measuring 30 meters in height. It looks as shiny as a huge silver dragon. A good place for waterfall watching is the Heilong （Black Dragon） Cave, which is as long as 30 meters with absolute darkness inside. Standing in the cave, you can not only see the marvelous falls dashing down into the deep pools but also the perilous high stiffs, narrowly separated from each other by fast—flowing gullies so that the sky is scarcely visible. The spring water flowing down the cliffs splashes into water drops that dazzle in the sunlight like colorful diamonds, looking like a unique picture hanging on the wall. Yuntai Mountain is famous for its grotesque hill, which extends as far as eyes can see. The main peak, Cornel Peak, is 1308m above the sea level.It is said to be famous for a poem by a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty called Wang Wei, who worked out a popular poem when he climbed up the mountain. The poem Thinking of My Brothers in Mountain Climbing Day fully conveys his emotion of missing friends. Mounting to the mountain top and looking far into the distance, you can see the Yellow River winding like a silver belt. Having a bird view of the foot of the mountain, you can see chains of peaks like sea waves. The weather on the top is oftenhttp： unpredictable. All at once clouds gather and wind blows,with mist rising among the mountains. The mountains looming in the mist and clouds look so vague that you feel as if you were in a fairy world.
Also, It had been the secluded place of seven Bamboo Forest Sages of the Wei and the Jin Period. Medicine King, Sun Simiao, once collected Chinese medicine here. Many historical stories are spreading in the area related to some fames once visited here. Yuntai Mountain is famous for its numerous rivers, lakes, pools and springs. Here we can see the highest waterfall in the country———— Yuntai Skyscraper Waterfall, which is 314 meters high like a huge pillar, reminds us of a famous peom of Libai“ The waters puring down from thousands above of the mountain, like the silver river dropping down from top of the heaven”. It looks especially magnificent, forming a unique spectacle along with other waterfalls, such as the Tianmen Waterfall, Bailong Waterfall, Huanglong Waterfall and Y—shaped Waterfall, dashing abruptly downward. Well,next spot for us is the Qinglong Canyon here, renowned as “First Canyon in Central China”, attracts many people for ecological touring for its mild climate, rich water resources and various vegetations.
The Garden of Market in Qingming Festival Now we’re leading our way to the city of Kaifeng. Kaifengis one of the 8 major ancient capitals of China. The city of Kaifeng was already in existence before 700 B.C. During the period of Warring States more than 2,000 years ago, King Hui of the State of Wei moved his capital to Kaifeng, rebuilt the city and called it Daliang. Since then, Kaifeng was the capital of several dynasties. As an ancient capital, Kaifeng has a lot of historical relics and scenic spots. Some of them have been preserved, such as the iron Pagoda, Po Pagoda, Xiangguo Monastery, Dragon Pavilion. They are precious heritages of the Chinese culture. The famous painting Qingming Scroll is believed by some to portray daily life in Kaifeng. The painting, of which several versions are extant, is attributed to the Song Dynasty artist Zhang Zeduan. Have you ever dreamed of going back to Northern Song Dynasty in China and enjoy the prosperity and culture of those years？ If so, come to the Garden of Market in Qingming Festivallocated in the old city of Kaifeng in Henan Province. Find yourself in the spectacular scenery there and you are sure to realize that dream. The Garden of Market in Qingming Festival located on the western bank of Longting Lake is a grand cultural garden. It covers an area of 600 mu, and the construction area is more than 30,000 square meters .The built area consists of several architectural complexes which are re—creations based on the famous twelfth century painting by Zhang Zeduan of The Qingming Festival by the Riverside.
When you enter the Garden of Market in Qingming Festival, a statue which is 16 meters tall comes into view. This figure is none other than the artist Zhang Zeduan, who holds his famous drawing of The Qingming Festival by the Riverside. This picture is a painted scroll which is 525 cm in length and 25.5 cm in width depicting life along Bian River during the Qingming Festival. The scenes in this painting are highly detailed and the spectacle is magnificent. There are large numbers of people and buildings. The people are shown in a variety of contemporary clothes that indicate their social standing and occupations. The lively throng includes many animals and it is not difficult to imagine the sounds in the street scenes where the people are crowded and noisy. We can almost hear someone’s bargaining with a shop owner while others are cheering entertainers. The picture is like a live symphony of life during the Song Dynasty.
Now we can find these scenic spots such as City Gate Tower, Rainbow Bridge, distinctive shops and others which are re—created in the Park according to the scenes in the painting. The Garden of Market in Qingming Festival not only reappears the vast vigor of the Millennium Picture, but also makes the history living by flexible creative idea, makes tourists the sense of backward flowing time by entering the park, just like passing through the space tunnel. Another scenic spot called Rainbow Bridge is a well—known feature in the Park. It is a replica of one of the ten ancient timber bridges. The bridge is 5 meters high. The first bridge was built in 1050, and reconstructed in 1998. Four 9 meters high columns, two at either end of the bridge, replicate the poles that were weather vanes at the time of the Song Dynasty. A white crane sits on a disk at the top of each column and they turn to face into the wind, indicating its direction. As a scenic spot for folk—custom tours, Chinese authorities have done a lot to preserve folk handcrafts and folk customs. You can see the process of making handicrafts, such as Bian embroidery, paintings for new years, enamel wares, tea ceremony, spinning and weaving, figures made from flour and sugar and folk—custom performances, such as acrobatics, folk arts and performances of birds, fighting cocks and dogs. Here, you are not only a visitor, but an actor. For example, you can act as Mr. Right in the competition for marrying Mr. Wang’s beautiful daughter and have the opportunity to enjoy the traditional wedding festivities. And you can be the No.1 Scholar in the imperial examination to bring honor to your ancestors. There is a large amusement hall built in the Song style, where many amusement activities are held, including swings, balance beams and many other amusements. As an ecological scenic spot, this garden was built and forested according to the Market Day During the QingMing Festival. The whole garden combines natural beauty with historical flavor, thus forming a favorable place to have a true rest and evoke your full energy both physically and spiritually.
Yin Ruins Yin Ruins is at Xiaotun Village of Anyang City. In ancient times, Xiaotun was called Yin and it was the capital of the Shang Dynasty. So the period was also called Yin Shang. After the Yin had been overthrown, the city declined and the remains of it was later called the Yin Ruins. Since the founding of new China, the Yin Ruins had been listed as the first group of cultural relics under national protection. In order to preserve its culture, the government built “Garden of the Yin Ruins” on the site. Today the garden is divided into several sections with ancient objects on display. Because of its great value in not only the historical relics of Chinese culture but also the human civilization of the whole world, Yin Xu topped the 100 Greatest Archeological Discoveries of China in the last century and it was listed in the World Cultural and Natural Heritage List of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization （UNESCO）. Yin Xu is revealing its beauty to the world.
OK, everybody. Soon we’ll get to the Museum on Yin Ruins, the best museum for the study of the Yin Shang Culture. The Yin Ruins is famous for three things,i.e.the oracle inscriptions, the bronze wares and the ancient capital of the Shang Dynasty. As you know, China is one of the earliest countries to discover characters. As early as 4,000 years ago, people used bones or tortoise shells to record events of their social life. It is the earliest written form of language in the world. Today we call them the oracle bone inscriptions, which were first discovered in the Yin Ruins. Well,let’s come to the main hall where the oracle inscriptions are exhibited. The oracle bone inscriptions were first discovered during the years of Emperor GuangXu, in the Qing Dynasty. In 1899, in Xiao Tun Village of Anyang City, Henan Province, villagers found many tortoise shells and bones carved with letters and symbols, which unveiled to the world from Yin Xu, an ancient city with a long history and splendid culture.Then more than 16,000 pieces of bones and shells were found. But in the Shang Dynasty, they were used as divinations, when people were very superstitious. The inscriptions cover a wide range of fields, such as sacrifice, wars, state affairs, weather, hunting, etc. Today, they provide important information for the study of the Shang Dynasty. And the study of the oracle bone inscriptions has become a new subject and is getting more popular among people. Since
then this place has become of great interest to worldwide archeologists, because those inscriptions have proved to be the earliest written characters of human beings, the Oracles. Apart from the oracle bone inscriptions, bronze wares are another important part of the cultural relics discovered from the Ruins, which show that the technology of bronze casting reached its peak in the Shang Dynasty. The bronze wares include vessels, weapons,chariots and so on. Among all the unearthed wares, SimuwuQuadripod unearthed in the mausoleum area of the Yin Ruins, the largest and the most famous bronze sacrificial vessel in the world, is 875 kg in weight, 133 cm in height. Standing on the open plaza in front of the great hall is an enlarged copy of the original one for the convenience of touring and appreciation, with the original one cherished in the Museum of Chinese History. With its unusual air of majesty, together with its elegance in appearance and intricately carved in patterns, it is considered a treasure in the bronze culture of China as well as a glorious pearl shining on the peak of the world art. To cast such a significant vessel carrying such a great weight, advanced techniques and experiences in organization of laborers are necessary. As many scholars have pointed out, this huge bronze quadripod reflects the advanced slavery system of the Shang Dynasty and the unusual power of creation of the people. Finally we come to the side of the imperial palaces and tombs. Lying on the southwest of the Foundation Ruins C, Fuhao Tomb is one of the most important archeology discoveries in the temple. It is also the only discovered and well—reserved tomb of Shang royal members since the science excavation of Yin Ruins. Now, let’s know something about the first woman general in Chinese history.FuHao was Emperor Wu Ding’s wife,both intelligent and courageous. She had bravely led the Yin army fighting in many wars and made great contributions to the protecting of the country. After her death, Wu Ding built a large tomb near the palace to honor her merits. Buried together with her were many slaves and war prisoners as well assacrificial objects. The large numbers of sacrificial objects are valuable cultural relics in the treasure house of Chinese art.
Chaya Mountain
Chaya mountain scenic area is located in SuiPing county Zhumadian, 25 kilometers away from downtown, a total of 150 square kilometers, average altitude of 600 meters. It is the first scenic area published in Henan, presently that wins national geological parks, national forest park and national 4A scenic spots. Because of its exquisite scenery that builds a strange beautiful scenery scroll, Chayamountain is honored “Huaxia basin” and “Jiangbei forest of stone”. The poor landform, so that is the military commander battleground. As the valuable and non—renewable geological heritage, the Chaya Mountain includes the steepness of Huashan Mountain, splendor of Taishan Mountain, peculiarity of Huangshan Mountain, elegance of Emei Mountain and tranquility of Yandang Mountain. As the only granite landform ruins in China, also rarely seen worldwide, Chaya Mountain has great scientific values.
And now, we have got into the ChayaMountainscenic, the whole scenic is divided into four parts, namely Beeswax hill, Southhill, Northhill, six peaks hill. The essence of scenic spots is mainly concentrated in the Southhill parts,just the part were going to visit today. The mountain is bestowed with an agreeable climate and abundant resources. In each season, there is a splendor of beauty. In spring, birds sing and flowers give forth fragrance； in summer, the umbrageous woodlands can be seen and clinking sounds of flowing spring water can be heard； in autumn, the mountain is fiery with maple leaves and in winter, clothed in white snow and ice. Ok, please attention to look forward；we saw the highest peak of the rock firstly that is the landscape of “monkey look upon moon”, the protruding part in the center is “the sleeping Tang monk”,turn right 45 degree, we will see the “drinking Bajie”. You will see his opening mouth and vertical tongue and pretty belly poured drunk in hillside, his childlike scene is so lifelike that reluctant to leave.And then, we can see a peak that is “Beewax peak”, why entitled this name？ It is side that there are full of wild flowers on the whole hill, so many bees are collecting pollen come here. And the honey is too much and nobody collect it, so these honey were curdled in the stone. Every summer, the hill wasshined by the strong sunlight irradiation； honey will be flowedout the stone, and the whole mountain looks like besmear covered with a thick layer of beeswax, so peopleput the mountain.
named "Beeswax Mountain".And the lake under the mountain also got a beautiful name Xiumi lake. ChayaMountain, compared with other mountains has its unique, the upper mount roll over one another, everywhere is strange stone, and mountain peaks, buton the bottom have thousands of holes. The MillionMan hole is one of them.Due to natural form of MillionMan hole is the underground cave, so there are many holes in it, like a big giantmaze.And the space of the hole can accommodate tens of thousands of people, therefore the name "million man hole".Enter the second door of the scenic area； we canpause to look upon the left, a big tree hanging on the steep cliff. Its leaf is thick and cold, and its dry resistance is strong. According to the provincial forestry bureau experts identified, it has been growing 600 years at here. Why it can survive in this environment？ Experts said that the root of the tree have a special function that its root can secrete a kind of liquid that can dissolve microelement in the rock, the tree will rely on absorption this rarely microelement to keep its life.This also responds the saying：” The survival of the fittest”. Let’s keep moving, now we came to the center of the scenic spot stone monkey park. Enter Monkey Park like into a monkeys warm home, three monkeys feel happy, pictured a harmonious family scenes.Look, there was a deep gorge in the north of the stone monkey park that is the boundary between Chaya Mountain’s north hill and south hill. The stone monkey before our eyes that are the largest lifelike stone monkey in the world. Looking at stone monkey at penglai three holes, seem to see a pair of embraced young lovers. But atxiumi lake area, then you can see the peculiar landscape that elder monkey back younger monkey, it is real that a stone three scenes. It is the time that ended the explain of Chaya mountain, then you can look around freely, after half an hour, we will gather at the mountain’s door and have a lunch, please take full use of the time. Thank for your cooperation！
the Native Place of Emperor Huangdi
The Native Place of Emperor Huangdi is located in the north of Xinzheng City. As a scenic spot of 4A— class assessed by the National Tour Bureau, it is a holly land for Chinese people all over the world to worship their ancestors, with memorial temples, andmausoleums of Emperor Huangdi situated here. Every year on March 3 of the lunar calendar, the day when the first emperor in China established the first nation in Chinese history, people of Chinese origin from home and abroad gather in Xinzheng, the birthplace of XuanyuanHuangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, to offer sacrifices and worship this legendary ancestor of the Chinese nation. To respect this great Emperor, his descendants have held large ceremonies of worship, which have been attracting descendants of Yanhuang from America, Japan, Korea, Canada and other nations and areas each year. They come back to worship, seeking their roots here in China.
Now, Here we are, The Native Place of EmperorHuangdi.This square was built in the end of 1998.It covers an area of 15,000 square meters,of which 7,900 square meters are covered with trees and flowers. It has become a very important place for the domestic and overseas Chinese descendants to hold large—scaled activities to worship their ancestors. In the center of the square here is a three—legged tripod caldron, whichwas cast in the shape of bears, reminding of the Emperor Huangdi’s rising from the Youxiong Tribe. The three—sided body of the tripod caldron has the embossment of three dragons with a fireball, implying the glorious sun and praying for favorable weather for crops and a harvest. Standing at the center of the altar, it is laurelled as “the No.1 tripod caldron of the world” for its unparalleled size and its special origin. It is 6.99 meters in height, 24 tons in weight, which has been registered in the Guinness World Records. The height number of 6.99 made up of figure 6 and 9 implies the majesty of grandness in traditional Chinese culture. Through the Xuanyuan Bridge above the JishuiRiver , here we can see the main hall. Please look at the pair of the guarding animalssitting on both sides of the gate.They are stone bears. Do you know why chose bears to guard the gate？ Because 5,000 years ago,there used to be many bears in Xinzheng. Bear was a kind of animal,very powerful and fierce then. In order to show people’s worship, the Youxiong Tribe regarded bear as the totem of their own tribe. Well, let’s enter the hall, there’re 8 mural paintings on the wall,which vividly depict the.
great achievements of the Yellow Emperor during his life.They’reThe Birth of the Yellow Emperor,Making Boat and Chariot,Setting up an alliance by EmperorHuangdi and Emperor Yandi, Crusading AgainstChiyou,Making Youxiong the Capital, Holding High the Dragon Flag, Developing Agriculture and Stock Raising, Creation of Chinese Civilization. It’s a long story behind these paintings： It is recorded that, in the Prehistoric Times, there lived many clans and tribes around the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, yet Huangdi was the most renowned tribal leader at that time. When the tribe lead by Yandi began to decline, Huangdis tribe was flourishing. During this period, Chiyou,another tribal leader, often lead his stronger tribe to invade other tribes, and invaded Yandis tribe. With the help of Huangdi, they defeated Chiyou.After 52 battlesHuangdi united China. All Chinese, despite nationalities, regardedHuangdi as our ancestor. Huangdi, the initiator of Chinese civilization, was hence worshipped by his descendants. After the capital was built,EmperorHuangdi raised his flag of dragon, symbolizing the unification of all tribes. The dragon was integrated with different parts of various animals： horse’s head, deer’s horn, tiger’s mouth, snake’s body, fish’s scales, and eagle’s claw. Since then, dragon has been the symbol of Chinese nation. On the both sides of the main hall, there’re eastern wing hall and western wing hall.In the east side hall,there is the statue of LuoZu, the first wife of EmperorHuangdi. She was the first person to raise silkworm and weave silk in ancient China and alsoan outstanding representative of ancient Chinese women. Every feudal dynasty set up temple for her and worshipped her as “the first ancestor in silkworm raising”. While in the west side hall, here is the statue Mother Mo, the fourth wife of Emperor Huangdi, who had invented the earliest “loom”for weaving. Later generations called her “mother Mo———the ancestor of weavers”.
Yamen in Neixiang County
The construction of the Yamen here started in 1303 in Yuan Dynasty, and the present buildings were built in Qing Dynasty. It was the most well preserved government office of country level in feudal China. Since our opening up to the outside world in 1984, it has attracted a number of our government officials and visitors form both at home and abroad because of its special history, science, attractive value and its own charm. We have the famous saying ： Beijing is the dragonhead while the dragon’s tail is in Neixiang. It is also one of the important cultural relics of state level.
The front part building of the Yamen was called a screen wall, which was built with blue brick relief sculpture. In the middle of the screen, there is a strange beast, which is called “Tan”. It was said to be a greedy beast that could swallow gold and silver treasures in the legend. Here in the picture we can see that around it there are treasures everywhere. But he is not satisfied. His mouth opens widely intending to swallow the sun in the sky, but as a result, he falls off the steep cliff, having his body smashed into pieces. The picture on the screen was first created by Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty. The purpose of the drawing is to warn the government officials not to take bribes and break the law. Here is the main entrance, halfway there is another gate right in the middle, called Yimen, the second main official entrance. It used to be open only on the day when new governor took his place or when higher official came to visit. On both sides of the second gate, there’re two small doors, the one on the east was called Life door, while the one on the west was called Death door, or Ghost door, which was used only by the criminals when they were sentenced to death and were going to be killed. Passing through Yimen, you can see a grand building here in front of you . That is the great hall. The great hall was the place where the governor of the county announced the government orders, and also some important ceremonies were held here and some important and serious criminal cases were tried here. In the middle of it, a trial desk was placed, and on the desk, the four treasures of the study and the red and green bamboo pieces used for trial could be found. On the front side of the screen, there’s a picture of seawater, tide and the sun, meaning that an official should be as clear as the sun and the moon and as clean as seawater. In other words, an official should be honest and upright. When the prosecutor and the defendant were taken to the hall for trial, they must kneel down on the stones. The square stone on the east was for the prosecutor, and the rectangle stone on the west was for the accused. Since most cases.
involved more defendants, the stone for them was longer then. The house behind the great hall was called doorman house. The man who guarded the house was called Doorman, who was the county governor’s relative or people who were close to him. Now we have come to the second hall. It was the place where the County Magistrate dealt with small cases. Please look at these famous couplets, which means that before law everyone is equal. So the judges should pass the fairest judgment on people. This is called Fuzi Yard, an ancient form of address to a Confucian scholar or to a master by his disciples. Fuzi was usually the official’s assistant who was usually their close friend of knowledgeable and artistic talent. Everyone, including the county governor respectfully addressed him as Lao Fuzi, so the place where Fuzi worked was called Fuzi Yard. Finally, let’s go to the third hall. It was the place where county governor did his daily work. If the cases he dealt with were of great importance, he would do it here. There was also a garden behind. It was here that county governor enjoyed his free life and got away from his government affairs. As we can see now, there’re many succinct couplets with rich intension here. But this one before the third hall was the most famous. It was written by GaoYigong , a county governor in Neixiang county. It means that being the local officials, we rearded the common people as our parents. We worked for them voluntarily and willingly.Nowadays , many of our Party leaders like Chairman Jiang Zemin read it with deep feelings, and Premier Zhu Rongji sings high praise of it. The words can be no doubt regarded as famous saying and epigram, and the only one of its kind. So now the Ymen in Neixiang, together with the Museum Palace in Beijing, and the other two in Hebei and Shanxi, has formed a special international tore route of the four great ancient Chinese Yamens. Neixiang is now going out of Henan and into the world. We warmly welcome all the reiends from all over the world to visit Neixiang, and enjoy the elegant demeanor of the ancient Yamen.
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