Back in the National Geographic Magazine article, The Glory that was Imperial Peking, June, 1933, Mr. W. Robert Moore describes a city that bore little resemblance to modern Beijing, I feel certain. Clogging the city were many donkeys, caravans of camels, and a few automobiles. Today there are so many cars that China produces much of the world's air pollution!
Peking was a city of many walls with many gates. "The Chien Men, the central one of the south wall and largest of them all, was officially the Cheng Yan Men, "Straight to the Sun," and was once the emperor's because he alone was allowed to pass through the central archway. But China has become a people's country and the gate is often referred to as "The Nation's Gate," (p. 766).
"Back from it stretches the royal avenue which leads to the Imperial palaces - the Purple Forbidden City." Every Chinese citizen could buy a ticket to get into the palace museum. "This paper allows them to walk where the god-emperors once abode!" (p. 767).
I was surprised to read that even after the Communists gained control of China, many nations maintained their embassies and kept troops there. "Since the boxer uprising of 1900, garrisons have been maintained in Peiping by the American, British, French, Italian, and Japanese legations," (photo caption, p. 769).
FYI: China has long enjoyed a reputation of producers of fine porcelain and pottery. When our United States colonies of Jamestown and Plymouth were being settled in the 1600s, the Chinese city of Ching-teh-chen, "about 200 miles from Shanghai, surrounded by deposits of kaolin and fine clays, had some 3,000 kilns and a population of nearly a million supported by the industry," (photo caption, p. 773).
Mr. Moore felt that the new government neglected the old shrines and they were decaying. "Peiping is no longer an Imperial City, and there is little authority for the preservation of its precious monuments," (p. 779). What a pity of have lost so much of the ancient Chinese history and artifacts!
No comments:
Post a Comment