Qufu--Jingdezhen 
cctv.com 03-25-2005 17:31
I visit the tombs of Confucius and his offspring in Confucius Forest. Taking the tour in a grand horse-drawn pleasure carriage. Confucius returned home when he was 68 years old. From then, until his death at the age of 73, he devoted himself to education.
Confucius鈥檚 Forest is the graveyard of Confucius鈥檚 family. It鈥檚 the family graveyard that has the largest scale and longest history in China. Past high walls, doorsills and screen walls, I arrive at the Forest.
Confucius, his son and his grandson are buried here, surrounded by a red wall. Confucius鈥檚 tomb looks like the swollen back of a horse. The shape denotes respect and worship. His posthumous titles Great Success and Saint Wenxuan Prince are engraved on the tombstone. This is the highest rank of posthumous title that he was given.
The current layout of Confucius Forest has developed over time. He claimed he should be buried simply, so he was buried beside his mother in an axe-shaped tomb.
Around Confucius tomb, are numerous tombs and tomb-stones. The Yan Duke and his offspring were buried in Confucius Forest.
So many intact tombs, I鈥檝e never witnessed a group of tombs like this. As it belongs to Confucius it was protected by all the dynasties. The underground tombs have never been unearthed. Confucius Forest is a large-scale storehouse with abundant cultural relics.
A big project is the keeping of the Kong family records. It will be revised and added to after a period of 12 years. This is the institution that deals with the amendments to the records. An old man comes to check whether his aunt is a hundred years old. The family record is important to Chinese for it influences family relationships.
I鈥檓 leaving and want to shake his hand; he uses the old form of salutation in return. I鈥檓 amazed and drop the umbrella. Qufu is a special resort. Here you can experience a human landscape and consider the meaning of life.
The Residence of Confucius is where Confucius and his descendents lived. It鈥檚 also called Yan Duke Residence. Yan Duke was the name awarded by Emperor Renzong in the Song Dynasty in 1055.
Yan Duke mainly dealt with sacrificial activities at the Confucian Temple. At the same time, along the lines of Confucian family tradition, Yan Duke opened a private school and sometimes acted as an official.
A royal family is only glorious in its own time, but the respected position of Confucius鈥 offspring is handed down from one generation to the next.
The inner courtyard door was the boundary between the inner courtyard and the official building. This door was positioned in the most important place, according to the science of geomancy. It was once guarded and lined with weapons and instruments of torture. Male servants and male guests were forbidden inside. There were dozens of servants in the rooms next to the door who were on duty to deliver messages. A water gutter was embedded in the west wall to transport water indoors. During the Qing Dynasty there was a fire and, because no man was allowed inside, a lot of the buildings burned down.
Confucius was born in 551. It was a period of transformation. Society entered the feudal period during which numerous wars, murders and contests occurred. In the field of culture - moral human relations, the hierarchy system, courtesy and traditional music were destroyed. Schools with different ideas pursued a new kind of political and ethical system. Confucius was born during this period.
The period was a time of disorder. It needed order and great men. Confucius and Lao Zi were born at this time.
Chinese calligraphy and paintings are sold at every scenic site in Qufu. This man鈥檚 good at Kung Fu and can write with both hands at the same time.
Why were so many great men born in Qufu? Besides Confucius, there were Yanzi, Zisi, Mencius and Luban. Also Emperor Huang. Emperor Yan once made it the capital. Shaohao is buried here. It鈥檚 mysterious.
To the north of Qufu is Tai Mountain, China鈥檚 Father Mountain. When Confucius was born, China鈥檚 Mother River, Yellow River flowed south of Qufu. With the Father Mountain and the Mother River, it is not to be wondered at that Confucius was born here.
NI Mountain is the birthplace of Confucius. To commemorate Confucius, a large- scale temple is built here.
There鈥檚 a legend that tells us that Confucius was left in a cave by his mother, when she went home to fetch some clothes. Two tigers came and lay down by the mouth of the cave to guard him. It was summer and it was hot; Confucius kept crying. Then a hawk flew into the cave and cooled him by waving its wings.
The Analects of Confucius is a thin book but people have argued about it for two thousand years. We just want to find reasons for ourselves.
Encyclopedia Britannica lists Confucius as one of the world鈥檚 top Ten Greatest Thinkers. Former US President, Ronald Reagan once said: The impressive behavior and great moral thoughts of Confucius affect his country, and also the whole of mankind?
Before the kiln is been opened, nobody knows what will be inside. Will it be treasure or rubbish? They operate carefully in fear and are trembling. What will the final product look like?
It is here I make china with the workers, visit the grand master, and explore china鈥檚 history that has lasted more than 1000 years.
I arrive at Jingdezhen just before its millennium commemoration, and happen to encounter an opening ceremony of a kiln. The odd costumes and props, and shrill music just like a mysterious drama, and remain me the magic atmosphere of JK Rowling鈥檚 novel. I guess that is for china cannot be made by standardization, the whole process is full individuation and unpredictable thing.
The china techniques are an original and abstruse art. The kiln cannot last for a long time; the fiery five will destroy it. This is a discarded kiln; can you imagine that artworks that move the whole world are made here? There were ever countless secrets in the history.
The architectures that go back hundreds of years to Ming and Qing dynasties are in the autumn rain, which remains me my home. Maybe I should buy some china for my family as a present.
Jingdezhen is beautiful and rich, which surrounded by mountains and with crossed rivers. China day means kaolin, it鈥檚 the proper noun for porcelain clay in international, named by it鈥檚 original place: Kaolin village of Jingdezhen town. Jingdezhen is rich with china historical sites, and more than thirty ancient mines and kiln sites have been found. I am going to visit an ancient kiln site that is named Yaoli. It is located beside the Changjiang branch at the foot of Mingling Mountain. At ancient time, the river was necessary to produce power to crash the raw material and as the main transporting method.
Between the years of 1506 to 1521 ( Ming Dynasty), a Japanese man lived here for five years to learn how to make the blue and white china, and fired china at Youtian when he had returned back. It鈥檚 the first time the techniques spread to the east. In the years of 1712 and 1722 (Qing Dynasty), Pere d'Entrecolles, a French missionary wrote back two times to explain how to make china, and that had promoted the development of the Europe copied China鈥檚 china.
Jingdezhen is a kingdom of china. The firing of china shapes its cultural character and life style. More than ten thousand china workers have formed a pyramid, the master potters on the top and the craftsmen on the bottom. Each has their own task of introducing new ideas and methods and handing down the skills.
At the Jingdezhen sculpture porcelain factory, I have visited some artworks made by the modern grand masters; those artworks can reflect the time spirit and art trend. Certainly, all the grand masters work for art as well as money.
The artworks of grand master are expensive; they will take several thousand to several ten thousand Yuan. Certainly it is not easy to be a grand master.
I am not a china connoisseur; I only come here to experience the more than two thousand years development progress of Jingdezhen鈥檚 china industry. But maybe you can find something from what Zhengpeng, my new friend has said: When the ancient fleet that had sailed on the Pacific Ocean triumphantly had disappeared, the negligible and fragile china still flare the brilliance of eastern culture of middle century. In the long history of china industry, there were so many famous kiln sites and artworks. But the top one that can reflect china鈥檚 achievement is located in the south of Yangtze, the china kingdom-Jingdezhen.
I have even made a china bowl in a workshop, but for the reason that you can understand I do not display it to you. Now I will draw on the china board.
Lead by Mr. Zheng from Jingdezhen tourism bureau, we arrive at the international china industry bethel-kaolin. Sure there is already no kaolin and the boom of the china industry at the roof of the mountain has gone, but the scenery and sentiment still attract me. If only there was now cold wind what almost freeze me to death, it is a perfect trip.
In 1869, Riehthofen Ferdinand, the famous Germany rocksy visited Jingdezhen, and published article to introduce porcelain clay rock and kaolin. It is the first time that western rocksy introduce Chinese kaolin from the geognosy view point, and kaolin has been the proper noun for international mineralogy. The little village under the sunshine of the setting sun was formed by the people who came here to explore kaolin.
I participate in performance of porcelain music instruments beside a lake. I do not even know what kind of thing cannot be made by china.
Before we leave Jingdezhen, I shop around the china shop and I am lost in them. At last I buy a dozen of china鈥檚 chopsticks; sure it is not for having dinner but for decorating.
China is combined with man鈥檚 power and woman鈥檚 softness, and now I will finish the visit in Jingdezhen.
Good luck, Jingdezhen; good luck, China.
Editor:Hu Hang Source:CCTV.com
