The Ming Guys

November 15, 2009

A Ming Vase - well I had heard of one but what could make a vase so significant? And what is a Ming anyhow?

By the year 1368 a guy by the name of Zhu (first name) had become a military leader having joined the army as a peasant to fight against an uprising against the established army and then over the years becoming a major leader. In 1398 Zhu had become very powerful and proclaimed himself emperor. This ended the previous Yuan dynasty and was the beginning of almost 300 years of the Mings. The Ming dynasty followed the blood line of Zhu and saw developments in the area of medicine, literature, foreign trade, handicrafts, and ceramics including vases. It also saw the beginning of capitalism and the importation of tobacco from America and other products from Europe. In all there were 16 Mings with the last hanging himself after military defeats.

All of the Mings apparently used the first name of Zhu and Ming. Why, I don't know and so far I don't know where the name Ming came from. If you do let me know.

When we arrived in Beijing we were met at the airport by Brian who would be our guide for our time in Beijing. The tour bus reserved for us was comfortable, clean and our group was the only ones on it. Brian did a really nice job and spoke English well. He knew Chinese history and could answer any of our questions quite thoroughly. He was candid in his answers and explained the development of the Chinese society over the last 20 years or so very well. His personal view is that the country is becoming more and more capitalistic in nature and will be the direction in the future.

Brian shared some of his family history and that his father was a member of the communist party for over 30 years. I think that this was because he had a position with the government. Brian said that because of this his father retired with a good pension and full medical care.

I wish that I had studied up a little on Chinese history before the trip but a country with 7,000 years of history would make it a hard decision of where to start. So for eight days you learn what you can of any history you find interesting and enjoy the modern day China.

Today was the first day of siteseeing for us and the first daytime views of our surroundings. Our agenda for today included the Temple of Heaven, a Jade Factory, Ming Tombs, the Great Wall, and later a Chinese Acrobatic Show.

Below - Brian fearless leader of fifteen Americans.

We had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel. It was buffet style with American style food including eggs custom cooked any style you desired, sausages, bacon, pancakes, etc. Also Chinese breakfast selections were available. And then we were off for our first day in China.

All around us now we could see the incredible amount of construction going on. High rise construction everywhere with the skyline peppered with cranes. Travelling through the streets of Beijing the influence of American culture could be seen from the evidence of McDonald's, Pizza Hut, KFC, etc. Could be good or bad I guess.

We soon learned what our day's of touring were going to be like.

One of our first stops was at a jade factory where we had a nice Chinese lady tell us all about jade and how to tell quality from not so good jade. Lighter colored jade is considered better and brings a higher price. High quality jade emits a nice ringing sound when tapped. Everything we needed to know so that we could intelligently shop in the factory store.

Below our instructor is holding a very nice piece worth thousands of US dollars.


Below Joan is looking at a large piece worth tens of thousands of US dollars.

Our next stop was at The Temple of Heaven where the emperors would go to pray for good harvests. It was explained that the emperor was the only one that had a connection to God and this was the temple where he would go to pray. He was the only one allowed to enter the building.

The area around the temple consisted of gardens and open recreation areas. Below is a section of roof that is probably hundreds of years old. It's of beautiful green tile construction.

I had seen pictures and videos on TV of the Chinese practicing Tai Chi and exercising in the park areas and here we were at the real live thing. Brian explained that 30 years ago China was in a depressing time with people having to work into their older years. Dress was plain and dark colors and little social interaction. Now people are able to retire with descretionary income and have a lot of social activities. Below are a number of men playing a board game along an open arcade and sitting on a railing where there was a whole row of games going on including dominoes, some type of checkers, card games (Brian said that poker was popular).

Below people are practicing Tai Chi and along with the help of a boom box taking dancing lessons obviously enjoying themselves. The somewhat incredible thing is that it's the beginning of winter and we were freezing coming from Palm Springs and Phoenix but even though the temperature was around 35-40 degrees they were out in the open really enjoying themselves. This is the retiree generation. An interesting comparison to the large group of retired men hanging out at the local McDonald's in the mornings.

Below is the House of Prayer.
Great panoramic views of the city from this spot.

Our next stop on the tour was the valley and mountainous area where the Ming emperors are buried. Below is a general layout of the valley that is the resting place of 13 of the emperors, 3 of the emperors are buried at other locations. As you come into the valley you can see the pagodas or temples marking the burial spots at various spots at the bases of the mountains spread over thousands of acres.

One of the Zhu's above.

We saw a lot today including the Great Wall but will add that next.