Archive for November 3rd, 2008

China Travel – Southeast Turret in Beijing City

Monday, November 3rd, 2008

The Southeast Turret in Beijing City is located at the south of Jianguomen and the southeast corner of the Beijing Railway Station.

The Southeast Turret in Beijing City, standing at the southeast corner of the inner Beijing city, was a building for defense in the Ming and the Qing Dynasties (1368-1911). In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), there was another turret at the southwest corner of the inner Beijing city and which disappeared long ago. The layout of the building is rectangular, with the convex corner protruding at the turning point of the city wall. The turret has a double-eave roof covered with grey pantiles and green margins. The main ridges meet at the corner that is decorated with a spire. The turret has two gates leading to the top of the city wall. On the outer walls between the eaves there are 144 shooting holes — windows for shooting arrows. The Southeast Turret of Beijing provides valuable materials for research into the buildings for defense in ancient China. 

(Source: chinaculture.org)

Chinese Conversation – lesson 249

Monday, November 3rd, 2008

两个坐隔壁的同事在看网络上的照片
阿杰:看看这些照片。这些士兵在这个犯人身上尿尿。
贝丝:那真恶心。他们怎么可以做这种事?
阿杰:这张更糟哩。他们在用枪柄打他。
贝丝:我还以为这些军人是要去解放伊拉克,而非摧毁它。
阿杰:身为一个美国人,看到贵国军队这种行径,你做何感想?
贝丝:这个嘛,当你赋予人生杀大权时,你就一定会制造出很多问题。
阿杰:无意冒犯,但这件事实在让美国和英国军队尊严扫地。
贝丝:我不在意。这下情况对布什和布莱尔会越来越棘手了。

Two neighboring office workers are looking at pictures on the internet
Ajie: Look at these pictures. These soldiers are peeing on this prisoner.
Beth: That’s disgusting. How could they do such a thing?
Ajie: This is even worse. They’ve beating him with the butts of their guns.
Beth: I thought those soldiers were supposed to be liberating Iraq, not destroying it.
Ajie: As an American, how does it make you feel to see your country’s troops acting this way?
Beth: Well, when you give people the power over life and death, you’ve bound to create a lot of problems.
Ajie: No offense, but it sure makes the American and British armies look bad.
Beth: None taken. Things will get a lot tougher for Bush and Blair now.

(Source: wwenglish.com)

Chinese Culture – Dadianzi Site & Graveyard

Monday, November 3rd, 2008

 

Site and graveyard of the Bronze Age in north China

 

Location: Aohan Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

 

Period: 1735-1463 BC

 

Excavated from 1974 to 1983

 

Significance: The finds have disclosed the early bronze civilization in north China, as well as the burial systems of the lower layer of the Xiajiadian Culture. 

Painted pottery jar: food container or ritual vessel (left, height 17 cm; mid, height 40 cm; right, height 23 cm)

 

 Introduction

 

Dadianzi is a group of sites surrounded by earth ramparts and moats, with an unearthed area of about 10,000 square meters. The site abounds in cultural relics like stone articles, pottery, jade and bronze wares, among which the earliest metal coins in China’s history are the most valuable. The eastern part of the site is a group of neatly arranged tombs, of which 804 tombs have been unearthed together with large quantities of funerary articles. The findings are a great help to the study of the burial systems of the lower layer of the Xiajiadian Culture.

Source: chinaculture.org