Archive for April 21st, 2009

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China Travel – Zhenguo Temple

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

The Zhenguo Temple sits in Haodong Village, northeast of Pingyao County, Shanxi Province.

Built in 963, the temple was abandoned in the Ming (1368-1644)-Qing (1644-1911) period. The main hall, the Wanfo Hall (Ten-Thousand-Buddha Hall), which currently stands in the center of the front courtyard, was restored in 1815 during the Qing Dynasty. The God Hall was built near the mountain gate and contains statues of the four gods. The bell and drum towers were erected at the side of the hall. Most of the 20 stone tablets located in the east and west corridors recount the temple’s history. Situated in the backyard are the Kwan-yin Hall, the Ksitigarbha Hall and the Three-Buddha Building. All of the halls, except the Kwan-yin Hall, contain various statues. Frescos painted on the gable walls of the Three-Buddha Building tell the life story of Sakyamuni. The frescos are elaborate works of the Ming period.

The earliest construction at the temple, the Wanfo Hall is three bays wide and three bays deep. Square in shape, the hall has a gable and hip roof with protrusive, single-layered eaves. Its bracket set is over 2-3 columns high — a rarity in ancient temples. Eleven temple statues – including the Buddha, two of his followers, four Bodhisattvas, two gods and two of Bodhisattva’s attendants — are of high artistic value. The statues are all characterized by a plump facial outline from the Five Dynasties Period (907-960). Two rare trees grow at the Wanfo Temple, namely the Dragon and Tiger Pagoda trees. A stone tablet inscribed with Notes on the Dragon Pagoda Tree in the Zhenguo Temple is embedded in the wall. Also, half a tablet from the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) was also found at the temple.

(Source: chinaculture.org)

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Beijing Olympic – Archery: Terry returns to the Olympics after 16-year hiatus

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

Returning to Archery after 12 years in retirement, Simon Terry (GBR) has spent the last three years trying to get back to the form that won him the Individual and Team Bronze medals in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

Terry’s return has not come without sacrifice. Before picking up the bow and arrow again in 2005, he worked full-time as a truck driver, a job he has had to give up to train and travel.

But the sacrifice is paying off. Terry has had considerable success leading up to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. He placed fourth in the individual category at the 2007 world championships in Leipzig, Germany and won an individual bronze at the 2007 World Cup Stage in Dover, England.

“I take every match as it comes. If I shoot well and lose I will still be pleased.”

While Terry has been successful in Individuals, he sees the Team as Great Britain’s strong point. The British Team won a Gold medal from the 2007 World Cup Stage in Varese, Italy, and a Bronze medal from the 2007 World Championships.

“We’ve got a good team and we’ll do well at these Games. Last year we did well and we hope to keep that run.”

The team from Great Britain is the same team that competed in the 2007 world championships and World Cup Circuit. Alan Wills and Laurence Godfrey see the value of having Terry as their teammate.

“He’s brilliant, one of the best archers in the world. He’s the absolute opposite of what people want in an athlete, but he’s so strong. When it comes to wind he is absolutely the best in the world,” said Wills.

“We’re like brothers,” said Godfrey. “Simon is the silver fox because his hair is silver. Alan is just Willy (because his last name is Wills). And I’m Jethro – back home Jethro is a comedian.”

In addition to a Team medal, Godfrey and Wills will be looking to make a mark individually. Godfrey finished fourth in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

“I’ve changed a lot of stuff since Athens. I’m just going to see how that comes out. It took a few years to work.”

Wills has the Individual Silver medal from the World Cup Stage in Dover and the Individual Bronze medal from the 2007 World Championships in Leipzig, Germany. Wills also has the Bronze medal from the 2007 World Cup Final in Dubai.

(Source: en.beijing2008.cn)

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Chinese Culture – Lin Bai(2)

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

Lin’s Reflections

Lin tends to construct her works as a reflection of her world. Narcissism can be easily sensed in her words. It’s a self-appreciation that eliminates a male perspective.

The Seat on the Verandah shows Lin’s views in this regard. The story is “about strangers in a local place, their revolution, the friendship between a mistress and her maiden, a mysterious verandah, the scent of tea and lavender, all of which hide in a red mansion almost invisible in fog and flurry.” It weakens the male characters and focuses on the story of Zhu Liang and Qi Ye.

The story begins with a picture of Zhu Liang, though, it’s hard to find a plot or story in the novel, or a man depicted. All that can be deduced is the virtual happenings between the two women. They consider each other as a person with secret connections.

In the story, by appreciating the beauty of a woman in another woman’s eyes, Lin excludes the impacts of man, and reveals the real beauty a woman exudes.

Some critics think that, within her soul, Lin is a poet. She is not an expert in writing intriguing stories or logic. The highlights of her novels are always those patches of narration featuring female beauty.

Excerpt

I once saw a photograph of Zhu Liang in her youth. She had posed sitting. The sharp contrasts in the black-and-white picture gave the image a strong three-dimensional effect. The woman in the picture was wearing a full-length cheongsam slit to the thigh, a style popular in Shanghai in the 1940s. Her body was supple and curvaceous, and her face radiated beauty. This beautiful glow, like an eternal aura, enveloped Zhu Liang throughout her youth. Her gaze in this photograph fixed itself on me across half a century.

The two-inch-by-two-inch photograph was set in an elephant-bone frame of a clean and simple design. The new frame set off the old yellow photograph. This frame did not belong to her, its owner said. Her voice was filled with deep nostalgia, like that of a doddering man remembering an undying love from his youth so beautiful and tragic he has never been able to forget it.

（Source: chinaculture.org）

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