During the “Discovering Shanxi’s Ancient Chinese Architecture — Overseas Media and Students Tour”, held from Oct 14 to 18, the North China province of Shanxi revealed its culture and vitality to a group of overseas visitors.
Supported by the Publicity Department of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and China Daily, the program was co-hosted by Shanxi Daily and the business development department of China Daily, and organized by the Shanxi International Communication Center.
The tour brought together 10 foreign scholars and bloggers from eight countries, international students studying in Shanxi, and reporters from national media groups to visit the cities of Taiyuan, Jinzhong, Linfen and Yuncheng.
The group paid visits to Jinci Museum, the Ancient City of Pingyao, the Taosi Relics Site, Yuncheng Guandi Temple and other landmarks, documenting their “glance of Shanxi across 1,000 years” through their cameras and words.
Situated between the Yellow River in the west and the Taihang Mountains in the east, Shanxi is one of the cradles of Chinese culture and civilization.
Members of the tour take a walk through Yongle Palace in Yuncheng. [Photo/WEI BO/YAN CHANGJIANG/FOR CHINA DAILY]
“Shanxi is a veritable treasury of China’s ancient architecture. The province has more than 28,000 surviving ancient buildings — about 10.6 percent of the national total — and an estimated 82.48 percent of the country’s wooden structures dating to the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and earlier,” according to Wang Xiaolong, deputy director of the Shanxi Institute for the Protection of Ancient Architecture and Painted Sculptures and Murals.
The journey started at Jinci Museum in Taiyuan. Situated in the southwest of Taiyuan, Jinci combines ancient Chinese architecture, sculptures, frescoes and inscriptions, representing a rich tapestry of religion, politics and family clans.
It was first built in the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) in memory of Shuyu, a prince of the Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century-256 BC), at the site of his fiefdom’s capital for his commitment to improving local people’s livelihoods.
On this 4-hectare site, there are 98 buildings from the Song (960-1279), Yuan, Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, more than 100 statues and 122 ancient trees, including 29 trees that are more than 1,000 years old.
“Stepping into Jinci Temple in Taiyuan felt like traveling back 1,000 years,” said French blogger Mathieu Mylene.
“Jinci is truly magnificent, with many original ancient buildings and carvings preserved. Encircled by millennia-old trees, the whole complex transports you to a bygone era,” she added.
A tour member poses for a photo with an actor playing Guan Gong at the Guandi Temple in Yuncheng. [Photo/WEI BO/YAN CHANGJIANG/FOR CHINA DAILY]
From Taiyuan, the group continued their trip to Jinzhong, the birthplace of Jinshang culture. Jinshang, also known as Shanxi merchants, rose to prominence during the Ming and Qing dynasties through commercial activities such as tea and salt trading and the operation of draft banks.
The group visited Pingyao Ancient City and the Wang’s Grand Courtyard to explore this legacy. With a history of more than 2,800 years, Pingyao Ancient City was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. It is best known for its almost intact Ming Dynasty city walls and well-preserved ancient residences and commercial streets.
Rishengchang, China’s first draft bank, was set up in 1823 and is one of the hallmark relics.
“It’s incredible to witness the origins of China’s draft bank and financial systems,” said Michael Rhys Card from the United Kingdom, also a journalist from China Daily. “The concept behind the coded drafts from centuries ago is remarkably consistent with today’s credit card systems,” he added.
The itinerary then moved south to Linfen, where the group visited the Taosi Relics Site. Home to one of the most significant archaeological discoveries in China in the past decades, the site offers a window into the dawn of Chinese civilization.
Tour members assemble for a group photo with the banner “Discovering Shanxi’s Ancient Chinese Architecture — Overseas Media and Students Tour” at the Taosi Relics Site in Xiangfen. [Photo/WEI BO/YAN CHANGJIANG/FOR CHINA DAILY]
Remarkable findings there include ruins of a city from more than 4,000 years ago — which is believed to be a capital of one of the earliest states in China — and the world’s earliest known observatory ruins. These offer tangible proof of a civilization stretching back thousands of years.
The observatory comprised 13 rammed-earth columns arranged in a semicircular shape. Standing at a designated vantage point, viewers could determine the solar terms based on the position of the sun as it rose from the horizon.
“Four millennia ago, they could observe solar events with clay pillars and use a gnomon (column) to calibrate the farming calendar — this is a civilizational miracle for all humankind,” said a Pakistani student who used the Chinese name Dawei.
On the final leg of the tour, the group arrived in Yuncheng in southwestern Shanxi, the hometown of Guan Gong.
Guan Gong — which means Lord Guan — is the reverent term of address for Guan Yu, a general in the period spanning the late Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) and the Three Kingdoms (220-280). He is also known as Guandi, or Emperor Guan.
Welsh journalist Michael Rhys Card shares his insights on Shanxi’s ancient architecture with the group. [Photo/WEI BO/YAN CHANGJIANG/FOR CHINA DAILY]
His legacy of loyalty, integrity, mercy and bravery — as depicted in China’s classic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms — has earned him deity status in traditional Chinese culture.
The Haizhou Guandi Temple, initially built during the Sui Dynasty (581-618), is the earliest, largest, highest-grade, and best-preserved Guan Gong temple still standing in China.
“I’ve seen many Guandi Temples in Africa, but now I’ve finally visited the ancestral temple of all Guandi Temples,” said Oluwabunmi Henry Jimoh, a blogger from Nigeria.
“I’ve also memorized the sacred teaching of Lord Guan — reading good books, speaking good words, doing good deeds, and being a good person — I will bring the stories from here back to Nigeria,” he added.
Irish blogger Luke O’Farrell said that Guandi Temple and the spirit of loyalty and righteousness it embodies bring him a genuine understanding of the cultural roots of China.
An aerial view of the Ancient City of Pingyao in Jinzhong. [Photo/WEI BO/YAN CHANGJIANG/FOR CHINA DAILY]
In addition, the group visited Yongle Palace, which was built in the 13th century as a dedication to Lyu Dongbin, a revered Taoist sage. The large-scale Taoist temple complex is known for its 700-year-old murals that cover about 1,000 square meters.
“I felt as if I could see the gods interacting and sense the vivid and dynamic celestial realm while standing inside,” said Indonesian blogger Veldsen Yaputra.
As Shanxi pairs a deep historical legacy with new narrative forms, it is making itself better known to the world — crossing linguistic and cultural borders.
This time, for instance, field visits and accounts by overseas bloggers, students and reporters were bringing the cultural heritage of Shanxi to a wider audience — moving it from visibility to understanding, and toward genuine appreciation.
Rooted in five millennia of civilization, the province is stepping onto the world stage with confidence.
From left: The Yingxun Gate of Pingyao Ancient City. Wuji Hall of Yongle Palace in Yuncheng city. An actress dressed as a painted maiden statue at the Hall of Sacred Mother in Jinci Taiyuan. [Photo/WEI BO/YAN CHANGJIANG/FOR CHINA DAILY]
www.ecns.cn (Article Sourced Website)
#Foreigners #glance #years #Shanxi