9/09/2004

敦煌汉长城 The Great Wall of Han Dynasty


敦煌以西,玉门关外 10 余公里的一段汉长城,是现存最早的一段长城,至今已 2000 年历史。一层泥沙、一层芦苇,因泥沙中的盐碱胶凝结后非常坚固,至今保存仍极为完整,高达四米。远处的建筑是烽燧台。
The Great Wall, 10 km outside YuMenGuan Pass west Dunhuang (Gansu Province), is the oldest section of the Great Wall standing, built during Han Dyanasty over 2000 years ago. Height: 4 meters. The Beacon Tower can be seen in the background.


汉长城
The Great Wall of Han Dynasty near YuMenGuan Pass.


当年备用的燃烟积薪。
The signaling pile nearby from 2000 years ago.


敦煌西南 70 公里,阳关旧址的烽燧台。今阳关已湮没无存,仅剩这墩墩山上的一座烽燧。
Beacon Tower in YangGuan Pass ("Sunny Pass"). YangGuan was a city 70 km southwest of Dunhuang, now completely gone under the desert, except for this signaling tower on top of DunDun Hill.

9/04/2004

壮丽新疆 Xinjiang from above

【文学城世界风情】丝绸之路之一:壮丽新疆


新疆的天山山脉。
Tian Shan (or Tianshan, Tien Shan, 'the heavenly mountains'), Xinjiang.

I took the early morning flight from Beijing to Urumqi--the capital city of Xinjiang province (other names: Sinkiang, Tartary, Kasgaria, Serindia; 1/6 of the size of China), and then changed plane to Kashgar. In the spacious and sunny Urumqi airport, I felt as if in a semi-foreign country. Everyone seemed happy and relaxed, with a smile on the face. The shops were selling colorful local handicrafts, travel books, grapes and other delicious fruits. I was happy and eager to go further west. Kashgar (Kashi)--a city with a foreign name, full of mysteries and secrets....

After the plane took off again, I glanced outside the window and was no longer able to draw my eyes back. What vast land! What topography! What mountains! What desert! What oases! What rivers! What on earth is nature doing here? Who is the artist? Who carved the rocks? Who dried the lakes? Who shaped the peaks? Who spread the snow? Who painted the land red and green and white and black and blue and brown and yellow? Who drew those lines, thick and thin, long and short, straight and curvy? And who moved Mars over here?

I thought about some battles between nature and the elements. I sensed a fierce fight of every single molecule here against the sun, the wind, the sky, the clouds, the mountains, the snow, the sand, the earth, the heat, and against one another. Where is man?

Man can never conquer nature. Peace.

从北京到乌鲁木齐,飞过了黄土、沙漠、高原。完全黄色干燥的,没有一丝生命的柔弱。我不知道莫高窟是在什么地方上建造的。当飞机进入新疆上空,窗外是万亩良田,一行行的绿色,十分整洁,但没有欧美、江南的田地那样绿得细腻、水灵。这里的绿也是粗壮的,艳丽的。

由乌鲁木齐往喀什,先是一望无际的绿洲,然后绿洲一点点被黄沙土侵食,渐渐的是完全的沙漠,无情地在骄阳下暴晒着。忽然间,高山拔地而起,然后是白茫茫的雪山。天山啊!

我 无法呼吸了。壮观啊,这山脉太壮观了!我想用壮烈这个词,只觉得还不够壮烈,不够豪气。莽莽大地上,粗壮的大手在雕着塑着割着画着,热情奔放,使我在飞机 上都强烈地感到那由地心发出的扑面而来的腾腾的热气。烈日毫无遮掩,毫无保留,一切都敞着,一切都在原始元素中拼着夺着,一场你死我活的战争。

有的地势火红如火焰山,有的则一片平沙万里;偶尔有沙漠绿洲,可怜又可傲地与四周的残酷抵争着。公路如细丝带,河流蜿蜒曲折,湖泊呈现出各种各样的颜色--青的绿的棕的红的。那些精美的花纹,又是什么?

我想到了火星。

新疆的地,如此广袤,如此壮丽。只有新疆这样的地,才可称之为大地。


乌鲁木齐
Urumqi from above


乌鲁木齐
Urumqi from above


乌鲁木齐
Urumqi from above. Never seen fields this shape before.


离开乌鲁木齐,城市绿洲被无情的沙漠替代。这里应该是准噶尔盆地边缘。我坐在右窗,飞机自右向左飞,
Leaving Urumqi, the city is being replaced by desert. I think this is part of the Junggar Basin. I sat on the right, so the plane flew from right to left.


进入沙漠?
Leaving Urumqi, entering, desert?


大地的花纹。
Beautiful patterns of the earth.


进入天山!
Entering Tianshan mountain range.


天山山脉。
Tianshan Mountains.


天山山脉。
Tianshan Mountains.


天山山脉。雪山。
Tianshan Mountains. Snow covered peaks.


天山山脉中的一条河。这才叫蜿蜒曲折。
A river in TianShan mountain range. (Photo level automatically adjusted in photoshop.)


天山山脉。 高山与红岩的聚会。
Tianshan Mountain range. Negotiation between mountains and rocks.


天山山脉。 这是什么?旧河吗?
Tianshan Mountains. And an old river?


天山的一处。湖吗?岩石吗?绿洲吗?沙漠吗? 同上。
Tianshan Mountains. A rocky section. Is there a lake? An oasis? Or more desert?


白色的是矿物吗?曲折的是河流吧。
White minerals? I see a river.


沙漠绿洲。是阿克苏吗?
An Oasis in the desert. Maybe Aksu?


我见到的最神奇的地势。谁知道我们看到的是什么?为什么会有那么规则的花纹?红色是什么?绿色?棕色?白色?下图将右下脚的细节放大。
The most amazing geography I have ever seen. Details is below. If anyone knows what we are seeing, please write your comment down below.


大地的花纹?
Patterns of the earth.


好象是沙漠上的湖。天山以南是塔里木盆地,塔克拉玛干沙漠。
Looks like a lake in the desert. South of Tianshan mountain is Tarim Basin, where Taklimakan Desert is located.


沙漠的花纹。
Desert and patterns. Looks like some bacon in the lower right corner.


塔里木盆地北边的山,还是天山。
Tarim Basin or Tianshan mountain.


两种地势。
Earth and Earth.


沙漠绿洲。矿物质吗?
Oasis and minerals?


沙漠绿洲。这里就是喀什。
Kashgar, an oasis on the west of Tarim Basin. Or Mars.


欧洲的火星快车拍摄的火星。
Mars, by Mars Express.


彩色的湖?
A colorful lake?


欧洲的火星快车拍摄的火星。
Mars, by Mars Express.


喀什。
Kashgar.


喀什,最西边的沙漠绿洲。
Kashgar, and desert.



Tickets bought at Beijing Grand Hotel
PEK->URC HU 7245 04SEP 0800 CNY1500.00 total
URC->KHG CZ 9903 04SEP 1320 CNY 670.00 total


9/02/2004

河南省博物院 Henan Museum


河南博物院所藏物品价值连城。有“统中国博物馆所藏物品,除故宫博物院外,河南博物馆堪居第二之位置。” 美誉。经70多年的积累,目前馆藏文物达13万多件,其中一、二级文物5000余件,以史前文物、商周青铜器、历代陶瓷器、玉器最具特色。


“妇好”鸮尊
商代晚期,公元前11世纪,11 century B.C.
1976年河南安阳殷墟妇好墓出土
通高45.9厘米 口长16.4厘米
盛酒器,形体呈猫头鹰状,昂首、圆目、宽喙、小耳、高冠,双翅并拢,双足与垂尾共为三点支撑,后颈有口,上有盖,内壁铸“妇好”二字铭文。背有兽首弓形鋬。器身满布缛丽的纹饰,造型典雅凝重,为商器之精品。


细节 broken pot


细节 broken pot, details


莲鹤方壶
春秋(公元前771年——前476年, 771-476 B.C.)
1923年河南新郑李家园出土
通高117厘米 口长30.5厘米 口宽24.9厘米
壶上有冠盖,器身长颈、垂腹、圈足。该壶造型宏伟气派,装饰典雅华美。壶冠呈双层盛开的莲瓣形,中间平盖上立一展翅欲飞之鹤;壶颈两侧用附壁回首之龙形怪兽 为耳;器身满饰蟠螭纹,腹部四角各攀附一立体小兽,圈足下有两个侧首吐舌的卷尾兽,倾其全力承托重器。其构思新颖,设计巧妙,融清新活泼和凝重神秘为一体,被誉为时代精神之象征。河南博物馆“镇馆之宝”


象牙白菜:整棵白菜用象牙雕成,象牙染色技术已失传
Ivory Cabbage: the coloring technique has been lost
稀世珍宝,形状到颜色,均十分逼真。白菜牙雕上除蝈蝈外,还有一只七星瓢虫,惟妙惟肖,几乎可以假乱真,甚至连极细微处,亦不曾忽略,一眼乍看,绝对难以辨别真假。


云纹铜禁
春秋中期,公元前620年——前467年,620-467 B.C.
1978年河南淅川下寺出土
通高28.8厘米 器身长103厘米,宽46厘米
禁为承置酒器的案,其器身以粗细不同的铜梗支撑多层镂空云纹,十二只龙形异兽攀缘于禁的四周,另十二只蹲于禁下为足。这是我国迄今发现用失蜡法铸造的时代最早的铜器,其工艺精湛复杂,令人叹为观止。


青铜编钟
河南博物馆内的另一件国宝,是数量达26件之多的王孙诰编钟,乃是现存春秋时期规模最大、音域最广的编钟。


金缕玉衣(仿制品)(附鼻塞、耳塞、口含、手握)
Jade Jacket with Golden Threads
西汉中期, 公元前206年——24年, 206-24 B.C.
1986年河南永城芒山镇僖山汉墓出土
长180厘米 宽125厘米
玉衣出于西汉末期梁王墓,是由2008个玉片,用金丝缀合而成。按人体部位分别为头罩、面盖、上衣、袖、手套、裤、脚套等,玉衣为上古贵族的敛葬服饰,始于战国末期而盛于两汉,根据身份与等级的不同,玉衣的联缀又分为金缕、银缕、铜缕和丝缕。

9/01/2004

北京印象 Impression of Beijing


旧恭王府院子里的一个门,不知经历过怎样辉煌的历史。
A door found in a small courtyard in an old Palace.


北京四合院
Beijing Courtyard.


北京四合院
Beijing Courtyard.


北京胡同
Beijing Hutong (alley).


北京四合院
Beijing Courtyard.


北京四合院
Beijing Courtyard.


北京胡同
Beijing Hutong (alley).


天坛里乘凉的北京人
A local resting in the park of TianTan (Temple of Heaven)


北京前门箭楼,满月
Beijing QianMen (Front Gate) JianLou (Arrow Tower), with full moon.


荫凉的自行车道,军事博物馆外
Bike path on ChangAn Boulevard.


北京什刹海
Beijing ShiSha Lake.


北京人(右)
A typical old man in Beijing (right).


王府井
WangFuJing Boulevard.


王府井的食街一景
One stall at WangFuJing Food Alley.