Search Results for '2007/03/06/yonghegong-lama-temple'

Travel

Published
by
David
on May 25, 2008
in General
. 0 Comments

Over the past few years I’ve been lucky enough to travel around quite a number of places in East Asia and a few other places besides. Along the way I’ve recorded my adventures in both pictures and words including a few travel tips so for what it’s worth I decided to index them here in case it’s of any help to anyone else -

Travelling Light
Combating Jet Lag
Avoiding Internet Censors

China

Beijing

Forbidden City
Temple of Heaven
Yiheyuan (Summer Palace)
Badaling Great Wall
Mutianyu Great Wall
Ming Tombs
Beihai Park
Yonghegong (Lama Temple)
White Cloud Temple (Bai Yun Guan)
Fragrant Hills (Xiangshan Park)
Yuyuantan Park
Confucian Temple
Bejing’s Underground City
Beijing Ancient Observatory
Art 798 District
Xiabu Xiabu (Hot Pot)

Geospatial Beijing (Map of main sites)

Shenzhen

City Hall & Library
Shun Hing Square Skyline
Wutong Shan Mountain
Hotter Than Hell

Yangshuo

Misty Mountains
Silver Cave
Lijiang River

Hong Kong

Hong Kong Moments
Sheung Wan
Victoria Peak

Other Cities

Wuhan
Qingdao
Nanjing
Shaoguan

South Korea

Seoul

Seoul
DMZ (Demilitarized Zone)
Gyeongbokgung Palace
Jongmyo Shrine & Changgyeonggung Palace
Cheonggyecheon Stream
Korean Folk Village
Dongdaemun
Namdaemun
Lotte World
Han River & 63 City
Jjimjilbang (Sauna)
Korea Train eXpress (KTX)

Busan

Evening in Busan
Beomeosa Temple
Kwanganri Beach
Jagalchi Market
Chungnyeol Shrine

Chuncheon

Chuncheon & Soyang Dam
Cheongpyeongsa Temple
Nami Island

Gyeongju

Gyeongju
Sa Rang Chae
Bulguksa Temple
Korean Cuisine

Europe

Rome
Venice
Paris
Amsterdam

United Kingdom

York
Edinburgh

United States

New York
Washington DC
Boston

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Confucian Temple

Published
by
David
on April 2, 2008
in China, Photography and Travel
. 0 Comments

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Having walked along the central axis of Beijing for nearly 7 hours I reached what must be one if the most relaxing and tranquil places in the city; the Confucian Temple, devoted to the memory of Confucius and philosophers of Confucianism (nearby the Lama Temple). Away from the hordes of mindless American tourists this is like stepping into another world. All that can be heard is the general murmur of distant chatter and magpies singing in the trees. On a warm spring afternoon I can think of no nicer place to rest ones legs and while away a few hours which is exactly what I’m doing while typing this on my iPhone.

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In an age when the world was still full of mystery (the temple was built in 1302) buildings like this were in some respects living fantasy, enhancing the religious/philosophical underpinnings of their existence. We might see a modern equivalent as the CG films of today which take thousands of man hours to construct fantasy realities which transport us out of their ordinary to the extraordinary. Even though we may consider ourselves to have evolved from this time places like this still hold an other-worldly feeling.

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One of the most interesting aspects of the Confucian Temple are the 198 stone tablets found on each side of the first courtyard, containing 51,624 names of Jinshi scholars who passed the highest imperial examinations, who then went on to become civil servants.

Stone Tablets
Photo by akumaprime

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Bulguksa Temple

Published
by
David
on September 17, 2007
in Korea, Photography and Travel
. 0 Comments

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On a torrentially wet Wednesday morning I headed for Bulguksa Temple in Gyeongju. “It is home to seven National treasures of South Korea, including Dabotap and Seokgatap stone pagodas, Cheongun-gyo (Blue Cloud Bridge), and two gilt-bronze statutes of Buddha. The temple is classified as Historic and Scenic Site No. 1 by the South Korean government. In 1995, Bulguksa was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List together with the Seokguram Grotto [that I visited in the afternoon], which lies four kilometres to the east. The temple is considered as a masterpiece of the golden age of Buddhist art in the Silla kingdom.”

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One thing which immediately catches the eye swastika-looking insignia all over the buildings. These of course have nothing to do with the Nazi’s who stole and adapted the symbol from Hindu/Buddhist traditions. Swastika’s can be seen on Dharmic based religious buildings across Korea - the symbol does not hold the same taboo that it does in the west.

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The stone pagodas are of particular historical importance (part of one of them resides in the British Museum!!) and reflect a story in the Lotus sutra. The left hand one (in the photo) is depicted on the obverse of the 10 won coin.

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I’ve always thought that there is something very beautiful about these sorts of temples in the rain. More photos here.

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中关村 - Beijing is Here

Published
by
David
on July 17, 2007
in China, Cool and Design
. 0 Comments

ZhongGuanCun - Beijing is Here
© Nod Young

I came across this cool representation of Chinese text as vector typography on Virtual China. For those who are scratching their heads, the image contains three Chinese characters 中关村 “Zhong Guan Cun” (an area in Beijing) formed into a map of the area it represents - how ingenious! I enjoyed this even more so because Zhong Guan Cun is the crazy technology market area which I used to live next to:

“ZhongGuanCun - a place with unnumbered computers. You can buy a computer, or a set of, a pile of or a kilogram of computers. However, it is not that easy as you think because you need to see and ask rounds by rounds and shops by shops to hunt for the one you want. It just likes a physical torture that so tired you won’t want to go again.”

More of the Summer Palace & Lama Temple can be found in this Flickr set.

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White Cloud Temple (Bai Yun Guan)

Published
by
David
on April 9, 2007
in China, Photography and Travel
. 0 Comments

One of the largest and oldest active Taoist temples in China is situated in west Beijing, known as the “White Cloud Temple” or “Bai Yun Guan” in Chinese. Its importance is reflected in that fact that it is home to the office of Taoist Association of China and one of “The Three Great Ancestral Courts” of the Complete Perfection Sect of Taoism, as well as being known as “The First Temple under Heaven”.

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Having been brought up on mainly a diet of western/Christian philosophy I wasn’t entirely clear about the differences between Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Apparently they are similar to each other, using basically the same literature, or scripture, and having the same goal with a different approach…

“Buddhists have a psychological approach that is interested in changing human perception by being more separate; by going deep within themselves and detaching from the physical world. Confucians are rational and Taoists focus on an intuitive approach. They all strive to reach unification with Tao/Brahman.”

So there you have it in a nutshell! Perhaps this accounts for the similarities which could be seen between here and the Lama Temple which I visited last month, certainly in architecture at least.

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It was nice to visit somewhere which wasn’t horribly crowded for a change and the atmosphere was very relaxed and peaceful - probably as it’s not on the main tourist trail and a little outside the city centre (see map).

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The temple consists of six courtyards alone its main axis surrounded by a number of halls, towers, and pagodas which are dedicated to various Taoist deities, such as the Jade Emperor and the Three Purities, Qiu Changchun and the Eight Immortals (whoever they are!). Next to the entrance there is also a small bridge underneath which are hung a pair of bells that people throw coins at supposedly for good luck.

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Although not as impressive as some of Beijing’s other attractions, if you have a spare few hours this is definitely worth a visit on a lazy afternoon. More photos here.

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