What the History Left

(China’s long history has left the country many historical and cultural heritages, twenty-seven of which are on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The city of Beijing alone is home to five. A short tour of these sites may help you experience Chinese history and culture. )

M: Welcome to “You Ask Us”. Listener Rabi Sankar Bosu, who lives in northeast India’s West Bengal, wants to know how many places in China are listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

S: Well, UNESCO, or the United Nations Specialized Organization for Education, Science and Culture, has a total of 690 sites worldwide registered on its World Natural and Cultural Heritage List. Now, you can find 27 of these places in China.

M: And Beijing itself is home to five out of the 27 Chinese sites. Beijing has an ancient history, which can be traced back some 690,000 years when prehistoric man, or the Peking Man, lived at Zhoukoudian, fifty kilometres southwest of the city. The Peking Man site at Zhoukoudian was among the first Chinese sites to be included on the list 14 years ago.

S: Beijing’s long history, especially since becoming the capital, has left the city with a great many famous sites of historical importance. Beijing became the capital of China at the beginning of the 10th century. By the early 20th century, it had been the seat of five of China’s feudal dynasties.

M: When we talk about Beijing, we have to mention the Great Wall. The mammoth construction was the first of China’s historical treasures to be registered as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1987. The Great Wall, one of the most impressive creations of human civilization, dates back over 2,000 years. At that time, sections of the fortifications, which had previously been built, were joined together to form a united defense system to protect against invasion. The wall became the world’s largest military defense structure during the Ming Dynasty, which by the way, ended in the 17th century.

S: Min, I think the Great Wall’s historic and strategic importance is matched only by its architectural value. It’s a wonderful experience to climb it and get a panoramic view of the surrounding mountains. You know, I’m a sports fan. I’m particularly interested in the Great Wall climbing contest held every New Year’s Day. The event started six years ago if my memory serves me correctly. And I’ve heard Beijing has plans to add more sporting events to the itinerary.

M: Stuart, it sounds like you know a lot about the Great Wall. But I bet you didn’t know that the Forbidden City was also listed as a World Heritage site in 1987?

S: Of course I knew that. But I’d better give you the chance to show off a little bit.

M: Right. The Forbidden City is the largest ancient architectural complex in existence in the world. It’s a splendid example of ancient Chinese architectural art. It was the seat of China’s emperors for over five centuries. If you walk around the city, you’ll find many places, which are worth a second visit. Among them, the mansions, gardens, gate towers, temples, former residences of celebrities and places where important historical events took place. And the 9,000 rooms inside the city are furnished with priceless works of art, dating back to China’s last two feudal dynasties, the Ming and Qing.

S: Min, I agree with you. But I have to stop you from continuing with the largest ancient architectural complex in existence, because of the time limit. And we have two more places to introduce. The first is the Summer Palace, the royal Gardens, the second is the Temple of Heaven, the imperial sacrificial altar built in the first half of the 15th century. They were added to the World Cultural Heritage List in 1998. Of course, they’re also highly worth a visit.

M: You’re right, Stuart. The Temple of Heaven is a complex of beautiful buildings set among gardens and surrounded by pinewoods, which are hundreds of years old. Its overall layout and its individual buildings symbolize the relationship between earth and heaven, which stands at the heart of the ancient Chinese cosmogony, it also involves the special role played by the emperors within that relationship.

S: The Chinese emperors were known as Tianzi, or the sons of heaven. They believed in the supremacy of heaven. So the rulers of the successive dynasties placed altars in their own capitals to worship heaven and pray for good harvests.

M: The Heaven, the ancient Chinese referred to was actually the Universe, or nature. But apart from that, Chinese emperors worshipped many other gods, including the Earth, Sun and Moon. As a result, religious activities were an important part of their lives, and there were specific rites of worship. This was especially true of the Ming and Qing dynasties, which held particularly elaborate rituals.

S: The Temple of Heaven, which was used for the worship of heaven, can be found about two kilometers southeast of the Forbidden City. The temple was built on the central axis of the old Beijing city in 1420 and covers an area three times the size of the Forbidden City.

M: Yes. The whole compound is divided by two walls into an outer and an inner part. The outer area is characterized by suburban scenery, and the inner was used for sacrifices. The northern part of the wall is semicircular and represents heaven, and the southern part is square representing the earth. The design was based on the primitive belief that heaven was high and round and the earth was low and rectangular.

S: The Temple of Heaven is regarded as an outstanding example of traditional Chinese architecture because of its clever and harmonious design. But I myself like the Summer Palace better. The Summer Palace in Chinese is Yi He Yuan. It is the best-kept existing royal garden in Beijing. It boasts some of the most beautiful ancient buildings and garden landscaping. It’s a museum of traditional Chinese gardening so to speak. The Summer Palace was originally named the Garden of Clear Ripples, but was burnt down by the allied forces of Great Britain and France in 1860. Reconstruction started 25 years later and was completed in 1895, and the name was changed to Yiheyuan, which literally means the Garden of Good Health and Harmony. The total area spans 290 hectares, even larger than the Temple of Heaven. And the buildings inside the garden are measured in over 3,000 bays.

M: Well, Rabi Sankar Bosu from India, as we don’t have much time today, we’ll have to leave it there. Today, we focused on UNESCO World Heritage sites in Beijing. We hope you’ve enjoyed the short tour of these places.

S: And Rabi, CRI has a set of QSL cards featuring the World Heritage sites in China. So far, 23 of them have been printed. Listeners who send us reception reports will have the chance to receive the cards. So Rabi, why not start collecting the cards now, and get a glimpse of these wonderful sites yourself?

M: OK, that’s all we have time for today in You Ask Us.