Beijing

Beijing, China.
Capital of the People's Republic of China
Second largest urban city (first is Shanghai)
 

Summer Palace Entrance

Summer Palace

Although, China had other capitals during it's long history. It was during the Ming dynasty that Beijing became the official capital in 1403 and the imperial family created the Forbidden City and many other historic buildings. Later in 1644, the Manchus invaded and created the Qing dynasty. This dynasty kept Beijing as its capital and also added to the construction of new buildings. However in 1900 China fell to foreign powers and remained in a constant situation of chaos until after the Chinese revolution in 1949 when Mao unified the country. He made China communist and renamed it the People's Republic of China since.

My first trip took one hour plus 3 line changes on the subway to the Summer Palace. It is located northwest area of Beijing and consists of huge hill called Longevity Hill with many structures and Kunming Lake. It was the palace where the imperial Qing dynasty handled their government affairs, spent their summer holiday, celebrated birthdays and relaxed. After I made it back to the hotel and continued to explore the main plaza and pedestrian areas.




The next full day was devoted to leaving the city. First, we visited Sacred Way. It is a part of the Ming tombs and is basically the road the emperor and officials walked up to the tombs. They called this the road to heaven. There were many sculptures and monuments along the road.

Then to the best part the Great Wall Mutianyu section- 70 Km from Beijing. This section was built along steep ridges and deep valleys. It was first built in the mid-6th century. Mutianyu Great Wall is older than the Badaling section of the Great Wall. In 1404, a pass was built in the wall. In 1569, the Mutianyu Great Wall was rebuilt and till today most parts of it are well preserved. The Mutianyu Great Wall has the largest construction scale and best quality among all sections of Great Wall. Built mainly with granite, the wall is 7-8.5 meters high and the top is 4-5 meters wide. Watchtowers are densely placed along this section of the Great Wall - 22 watchtowers on this 2,250-meter-long stretch. Both the outer and inner sections have holes, so that shots could be fired at the enemy on both sides - a feature very rare on other parts of the Great Wall.
The Mutianyu Pass consists of 3 watchtowers, one big in the center and two smaller on both sides. Besides, this section of Great Wall is surrounded by woodland and streams. The forest-coverage rate is over 90 percent. 

The last day was devoted to the Forbidden City. It was built in the 15th century and is located in the center of Beijing, the Imperial Palace is also known as the Forbidden City, It is just north of Tian'anmen square. This palace is the largest piece of ancient Chinese architectural structure still standing, where 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing

Gear Up: August 2012 UCI

This week, I've been at UCI working with the Gear Up program. This program brings 80 incoming freshmen to UCI for a week. The students live in the dorms, develop their skills in academic writing, critical thinking, research and public speaking. Students also have fun guest speakers and field trips.The goal of this program is to expose the students to college life and prepare them high school.

It's been so much fun this week and I'm super impressed with the student's commitment and hard work. I also have three University students who support my class of 20. They are wonderful--- positive, hard working, supportive and they are great role models for the students.

I wish my students the best of luck in high school and I know they will go on to be great leaders.

Last day in South Korea

The last days in Korea were spent in Seoul visiting a High School and then visiting the Korean War Museum and Memorial. The school was so interesting and definitely one of my favorites. The students go to school from 8-5 p.m. Then at 6:30-11 p.m. they have mandatory study hall where they do homework, view on line lessons and practice test taking strategies. I taught a lesson about the history of California. Being with the students and interacting with them was by far my highlight! The War memorial was amazing too. We had the pleasure of meeting Paik, Sun Yup, General (R) ROK Army. He is currently 92 years old and continues to work everyday Monday-Friday from 8-5 p.m. Can you believe this? Him memory and ability to retell the Korean War from his point of view as a military leader was inspiring and interesting.

This trip has been such an eye opening educational experience. The learning, growing and relationships made with such inspiring colleague will never be forgotten. The time has gone very quick. It seems like I was just leaving California and now the second portion of the trip begins tomorrow. I am definitely going to miss South Korea's people and culture. The good news is that I get one more day here with Paul before we fly home. Tomorrow I leave for China.

The hills are alives with the sound of Buddhism- last day in thecountryside

We drove about an hour an half from Daegu (3rd largest city in Korea) to Gayasan National Park. "The hills are alive... with the sounds of Buddhism," said our guide as we entered Haeinsa Temple (802 CE). This was a great description of this active buddhist monastery temple complex. The temple is surrounded by many beautiful trees and streams and took a bit of a hike to get to. This temple complex is regarded as one the three best Temples in Korea. We were lucky to watch the monks give their call to worship. If you remember from a previous blog, based on the type of drum or bell used by the monks depend on who they are calling to worship: the heavens, water animals, humans, and the last ring is to give relief to those suffering in hell. Then in the main temple, we heard the monks and worshippers praying and chanting. On the outside of this temple was a beautiful animated story about Buddhism (see below for more information). A little farther behind the temple was a huge national treasure---- 81,258 Buddhist Woodblocks. The Woodblocks are made of aged cherry wood and are protected in wooden buildings. The monks organize these blocks into three groups (Life of Buddha, Dharma- Law/teachings, and How to live in a monastery). Our last stop was Yeongneung the tomb of King Sejong the Great (1418-1450). He was the fourth monarch in the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910). By visiting his tomb, the trip comes full circle. He was the first leader we met and is by far the most enlightened Korean leader we have met in our journey.


As we leave the beauty of the countryside and approach Seoul again, many things are different. First it is extremely humid & hot and there is no sign of rain (sigh), our group is even more connected by this shared experience, and lastly I feel I have learned a lot about the values and culture of the people. There are only two more days left, so I must appreciate and keep discovering new insights about this land and her people.

8 panel story of Buddhism. The panel describes the dream prophesy that the queen had before her son's birth. The second, represents Siddartha Gautama's birth. The third is about him leaving behind the luxuries of the palace to explore the outside world. The fourth is where he witnesses the suffering of the world and is deeply saddened. He creates the 4 Noble truths from this experience. The fifth is where he tries to live an aesthetic life, but realizes it's not the way. Instead it's been to live a disciplined life (leading to the 8 Fold Path). The sixth shows him being tempted from his disciplined life. The seventh show the emergence of disciples. The eighth is spreading the faith and showing mercy as the main component of the faith.

Jeong, Patience, Benevolence in a Confucian Countryside

Today we entered a traditional agricultural village called Yangdong Village. It's unique because it operates in collective way and uses a traditional clan based organization style. It is filled small homes and many of them have the traditional thatched roofs. This particular village has two main families (E family and Son family). The political structure of the village is clan based and operates by reaching group consensus on all issues. Most inhabitants have a deep connection to this village because their family lineage goes back many many generations. We met with the head of the E family this morning. He explained to us about the village and the people. One concept he taught us was the idea of Jeong. This is the idea of heart/affection/caring for others. He describes how it is easy to lose your Jeong with you live a detached or in an alienating urban setting, but here in a collective environment it's easier to focus on this because there are less distractions. We also learned a daily ritual the Son family leader has for his children. Every morning when they wake up they have to copy the chinese character of patience 100 times. This practice would definitely put that concept fresh in your mind every day and perhaps make it easier to be patient. The reason why they are focused on these ideas is because the practice the philosophy of Confucianism. Then we travelled about 15 minutes a little deeper in the hills to Ok San Seo Won. This was a private Confucian academy built in 1572 to honor Yi Eon-jeok (1491-1553) because of his academic achievement and virtue. One of the main Confucian idea studied here was benevolence. Documents show that they studied Mencius Confucious' most prominent disciple. Mencius believed the key element of the human heart is benevolence. He was known for giving advice to the king on this topic, " King, if you practice benevolence, the people will do anything for you. They will stretch their heads out for you." The concepts that the people who lived in these areas practiced are universal themes: Jeong (heart/compassion), Patience, Benevolence. If you can truly practice these concepts, there is no doubt you can find peace.

Number One Tourist Site in Korea: Bulguk-sa Temple

Today we ventured closer to western coast (Pacific Ocean) where we first met the Hyundai Heavy Industry Complex. What a site to see with all the huge ships being built. They explained and showed us how the ships are created, prepared and then how they become ready to launch. It's an impressive site. Over 51,000 people work at this location. The city was even designed to support it's workers and has housing, sports facilities, schools, and entertainment activities.
We also visited some important locations for the silk road which provides evidence of cultural diffusion. Goe Reung which is a burial ground similar to others from yesterday. Then we ventured to the number one tourist site in Korea: Bulguk-sa Temple (main temple) and Seokguram Grotto (natural retreat). They were both built simultaneously in 751 during the Unified Silla Period. However, they experienced destruction during Japanese occupation and then were rebuilt in 1973. The best part was the trip to the Grotto, we had to take a windy bus ride up the hill about 20 minutes and then once we reached the top we walked another 10-15 minutes through the peaceful wildness. We were now up in the fog! There is something about being completely surrounded by nature and in a place that is so quiet. I rarely find my self this quiet. In the quiet places all you can hear is the birds chirping and the water dripping from the rain filled leaves. It reminds how important it is to be still and quiet away from the noise of the city and craziness from the day to day routine. The time we spent there was a nice reminder for me to enjoy nature's beauty and remember how important it is to stop, be quiet, listen to the rain falling from the trees and realize how renewing it is to be surrounded by nature.

Goe Reung
Here is late Silla burial ground, but the stone statues are the most interesting part of the grounds. If you look carefully, you can see evidence of cultural diffusion. The figures reflects features like a lot facial hair that is not native to Korea.

Hyundai Heavy Industry Complex
Hyundai means Modern or New. The company was established in 1972 as a heavy industry shipyard, but now it has many divisions like ship building, off shore and engineering, construction equipment and Research and Development. Asan was the founder of the company. He was born to a farm family in 1915 in North Korea. He began his career as a rice deliveryman and moved to owning a rice shop. Then he wanted to get into the car industry so he purchased a repair shop to learn the business. His first car in 1975 was, the Pony, Korea's first car. From there he developed his business and devoted his entire life to promoting industry and to rebuild Korea. He built many schools, sponsored the Olympics in Korea and is revered as a great man. On display were a pair of the shoes that he wore for over 30 years. He was quoted as saying, "why do I need a new pair when I can fix the ones I have." His ingenuity and hard working spirit has allowed this company to grow and thrive. Another one of his quotes I liked, " There are no failures, only trials."

Seokguram Grotto (751 CE) (retreat)
This temple is very important because it shows that this was the last spot in continental Asia on the silk road. It was first constructed in 751 C.E. in the 10th year of Silla King Gyeongdeok. In the rotunda of the hall sits a majestic Buddha surrounded by many elaborate Bodhisattavas. The reason we know it has influence from the silk road is because the Buddha is in a cave which reflects the way people of Central Asia and India housed their Buddha sculptures.

Bulguk-sa Temple (751 CE) (main temple)
This is the main temple site. Upon entry you see the four guardian and they reflect influence (dress, features) from Central Asia and India indicating cultural diffusion. The rock pattern on the main temple is very symbolic because it represents the path to enlightenment. If you notice at the bottom, the rocks are in disarray which represents your sinful life, then as you begin to put order in your life, the rocks begin to look orderly until you've reached a peaceful enlightenment state of perfect order and symmetry with corresponding looking rocks. Another interesting symbol of the temple is the ringing of the bell or call to worship. This happens both in the morning and at night. Ringing the bell with the gong (calls the birds), clapper (calls the fish), bell (relief for the people in hell), and the drum calls the humans. All these different rings call the different people or things to worship.