In the Footsteps of Emperors

We almost lost this excursion in the shadow of the Great Wall, but this afternoon we walked about a mile along the path of the Ming Dynasty tombs. After an interesting visit to a government-owned jade factory, we strolled for an hour past monuments and pavilions in the place where feng-shui (wind and water) dictated that the emperors of the early Christian Era should build their tombs. Actually the tombs themselves occupy an area about six kilometers around this spot, but this entryway is still maintained and has been restored after being damaged by the Red Guard in the Cultural Revolution. Some of the tombs have been unearthed, and the bodies inside were found to be in a remarkable state of preservation. Yet in a country whose recorded history goes back six thousand years, walking among tombs a mere two thousand years old seems like nothing unusual. That’s the thing about China—everything is unusual. In this country the extraordinary, the bizarre, the different is the norm. That’s why China is China. Everything about it is remarkable.Read more