Sunday, July 16, 2023

Paris, at Sacré Coeur

 

From the Anvers metro station, we walked a bit along the Rue de Steinkerque in the Montmartre area to the Place Saint-Pierre. Montmartre, which notably means hill of martyrs, owed its name to Saint Denis, who was beheaded on this hill in the third century on the orders of the emperor Decius. Saint Denis was Bishop of Paris at the time and is now known as the patron saint of France. 

A short walk later, we saw the white building of the Sacré-Cœur basilica perched on top of the hill of Montmartre. It is amazing that the basilica although is more than 100 years old, its white color is not polluted. Apparently this is because the walls were built from travertine limestone from Château-Landon. This stone has a very interesting characteristic: when it comes into contact with rainwater, the thin protective layer that naturally coats the stone releases a white substance that hardens in the sun. Therefore, every rain is an opportunity for this building to cleanse ! 

The Sacré-Cœur Basilica, which means the Sacred Heart Basilica, is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Christ. From the beginning until now, the faithful take turns day and night to pray here without stop. Each evening, after the doors close at 10.30pm, the prayer relay continues, with people registering for the evening service in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On the ceiling above the altar is one of the largest mosaics in the world depicting the risen Jesus Christ, clothed in white and revealing a heart of gold. This mosaic created by Luc-Olivier Merson, shows the worshipers around Jesus represented by the saints: St Joan of Arc, St Mary and St Michael. 

At the front of this basilica under the statue of Jesus Christ there are also statues of St. Louis IX and St. Joan of Arc sitting on a horse, besides being considered saints they are also respected French heroes. So this basilica also became a symbol of French nationalism. Its construction is also an effort of national reconciliation and atonement for the tragic events of the Paris Commune in 1870-71. 

The architecture of this basilica is unique compared to other major churches in Paris such as Notre Dame. Many large churches in France have gothic architecture, while architect Paul Abadie was inspired to design this church in Romano-Byzantine style after completing many restorations on a similarly designed church in southern France. The Byzantine style of the building is characterized by a high dome, the result of new techniques of the sixth century, and the interior features many mosaics.

 

THE END

 

SOURCE:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacr%C3%A9-C%C5%93ur,_Paris







Saturday, July 1, 2023

Paris, from Hotel de Ville to Seine

 

Walking in Paris, strolling on cobbled streets flanked by old buildings, we really can feel the romantic atmosphere. As in many European cities, the buildings and streets were preserved that way, not modernized. The last Paris renovations were carried out from 1852 to 1870 by Georges-Eugne Haussmann under the order of Napoléon III. Haussmann’s work gave Paris the look it has today as well as its architecture. He created a very long and wide avenue with cafes and shops that influenced much of Parisian life. The architecture of classical Haussmann buildings was not designed independently but rather as part of a quarter, block, and thus the style should be coherent and in harmony with the architecture of the other buildings. The ground floor has thick walls. The second floor offers beautiful balconies and the third and fourth floors are built in the same style, although the window frames have less intricate stonework. 

After wandering through the cobbled streets of Le Marais, we arrived at the Hotel de Ville. Wow we thought, this hotel looked like a palace or a museum, wasn’t it? It turns out that in French, 'hotel' can mean a house, building, residence, so it does not always mean hotel as a place to rent rooms to stay for tourists. Today, apart from functioning as the city's administrative office, the Hotel de Ville is also a venue for art and cultural exhibitions. There are many interesting exhibits in the building and on the grounds in front of this building. 

From the Hotel de Ville we walked not far, only a few hundred meters to the south, to arrive at the Seine river. We can walk along this river or take a ferry to explore Paris. It turns out that the Eiffel Tower is located on the bank of this river and is one of the stops of the ferry route. The name of this stop is Port de la Bourdonnais. From this side we can see the towering Eiffel Tower, with its trademark brown color named Eiffel Tower Brown. 

Walking along the Seine reminds me of the words of the famous French painter Claude Monet: “I have painted the Seine all my life, in every hour, in every season. I never get bored: for me the Seine is always new.” But the river Seine in Paris is not as beautiful as Monet's paintings made in the interior of France, such as Argenteuil, Poissy and so on. Although the river water in Paris is not blue like in the painting, and there are no lotus plants, it flows calmly leading us to various history that are close to it, besides the Eiffel Tower, also Notre Dame Cathedral, Louvre Museum, and Musée d'Orsay.

 

THE END

 

 

Source:

 

https://www.french-property.com/regions/haussmann-buildings-architecture/#:~:text=The%20Parisian%20Haussmann%20buildings%20and%20architecture%20renovations%20were,to%20buildings%E2%80%99%20front%20facades%2C%20public%20parks%20and%20monuments.

 








Thursday, June 22, 2023

An Interview with Li Bai

 

Photo: Wikimedia

I went to Huang Shan mountain in Anhui province, to meet Li Bai, one of China's most famous poets. Against a backdrop of misty mountains, he met me cross-legged in front of a small table on the veranda of a food stall. Not to forget a cup of wine was served for him and me. I say 'not to forget' because it is a tradition in China to serve wine or other liquor to guests as a courtesy. In addition, Li Bai has a reputation as the Drunk Poet, due to his penchant for liquor until he drunk, but able to write interesting poems in that state.

It seemed that Li Bai wanted to isolate himself in the area around here, to write poems, being close to the common people, after being 'expelled' from the Royal Academy by Emperor Xuanzong in Chang'an (the ancient name of Xi'an city). He was expelled because of the intrigues of ministers who were jealous of his talent to write beautiful poems. He traveled from mountain to mountain, deepened Taoism and wrote many of his poems there.

That morning I met Li Bai at dawn on the Bright Peak Summit of Mount Huangshan to enjoy the golden light of the sun slowly creeping in from behind the mountains. We just sat in silence while Li Bai was writing a poem, he was just like that, could spontaneously write poetry when attracted by something he encountered. Sometime later he showed me his poem:


Thirty six strange peaks, Immortals with black top knots.

Morning sun strikes the tree tops,

Here in this sky mountain world. Chinese people, raise your faces!

For a thousand years cranes come and go. Far off I spy a firewood gatherer, Plucking sticks from stone crevices.

 

I responded:

"Mountains often appear in your poetry, right?"

 

Li Bai, smiling, quoted another of his poems:

“You ask for what reason I stay on the green mountain,

I smile, but do not answer, my heart is at leisure.

Peach blossom is carried far off by flowing water,

Apart, I have heaven and earth in the human world.”

 

I said:

“Heaven and earth in the human world, I really can sense the deep influence of Taoism, which views the Universe as an interconnected organic entity. None exists separately from the others.”

 

Li Bai:

“I recited ‘Liu Jia’ at the age of five, an ancient Taoist book that has been lost, and see a hundred schools at the age of ten. At the age of fifteen, I and Dongyanzi, a Taoist hermit, went to mount Minshan to live there in seclusion. I lived in there for several years. We raised many exotic birds in the forests, lived and worked as animal breeders. These are beautiful and docile birds, because we used to feeding them, so they come regularly to ask for food. It's as if they can understand people's language, with a call, they fly from everywhere before coming down, can even peck at people's hands. With grains, they are not afraid at all”.

 

I said:

“Before you exiled yourself to this area, it is said that you were once a high ranking official serving Emperor Xuanzong in Chang'an. How did it happen?”

 

Li Bai:

 “I was wandering around Zhejiang and Jiangsu and eventually made friends with Wu Yun, a famous Taoist priest, who was close to Emperor Xuanzong. One day Wu Yun was summoned by the Emperor to attend the imperial court, and his praise of me was great.  His praise led Emperor Xuanzong to summon me to the court of Chang’an. It seemed that the Emperor, aristocrats and common people alike were fascinated by my talents and personality. At first he gave me a job as a translator, as I knew non-Chinese language.  Eventually the Emperor gave me a post at the Hanlin Academy, the royal academy which served to provide scholarly expertise and poetry for the Emperor.”

 I said:

“Surely you wrote poems for Emperor Xuanzong?”

 

Li Bai:

“I wrote several poems about the Emperor's beautiful and beloved Yang Guifei, the favorite royal consort.”

 

I said:

"May I hear one of them?"

 

Li Bai:

“Clouds remind me of her apparel, flowers remind me of her countenance,

The spring breeze blows against the banister, the dew are splendidly lush.

If we cannot meet atop the Jade Mountain,

Then we will surely encounter one another on the jade terrace basked under the moonlight.”

 

I said:

“Hmmm… by mentioning the Jade Mountain, this poem implies the empress as charming as a fairy from the heavens, and you will meet her in the mortal world under the moonlight… The Daoism impression is very strong, heaven and earth as a harmonious wholesome beauty.

One of the other poems you have written since sitting in the palace is about the drunkenness of drinking wine. A theme that is rarely expressed as poetry, because it is considered unworthy, not beautiful, and too 'mortal'. You seem to be very much into drunkenness perhaps because as people have known, you like drinking to the point of intoxication, and you even write the best poetry in drunken state. One of your famous poems is “Drinking Alone Under the Moon”, which express the feeling of drunkenness and loneliness in a poetic and romantic way, loved by the public because the feeling is so 'grounded to the earth’ mirroring the habits of Chinese people from all walks of life to get drunk.

 

Li Bai, staring at the sky and quoting " Drinking Alone Under the Moon "

 “Among the blossoms waits a jug of wine.

I pour myself a drink, no loved one near.

Raising my cup, I invite the bright moon

and turn to my shadow. We are now three.

 

But the moon doesn’t understand drinking,

and my shadow follows my body like a slave.

For a time, moon and shadow will be my companions,

a passing joy that should last through the spring.

 

I sing, and the moon just wavers in the sky;

I dance and my shadow whips around like mad.

While lucid still, we have such fun together!

But stumbling drunk, each stagger off alone.

 

Bound forever, relentless we roam:

reunited at last on the distant river of stars.”

 

I said:

"Wow, it's so impressive that his feeling of loneliness is combined with the dance in the universe. Poetic, romantic and once again very thick sense of Taoism.

However, with such beautiful poems that you wrote why were you expelled from the Palace?"

 

Li Bai:

"Because of Gao Lishi the eunuch minister who has the most political influence in the palace. He envied me and along with other spiteful officials conspired to get rid of me with various intrigues. Knowing my habit of drinking until the drunk, one day they trapped me into drinking until drunk. Then in a drunken state I was brought to the Emperor to be humiliated. The emperor was angry and then drove me out of the palace, so I decided to leave Chang'an..."

 

I said:

“How did you feel leaving Chang’an?”

 

Li Bai, citing ‘The City of Choan’ Li Bai, another name of 'Chang'an City' or Xi'an:

 

The phoenix are at play on their terrace.

The phoenix are gone, the river flows on alone.

Flowers and grass

Cover over the dark path

                  where lay the dynastic house of the Go.

The bright cloths and bright caps of Shin

Are now the base of old hills.

 

The Three Mountains fall through the far heaven,

The isle of White Heron

                  splits the two streams apart.

Now the high clouds cover the sun

And I can not see Choan afar

And I am sad.”

 

 THE END

 

This is an imaginary interview in memory of Li Bai.

 

Sources:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/travel/article/20180201-chinas-spectacular-mountains-encased-in-ice

http://www.chinese-poems.com/lb.html

https://inf.news/en/culture/e8d711cc03d575390b3618b9193cdbd0.html

https://naiyee.org/2018/09/23/li-bai-drinking-alone-under-the-moon/

https://allpoetry.com/poem/13689358-The-City-of-Choan-by-Li-Po

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Bai

 












Saturday, July 2, 2022

Laoshan, at the Mountain

 

Laoshan, or Mount Lao as shan means mountain in Chinese, is a mountain located around 30 km from Qingdao on the shore of Yellow Sea , China.  It is the highest coastal mountain in China and the second highest mountain in Shandong, with the highest peak (Jufeng) reaching 1,132 metres. High in the east with cliffs near the sea, and gentle in the west with rolling hills. From the heights of the mountain we can view the blue sea giving this mountain the title of "the most famous mountain on the sea". 

Laoshan is surrounded by sea on three sides and carries rivers on its flat back. Its special geomorphic environment with mountains meeting the sea has created marvelous view with the sky, clouds, mist and glowing sunlight often forming a variety of images. Laoshan has a typical granite glacial landform. The granite peaks and hills in Laoshan are rich in pictorial stones with all kinds of strange postures under the effect of water erosion and weathering. 

The mountain is also inhabited with various tall ancient trees, which impressed Deng Xiaoping and said when he visited Laoshan: "This place is very good. With such a few large ancient trees alone, it can attract a lot of people. So it has conditions to arrange for opening up and the development of tourism”.  

The place is now named Laoshan Scenic Area, a national forest park with the largest and most complete protection of natural forest ecosystems of larches and pine trees in China's cool zone. 

There are 230 ancient trees of 39 species. The 2,100-year-old Han Dynasty Cypress (Cloud-reaching Han cypress) in Taiqing Palace with three trees growing in symbiosis, is regarded as a sacred tree by the locals. The 1,000-year-old Tang Dynasty Elm  is a peculiarly shaped tree that is one of the most ancient elm trees in northern China. It is also known as the "Dragon Head Elm" because its trunk is curved like a dragon's head. 

We can view this beautiful scenery of Laoshan by riding a cable car to the mountain peak, and we can view the granite rock mountain with pine trees and various kind of trees.

 

THE END

 Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Lao

http://www.laoshan.gov.cn/n15555905/n15558115/n15558396/201204155729315806.html

 

 



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