Strolling from the Marais area where the buildings are in
the 17th century style to the Beaubourg through the narrow streets and alleys we
find a huge building with a unique colorful style. It is the Pompidou Center, a
multicultural complex, bringing together in one place different forms of art
and literature. It houses a Public Information Library, a vast public library
and the Museum of Modern Art. It is named after Georges Pompidou, the President
of France from 1969 to 1974 who commissioned the building, and was officially
opened on 31 January 1977.
Created in the style of modern architecture by the
architectural team of Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano the building looks like of
an 'inside-out' building with its structural system, mechanical systems, and
circulation exposed on the exterior of the building with colorful pipes and
ducts. From the outside, the visual signature of the building is embodied by
the huge mechanical escalator, known as the “caterpillar”, designed to serve as
a vertical outdoor path. It is the primary artery of the Pompidou Centre,
serving all levels and transporting the public upwards. Its transparency
provides one of the finest views of Paris, and as you travel up, it seems as though
you are still strolling through the city.
The vast plaza in front of the building forms an integral
part of the Pompidou Centre and serves as a strong link between the city and
the building, thus enabling the most natural flow possible between the two
spaces. The plaza acts as a lung, a place of life where Parisians, tourists and
onlookers cross paths. People come here to meet others, to stroll, to rest or
contemplate their surroundings. In the spring, the plaza becomes more lively
with carnivals, bands, and street performers.
From the Pompidou Centre, our next trip is to another modern
buildings complex in Paris, the business center of La Défense. By taking the
Metro from the Hotel de Ville for about half an hour we arrive at the Esplanade
Metro station, the location of La Défense. Right above the metro station stands
La Grande Arche, a 110 meter cube monument designed to be a late-20th-century
version of the Arc de Triomphe. Its designer Johan Otto V. Spreckelsen described
it as a window onto the world. It is intended to function as a place where
people with different backgrounds and cultures can meet and communicate.
Around Le Grande Arche, La Défense contains many of the
Paris urban area's tallest high-rises. There are hundreds of high-rises and
buildings belonging to the top companies in the world in this area. There is
also a large shopping mall, Les Quatre Temps, with 220 stores, 48 restaurants
and a 24-screen movie theatre. One day is definitely not enough to explore this
area!
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.
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.
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.
