God's Land, Desolate City, Fortress, Temple, Palace

Author: Wang Luxiang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-02-01
Features: Every historical and cultural relic, without exception, has experienced the vicissitudes of prosperity and decline. Under the erosion of wind and rain and the rise and fall of dynasties, they have been controlled by an impermanent force and unable to resist. The so-called permanence is merely a process of being gradually gnawed away and dissolved into dust in the relentless flow of time.
Preface: The Tang Dynasty poet Chen Zi'ang, upon standing at the ruins of the Golden Platform built by King Yan of Yan, felt an infinite sense of solitude: "No sages before me, no sages after me. Contemplating the vastness of heaven and earth, I alone weep in sorrow!" This is the immense charm of historical and cultural relics. Compared to individual lives, historical and cultural relics are undoubtedly more enduring, evoking an inexplicable melancholy. At the same time, every historical and cultural relic, without exception, has experienced the vicissitudes of prosperity and decline, being controlled by an impermanent force amid the erosion of wind and rain and the rise and fall of dynasties. The so-called permanence is merely a process of being gradually gnawed away and dissolved into dust in the relentless flow of time. Therefore, Du Fu, while searching for Zhuge Liang's memorial hall in Chengdu, only saw "Green grass adorns the steps with spring's hue, yellow orioles sing in vain between the leaves." Li Qunyu, by the Xiling Gorge, only saw the Huangling Temple as "A wild temple faces the river in spring's silence, ancient steles bear no inscriptions, and grass grows lush." As for Du Mu, in Jinling, he could only imagine "Four hundred and eighty temples of the Southern Dynasties, how many pavilions are shrouded in mist and rain!" Perhaps, from a historical perspective, nothing is truly eternal. Yao's capital, Shun's land, Yu's domain—thousands of years of civilization—what do they amount to in the universe? Despite this, even the most detached person cannot help but be moved when facing historical and cultural relics. After all, humans are both the subjects and travelers of history. Almost all religions firmly believe in the immortality of the soul. When we face historical and cultural relics, it is actually this latent psychology: we are engaging in a dialogue with the souls of the past. Those souls that have existed and then vanished, created and then ceased to exist, loved and hated, gave birth and toiled—ultimately transforming into ethereal forms—are worthy of reverence. Over the sky of every historical and cultural relic, do not countless such souls of reverence swirl?
Humans have souls, tribes have souls, history has souls, and nations have souls. Relics will ultimately turn to dust, but souls endure. Land watched over by countless noble souls is a sacred place.
"The great river flows eastward, waves erode the figures of ages past. By the old rampart on the west, people say it is the Red Cliff of Zhou Lang of the Three Kingdoms." Amid the torrent of history, cultural relics are surviving islands. They stubbornly preserve the memory of civilization. One day, these historical islands will also vanish. But as long as they remain, they will preserve the uniqueness of history to the greatest extent possible, allowing each era to have its greatness for future generations to honor.
The past has both glorious peaks and insignificant valleys, yet all are unique. When legends and epics fall silent, only relics speak. Relics are not cold bricks, wood, or stone; they are not abandoned ruins. Relics are sealed memories, needing our diligent brushing; relics are ancient steles overgrown with moss, needing our careful reading. Relics are an ancient well, from which you can draw gushing clear springs; relics are an ancient bell, which remains silent until struck, giving a small sound with a light strike, a great sound with a heavy strike.
The 125 ancient Chinese cultural relics introduced in this book are merely randomly selected from the countless stars of cultural relics. Some are already famous, while others remain obscure, yet all are rich in cultural significance and historical information. They basically cover all aspects of Chinese cultural relics, including primitive villages, tombs, city sites, palaces, residential houses, bridges; caves, pagodas, temples and monasteries; rock paintings, cliff carvings; ancient astronomical observatories, the Great Wall—etc., and so on. These relics are like a string of pearls, connected by a 7,000-year historical thread. Touching them is like touching the weathered body of our motherland, which has known both glory and dreams, as well as sorrow and helplessness.
However, I would rather readers approach these ancient cultural relics with the following mindset: Who lives in the remnants of snow? Where rises the lone smoke? A small bridge over a stream, a thatched inn, a fishing boat. The light of the stream knows no end, the green of the mountains is boundless. How many plum blossoms? How many bamboo stalks? How many pine trees? Every historical and cultural relic, without exception, has experienced the vicissitudes of prosperity and decline, being controlled by an impermanent force amid the erosion of wind and rain and the rise and fall of dynasties. The so-called permanence is merely a process of being gradually gnawed away and dissolved into dust in the relentless flow of time.
The 125 ancient Chinese cultural relics introduced in this book are merely randomly selected from the countless stars of cultural relics. Some are already famous, while others remain obscure, yet all are rich in cultural significance and historical information. They basically cover all aspects of Chinese cultural relics, including primitive villages, tombs, city sites, palaces, residential houses, bridges; caves, pagodas, temples and monasteries; rock paintings, cliff carvings; ancient astronomical observatories, the Great Wall—etc., and so on. These relics are like a string of pearls, connected by a 7,000-year historical thread. Touching them is like touching the weathered body of our motherland, which has known both glory and dreams, as well as sorrow and helplessness.