Library>Travel in China>Protected Sites>Class Ⅲ>Contructions

Confucian Temple in Beijing

The Beijing Confucian Temple is located on Chengxian Street inside Andingmen, Beijing.

The Confucian Temple is where emperors of the Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties offered sacrifices to the Ancestor Confucius. Facing the Imperial College, the temple was built in the sixth year (1302) of the Dade reign in the Yuan Dynasty and underwent a number of
renovations during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. With buildings constructed in three rows, the temple covers an area of about 20,000 square meters. Buildings constructed on the central axis include the Xianshi Gate, Dacheng Gate, Dacheng Hall, Chongsheng Gate and the Chongsheng Ancestral Temple.
The central gate of Xianshi retained the typical style of the Yuan Dynasty, with big and thin dougongs (a system of brackets in Chinese building with wooden square blocks inserted between the top of a column and a crossbeam). Roofs of the buildings were originally covered with cyan glazed tiles
which were changed to yellow glazed tiles during the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty. Starting from Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, every new emperor had to write something on a horizontal tablet and hang it inside the Dacheng Hall. On both sides of the Xianshi Gate are 198 stone
tablets with inscriptions written by successful candidates in the highest imperial examination of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties. A total of 118 tablets were erected between 1646 and 1904, recording 51,624 candidates’ names, birthplaces and examination places, providing precious historical
insight into the study of the imperial examination system.

The Confucian Temple was rebuilt into the Capital Museum. A Beijing showroom was set up in the museum displaying a great number of valuable relics and documents between the Paleolithic Age and the Qing Dynasty — all of which have distinct local features of Beijing. Over 80,000 other relics are
also kept in the museum.

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Library>Travel in China>Protected Sites>Class Ⅱ>Revolutionary Sites

Sites of the Pool of Lin Zexu Destroying Opium and the Humen Batteries

The site of Lin Zexu Opium-destroying Pool is located at the gate of Taiping Town, Dongguang County, Guangdong Province. There are Humen People’s Anti-British Monument in the Opium War (1840) and Opium War Museum.

The site of Lin Zexu Opium-destroying Pool is leaning on Niubei Mountain in the north, with the Pearl River in the south. In its west, there stands the pass of the Taiping Town.

In the late 1930s, the smuggling of opium to China from Britain and America was rampant, posing a big threat to the Qing Regime. With the support of the great mass, Lin Zexu, Imperial Commissioner of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), was determined to ban the entry of opium. He even forced British and
American dealers to hand over more than 20,000 boxes of opium, weighing over 118.5 million kilograms altogether, and burnt them in public from June 3 to 25, 1839 in Humen. Two quadrate pools, with each side measuring 45 meters, were used to destroy the opium. The pools are made up of flagstones on
its bottom, having rails around. There are a culvert near them and a drain behind. When burning the opium, people first filled the pools with water and then put salt into them to turn the water into thick brine. Opium was put into the thick brine then to be dissolved, and at last quicklime was put
in it to get the opium disintegrated completely. The destroyed opium was drained to the river.

The Site of Humen Batteries is located on the Chuanbiyang, the estuary of the Pearl River, Guangdong Province. As there are two mountains named Mount Big Tiger and Mount Small Tiger around the Pearl River, the place got a name Humen, meaning Tiger’s Gate. There exist Shaojiao Battery, Weiyuan
Battery, Lin Zexu Monument, tombs for these who fell in battle named Tombs of the Valiant and Tombs of the Devoted available for people to memorialize.

Before the outbreak of the Opium War, Lin Zexu was responsible for the consolidation of coastal defense. He rebuilt 11 batteries on both sides of Humen and on the islands in Haikou and set up more than 300 cannons. Shaojiao and Dajiao Batteries were treated as the most important ones. Nanshan,
Hengdang, Yong’an, Weiyuan, Jingyuan, Zhenyuan, Gonggu Batteries were considered as of secondary importance and Dahu the third. In waters between mountains, rafts and iron chains were set up to hinder the invasion of enemy’s warships. After the Opium War broke out on January 7, 1841, British navy
began to attack Shajiao and Dajiao Battery. Navy of the Qing Regime led by deputy general Chen Liangsheng resisted firmly. Unfortunately, the crew were all killed and the batteries fallen into the British hands due to the shortage of ammunition. On February 23 that year, the British army moved
upon Humen. Guan Tianpei and his army defended Yong’an, Weiyuan, Jinyuan and Zhenyuan Batteries. Humen was captured by the British invaders on February 26 because of the delay of reinforcements, and Guan Tianpei and more than 400 soldiers battled to death.

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Library>China ABC>Medicine>Books

Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Pieces of Gold for Emergencies

Beiji Qianjin Yaofang (Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Pieces of Gold for Emergencies), also called Qianjin Fang (Precious Prescriptions for Emergencies) or Qianjin Yaofang, was edited by Sun Simiao in the year 652. As Sun Simiao said, “Human life is of paramount importance,more precious than a
thousand pieces of gold; to save it with one prescription is to show your great virtue”, thus, “gold” is used in the name of the book.

From the Tang Dynasty (618-907) to the modern time, Beiji Qianjin Yaofang has had more than 40 versions at home and abroad, which are roughly divided into two categories.

The book is in 30 volumes. Volume 1 is the pandect of medical science, including medical ethics, materia medica, pharmacy and so on; Volume 2-4 are on gynecopathy; Volume 5 on pediatrics; Volume 6 on diseases of the seven orifices; Volume 7-8 on dermatophytosis of all kinds; Volume 9-10 on febrile
diseases caused by cold; Volume 11-20 on viscera diseases; Volume 21 on diabetes and similar diseases; Volume 22 on skin and external diseases; Volume 23 on hemorrhoid; Volume 24 on disintoxicating and various treatments; Volume 25 on techniques for emergencies; Volume 26-27 on dietetic therapy
and cultivation of mental poise; Volume 28 on normal pulse; and Volumes 29-30 on acupuncture and moxibustion. There are totally 233 categories, containing more than 5,300 articles. It has set up the format for compilation of prescriptions.

The book gives a systematic summing-up of the accomplishments in medical science before the Tang Dynasty. Its sources are extensive,and its contents are rich, covering all clinical sectors and many aspects such as acupuncture and moxibustion, dietetic therapy, medicament, prevention, hygiene and
so on. It contains both discussion and description, having both proved recipes and classical prescriptions. It is the first comprehensive monumental works of medical science in China, another summing-up of Chinese medicine after Treatise on Febrile Diseases Caused by Cold and Miscellaneous
Diseases by Zhang Zhongjing, and is praised as the earliest encyclopedia of clinical medicine in the Chinese history.

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Library>China ABC>Sci-Tech>Ancient achievements

Mathematician Zu Chongzhi

Zu Chongzhi (425-500), born in Fanyang (now Laiyuan County in Hebei Province), was a great mathematician and astronomer during the North and South Dynasty (220-581). His main contribution to the development of science and technology includes the computation of pi, the calculation of the volume of
sphere, the compilation of the Daming Calendar (462), and the invention of the south-pointing carriage.

Zu Chongzhi’s main contribution to math is the computation of pi. Records show that Zu worked out the numerical value of pi — between 3.1415926 and 3.1415927. It was the most advanced achievement worldwide at that time. Such precision was not surpassed until the 15th century when Al’Kashi, a
native of Samarkand (now Uzbekistan), calculated pi using a similar method. To honor Zu’s great contribution to math, some foreign math historian suggested calling pi Zu Lv (the rate of Zu).

Zu Chongzhi and his son, Zu Geng, also managed to put forward the formula for computation of the volume of a sphere.Zhui Shuby Zu Chongzhi, one of the ten books onSuan Jing, was adopted as the textbook for mathematics in the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

In astronomy, Zu created the Daming Calendar, taking into consideration the precession of the equinoxes for the first time in China. This was a major breakthrough in the history of Chinese calendar.

Zu was also good at machine making. He invented the south-pointing bronze carriage and 1000-li Boat which could travel 100 li (1 li = 1/2 kilometers) in a day.

Zu was one of the few Chinese mathematicians to have a lunar feature named after him. People named a lunar crater at the back of the moon Zu Chongzhi in commemoration of him. Crater Zu Chongzhi (listed in the International Astronomical Union’s handbook as Crater Tsu Chung Chi) is 28 km wide and
located about 20 degrees north of the moon’s equator. And the planet 1888 was named Planet Zu Chongzhi.

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Library>China ABC>Religion>Tibetan Buddhism

Zhuanjing in Lhasa

Zhuanjing means the circumambulation in a specific circular route. It is a very special way of praying in the Tibetan Buddhism.

There are totally 3 routes ofZhuanjingin Lhasa:

The first route is to circumambulate the main palace of the Jokhang Temple; this route is 500 meter long and is an interior circular line;

The second route is the middle circular line (Bakuo Street) with a total length of 1000 meters, a walk around the Jokhang Temple. Bakuo in Tibetan language means the middle circular line.

The third route is the external circular line (Linkuo Road) with a total length of 5000 meters, a walk around the old urban area of Lhasa. Linkuo in Tibetan language means the external circular line.

During the Saga Dawa Festival of Lhasa, the circumambulation of Linkuo is the most spectacular of all. From the first day of the Saga Dawa, streams of people appear on the Linkuo Road in many groups.

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Library>China ABC>Religion>Buddhist Temples

King Asoka Temple

King Asoka Temple is situated on King Asoka Mountain in the east of Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, and is one of the Five Mountains of Buddhism’s Chan Sect (Zen) in China. It is famous home and abroad because of the pagoda of the body relic of Sakyamuni Buddha in the temple. The temple is also
the only extant ancient temple of one thousand years old named after King Asoka of India in China. In 1983, it was designated as one of national key temples in the areas of the Han nationality.

Historical records of Buddhist sources show that in the third century BC, King Asoka, who unified India, became a Buddhist and began to carry forward Buddhist doctrines. After Sakyamuni passed away, King Asoka ordered to build pagodas with the body relic (bone ash) of Sakyamuni. He ordered his
people to build pagodas in any alleged Auspicious Places all over the world to place the real body relic of Sakyamuni. Totally 84,000 pagodas were built. According to the records of Buddhist scriptures, the number of such pagodas in China is nineteen. Because such temples were built by the order
of King Asoka, they were named King Asoka Pagoda.

King Asoka Temple was built in 282 the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316). Since then, the temple has experienced several rises and declines. The existing buildings are those rebuilt after the Qing Dynasty (1644-1840). In 1980, it underwent a complete renovation. Now, King Asoka Temple has a
magnificent scale with a simple and unsophisticated structure, owns more than 600 halls, rooms, and pavilions, and covers an area of 14,000 square meters. Buildings, sculptures, gardens, and paintings of the temple are all very unique and of high value as cultural relics.

King Asoka Temple takes an important position in China’s history of Buddhism as well as Sino-India cultural exchanges. Especially, the Real Body Relic of Sakyamuni, treasure of the Buddha Kingdom, enshrined in the temple, enjoys a very high reputation in the Buddhist circle home and overseas. The
dagoba is placed in a seven-storeyed stone pagoda in the Buddha’s Relics Hall. A lying Statue of Sakyamuni stands behind the pagoda.

There are many scenic spots and historical sites near King Asoka Temple. A stone pavilion named Fodao (Buddha has come) Pavilion on a big stone on which it is said that Kassapa Buddha stepped with his left foot. Under the pavilion, there stands a big stone named Suiyan, on which more than ten
people can sit together. Another scenic spot is the legendary Seven Buddha Pool, where seven Buddhas were said to have once bathed. Water in the pool is very deep, and the ambience here is quiet and secluded. It is really a good cool place for people to spend the summer.

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Library>China ABC>Media>Publishing

People’s Daily Press

The People’s Daily Press, established on August 1, 1956, is a social science publishing house at the state level, directly under the Editing Committee of the People’s Daily.

In the past 40-odd years, the press has published a lot of books and documents on politics, economy, law, press, science and culture, achieving good social effect and economic results.

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Library>China ABC>Economy>Tourism & Transportation

Railways

At the end of 2005, railways in operation reached 75,400 km, including 20,100 km of electrified railways, the scale of China’s electrified railway second only to that of Russia and Germany. According to the Mid- and Long-Term Railway Network Program approved by the State Council in 2004, China’s
railways in operation will reach 100,000 km by 2020. On a global basis, China’s rail transport volume is one of the world’s largest, carrying 25 percent of the world’s total railway workload with only six percent of the world’s operating railways. China also leads in terms of the growth rate of
transport volume and in the efficient use of transport equipment.

Since 1997, train speed has been raised significantly five times, across some 17,000 km of track. The top speed of express trains increased from 120 km to 160 km per hour, and passenger trains can reach maximum speed of 200 km per hour on some sections of trunk railways.

The world’s highest railway, the Qingzang Railway, running between Geermu in Qinghai and Lhasa in Tibet, linked up in October 2005 despite the difficulties of “long years of frozen earth, weak ecology, lack of oxygen due to high altitude,” and went into trial operation on July 1, 2006.

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Library>China ABC>Sci-Tech

The Scientific and Technological Structure

China’s scientific research system is a cooperative one, comprising the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), schools of higher learning, industrial departments, national defense departments and local scientific research institutes. The over 160 national scientific and academic organizations
affiliated to the China Association for Science and Technology, as well as its branches in various large and medium-sized cities, are also important forces in sci-tech research.

The Beijing-based CAS is China’s highest academic institute and comprehensive research center in natural sciences. Its academic divisions include mathematics, physics, chemistry, geography, biology, technological sciences, and it has more than 100 research institutes throughout China. Before 2010,
the CAS plans to found some 80 national research institutes specializing in science and technology innovation and continuous development, among which 30 will be internationally acknowledged as world-class. There are 707 CAS academicians, the highest lifetime academic title the government grants in
science and technology. The average age of the 51 academicians elected in 2005 was 58.7, the youngest group ever.

The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) is the highest honorary, consultative institute in engineering science and technology, conducting strategic studies of the state’s important engineering-related issues, providing consultation for decision-making, and promoting the development of engineering
science and technology. There are 704 CAE academicians, including 55 elected in 2005.

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) was approved by the State Council and founded in February 1986. Its role is to support basic research and some applied research projects using government appropriations in line with the state’s guiding principles and sci-tech development
policies. Over the past dozen years, the NSFC has subsidized thousands of diverse research projects and about 60,000 scientists working in basic research.

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Library>China ABC>Economy>Introduction

Development of Energy-Efficient Society

The consumption of natural resources, including energy, minerals, water and land, keeps increasing along with rapid economic growth. China has made remarkable achievements in economic and social development over the last 20 years, but is paying an enormous resources and environmental price.
China’s mode of untrammeled economic development is characterized by high rates of growth, resource consumption and of pollution. At present, the consumption of energy, raw materials and water resources per unit of GDP is much higher than the world average; waste of resources in production,
construction, distribution and consumption is still serious. Therefore, the Chinese government put forth the key strategic policy of building an energy-efficient society.

China’s Medium and Long-Term Energy Development Program for 2004 – 2020, adopted in principle by the State Council in June 2004, prioritizes energy conservation, and adjustment and optimization of the energy structure. China’s first Medium and Long-Term Energy Conservation Plan formulated by the
National Development and Reform Commission was published at the end of 2004. This lays down specific regulations for indices of energy consumption, covering thermal power generation, electricity supply and coal consumption, for major products. By 2010, these indices as a whole will reach or
approach the international advanced level of the early 1990s. By 2010 the energy efficiency of important energy-consuming equipment, such as coal-fueled industrial boilers, must reach or approach international advanced level. The indices of some automobiles, electro-motors and household appliances
should also be up to the international advanced level by 2010. Since 2005, China has started 10 key energy-conservation projects, such as the Transformation of Coal-fueled Industrial Boiler and Kiln, Development of Regional Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plants, Energy Conservation of Electric
Machinery, Green Lighting, Petroleum Conservation and Substitution, Waste Heat Utilization, Energy Conservation in Construction and Energy Conservation in Government Departments. It is estimated that by 2010 these projects will save the energy equivalent of 240 million tons of standard coal.

The general requirements for building an energy-efficient society are: paying equal attention to resource development and conservation, with conservation as the guiding principle, putting resource saving and greater utilization efficiency at the heart of things; emphasizing conservation of energy,
water, materials and land, the comprehensive utilization of resources and the development of a recycling economy, establishing energy-efficient modes of production, consumption and of urban and rural construction.

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