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NANJING

Nanjing an ancient metropolis of six different dynasties, is a city with mountains, waters and green trees.
The ancestors of Nanjingers can be dated back to the apemen who lived in caves at Tangshan Hill hundreds of thousands of years ago. About 5000 to 6000 years ago some people came to the tableland by waters and made a living by fishing, hunting or farming.
Nanjing took shape at the confluence of the Changjiang (Yangtse) and Qinhuaihe rivers. Goujian, King of Yue State, had a city built by the Qinhuaihe and named it Yuecheng 2500 years ago. Later Chu State had a city called Jinling erected at the foot of Qingliangshan Hill. Yuecheng and Jinling were the embryonic forms of Nanjing.
The Yangtse River rushes from southwest towards the Stone Hill which is strategically located and difficult of access. Sun Quan, King of State Wu, had his military fortress built here with the giant rocks by the river as the wall and named it the Stone City, which is also called the Ghost Face City because of its grotesque shape. Ever since then, Jinling, Shitou (Stone) have been the ancient aliases of Nanjing.
The Six Dynasties (from beginning of the 3rd century to the end of the 6th century) were the prime period of Nanjing. After the downfall of Western Jin, North China was reigned by chieftains of some nomads. Many aristocrats, men of letters, craftsmen thronged to the south, promoting the development of culture, economy, and crafts and technology. And Nanjing, the biggest city of the time became a new cultural center in ancient China.
In modern Nanjing there are some 40 universities and colleges and more than 300 scientific research institutes, several art troupes and a theatre for kunqu opera, from which about 100 modern operas in China derived. Nanjing Library is the third biggest library in China in terms of its collection. The Nanjing Museum boasts a rich collection of arts and crafts.
The modern new Nanjing is the economic and cultural center in the lower reaches of the Yangtse River. It has started its voyage to the outside world.

Attractions:

Confucius Temple (Fuzimiao)

Nanjing Confucius Temple, Fuzimiao in Chinese, is the holy shrine of Confucius, the outstanding ancient Chinese philosopher and thinker. The temple was first built in 1034 in the Song dynasty(960-1729), expanded on the basis of the Imperial Academy of the East Jin dynasty (317 - 420). The complex consists of Confucius Temple, the Imperial Academy and Gongyuan where provincial and national examinations were held. However, people called the complex and surrounding streets Confucius Temple due to custom. The grand complex structure experienced vicissitudes of history. It was burnt and restored for many times. In 1937, brutal Japanese invaders burnt it into ashes. However, it was rebuilt by the local government in accordance with Ming and Qing style in 1984, and rated as one of the top 40 tourist attractions in 1991.

Confucius Temple has the largest screen wall in China, which is ten-meter-high and 110-meter-long. The main structure is Dacheng Hall, seated on a 1.5-meter-high base and measuring 16.22 meters in height, 28.1 in width and 21.7 in depth. In front of the hall, there is a platform where ancient sacrificing, dancing and singing were performed. These acitivities have been revived. On the sides of the pathway leading to the hall, eight Confucius' disciples, sculptures of white marble, stand. On a stand before the hall, there is a 4.18-meter-tall bronze sculpture of Confucius, the largest of its kind within the nation. Inside of the hall, four white marble saints flank a huge portrait of Confucius hung at the center, which is also the largest of its kind. On the walls inside, there are 38 pictures recording Confucius' deeds. The pictures are decorated with various gems, gold and silver.

Mingyuan Tower, the main structure of Gongyuan, used to be the commanding center in the session of examinations. Behind the tower, examination rooms arrayed, one for each student. They had to live in those shabby rooms during the session. At its peak time, it covered a space of 70 thousand square meters and had 20644 rooms, excluding rooms for governmental personnel.

The place was red-light district in ancient time, especially in the Ming and Qing dynasties. When national examinations were held, service industry prospered to provide thousands of candidates various services. Book houses, teahouses, hotels and whorehouses appeared like mushrooms. Many famous, talented and versatile prostitutes came to be known. The annually lantern festival held here also earned a lot of fame.

Linggu Temple

The temple was first built in 515 under the reign of the Liang dynasty(502-557). It used to lie at the northeast foot of Mount Zhongshan, i.e. where Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum now locates, since Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang chose the place to be his mausoleum and then the temple was moved to the present place. The temple was named by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang himself. It used to be large and covered an area of over 30 hectares. Later it was destroyed in warfare under the reign of Emperor Xianfeng and rebuilt under the reign of Emperor Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911). In the temple, except for Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Monk Xuanzang and his relic were enshrined and worshiped.

Wuliang Hall, or Beamless Hall, was constructed in 1831, and is 22-meters-high and 53.8-meter- wide. The hall enjoys high reputation for its special architectural techniques. It has three archways on the front and rear sides respectively. The structure was built with bricks from the bottom to the top entirely, without a piece of wood or a single nail. Thus it was called Wuliang Hall, since Wuliang means beamless. It happens that the hall originally enshrined Amitayus (Buddha of Infinite Life) whose Chinese name pronounces the same with Wuliang. Later in 1928, the hall was turned into the memorial hall of soldiers sacrificed in the War of Northern Expedition(1926-1927). More than 30,000 soldiers were enshrined.

Linggu Pagoda was built in 1929 to memorize those soldiers. The 9 stories pagoda stands 60.5 meters high. Speeches made by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and epigraphs of Chiang Kai-Shek were inscribed on the tower.

In the temple, there is also a Three Superb Tablet, on which a painting of Monk Baozhi, painted by Wu Daozi, a famous painter, a memorial poem written by Libai, the most outstanding poet, and calligraphy written by Yan Zhenqing, a well-known calligrapher in the Tang dynasty(618-907) were inscribed. Since the three were all superb masters in their own field in the Tang dynasty, the tablet was considered Three Superb Tablet. Unfortunately, the original tablet was broken in warfare, the present one is a duplicate under the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing dynasty.

Mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen

The mausoleum is situated at the foot of the second peak of Mount Zijin. Construction of the tomb started in 1926, taking three years. On first July 1929, Dr. Sun was buried there. Sun has been respected as Father of Modern China since he fought unyieldingly against the corrupt Qing government and led the 1911 revolution to end feudal system and found Republic of China, leading Chinese people into a new era. He died in 1925 in Beijing.

Reclining on mountain slope, the mausoleum looks majesty and sublime. Lying at the mountainside, the vault is more than 700 hundred meters away from the Paifang on the square below, which is the entrance of the mausoleum. There is a three-tier stone stand on which a huge bronze Ding, an ancient Chinese vessel symbolizing power perches. To the north of the square, the Paifang towers high. Beyond is the 480-meter-long and 50-meter-wide stairway which has 392 stairs, leading to the vault. On both sides, high pine trees, cypress trees and gingko trees guards the way alongside. At the end of the stairway is a gate which is 16-meter-high and 27-meter-wide. The tri-arched marble gate is inscribed with four Chinese characters written by Dr. Sun, which means "the nation is people's nation and everyone shall serve the nation selflessly". Inside of the gate, there is a pavilion in which a 9-meter-high stele is set, which is a memorial monument set by Kuomintang. A few stairs up, is the sacrificial hall and the vault. In front of the sacrificial hall there stands a pair of Huabiao, ancient Chinese ornamental column, which is 12.6-meter-high. The sacrificial hall is actually a palace of 30 meters in length, 25 meters in width and 29 meters in height. In the center of the hall a 4.6-meter-high statue of Mr. Sun sits. The statue was sculptured out of white marble produced in Italy. Visitors will learn Mr. Sun's glorious life in the hall. North of the hall lies the vault. In the bell shaped vault, Dr. Sun falls asleep. A statue of him rests in a white marble coffin, under which the great man lies.

Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum

The mausoleum lies at the northern foot of Mount Zijin (Mount Purple Gold). Legend says that in order to prevent robbery of the tomb, 13 same processions of funeral troops started from 13 city gates to cover the real burying site. The construction of the mausoleum began in 1381 and ended in 1405, taking 100 thousand labors 25 years with huge amount of expenditure. The original wall of the mausoleum was more than 22.5 kilometers. Under heavy guard of 5,000 military troops, the mausoleum was heavily constructed and planted.

The sacred way started from Sifangchang (Rectangular city) which was a pavilion where a splendid carved stone stele for memory of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang was enshrined, on which hymn by his fourth son was inscribed. Now, the top of the pavilion was gone. In the middle of the 1800-meter-long winding sacred way, there are 6 kinds and 12 pairs of animals guarding the tomb. Further beyond is a pair of decorative columns called Huabiao in Chinese. Four couples of ministers and generals have been standing there for centuries to accompany their His Majesty beneath.

On an inscribed stone tablet outside of the gate of the mausoleum, an official notification of the local government in the Qing dynasty(1644-1911) ordered to protect the tomb. Inside of the gate, there is a pavilion in which 5 steles stand. The one in the middle was inscribed with 4 Chinese characters, which was written by Emperor Kangxi in his third inspection tour. Behind the pavilion, there used to be other annexes, however most of them collapsed into relics from which the original splendor can still be traced.

The clay vault, which is 400 meters in diameter, is where the emperor and his queen were buried. On stonewall surrounding the vault, 7 Chinese characters was inscribed, which means the mausoleum of Emperor Ming Taizu (respected title of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang). By the way, the mountain laying to the south of the tomb is the mausoleum of Sun Quan, King of State Wu in the Three Kingdom period(220-265). It is the reason why the sacred way is not straight

Mochou Lake

The lake covers 54 hectares, at the center of which is an islet.

The lake has many beautiful stories. One tells that in the Northern and Southern dynasties(420-589), a beautiful and intelligent girl named Mochou was married to her husband in Nanjing at 15. When she was 16 she had a baby and a happy family. However, her husband was conscripted and marched to battlefield, never sending message back. She missed him so much that she turned into a pool of water trying to flow to where her husband stationed. In order to commemorate the lady, the pool was named Mochou Lake after her.

The lake was turned into a park in 1952. Behind the threshold, visitors will see rockeries, pools and fountains. Lying behind is the famous Shengqi Pavilion (Pavilion of Winning I-go). On the ancient two-story-pavilion, there are paintings and calligraphy works being displayed. A legend says that at the beginning of the Ming dynasty(1368-1644), Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang often summoned Xu Da, his general to play Chinese I-go with him on the pavilion. Xu always pretended to lose, although he was more skillful in the game than his lord. Later the emperor perceived the truth and ordered him to play fair, Xu not only won the game and but also arrayed his chessman into Chinese characters "Wan Sui" which means Yours Majesty. Then the emperor was deeply impressed and granted the pavilion and the lake to Xu. That is the origin of the name of the pavilion.

There is a water lily pool in the garden. At the center of the pool, there stands a statue of Mochou, sculptured out of white marble. The sad expression tells people how sad her life was.

Nanjing Museum

Nanjing museum was originally set up in 1933, covering a space of 12.9 hectares. Due to warfare, only the construction of human culture hall was completed as planed. Now to the west of the hall, an archaized show hall has been constructed, having a floor space of 12,600 square meters and consisting of treasure hall, bronze ware hall, porcelain ware hall, painting hall, jade hall, embroidery hall, pottery hall, lacquer ware hall, folklore hall, modern arts hall and calligraphy and painting hall of celebrities. The museum has a collection of more than 420 thousand pieces, including about 2,000 rare and valued ones. Calligraphy and painting works from ancient dynasties collected by the museum exceed 30,000, including those valuable from the Song and the Yuan dynasties. Among them, Paleolithic stone wares, colored pottery wares, bronze wares of the West Zhou dynasty(11th century-711B.C.) and the Spring and Autumn period(770-476B.C.), gold beast, jade dress sewn with silver thread, gold seal of a Han dynasty(206B.C.-220A.D.) prince and other articles are all treasures, worthy of studying and appreciating.

Qin Huai River

Qin Huai River, southwest of the city and extending 110 kilometers long, is a branch of Yangtze River. It was called Huai River originally. Legend says in the Qin dynasty(221-207B.C.) under the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, Mount Fangshan was chiseled through to lead the water into the city, so that it was renamed into Qin Huai River. The inner river of the river used to be the most flourishing place of Nanjing since it was the red-light district famous throughout the nation. Painted boats shuttled to and fro and music sounded all night. Many love affairs and romances spread from here. Almes earned their fame and left their sorrow on the river. On a street beside the river, visitors may see a famous lady's former residence to feel the history. Painted boats on the river were extraordinarily famous. Large or small, all were decorated with colorful lanterns. Sitting on a stool in a boat, flowing with water and recollecting history is a fascinating experience. Nowadays, Qin Huai River has been archaized and revived. With lanterns hung high all around and music played, streets along the river restored its flourish.

Xuanwu Lake Park

The lake lies northeast of the city near the railway station, out of the city wall. It used to be the drilling camp of the imperial navy and recreation center of aristocrats. At the end of the Qing dynasty, it was turned into a park, which occupied an area of 434 hectares with 368 hectares in water. It was said that once a black dragon was seen in the lake. Then it was named Xuanwu Lake, since black dragon was considered God of Water, respected as Xuanwu in Chinese Taoism.

The lake is surrounded by mountains. In the lake, there are five isles which are connected by bridges or mounds, each of them having a very attractive and unique flavor. Huan Isle is famous for its willow trees in the mist in spring, while Ying Isle is popular for its cherry blossom; Liang Isle is noted for its chrysanthemums in autumn; Cui Isle wins fame for its varieties of trees and quietness; Ling Isle attracts people for its purple and golden clouds.

Yangtze River Bridge

The bridge flies over Yangtze River, northwest of the city. It was the first double deck and double track highway and railway bridge designed and constructed by Chinese themselves. As a milestone, it was Chinese people's pride. The construction of the bridge started in 1961 and ended in 1968. The highway bridge flies 4589 meters across the river, 1577 meters over the water and is 15 meters in width excluding two-meter-wide pavements on both sides while the railway bridge is longer and narrower. The bridge totally has nine piers, of which the highest one towers 85 meters and its base covers 400 square meters. The highway bridge approach is full of Chinese characteristics. Rising 70 meters high, two bridge towers stand on each end of the bridge. Inside of towers, elevators reach the two decks and watchtowers atop. The bridgebanisters are decorated with 200 cast iron relief inlays. Beside the pavements, there are 150 pairs of yulan lamps. Like a rainbow the bridge spans across the river. When night falls, with more than 2,000 various lamps turned on, it looks like a pearl string of the Yangtze River.

Zhonghua Gate

The observatory is located on the west peak of Mt. Zhongshan. It was constructed in 1934 and the first modern observatory built by Chinese in China. It occupies very important position in Chinese astronomical history and considered cradle of modern Chinese astronomy. Now the observatory still keeps oldest astronomical instruments invented by Chinese, full of artistic and scientific values.

Celestial Globe

Invented by Zhang Heng, an outstanding astronomer in the East Han dynasty(25-220), it was used to locate the position of celestial bodies and define their ways of revolving. The globe, one meter in diameter, was inlaid with 1449 stars, ecliptic and equator. The one displayed there were made in Qing dynasty(1644-1911).

Armillary Sphere

Invention of the instrument can date back to the Han dynasty(206B.C.-220A.D.). It was used to locate celestial bodies and define their movements. The bronze one kept there was made in 1437 in the Ming dynasty(1368-1644).

Sundial

The bronze instrument was invented more than 3,000 years ago. It was used to define the 24 traditional Chinese solar terms and the length of the tropical year. The one displayed was made in 1439.

Altazimuth

The instrument, made at the end of the Qing dynasty, was used to locate celestial bodies and their heights.