Green Ram Temple - Qingyang Gong

A daoist nun tidies up the remains of incense sticks left behind by worshippers at the Green Ram Temple, Chengdu. The large characters in the background read right to left: fu (happiness), shou (longevity) and lu (prosperity) - the three most welcome blessings in Chinese traditional culture. Qingming 090405 ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

One of China's most important Daoist temples is located in Chengdu: Green Ram Temple (Qingyang Gong 青羊宫). The green mentioned in the name is the same green as the roof tiles, a kind of deep turqoisey jadegreen, but it actually refers to the green ram that Laozi supposedly rode to Chengdu when he passed through on his way to the great beyond. A more literal translation of the name is "The Palace of the Green Ram", which you will see written in beautiful gold calligraphy on a black background above the main entrance (characters read right to left). Qingyang Gong is also known as the Temple of Two Immortals, because the daoist immortals Lu Dongbin and Han Xiangzi apparently once came down to earth here (they can be seen on a roof in the eastern section of the temple complex). 

Temple window with ornamental carvings in the shape of lucky bats (fu) and the character for longevity (shou). ©IBM

The temple is quite active and there are around 200 monks and sundry employees in residence. Qingyang Gong has special affiliation with the Daoist Qingcheng Mountain, NW of Chengdu. Like one of the monks said "We're all in the same family".

It's said that it was here that Laozi (the founder of daoism) attained his immortality and also where he revealed the Daodejing to Yinxi - the frontier guardian at Hangu Pass. Yinxi was the last man to see Laozi before he left this earthly abode and continued on to Mount Kunlun and the Western Paradise.

May the daoist force be with you! ©IBM

The buildings and gardens are constructed with daoist symbolism in mind: there are buxbom baguas and yin and yang symbols. The twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac are carved in stone and the lovely Pavilion of Eight Trigrams (Bagua Ting), decorated with numerologically significant 81 dragons is eight-sided. Numerous murals depict daoist legends and deities (many with delightful names like "The Emperor of the Purple Subtlety"). Especially famous are the two bronze goats with various auspicious (or easy to touch) parts of their bodies burnished bright by the hands of hundreds of thousands of visitors (it is said to bring luck and good health). One of the goats (the least popular of the two it seems) is actually a combination of all of the 12 animals of the zodiac, try and identify which parts of the goat belongs to which animal.

Don't miss the lively teahouse and vegetarian restaurant located on the temple grounds (western section). In the eastern section there are several new buildings and also a taichiquan school where several foreigners and Chinese specialists practice and teach. Why not pay a visit to the Cultural Park (Wenhua Gongyuan) that is located right beside Qingyang Gong. Here there are numerous cosy teahouses with intense mahjong sessions, amusement rides for the kids, lush greenery and a most welcome entrance fee of 0 yuan.

©www.travelpod.com

Address: No.9 Xi Er Duan, Yihuan Lu (一环路西二段9号). Entrance fee: 10 yuan, children under 12 half. Really small children: free.

Life and death in China Part Two: Qingming - Grave sweeping festival

Funeral wreath 

Qingming picnic in Yunnan ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

Death is as significant as life and today is a very important day in China, it is Qingmingjie 清明节 - the Clear Brightness Festival or as it is more widely known in English the Grave Sweeping Festival. Qingming falls 104 days after the Winter solstice (usually April 4th-5th) and is the time to honor the dead and reestablish contact with families members who have passed away. It is deeply rooted in the strong family ties and family values that exist in Chinese culture. Where ever there is a grave or gravesite, today is the day to visit, clean away old flowers, weeds and rubbish, light incense and candles, commune with the dead - even eat a meal beside the grave, letting the dead eat a favourite dish too or maybe even drink a symbolic glass of baijiu or smoke a cigarette, whatever they might have preferred in the past. Paper money (joss) is burnt and firecrackers are set off - not only to scare away unwanted spirits that might be lurking around the grave but also to announce that you have arrived and want to show your respect. Triple kowtows are made on the ground and time is spent speaking with the family members and ancestors that no longer share this existence: you should inform them of what has happened in the family during the past twelve months, how everyone is doing but also telling them not to worry too much about those still alive, you might even like to ask a piece of advice or two. The traditional and superstitious  feel that if this ritual is not performed then the spirits have the  power to wreak havoc in your life. It is maybe no coincidence that Qingming, the day to honor the dead, is also a day when spring, rejuvenation (time to start planting crops) and young love is also honoured. 

I'm sure for many in Sichuan today their thoughts will be turned toward the dead who all share the same day of death: May 12th, 2008.

Qingming has existed since the Tang Dynasty but it was only in 2008 that it yet again became an official public holiday in China, the first time since 1949. Do not confuse Qingming with the Ghost Festival (Guijie) which comes later in the year or the Double Ninth Festival (Chongyangjie) which is another day where the dead are honoured and graves are cleaned up. In Vietnam Qingming is called Tet. For more about Chinese festivals and traditions read: Kinesiska symboler och På kinesiskt vis.

Life and death in China Part One: Longevity lock charm

©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

In China when a child turns 100 days old family and friends gather for a celebration. The baby is given many gifts and a longevity lock – a changmingsuo – to hang around its neck. The purpose of the lock is to protect the child, bring it good fortune and especially to lock the child’s qi – its vital life essence – to its earthly body so the child will stay here on earth with the parents and not be taken away prematurely, in essence “locking” the child to life.

On the lock above you can see special characters and symbols. The big character in the middle is fú – happiness – one of the most important auspicious blessings to be had in Chinese traditional culture. The two small bats on either side on the top are also symbols of happiness because they are homophones with happiness, also pronounced fú. The two characters on each side of the large happiness symbol are bai suo: “the lock for one hundred years”, wishing the child both a very long life - at least one hundred years – and happiness for one hundred years. Little bells hang from the bottom and the red thread is also a lucky colour. 

A lock like this could either be worn around the neck of the child or hung in the house for protection. I say could because it is no longer common for children to wear the locks, but it has again become fashionable to give them as presents that the parents will then keep as a keepsake (and lucky charm) for the child. These locks were most popular in China during the Ming and Qing dynasties and they came not only with the inscription above but with many different ones, albeit all with the same general meaning.

Yesterday I went to a combination baby shower and going away party for two dear friends that are moving home after living in Chengdu for a couple of years. When they fly home they will be two passport carriers but actually they are already three, the bun in the oven just doesn't have a passport yet (maybe I should say the baozi in the steamer basket). We joked a lot about many things, one of them being that we should gather all the kids around us here in the foreign families in Chengdu and get t-shirts made for them stating not where they were born but where they were made. It's sometimes a much more telling fact: Made in Thailand, Made in China, Made in Hong Kong, Made in England, Made in South Africa etc etc. The little boy that the changmingsuo above was bought for will be born in South Africa but he was made in China and I hope that a little part of him will somehow be "locked" to the country he was created in and to the friends of his parents that will so very much miss them when they move away. Yi lu ping an Carin and Barry! (And little Thomas or Luke or Matthew or whatever you wind up being called...)

....and thanks Kim D. for an incredible spread of fantastic dishes and desserts. Sorry that we drank up all your special wine, it was gooooood!

Western Sichuan 4 Danba: Tibetan vernacular architecture of the Gyarong Area

All photos Jiaju, July 2007 ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

This is a continuation of several postings about Western Sichuan and the Danba area.

The houses of the Jiaju area are particularly interesting and beautiful with coloured stripes that remind me of Sakya in Southern Tibet. But whereas Sakya has slate grey, painted walls the houses of Danba are striped and the towers have horns capped with prayer flags. The colouring has special meaning: symbolizing the sky, moon, sun, earth and stars and it is believed to bring luck and protection to the house and its dwellers. Doors can also be elaborate affairs, brightly painted with religious iconography and sometimes topped with a yak skull and garuda bird like the picture above. Most houses are quite massive, built of wood and stone with several stories and flat roofs used to dry corn, chilis and grain, and for the family to soak up sun in the daytime. Individual logs serve as ladders with small steps cut out in a single row up the tree trunk. Windows are multi-paned and made of latticed wood, painted in distinct Tibetan fashion with a black trapezoid border around. The interior of the dininghall/meetinghall where we ate our meals was extremely elaborate with numerous built-in painted cabinets and niches, small low-standing tables and belt-in benches and beds around the edges. Every surface was painted in a kaleidescope of brilliant colours, making every meal a bit of a psychedelic affair!

Chinese numerological superstition: Nine Kinesiska lyckotal: Nio

Orchard Villas, Chengdu Feb 14, 2009 ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

Siffran nio är oerhört viktig i kinesiskt tänkande. Det är det högsta ensiffriga talet (i 10-systemet och det kraftigaste yangtalet. Traditionellt var nio kejsarens tal. Det var bara kejsaren som kunde bära kläder med nio drakar på och ta från tallrikar målade med nio drakar. I Förbjudna staden i Beijing, Himmelens tempel, Sommarpalatset osv. finns ett genomgående siffertänkande. I Förbjudna staden finns nio stora knoppar vågrätt och lodrätt på de enorma röda portarna. I en av gårdarna finns en andeskärm med nio svävande drakar (jiulongbi). Det är ingen slump att det sägs finnas 9 999 rum i hela palatset eftersom det är bara himlen som kan ha 10 000 rum (egentligen finns drygt 8 800 i hela palatsanläggningen). 

Nio, jiu (九), är likljudande med "långvarig", jiu (久), och förknippas därmed med långt liv. Både den 09.09.1999 och den 19.09.1999 var speciellt lyckobringande dagar i Kina där många valde att förlova eller gifta sig då chansen ökades att deras kärlek skulle  stå sig i all evighet. Jiu kan också betyda "bara, enbart", jiu. Således kan sifferkombinationen 5917 (wu jiu yao qi) på tex en bil nummerskylt tolkas = "jag vill bara ha pengar", wo jiu yao qian. Den nionde dagen i den traditionella kalenderns nionde månad är "Dubbelnian", Chongyangjie, allmänt firad som Pensionärernas dag. I ett av Kinas gamla bokverk, Herr Lüs kommentarer till Vår- och Höstannalerna (Lüshi Chunqiu), som sammanställdes för ca 2 200 år sedan, beskrevs världen så här: Himlen har nio fält, jorden har nio regioner, landet har nio berg, bergen har nio pass, i havet finns nio öar. Nummer nio självt är något mysko: alla multiplar med nio resulterar i att siffrorna när de läggs ihop blir nio: t.ex. 9 x 3 = 27 = 2 + 7 = 9. (Undantaget är 0 x 9 = 0). En nummerskylt med fem nior är mycket eftertraktat i Kina och kostar således mycket pengar under bordet eller en speciell kontakt på Myndigheten för fordonsregistrering!

English: The number nine is one of the most important numbers in Chinese numerological superstition. It's the highest single digit number, rich in yang, and was traditionally reserved for use by the emperor. Only he could wear clothing embroidered with nine dragons and eat from plates decorated with these nine heavenly creatures. The Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace are full of "nine combinations", nine massive door studs both vertical and horizontal on the huge palace doors, spirits wall decorated with nine dragons (jiulongbi) and supposedly 9,999 rooms, as only heaven could have 10,000. (There are actually only about 8,800 rooms in the palace). 

Another reason why nine, jiu (九), is so important is because it's a homophone with jiu (久), a word meaning "a long time" in Chinese and thus is associated with long life. Dates that consist of many nines are auspicious for anyone getting married or engaged, the thought being that the relationship will get extra help to last forever or at least as long as possible. 090999 and 190999 were popular days when people flocked to the wedding license offices or proposed marriage. 

Car license plates with lucky numbers are especially sought after in China and either cost a lot of money, good luck at a license auction in the cities that have them, a fat bribe or a special connection in the Department of Motor Vehicles. The above combination of five nines should be interpreted as anything that the owner wants or desires will be theirs "forever". 

Fruits - Chinese Jujube

Photos ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

When I was a child a jujube was an oblong candy (not unlike a coated jellybean) that you could buy in movie theaters. Jujubes are actually small fruits the size of walnuts, loved by Chinese all over the country and eaten in both fresh and dried form. In English they are sometimes mistakenly called Chinese dates. (Lat. Ziziphus jujuba, svenska: jujubär eller bröstbär). The jujube (of which there are many species) is a spiny shrub or small tree belonging to the buckthorn family (sv. brakvedsväxter) and can be found all over Asia and the Middle East, from Syria to China.  It was originally cultivated in India as early as 9,000 BCE.

A fresh jujube tastes like a mild, sweetly aromatic apple without the tartness. The consistency is slightly squishy and mealy and not as firm as a crisp apple. Inside is a small, hard stone, not unlike an olive pit. A young jujube is a shiny green, which quickly turns to yellow with brown splotches. As the fruit dries it goes from brown to a dark red. The nutritional value is high with large quantities of vitamin C.  Like so much food in China jujubes are considered medicinally beneficial. They are said to stimulate appetite and increase life-giving qi, they can also prevent coughs (därav det svenska namnet bröstbär), sore throats and alleviate stress!

In China food is not only looked upon as sustenance and medicine but often as a symbolic vehicle. Foods are served or eaten not only because they taste good or are healthy but because they sound like something else that has a positive meaning. Likewise some foods are avoided if they can be connected to something negative. There are many visual rebus constellations with jujubes, here are a few:

It is traditional for friends to place dried red jujubes (zao) and peanuts (huasheng) in the bridal bed in order to wish the newlyweds a speedy (i.e. early, zao) arrival (birth, sheng) of sons. 

Jujubes (zao) together with chestnuts (lizi) symbolize the early (zao) "establishment of a family" (li). In certain dialects where zhi is pronounced zi this pairing together with a litchi (lizhi) conveys a wish that the recipient shall "establish a family" (li) with as many sons (zi) as early (zao) as possible.  

At Chinese New Year's a sticky rice cake called a niangao is served to wish the guests greater (or higher, gao) prosperity and success year (nian) after year. If the cake is decorated with a red jujube (hongzao) the extra message is for this happy result to come as early (zao) as possible. 

...and of course the deep and warm red of the dried jujube is the luckiest of colors.

You can find more entries like this in my new book "Chinese Symbols" ICA, 2008.