|
Architecture
and Sculpture
【Imperial Divine
Temple】
| When
Emperor Qingshihuang had the Imperial Divine
Temple built in Binggou, the worship of
heaven and earth began to be conducted here.
Worship of Heaven and Earth by emperors,
generals, and soldiers has a long history
in China. Historic records date this sacrificial
ceremony, a combination of natural religion
and aristocratic political philosophy, to
Xia Dynasty 2,000 years ago. Heaven-Earth
worship occupied a conspicuous place in
the political life of ancient China. Nowadays,
there are two sacrificial ceremonies in
Binggou every year. In winter, it’s the
worship of ancestors, while in summer the
worship of crop god. |
|
【The
divine subway】
| In
front of Binggou Tourist Zone, there was
a huge city gate, which is called “Hunhuaizhang”
by the guide. As Binggou used to be a site
where “Hunhuaizhang” military base situated,
built by Mengtian, a General of Qin Dynasty,
214 B.C, while he commanded his army northwards
to fight Xiongnu (one of the nomadic minorities
to the north of ancient China). Passing
through “Hunhuaizhang”, there was a 10-meter
high altar, which was rebuilt according
to historical image. Walking on, there was
a 3-meter wide and 100-meter long subway
to the group of ancient tombs, called divine
subway. On the left and right side of the
subway, there were some animals’ statue
and six tomb figures, which were symbols
to suppress evils. The lion is the symbol
of suppressing evil; the |
|
| tiger stands for guarding
the state and the unicorn symbolizes good
fortune as one wishes. At the end of subway,
we saw four big tombs,in which hundreds
of soldiers and officials who stayed there
to safeguard the motherland frontier of
ancient China during late Qin and West Han
Dynasty were buried. |
【The divine
animal figure】
On
the left and right side of the subway
to the group of
ancient tombs, there are three animal
figures followed as
lion, tiger and unicorn. The lion is
the symbol of suppressing
evil; the tiger stands for guarding
the state and the unicorn
symbolizes good fortune as one wishes.
These animal
figures represent soldier’s expectation
of peaceful life. |
|
【The statue
of Wangwei】
In
737AD, the army of Tang Dynasty defeated
Tubo and Wangwei was commended as the representative
of the emperor to condole with soldiers
at Binggou. After seeing the splendid scenery
of Ningxia, he wrote famous poem “I arrive
at frontier fortress as a messenger”
By receiving
an order, I leave the palace of the Emperor.
I am to visit
the border alone.
A travelling
mugwort go out of the frontier fortress.
Returning wild
geese enter foreign sky.
|
|
In
the vast desert, a solitary smoke rises
vertically.
On
the long river, the setting sun is round.
I
come upon a scouting cavalry at
Xiao barrier.
He says that
the leader is in Yanran, the major fortress
of the Huns. |
|
