Right from the start, Yunnan gave me a most pleasant impression. We were brought to the ancient town square in Kunming, the capital of that most unusual province.
The square, called "The Square of the Golden Horse and Green Cockerel"(金馬壁雞坊) is named after two two gates originally built in the Ming Dynasty, the "Golden Horse" (金馬) named after the Golden Horse Hill to its east and the other "Green Cockerel" (碧雞) after the Cockerel Hill to its west, some 400 years ago. As so often during the Cultural Revolution, they were completely destroyed by the Red Guards but had been rebuilt in 1997-1999 based upon certain photographs taken by a priest in early 20th century. Once every 60 years, the shadows cast by the sun upon the Golden Horse would meet the shadow of the Green Cockerel in the middle of the square. The horse is supposed to symbolize the indomitable spirit of the Yunnan people whilst that of the cockerel is supposed to bring them luck.
The Green Cockerel Gate. But my sights were attracted by the flowers growing at its side.
The square, called "The Square of the Golden Horse and Green Cockerel"(金馬壁雞坊) is named after two two gates originally built in the Ming Dynasty, the "Golden Horse" (金馬) named after the Golden Horse Hill to its east and the other "Green Cockerel" (碧雞) after the Cockerel Hill to its west, some 400 years ago. As so often during the Cultural Revolution, they were completely destroyed by the Red Guards but had been rebuilt in 1997-1999 based upon certain photographs taken by a priest in early 20th century. Once every 60 years, the shadows cast by the sun upon the Golden Horse would meet the shadow of the Green Cockerel in the middle of the square. The horse is supposed to symbolize the indomitable spirit of the Yunnan people whilst that of the cockerel is supposed to bring them luck.
The Green Cockerel Gate. But my sights were attracted by the flowers growing at its side.
Some flowers were blue.
Others were yellow
Then we were brought to a garden which housed another famous relic called "Tai Koon Lau" (大觀樓)
The entrance to Tai Koon Lau
A peacock made with "umbrellas" !
There were flowers everywhere.
Some red tulips
A close up of one of them.
A yellow tulip
Some purple flowers
And some other flowers with orange leaves whose name I don't know
And some cabbage-like flowers
The famous Tai Koon Lau built by the Tsing scholar 孫髯翁, which enables one to look at the biggest fresh water lake in Kunming, the Tin Pool (滇池)
There was a plague describing the magnificence of thousands of waves churned up by the legendary water snake-like dragon
described by a couplet: A thousand waves raised in the palace of the water snake
ten thousand miles of fragance brought by the imperial scholar.
The house is famous because it has the longest couplets in Chinese history, consisting of 180 words:
五百里滇池，奔来眼底。披襟岸帻，喜茫茫空阔无边。看东骧神骏，西翥灵仪，北走蜿蜒，南翔缟素。高人韵士，何妨选胜登临。趁蟹屿螺洲，梳裹就风鬟雾鬓。更苹天苇地，点缀些翠羽丹霞。莫孤负：四围香稻，万顷晴沙，九夏芙蓉，三春杨柳。
数千年往事，注到心头，把酒凌虚，叹滚滚英雄谁在？漢習樓船，唐標鉄柱，宋揮玉斧，元跨革囊。伟烈丰功, 费尽移山心力。尽珠帘画栋，卷不及暮雨朝云。便断碣残碑，都付与苍烟落照。只赢得：几杵疏钟，半江渔火，两行秋雁，一枕清霜。
The first part describes the physical location and structure and use of the pavillion and its beautiful surroundings whilst the second part recounts the whole history of Yunnan and the emptiness of power, fame and glory, opting for enjoyment of the here and now.
The rear of Tai Koon Lau
A statue of the scholar
Close by is another tower
The building is erected in front of a small lake full of gulls (perhaps from the north) taking advantage of the warmer weather in Kunming
one of them. What is he/she thinking?
A bridge in the lake
*•.¸(｡◠‿◠｡) ¸.•* 阿 1 熊 .. DI 相好靚 呀 ELZORRO !
回覆刪除[版主回覆01/29/2012 11:19:28]Thank you. The flowers etc are themselves beautiful. I just present them as they are.
Very beautiful flower pictures. The lake is great, many gulls.
回覆刪除[版主回覆01/29/2012 11:20:56]Thank you. The sun made them beautiful. I was so surprised by the great number of gulls I found. Maybe because it was cold elsewhere and Kunming was warm by comparison.
昆明果然是四季如春的花城。
回覆刪除那些海鷗是不是路過的，會飛往別處?
[版主回覆01/29/2012 11:24:03]Yes, you're right. That's what we've been told. If one may judge by the variety of trees and flowers found there, I must agree. I haven't got a clue if the gulls will migrate!!! I would imagine that like all birds, they like warmer weather because you can find more food in such weather.
Thank you for the tour to 大觀樓! There wasn't a trace of winter at all. Your shots have captured the beauty of the flowers in Kunming.
回覆刪除大觀樓長聯氣勢磅礴，全聯如一篇有聲、有色、有情的骈文，妙語如珠，誦之琅琅上口。該聯想像豐富，感情充沛，一氣呵成，被譽為海內外第一長聯。
[版主回覆01/30/2012 09:51:51]Your'e right. It's a very good matching couplets with all the features you mentioned with everything well covered, in parallel and in contrast.
既稱春城、昆明豈能無花！ 特別喜歡你的鬱金香！ 末幅構圖也好看！
回覆刪除[版主回覆01/30/2012 09:57:50]The flowers there are really beautiful, especially with the sunlight shining upon and through them weaving around them beautiful "rims of gold" or rendering them "translucent", thus enhancing the delicate texture of their petals and their resplendent color.
You, as always, know how to enjoy your life ... and in style ~^^~
回覆刪除[版主回覆01/30/2012 10:06:56]Life is brief and such beauty as it offers may be as fleeting as the sunlight, often obscured by passing clouds which race across the sky with complete unpredictability. Therefore I try to savor as much of it as I can, before it vanishes forever, without a trace, without a sound.
I muse upon your question: what is he/she thinking? Animals may be no match against us in terms of mental power. Their thoughts may be simple, but that doesn't mean that they are away from the Truth. Once I saw my neighbour's cat lying comfortably in the corridor with half-closed eyes, lost in thought like an old monk. I wondered if he had passed into Nirvana!!!
回覆刪除[版主回覆01/31/2012 13:35:00]Animal thinking is direct and closely related to the state of well being of their bodies. There is much we can learn from them. Nirvana is a spiritual state of not caring if we are happy or sad etc and in that sense, a state of transcendence where we remain calm, a state beyond "conscious thinking". We simply cannot know if the cat can be in that kind of state. Perhaps it's only our own "projection" of what the cat may be thinking or feeling or simply "be".
[pinkpanther501101回覆01/30/2012 23:12:04]The struggle for survival and well-being, no doubt, occupy large part of their thinking and when you say: "may well be superior to homosexual sapiens", you seem to admit that they also think other things. Humans, though intelligent, sometimes 鑽牛角尖! We forget that the world was once simple and Truth should be simple. Are we a bit too sure of our superiority to think lightly of other creatures? To say "Nirvana", I don't mean it literally, but the cat was surely in a state of mental equanimity!
[版主回覆01/30/2012 22:23:16]They may be no match against us in abstract thinking but in terms of thinking relevant to what is important to make themselves safe and happy, they may well be superior to homo sapiens!