Thinking Citizen Blog — China (Part Sixteen) Shanxi (“West Of The Mountains”) — 35 Million (Pop), The “Coal Capital Of China, And Home Of The “Muta” (The Oldest Wooden Pagoda — From 1056 AD)
Thinking Citizen Blog — Tuesday is Economics, Finance, and Business Day
Today’s Topic: China (Part Sixteen) Shanxi (“west of the mountains”) — 35 million (pop), the “coal capital of China, and home of the “Muta” (the oldest wooden pagoda — from 1056 AD)
Shanxi is an historic treasure trove. It has “70% of China’s surviving buildings built during or predating the Song dynasty (960–1279).” Perhaps, the most famous of these buildings is the “Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple” built by the Buddhist Emperor Daozong (1032–1101).
Shanxi has 32% of the coal reserves in China. Second is Shanxi (23%). Third is Inner Mongolia (16%).
Most recently, Shanxi is most famous for its alleged corruption and Xi Jinping’s campaign to clean out the Augean Stables of Shanxi. Is anyone up on the details?
Are you from Shanxi (“west of the mountains”)? Have you been? Have you studied there? What do you know about the geography, history, politics, or culture of Shanxi that the rest of us probably does not but would delight to learn?
Today, a few notes.
Experts -please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
GEOGRAPHY — Hebei to the East, Henan to the South, Shaanxi to the West, Inner Mongolia to the North
1. The shape of the province is often compared to that of a parallelogram from northeast to southwest, “on a plateau made up of higher ground to the east (Taihang Mountains) and the west (Luliang Mountains) and a series of valleys in the center through which the Fen River runs.”
2. “The Yellow River forms the western border of Shanxi with Shaanxi. The Fen and Qin rivers, tributaries of the Yellow River, run north-to-south through the province, and drain much of its area.”
3. “Winters are long, dry, and cold, while summer is warm and humid. Spring is extremely dry and prone to dust storms.”
NB: “Shanxi is one of the sunniest parts of China; early summer heat waves are common.”
THE OLDEST AND TALLEST WOODEN PAGODA IN CHINA — THE “MUTA” (1056 CE)
1. “The pagoda stands on a 4 m (13 ft) tall stone platform, has a 10 m (33 ft) tall steeple, and reaches a total height of 67.31 m (220.83 ft) tall; it is the oldest existent fully wooden pagoda still standing in China.”
2. “The Pagoda of Fogong Temple was built 85 km (53 mi) south of the Liao dynasty capital at Dafong.”
3. Built by Emperor Daogong (1032–1101 CE), a devout Buddhist, at the center of a temple complex.
NB: The Pagoda “features a central Buddha statue flanked by six Buddha murals, creating a seven-Buddha pattern.”
THE GREAT BUDDHA HALL — THE OLDEST WOODEN TEMPLE BUILDING(756 CE) FROM THE TANG DYNASTY (618–907 CE)
1. “It escaped destruction during the Buddhist purges of 845, perhaps due to its isolated location in the mountains.”
2. “The hall was renovated in 1086 of the Song dynasty, and during that time all but four of the original square columns were replaced with round columns.”
3. “In the 1950s, the building was rediscovered by architectural historians and, in 1961 was recognized as China’s oldest standing timber-frame building.”
POLITICS — The Governor (Lu Dongliang) is subordinate to the Party Secretary of Shanxi (Tan Dengjie, below)
1. “The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the People’s Government of Shanxi. However, in the province’s dual party-government governing system, the Governor is subordinate to the Party Secretary of Shanxi.”
2. “As is the case in almost all Chinese provinces, the provincial party secretary and Governor are not natives of Shanxi; rather, they are outsiders who are, in practice, appointed by the central party and government authorities.”
To be continued.
Pagoda of Fogong Temple — Wikipedia
https://www.viewofchina.com/timber-pagoda/
Emperor Daozong of Liao — Wikipedia
Governor of Shanxi — Wikipedia
Party Secretary of Shanxi — Wikipedia
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
NB: Palestine Orion (Decision) — let’s exchange Orions, let’s find Rumi’s field (“Beyond all ideas of right and wrong, there is a field. Meet me there” Rumi, 13 century Persian Sufi mystic)
THE LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED THEMATICALLY INTO FOURTEEN BOOK-LENGTH PDFs:
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
YOUR TURN — Please share:
a.) the coolest thing you learned this week related to business, economics, finance.
b.) the coolest thing you learned in your life related to business, economics, finance.
c.) anything at all related to business, economics, finance.
d.) anything at all
