Day Trip to Jiading and The Confucian Temple

By Peter Wong, guest blogger to Parker’s Shanghai Times

Hi this is Parker’s Dad, Peter (a.k.a “Mr. Peter” to most of you). We are in our final weeks here in China. The time has gone by very fast, so we are trying to catch up on all of the little things we’ve wanted to do in and around Shanghai.

Many of the ancient watertowns within 25 kilometers of Shanghai have nice temples and vernacular architecture. At the same time, around these towns there is rapid modernization to accommodate all of the new development and growth. We visited recently Jiading, one of these ancient towns with a population today of 1.2 million people (about two-times the size of Charlotte). In China, this is considered a small town.

Above is Jiading’s location relative to Shanghai.

The town is very cool. Note above the canal that circles the old town. This was probably man-made for defensive purposes. The specific reason we wanted to visit this town was to see the Confucian Temple in the heart of town (the big green square).

The old town is very beautiful, with the old houses adjacent to water canals. The whole Shanghai area used to be wetland, and canals were a major means of transportation, which is why the old towns are called water towns. There are a number of wonderful stone bridges as well.

 

This is one of the brick and timber pagodas in town. It is called the Fahua Pagoda, built in 1207 during the Song Dynasty (a period of high literary and artistic achievement). Doesn’t Parker look like he is appreciating this history ????!!!!!

Hello class this is Parker. Do you think dad is being very nice?

This is the Confucian Temple that we spent most of our time visiting. Confucius was a Chinese philospher living from 551 BC to 479 BC.

Confucius believed that people should live their lives by constant learning and intellectual improvement. He held in high regard dedication to family, ancestors, elders and observance of civil matters. In other words, there should be a president or emperor and every one should respect their elders and go to college (hint, hint). Mom and dad like Confucius a lot. I wonder why?

The temple itself is very similar to Buddist temples in their arrangement. Though Confucianism is not really a religon or an established set of spiritual beliefs, people do dedicate themselves to its ways and ideas.

Some people say Confucius’s ideas were important to China’s formation as a country of many different cultures and people, and that Confucian thought is at the heart of the way modern Chinese think today.

Here is the inside of  the temple.

All temples of Confucius have a wise looking sitting man in the center in a shrine-like setting (similar to Buddist Temples).

There are prayer thoughts left by Confucian followers in the temple. Many of them ask for strength in handling difficult intellectual hurdles. For example, there are a lot of school kids that ask for strength and success in their studies and test taking. As you know, Chinese students take a lot of tests … just like you! Perhaps they are good at them because they ask Confucius for help!

If you look closely above you’ll see a note that Parker left.

The idea of Confucian learning and achieving strong minds led to a strong tradition of tests and examinations in China, a way of life that continues today.

Within the temple is an entire exhibit on the history of Chinese examinations. Above is a scene of a mother saying goodbye to her son as he goes off to another city to engage the strict system of tests. Just think if you had to do it all alone with out encouragement and help from loved ones!

 

There were three examination phases: (1) Preliminary, the first stage that allowed you to move in to the next two important testing phases, (2) Provincial, that allowed individuals to assume civil/governmental office jobs, and (3) National or Imperial Exams, which allowed service to the Emperor and grand state affairs. Passing these tests were a way to make a life for the men of China (women didn’t have the opportunity).

Above is one of the Examination Villages. All of the rows of rooms or should I say cells in the foreground were for testing, which was a grueling process. Everything was done in isolation.

Here is the actual size of the testing cells. There are sliding boards that allow you to make a desk and sitting area, or you could configure them to be a bed. This must have been torture. Makes the E.O.G.s seem like a “cake-walk.” Right?

Here is Parker trying out one of the cells. He doesn’t look too happy. As for how long you would be in here don't worry it's only about nine days. 

Test takers were clever. Here is a vest that has “cheat-sheet” notes written all over it! Note: Don't get any ideas because I will ask Mrs Thompson to check your undershirts on the day of testing!

If cheaters were caught, they’d be paraded around in public and humiliated with boards strapped around their necks. Basically, your career (and personal life) was ruined for life if you did this.

No one should cheat on tests.

 

However, if you passed your tests there was a huge banquet!

And … you could return home to full honors and a properous life (not to mention better clothes).

Why does all of this sound so familiar?!!

We left the Confucian Temple and the city of Jiading with a renewed appreciation of hard work and study. Parker and I decided to do a little painting to honor Confucius’s ideas, and to prepare for our return.

 

Peter Wong

December, 14 2011

P.S. Also note that only five percent or so people actualy passed the exams so don't think that this was the golden gate to fame.

P.P.S. This is Pam. You didn't think I'd let a blog on testing go by without making a comment, do you?

The good thing about the tests was that they gave anyone who had the opportunity to study for them an equal chance. A lot of smart people who came from humble families were able to rise to important positions if they did well on the tests.

The bad thing about the tests was that Confucius didn't really believe in innovation. He thought that people should study the wisdom of the past. So preparing for the tests involved a lot of memorization, and not much independent thinking or creativity.

This didn't make for the most creative leaders. Some people think that the focus on the tests were one reason why China fell behind European nations in terms of technological development, and is only now catching up.

I personally think we're making the same mistake with standardized tests today. When tests and test scores get too important, a lot of more important things get overlooked.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't do your best to pass the EOGs. But there are a lot of more important things you need to be learning as well. You're lucky that you have teachers who have a broader vision, and go beyond the test basics.

"Slaughterhouse"

In Shanghai there is a very particular building. This particular building is large. This particular building has many twists and turns. This particular building is a slaughterhouse (or was a slaughterhouse). Still everybody calls it a slaughterhouse even though it has ceased to be one. I too shall call it a slaughterhouse although it has become a variety of different things. One could call it a shopping mall, another could call it a restaurateur's paradise. But this blog is not about what this building is called. Nor is it about why it is a slaughterhouse. And not even about why it is where it is. It is about what wonders lie inside.

This is an image of the slaughterhouse that is pictured on Google Earth.

This is a diagram of how the slaughterhouse's geometry functions. Here is the answer key.

1. The river used to transport the cattle to the slaughter house.

2. The five story high walls used to store the cattle.

3. The bridges used to transport the cows to their death.

4. The rim where the cattle would receive a stiff knock on the head and then be butchered on the spot.

 

My mission was to take pictures involving the twists and turns of the slaughterhouse.

Does this place remind you guys of a prison cell?

It reminds me of an above-ground labyrinth.

These are the ramps of the slaughterhouse that led cows up all of these years.

Imagine all of those hooves coming clickity, clack, clickity, clack up these ramps to their death.

Another reason I took all of these ramp pictures was because I love all of the ramps in the slaughter house. During the afternoon (2:00) you get an extremely nice light on most of the images.

Billions of cows used to group into this small space in the wall. But now notice how vacant it is.  

On the top floor there is a large glass floor.  

It's funny to see people having a wedding in such a savage place.

Crrrrrrrrkkkkkk uh-oh better walk slo-CRACK!!! AAAHHHhhhhhh! 

This is a tasty French cake place that is under the bridges. Weird. These people are turning the slaughterhouse into a fun zone.

Well there is only so much vacancy I can take in one day. So we went to my favorite place in the slaughterhouse... The Ferrari cafe!!! The Ferrari cafe is awesome because if you get a meal a snack or even just a Coke they let you race on the Formula One simulation (a bunch of fancy seats, a steering wheel and a ps3).

I'm afraid I am only good up to a certain point.

As we exited we saw a motorcycle with a side car. You know the kind that the Nazis rode around with MG42s. The guy was kind enough to let us take a picture in it (even when mom put her foot down in the wrong place and broke his fuel line). He is part of a tour group called...

And guess who the Nazis taxi best?

Wedding couples!!! 

Well I hope you didn’t get this too late.

But still nothing personal you know.

It's probably because of the standardized

tests and all of the switching of classes.

Hope you are doing well

Love, Parker    

P.S. (Pam)

Weddings are a big deal here in Shanghai. I guess in a city of 23 million people, a lot of them get married. We are always running into weddings and wedding photographers. 

A month or so ago, we were at a park with a fountain that “dances” to music. Usually, it's brass band tunes. But that day the loudspeaker started broadcasting wedding music, the fountain leaped into action, and we saw a couple coming across the park in golf carts. They hopped off and got married right in front of it.

Couples especially like taking pictures in front of historic buildings (or at least buildings that look historic). So most of the tourist sites are full of them. The locals don’t usually seem to mind.

If you’re thinking that this place doesn’t look like it belongs in China – you’re right. This is "Thames Town,” a brand-new town outside Shanghai that’s been designed to look like an old town in England. There are also German and Italian towns. They are very strange places, but popular for wedding pictures.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether a couple is getting photographed for a real wedding, or just for a fashion magazine. Fashion magazines like the same settings as brides and grooms do (or is it the other way around?). When we see couples being photographed, it’s fun to look for clues to who they really are. Do the bride and groom look happy? Do there seem to be other family members around? How much equipment are the photographers carrying?

Does the couple in the above picture look like they’re really getting married?

See everyone soon!

Vanishing Shanghai

 Dear class (this is Pam),

Shanghai is transforming before our eyes. This picture was taken from the top of the city's tallest building. You can see skyscrapers rising all over the city, farther than the eye can see.

This is the famous skyline of Pudong, a "new" section of the city across the river from old Shanghai.

Skyscrapers don't go up one by one, but in threes and fours and fives. Shanghai is growing rapidly, and all those people need places to live.

Sometimes the new buildings look a little crazy. You can be walking down the street, turn a corner, and come across something like this. Someone spent a lot of money here.

            

And here (and no, we're not talking about all those cello and martial arts lessons). This is the World Financial Center. It's 101 stories high. When it was finished in 2007, it was the second tallest building in the world. There's an opening at the top that makes it look like a bottle opener, and you can actually buy a model that does open bottles. Can you find the building in the Pudong skyline above? Can you think of a building in downtown Charlotte that looks like it?

A few weeks ago, Parker and I went out to the edge of town to visit a museum. On our walk from the metro station we came to a whole neighborhood under development – several city blocks and a dozen tall apartment towers. The road was so new that they weren't letting cars drive on it yet. But pretty soon, thousands of people will be moving in. It's possible to do these large-scale projects in China because the government owns all the land. So if a project gets government approval, it goes ahead. It doesn't matter who's living on it. Everyone has to go.

These buildings are displacing a much more human-scale city. Most of the old city is organized into blocks of two or three-story buildings called "villages" or "lanes." Shops and stands cluster on the streets outside.

We really noticed the difference when we took our bikes on a ferry across the river to Pudong.

When we got there, everything felt strange. It was all tall buildings and open plazas. The streets were wide and full of cars and there weren't many bike lanes. All the shops were inside the buildings, in shopping malls that felt more like the U.S. than like China. We were glad to get to the ferry and go back across the river. The old, narrow streets were clogged with bikes and scooters and produce carts and people in wheelchairs, but we felt more at home.

It's always a shock to come across an old neighborhood being torn down to make way for a new one. It makes the skyscrapers look like an advancing army determined to crush the small buildings in its path. And it's happening all over the city. Buildings will be there one week, and gone the next. Construction often starts shortly afterwards. 

 Shanghai is full of giant craters and towers where work goes on seven days a week. 

Our neighborhood is one of many that have been affected by this kind of change. Here's a Google Earth image of our neighborhood in 2002. 

Here's the neighborhood two years later. Notice all the new, tall apartment buildings to the left of the picture. They're much fancier than any of the neighborhood's other buildings, and there's a big gate with guards.

Some people like the new buildings better than the old ones. Some people want to keep the old buildings, and the way of life they're part of. But as with everything else in China, it's difficult to protest. The people living in the old neighborhoods don't have a lot of political or economic power. So if they're not happy, the main thing they can do is in stay their homes as long as they can.

The other night, we came across this neighborhood, right near downtown. Most of the buildings were boarded up, and it looked ready for the wrecking ball.

But deep inside, we could see someone cooking supper.

When we first got here, we went to an exhibit by a photographer who created "ghost" pictures of Shanghai buildings. It's hard to tell if the buildings are actually there or not. It made sense for a city where buildings are slipping in and out of existence 24 hours a day.

He even did a ghost image of Pudong. Who knows what will be there 50 years from now.

This isn't a new process. It's going on in cities all over the world, as people move from countryside to town in search of better opportunities, and as wealthy people look for places to sink their cash. It happened in Paris and other European cities in the 19th century, when wider boulevards and larger buildings replaced old medieval structures and created the cities we know today. It happened on a smaller scale in Charlotte in the 1960s, when homes, churches and small businesses were cleared out of the Second Ward neighborhood and replaced by a shiny new array of government offices. Things change. New replaces old. Old bonds break and new ones are created. Still, in this hustle-bustle modern world it often seems like the broken ties outnumber the remade. Perhaps that's why we like the older city best.

Even at this stepped-up Chinese pace, it's unlikely that everything will change. Old habits and ways of life are hard to break. But it's hard to shake the sense that the city as we see it now is fading, giving way to a different mode of living. If Parker comes back years from now, what will he find?

See you soon!




Pamela

P.S. There's a good book about how some Chinese people feel about losing old Beijing neighborhoods called The Last Days of Old Beijing. I highly recommend it.