Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is known to be the longest man-made structure in the world. It is known that The Great Wall has 4 different major walls. During the 220 BC and 200 BC The Wall was ordered to be built by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Haung during the Ming Dynasty. Than during the Han Dynasty another was built to expand. What followed was in 1138-1198 (the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period) the last was from 1368-1620 (from Hongwu  Emperor until Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty).        It has been estimated that there was somewhat of a range that 2 to 3 million Chinese died building this great wall. As a worker for The Great Wall you were never asked if you would work on it. It was more like the people of China were obligated to become slaves and dedicate all their time to The Wall.  It is said that workers actually died while building The Wall and that there have been bones built into The Wall itself. The Great Wall has become a symbol of China and protection of China. The Great Wall is fifteen to thirty feet high. The purpose of The Great Wall was built to protect the northern border of the Chinese Empire during the rule of successive dynasties. Along with the actual wall there are guard towers close enough to warn each other in case of an attach.  This long man-made structure stretches over 6,400 km making it able to wrap around the Earth and then some!   

Walking Buddha VS Emerald Buddha

 

The Walking Buddha came to Sukhothai from Sri Lanka. This statue displays Buddha in a distinct thai body style. The body of this statue is characterized as having broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and sensually flowing limbs. This body form symbolizes a welcoming gesture to it's worshipers. The body form also suggests a supernatural being through the illustration of elasticity. The thai artists mastered their abilities to handle bronze and were able to depict Buddha in such a fashion. This piece of art is said to be the only one of its kind.





The Emerald Buddha originated from Northern Thailand. This statue depicts Buddha as he was originally introduced in ancient times. The Emerald Buddha is characterized as sitting in a meditative stance, distinct broad body lines, and lacking sensuality. The Emerald Buddha symbolizes the unity of both royal authority and religion. This statue is made of jade, which is a gem believed to enable the possession of the universal king to bring rain.






Between the two distinctly different statues of Buddha, I believe the Emerald Buddha is more remotely close to that of the western religion of Christianity. The Emerald Buddha exudes power and royalty as we hold our deity Jesus Christ. The Emerald Buddha illustrates control of it's worshipers. This control is defined in the masculine posture of the Emerald Buddha. The broad defining lines of the statue's limbs and chin also shows the rigger it may possess. The beautiful gem from which the statue is made also shows it's significance to it's worshipers. As Dr. Hopkins said, " you can tell what's important to a society by what they invest their money in." With all these factors in play, I believe the argument of control over a society is easier if a figure emphasizes dominance as opposed to a soft sensual figure.

The Walking Buddha and Emerald Buddha are beautiful works of art representing the same religion. Although they both represent the same religion, they differ in the demands of their worshipers.

THE VISHNU TEMPLE

The shrine, although, is a simple square tower built around 500 AD. The temple was designed and built by architects of the Gupta Empire. Despite being heavily damaged in places, it still is a brilliant example of the elaborate beauty of Gupta style architecture, and containing some fine works of Gupta style sculpture and art.  

Hinduism is known for having many gods and like many Hindu temples of the period, it is dedicated to a single deity. The Vishnu Temple, located north in Deogarh, India in the early sixth century, the preserver of the Universe is to be found, portrayed with four arms. The Vishnu temple is among one of the first constructed temples using stone blocks. Vishnu is shown asleep on the coils of the giant multi-headed serpent Ananta, who drifts endlessly on the cosmic waters.  As the god sleeps, he dreams the cosmos into reality. In the center Brahma the four-headed Hindu god of creation, here Brahma is described separately above, seated on a lotus blossom and accompanied in the upper register of the relief by other deities including Indra riding his elephant and Shiva on the bull. Lakshmi is also shown as an obedient Hindu wife, massaging her husband’s legs. On the lower section of the panel, six figures are shown; the four at the right are personifications of Vishnu’s various powers to defeat the two-armed demons on the left.

The Vishnu Temple it’s very interesting since it describe their practices and beliefs by leaving their saga behind.

Zulay Ninapaytan/Chapter 1

SHINTO

                  "THE WAY OF THE GODS"   

            I have always been amazed by the history of our world and what has changed over the years. I have been interested in religion. I grew up as a Roman Catholic but I am also interested in other religions and their beliefs. Shinto is an interesting religion, it was created by a divine couple named: Izanagi-no-mikoto and Izanami-no-mikoto. Shinto is believed to be “the way of gods” and its practices are of pre-Buddhism. It was developed in Japan with the conjunction of the advent of agriculture during the Yayoi period. One of their rituals is that visitors must wash before entering in a ritual of spiritual and physical cleansing as they entered the shrine area. For half a century after 552 BCE, Buddhism met with opposition. Older beliefs of this religion are still practiced and have its deep significance. Some of the beliefs of Shinto are the following: it is an optimistic faith, believers  are taught to be good and the evil are believed to come from evil spirits, sacred spirits take form of things and concepts are important to life. What is considered important in life are, in example; waterfalls, rivers, trees, anything in nature. Since Shinto was a practiced religion before Buddhism painted/curved images did not exist until later time which more paintings were put out. Another belief of this religion is that rebuilding rids the sacred site of physical and spiritual impurities that otherwise might accumulate. An extension of this is basically, many historic temples are tried to kept pure and belief still standing. Some clans (local group claiming a common ancestor) have their own protection for every spirit belief. For example, Amaterasu Omikami (sun goddess) was one of no-mikoto’s daughter. One of the protectors are the ones that help for successful planting and for good harvesting in the fall season. Weddings are held by Shinto priests. Shinto does not follow any moral code nor do they believe in perfection and their belief is mainly on Confucianism. To end it all I would like to say Shinto clans aspire in Makoto, sincerity and true heart.

Graciela Toruño (chapter5)

The Art of Polynesian Tatooing

The Polynesian culture is very interesting in its art form of tattoos, as there is no actual writing in this culture. Tattoos represented not only personal beautification but also your rank, status, maturity, and genealogy. In ancient Polynesia mostly everyone had a tattoo, until the arrival of missionaries in 1779 that banned the tattoo practice. Tattooing in Polynesia has revived in the 1980’s and the Polynesians once again to charge of their art of tattooing, but the traditional tattooing tools of bone and wood was banned in place of modern equipment.

Traditional tattooing tools are made of a wooden comb with needles carved from bone or shell. Then the needles are dipped into the ink made of candle nut, water, and oil. The needles are then placed onto the person’s skin and tapped with the wooden comb which causes the needle to puncture the skin and insert the ink (similar to how the modern needle works in today’s tattooing)

Tattooing is done when you reach adolescence to represent the transfer from childhood to adulthood. The more tattoos a man have the more power he is seen to have. Tattoos also represented the wealth of the male and the strength he has. Men without any tattoos were looked down upon and men with a body filled with tattoos were greatly admired. Tattooing on women was a little different, when a girl turns twelve she gets a tattoo on her right hand to gain her access to cook the meals and participate in rubbing dead bodies with coconut oil. Women tattoos were not as extensive as the men tattoo, they were usually limited to hand, arms, feet, ears, and lips. Higher ranked women could get tattoos on their leg.

Modern Polynesian tattooing has been continued in French Polynesia. The popular tattoo designs to receive are the tiki, the turtle, the gecko, the ray, the shark, the dolphin, and many different abstract symbols.

Chapter 12 -Brenton Briscoe

The Armenian Genocide By the Turks

    The genocide of the Armenian people by the Turks was the first genocide of the 20th century, tragically followed with the Jewish Genocide by the Germans. Pierre Tristam wrote, "The Armenian genocide, the first instance of "ethnic cleansing" in the 20th century, was conceived and carried out by Ottoman Turks in 1915 who attempted to eradicate the empire's Armenian population." Yet, as Hitler stated to his troops before the commencement of their ethnic cleansing, "Who remembers the Armenians?"

    Armenia is a country which borders Iran and Turkey. The country was first settled around 6000 BC. It is the only country in Asia Minor that is Christian. Armenia is in fact the first country to accept Christianity as its state religion back in A.D. 306, even before Italy. It is also the location of Mount Ararat where many scholars believe Noah's Arch historically landed. It has a rich culture and a warm people.

    How could genocide of an entire people transpire and today when the subject of mass murder genocide arises that very few recollect the blight of the Armenian people? The persecution of Orhan Pamuk a Turkish Nobel Prize winner shows the answer.  It is illegal in Turkey to speak the word "genocide" or of mass killings. During a 2005 interview with a newspaper, Pamuk stated that Turkey exterminated Armenians. He said, "30,000 Kurds and 1 million Armenians were killed in these areas, and nobody dares to speak about it." He did not use the word "genocide" but was tried in court regardless. Pamuk asked, "What am I to make of a country that insists that the Turks, unlike their Western neighbors, are a compassionate people, incapable of genocide, while nationalist political groups are pelting me with death threats?"

    Turkey tries to this day to use its influence as a gateway to the Middle East to keep the American people from labeling it the near extermination of the Armenians as genocide.  Presidents Obama, Clinton, and George W. Bush all promised they would endorse resolutions to officially recognize the mass murder of the Armenians as genocide if they were elected to office and each backslide on their word once in office. President Reagan directly stated it was genocide of the Armenians on April 22, 1981 in Proclamation 4838 -Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust. Reagan stated, "Like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians which follow it -- and like too many other such persecutions of too many other peoples -- the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten."

    Obama stated in a speech that, "I also share with Armenian Americans - so many of whom are descended from genocide survivors - a principled commitment to commemorating and ending genocide. That starts with acknowledging the tragic instances of genocide in world history. As a U.S. Senator, I have stood with the Armenian American community in calling for Turkey's acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide. Two years ago, I criticized the Secretary of State for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, after he properly used the term "genocide" to describe Turkey's slaughter of thousands of Armenians starting in 1915. I shared with Secretary Rice my firmly held conviction that the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence. The facts are undeniable."

    As President, Obama did not use the American word "genocide" but stated that the Armenians were "massacred or marched to their death." And it was, "one of the great atrocities of the 20th century." President Obama referred to it as Meds Yeghem which means genocide in the Armenian language. It falls short of his earlier promises, but it is recognition of the historical facts.

Kristopher Fox Ch. 7

THE FORBIDDEN CITY

The history of Asia is amazing, I am so excited to share information about one of the places that took my breath away when I visited China.

For nearly 500 years, from the early 15th century to the early 20th, 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties ruled China from a sweeping palace complex at the heart of Beijing-China. Built like a treasure box of walls within walls, the Forbidden City was a cloistered imperial residence, a scene of ceremonial grandeur, and also the bustling apex of China’s huge and complicated bureaucracy.

The Ming builders laid out Beijing as three nested walled cities. The outer perimeter wall was 15 miles long and enclosed the walled Imperial City, with a perimeter of 6 miles.

Every detail in this precise maze of crimson walls and yellow tile roofs the imperial colors made the Forbidden City a reflection of the emperor’s heavenly mandate to preserve harmony and hierarchy.
The layout of the Forbidden City provided the perfect setting for the elaborate ritual of the imperial court.

His Three architects, Hsu Tai, Yuan An and Feng Chiao, were given the brief to build an extravagant set of palaces to serve as the emperor’s metropolis. Audience halls were needed for receiving delegations, together with temples for ritual purification and processional paths, also required large domestic quarters with gardens for himself and his family, as well as administrative accommodations, a shrine for ancestral rites and, as patron of three types of religion, temples of Buddhism, Lamaism and Taoism.

Dalia Ceron (Chp.4)