Nanjing's Glories Past and Present

By staff reporter WALTZ

The Confucius Temple sits on the Qinhuai River.

"A city with such a brilliant history is bound to have charm. Nanjing, capital of the Republic of China (1912-1949), has mystique, elegance, refinement, and melancholy," says Pan Feng, 59, a retired middle school history teacher. Every morning, Pan goes to Dazhong Pavilion at Gulou to do taiji exercises and listen to Peking Opera arias. "Nanjing was the capital of six feudal dynasties: the State of Wu of the Three Kingdoms Period (222-280); Eastern Jin (317-420); Song (420-479), Qi (479-502), Liang (502-557) and Chen (557-589) of the Southern Dynasties; and Southern Tang (937-975) of the Five Dynasties and Ten States. I am a history major, so to me the city is a monument to past glories."

As Pan says, Nanjing has more historical sites than Shanghai or Hangzhou, because of its 360-year history as national capital.

Outstanding Monuments to Ming Culture

Nanjing inhabitants are particularly proud of their city as the former capital of the Ming Dynasty. The city has a number of historical sites left from that period.

Strolling on the ancient city wall.

Xiaoling Mausoleum is the tomb of Zhu Yuanzhang (1328-1398), founder of the Ming Dynasty, and his wife Empress Ma, and is the largest imperial mausoleum in the Nanjing area. Most of its wooden structures were destroyed in wars, leaving only the Dismounting Horse Archway, Prohibition Tablet, Inner Red Gate, four walls of the tablet pavilion, stone sculptures and the Square City. In 2003, the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum was designated a World Cultural Heritage site by UNESCO.

The Ming City Wall was built in 1366-1386 -- the early years of the Ming Dynasty. It was originally 33.676 kilometers in circumference, and 21.35 kilometers of it still stand. In its time it was the highest and longest city wall in the world, and is awaiting World Cultural Heritage designation. Its foundations comprise granite, rectangle stones and limestone. The walls were packed layer by layer with bricks, gravel and yellow earth. All the brickwork joints were seeped in lime, water in which glutinous rice had been cooked and tung oil because this coagulated mixture was very strong. Each brick bears an ancient quality guarantee in the form of an embossed name and address of its maker, supervisor and time of manufacture.

Zheng He (1371-1433) led seven sea voyages in 28 years from 1405 to 1433. The route his fleet navigated is called "Old Silk Road on the Sea." Zheng He's tomb is designed in Islamic style with "Allah the Great" carved in Arabic on its headstone. The tomb is in the shape of Chinese character "hui," and in front of it are four flights of seven steps, symbolizing Zheng He's seven sea voyages to more than 40 countries in 28 years.

The Ming Imperial Palace was the prototype of the Imperial Palace in Beijing and similarly consisted of two parts: the Imperial and the Palace Cities. The Imperial Palace was the ruling center of three emperors (Hongwu, Jianwen and Yongle) for 54 years until 1421, when Zhu Di, Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, moved the national capital to Beijing.

Structures from the Republican Era

Special local snacks.

Nanjing's mystery lies in its buildings shaded by plane-trees. Old residences and foreign embassies on Yihe and Shanxi roads are reminiscent of the early 20th century.

"I can judge the owner of a car by reading its license plate," says Hu Mingshen, editor at Nanjing Radio and Television News and resident of Yihe Road since childhood. Pointing at old mansions, he says, "These buildings used to be residences of Kuomintang generals. The current inhabitants are VIPs or those with close connections to their former owners." Each residence has an independent courtyard surrounded by high walls. Their gates are usually closed. When one opens, a luxurious limousine comes out. Hu feels proud to live in this neighborhood. It has an excellent environment, especially in summer when grapevines bear fruit and courtyard walls are covered all over in Chinese wisteria.

On April 18, 1927, Nanjing was made national capital. According to "Capital Planning" of that time, construction of the upper-class residential area centered on Yihe Road lasted until 1949, when Nanjing was liberated. In the residential area are 9,265 residences with private gardens and 25 palatial mansions. Its streets were named after scenic sights all over China. Architectural styles encompass American, French, Spanish, and Japanese. Former residences of high-ranking Kuomintang officials, such as Wang Jingwei, Chen Cheng, Chen Bulei, Yan Xishan and Zhou Fohai, and the residence of special presidential envoy George Catlett Marshall, are all in this area.

Besides luxurious residences, there are also buildings of former foreign embassies.

Gaoyunling is a small street to the rear of busy Hunan Road. A woman in her 80s named Gao talked about the past. Her home is the former French embassy. "At that time, those who entered the French embassy were all high-ranking officials and wealthy people. Li Zongren's former residence is at Fuhougang, not far from here. He often attended dance parties at the French embassy, arriving in a black limousine. Chiang Kai-shek and his wife Soong Mei Ling also attended. Once, we children crowded outside the fence, wanting to see what they looked like. I remember Soong Mei Ling wearing a beautiful qipao."

In Nanjing, scores of such embassy buildings from the Republican era still stand.

Nanjing Folklore

Traditional loom for weaving Cloud Brocades.

Ma Lianxi, now in his late 60s, shows visitors how to make papercuts in the folklore museum, former residence of Gan Xi, a Qing Dynasty figure. Ma Lianxi is the third-generation descendant of Nanjing's "Magic Scissors Clan." He can make papercuts of auspicious patterns or flower, bird, fish and insect motifs completely freehand.

The Nanjing municipal government uses many of Ma Lianxi's papercuts as gifts for foreign guests. He has visited Canada as envoy for Chinese folk arts, and an interesting episode occurred during one such visit. Ma Lianxi made a lily-shaped papercut that made one foreign visitor suspect that a computer controlled his scissors, so he asked Ma to use a pair of foreign scissors and do the same again. He complied, and the visitor was fully convinced.

Ma Lianxi does not worry about the disappearance of this craft. His son refused to learn the family art, but his grandson shows a special interest, and Ma Lianxi has taught a number of art school students. Concerned about raw material for his craft, he explains that traditional paper is made of bamboo and perfect for making papercuts, but that it is no longer produced. The new paper, he says, is not up to the old standard.

Papercuts from northern China are bold and magnificent, while those of southern China are more delicate. Those made in Nanjing are both. In regard to cutting skills and methods, Nanjing papercuts, Ma Lianxi's style, emphasize smooth lines and a sense of rhythm. In his own words, "My works are characterized by joyously plump and fleshy patterns."