Confucius Confusion - Day Five (7/16/16)
1 Saturday Morning: As you may know, I run a lot. This is something that I didn't do when I lived in Japan in 2005 and 2006. Now with several marathons under my belt, I like to go running abroad so that I can see more of the area and so that I can say I have run in X number of countries. Running in Beijing wasn't the most attractive prospect because of the pollution and the massive amounts of humanity/humidity, so Saturday was the first day I had a chance to run. I woke up early, which is nothing new, and started running around 515 in the morning. I ran a little over 5 miles and did a loop which took me into the center of town so I could run around the Confucius Temple and Mansion. Here's a bullet list of my thoughts from the run:
Smells. Qufu is a cacophony of smells. Cooking oil, fire, animal waste....lots to delight and offend the sniffer.
Dirt. The streets and sidewalks are not that clean. I discovered this in Beijing when the bottoms of my shoes ended up a sticky mess. Once I got back from my run I washed off the bottom of my shoes and I proceeded to leave brown and gray footprints all over my hotel room.
Dogs. Little street dogs are prevalent in Qufu. I saw some mangy mutts in Costa Rica, but the ones in China are much smaller. Lots of dogs that are almost shi tzus, so they are pretty adorable. When I was having the campus tour we found a sad white one who was staring at us forlornly. During my run I scared a small black burf by accident by running past him while he was eating from a pile of trash. Sorry to interrupt your breakfast of leeks and chicken bones!
Fog. It was a very foggy morning so I got to see the town under a shroud cloud. Made for some cool pictures.
After my run I had breakfast at the hotel (complete with long stares at me from the other diners) before meeting a tour guide who would introduce me to all things Confucius. His name was Song and he was a former middle school English teacher. He knew a lot about all of the details of Confucius, but he didn't show much personality and we occasionally had minutes long stretches between the two of us where neither of us spoke. It was a little awkward, but I have to think he is used to this when taking foreigners on tour who really know very little about Confucius. It was a long, slightly hot, four hour tour that included a visit to the Kong family cemetery where all the Rugrats of Confucius are buried, still to this day. What did I learn? That Confucius was 200 centimeters tall (I'm 195), was born in a cave, nursed by a tiger, fanned by an eagle, ugly, a great teacher, and that he planted a lot of trees. Hmm - I think we start to head towards the truth in the latter portion of his description. A lot of it is presented and accepted as legend, though, so people ain't no fools for believing it.
It made me sad and angry to see the effects that the Red Guards from the Cultural Revolution had on the temple and mansion. They destroyed and damaged tons of statues and tablets. If you haven't read about the Cultural Revolution and the student Red Guards, make sure to do so. Mao was an absolute manipulator and terrible human being - there is a reason I'm not smiling in any pictures with portraits of Mao in the background. He was responsible for the deaths of millions upon millions (no exaggeration) and deserves no reverence or acclaim.
One of the coolest moments from my trip came when we were visiting the Confucius Family Mansion. Apparently a mansion in classic Chinese sense means 20 buildings, several courtyards and gates, and elaborate gardens. That’s more like an entire town than just one mansion! Plus, where’s the plush carpets, helicopter landing pad, and custom boxes of Trix that only have the yellow pieces included? Confucius’ family needs to start LIVIN’ LARGE. Anyway, Confucius thoughtfully keeps on hand his 74th grandson in one of the buildings, ready to make a custom scroll/wall-hang for anyone who asks. And pays him $25-$30. My guide suggested that I do this, so I asked him to write the following using the ol' brush and inkpot method called calligraphy:
• Healthy Life
• Happiness
• Long Life
This made for a very cool and positive thing to hang in our house back in Ithaca. It’s the best wishes I could think of for our family, and I hope that Confucius’ 74th grandson brings us luck over the years. I took my picture with him, (they are on Facebook) and am positively beaming in the photo. It’s not every day that you receive such a notable gift from a man who had an important ancestor 2,400 years ago!
After the tour was over, I had lunch with Beatrice and her daughter Dora. They will both be coming to Cortland in six weeks so it was fun to prepare them for American life over the course of the trip. You're really only speaks a few phrases of English so she will need to study a lot with ESL teachers once she arrives. We had lunch at a nice restaurant where you select plates of sample food and then they bring you hot versions at your table. Beatrice invited me to dinner with herself and five or six families worth of friends. I hesitantly agreed at first before asking if I could just stay in and rest. Beatrice was surprised, but she agreed. I have been treated very well and kept busy while in Qufu, and it is nearly to a fault. They have felt like they need to either be with me or take care of me at every turn. I probably need the additional assistance when I first arrive in a country where I don't speak the language, but after being in China for 5 days I'm capable of knowing how to carry myself without fear of being found two weeks later in a sewer, missing my shoes, socks, and feet.
So I stayed in after visiting the birth cave of Confucius, which was much better than the crowded scene of the Temple and Mansion. The cave had its own temple and it was peaceful and quiet. I posed for some pictures at the cave, and then headed back to the hotel. I thought I'd be able to sleep early, and after having a wonderful conversation with Kim, I checked my email and saw that the director of the office wanted to meet me between 8 and 9pm tonight. So I packed and got myself ready to meet, which thankfully only lasted 5 minutes and led to me receiving a box of green tea to creatively fit into my luggage. Then it was off to bubbleland, dreaming of deceased wrestlers and having my best night of sleep since arriving in China.
Smells. Qufu is a cacophony of smells. Cooking oil, fire, animal waste....lots to delight and offend the sniffer.
Dirt. The streets and sidewalks are not that clean. I discovered this in Beijing when the bottoms of my shoes ended up a sticky mess. Once I got back from my run I washed off the bottom of my shoes and I proceeded to leave brown and gray footprints all over my hotel room.
Dogs. Little street dogs are prevalent in Qufu. I saw some mangy mutts in Costa Rica, but the ones in China are much smaller. Lots of dogs that are almost shi tzus, so they are pretty adorable. When I was having the campus tour we found a sad white one who was staring at us forlornly. During my run I scared a small black burf by accident by running past him while he was eating from a pile of trash. Sorry to interrupt your breakfast of leeks and chicken bones!
Fog. It was a very foggy morning so I got to see the town under a shroud cloud. Made for some cool pictures.
After my run I had breakfast at the hotel (complete with long stares at me from the other diners) before meeting a tour guide who would introduce me to all things Confucius. His name was Song and he was a former middle school English teacher. He knew a lot about all of the details of Confucius, but he didn't show much personality and we occasionally had minutes long stretches between the two of us where neither of us spoke. It was a little awkward, but I have to think he is used to this when taking foreigners on tour who really know very little about Confucius. It was a long, slightly hot, four hour tour that included a visit to the Kong family cemetery where all the Rugrats of Confucius are buried, still to this day. What did I learn? That Confucius was 200 centimeters tall (I'm 195), was born in a cave, nursed by a tiger, fanned by an eagle, ugly, a great teacher, and that he planted a lot of trees. Hmm - I think we start to head towards the truth in the latter portion of his description. A lot of it is presented and accepted as legend, though, so people ain't no fools for believing it.
It made me sad and angry to see the effects that the Red Guards from the Cultural Revolution had on the temple and mansion. They destroyed and damaged tons of statues and tablets. If you haven't read about the Cultural Revolution and the student Red Guards, make sure to do so. Mao was an absolute manipulator and terrible human being - there is a reason I'm not smiling in any pictures with portraits of Mao in the background. He was responsible for the deaths of millions upon millions (no exaggeration) and deserves no reverence or acclaim.
One of the coolest moments from my trip came when we were visiting the Confucius Family Mansion. Apparently a mansion in classic Chinese sense means 20 buildings, several courtyards and gates, and elaborate gardens. That’s more like an entire town than just one mansion! Plus, where’s the plush carpets, helicopter landing pad, and custom boxes of Trix that only have the yellow pieces included? Confucius’ family needs to start LIVIN’ LARGE. Anyway, Confucius thoughtfully keeps on hand his 74th grandson in one of the buildings, ready to make a custom scroll/wall-hang for anyone who asks. And pays him $25-$30. My guide suggested that I do this, so I asked him to write the following using the ol' brush and inkpot method called calligraphy:
• Healthy Life
• Happiness
• Long Life
This made for a very cool and positive thing to hang in our house back in Ithaca. It’s the best wishes I could think of for our family, and I hope that Confucius’ 74th grandson brings us luck over the years. I took my picture with him, (they are on Facebook) and am positively beaming in the photo. It’s not every day that you receive such a notable gift from a man who had an important ancestor 2,400 years ago!
After the tour was over, I had lunch with Beatrice and her daughter Dora. They will both be coming to Cortland in six weeks so it was fun to prepare them for American life over the course of the trip. You're really only speaks a few phrases of English so she will need to study a lot with ESL teachers once she arrives. We had lunch at a nice restaurant where you select plates of sample food and then they bring you hot versions at your table. Beatrice invited me to dinner with herself and five or six families worth of friends. I hesitantly agreed at first before asking if I could just stay in and rest. Beatrice was surprised, but she agreed. I have been treated very well and kept busy while in Qufu, and it is nearly to a fault. They have felt like they need to either be with me or take care of me at every turn. I probably need the additional assistance when I first arrive in a country where I don't speak the language, but after being in China for 5 days I'm capable of knowing how to carry myself without fear of being found two weeks later in a sewer, missing my shoes, socks, and feet.
So I stayed in after visiting the birth cave of Confucius, which was much better than the crowded scene of the Temple and Mansion. The cave had its own temple and it was peaceful and quiet. I posed for some pictures at the cave, and then headed back to the hotel. I thought I'd be able to sleep early, and after having a wonderful conversation with Kim, I checked my email and saw that the director of the office wanted to meet me between 8 and 9pm tonight. So I packed and got myself ready to meet, which thankfully only lasted 5 minutes and led to me receiving a box of green tea to creatively fit into my luggage. Then it was off to bubbleland, dreaming of deceased wrestlers and having my best night of sleep since arriving in China.