ANCIENT
CHINESE ARTIFACTS - Throughout
China, you will find wondrous ancient Chinese artifacts
of all types. Many of these represent the culture and the
history of China through the ages. We start with the 13
Tombs of the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Tombs would be the world’s
largest collection of royal tombs. The Ming Dynasty was
during the years of 1368 – 1644. In the tomb area,
which is northwest of Beijing, and convenient to visit when
returning from The Great Wall of China, the tombs are built
at a cluster of hills. In front of them, is a small plain.
Each of the Ming tombs is at
the foot of its own, separate hill. Each of the tombs is
linked by the Sacred Way, a road that connected them all.
At the south end of this road, you will find a stone archway,
and this archway is one of the largest stone archways in
the country. Along the avenue you will find 18 pairs of
human figures and animals made from stone inside the gate
of the Sacred Way. This Sacred Way is a wonderful experience
as each of the figures are of a very immense size.
ForThere are many more ancient
artifacts of China to look at as well. One of the largest
discoveries of treasures and artifacts of ancient China
was found in Dunhuang in the Cave of Manuscripts. In this
area there are 492 caves, and the area covers 45,000 meters.
It has 2415 statues that are painted and five more that
are wood - but, that is not nearly all there is to see here.
The Mogao Grottoes is filled with wonderful artifacts including
paintings, Buddhist scriptures (50,000 of them!), as well
as textiles, and many other historical documents. This evidence
of the ancient Chinese culture is very impressive.
Another remarkable artifact that
was found in China is the Chechen Man. For those that do
not know about him, he along with 3 women and a small infant,
were mummified and buried in a tomb along the Silken Road.
What makes this story so unique though, is that through
discovery and research it was found that this man and the
others were not Asian or Eastern at all, but rather Caucasians.
This is remarkable in that it was not known that people
from Western culture had come to this area until almost
a thousand years later. The Chechen Man is thought to be
over 3,000 years old. Today, he rests, as if he has just
fallen asleep. Eyes are closed and his hands lie in his
lap. Buried in a heavily salted area, he was preserved remarkably
well. Truly an amazing relic of Chinese history.
These are only a few of the ancient
Chinese artifacts that are found throughout China. Learning
of them is like unraveling a piece of time. On other pages
you will find information on many other great Chinese treasures..
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