Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Duke Lu (Zhu Yuliu), 1568-1614, was the only full brother of the Ming Emperor Wanli. His tomb near Xinxiang is the only Ming royal tomb in Henan Province. His Imperial Concubine Zhao’s tomb is next to his. Most Ming tombs are near Beijing, except for the tomb of Hongwu in Nanjing. Dingling, the tomb of [...]
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Liu Wu was a member of the Han Dynasty royal family. He ruled over the state of Chu in the early Western Han, and built a tomb on Shizishan (Lion Hill) with a guardian army of 1/3-size terracotta warriors. I photographed the tomb, along with an underwater burial site of terracotta cavalry, and a larger [...]
Thursday, October 6, 2011
This Western Han Imperial tomb is probably China’s best-kept archaeological secret. It only opened to the public a few years ago, and there is not yet public transportation to the site. The terracotta warriors are a third the size of the more famous ones of nearby Qin Shihuang’s tomb, but here visitors can walk over [...]
Longmen Grottoes consists of over 100,000 Buddhist images carved in caves during the Northern Dynasties, Sui Dynasty, & Tang Dynasty, c. 500-900 AD. Highlight is the Grand Buddha Niche, of which the central figure represents Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future. It was commissioned by China’s only female emperor, Wu Zetian, and supposedly is based [...]
Seven of the nine emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127 AD) are buried in and around Gongyi, along with hundreds of royal family members and honored civil officials. Two Imperial tombs are currently protected and open to the public; the others lie scattered among farmers’ fields. I have photographed six of the Imperial tombs, [...]
I first went to China in 1991 to teach teachers during the summer. But mostly I was a tourist taking in the sights, tastes, and sounds of a new and wonderful culture. My photos of the Great Wall, Summer Palace, Forbidden City, and of Chengdu sites have already been posted in the appropriate albums. This [...]
Wuhan, situated where the Han River joins the Chang Jiang (Yangtse), was originally 3 cities: Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang. I made 7 photo albums from the fabulous collection of the Hubei Provincial Museum, but have added this 8th album of several other historic and scenic places in the city. Most of the pictures are of [...]
Sunday, November 21, 2010
This ancient county government office near Nanyang was built during the Yuan Dynasty, about 700 years ago. The ancient jail and exhibit on punishment is particularly rich in detail. Photos by Gary L. Todd, Ph.D., Professor of History, Sias International University, Xinzheng, Henan, China. http://picasaweb.google.com/GaryLeeTodd/NeixiangCountyYamenAncientGovernmentOffice#
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Tianxin Park contains the only remaining part of the old city wall, and was the site of fighting during the Taiping Uprising. Hunan Martyr’s Park, on Lake Nianjia, is dedicated to those who died in the struggle to free China from foreign aggressors. The city zoo is located next to the park. Photos by Gary [...]
Nanyang is a beautiful modern city in southern Henan with a rich history. Historic sites featured in this album include: Wolong Hill, where Zhuge Liang farmed the land and Liu Bei visited him three times entreating him to serve as his military advisor at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty; an ancient prefectural administrative [...]