China | Shaanxi | Xian | Great Mosque

After touring the City Wall in Xian I wandered by the Qing Zhen Si, or Great Mosque of Xian. The original mosque was founded here in 742 AD, during the reign of the Tang Dynasty emperor Xuanzong, Like Nestorian Christianity, Islam quickly migrated eastward on the Silk Road, resulting in the founding of this mosque a mere 120 years after the Hijah. The mosque was updated during the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties and is still active today, serving the 30,000 or so Huis—Chinese Moslems—in Xian.

Wooden Gateway to the Mosque
First Courtyard of the Mosque
Ming Dynasty Stone Gate

Inscription on Ming Dynasty Stone Gate: “The Courtyard of Heaven.” (All you Sinophiles out there—feel free to correct this.)

I think this structure houses one of the stelae recording the history of the mosque. I am not sure, since there are some other stelae on the grounds. Very little is available in English about the mosque, and it is hard to tell what is what. Anyone with any information is free to weigh in. The so-called Introspection Tower, which also serves as the Mosque’s minaret. This is the highest structure in the mosque compound.

Ceiling of the Introspection Tower
Another view of the Introspection Tower. This stele may be the one which records the mosque’s history. Gate to one of the courtyards
Gate to another one of the courtyards
Calligraphy on one of the walls of the compound
There is supposed to be a stone in the mosque which portrays the Moslem world with Mecca in the middle. This might be it, with the dark circle in the middle representing Mecca.
But on the walkway to the Phoenix Pavilion there is another stone which might also represent the Moslem world.
This stone also has a circle in the middle which might represent Mecca. If anyone has any information about this please come forward now.
The Phoenix Pavilion, or Main Hall of the Mosque.
Entrance to the Phoenix Pavilion. The inscription over the door reportedly reads “One God”.

China | Shaanxi | Xian City Wall

While in town to see the Nestorian Stele, I thought I might as well check out the rest of Xian, which as you no doubt know was the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and during the Tang Dynasty probably the largest and most developed city in the world. It is still now probably the last large walled city in the world. The wall surrounding the inner city is a total of 7.3 miles long, forty-nine feet high, and fifty-nine feet wide at the top.

The immense Southern Gate to the city

Just inside the Southern Gate

Stairs lead up to the top of the City Wall

The southern side of the City Wall

The top of the City Wall

The 7.3 mile-long top of the wall provides a nice walking and biking path. Notice the bicycle-built-for-two.

Biker on top of the Wall

Belly button of Biker on top of the Wall

Inside of the east side of the City Wall

Outside of the east side of the City Wall

A green strip and hiking path extends all around the outside of the wall

Path along the outside of the wallOuter rampart of the City Wall

Green strip and park along the outside of the City WallRestored Qing Dynasty houses just inside the City Wall

China | Shaanxi | Xian | Nestorian Stele

I have a big stack of books I have been dipping into, but when my mind wearies and I need a little light reading I turn to The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia--and How It Died (also Kindle Edition). Although not a Christian myself, I do find the advance of Nestorian Christianity into Asia via the Silk Road fascinating from an historical point of view. A few years ago I wandered down to Xian, the Eastern Terminous of the Silk Road, specifically to see the famous Nestorian Stele on display in the city’s Belian Museum.

Grounds of the Belian Museum

Erected in 781 AD, the stele gives a brief description of the introduction of Nestorian Christianity into China in the 8th Century.

At the top of stele is a Nestorian Cross; beneath the cross is the heading “Memorial of the Propagation in China of the Luminous Religion from Daqin”. Beneath the heading—not really visible in the photo—is The History Itself in 1,756 Chinese characters plus a few lines in the Syriac language.

Christianity, along with Islam, was one of the many imports that trodded eastward on the Silk Road. For more on this see the wonderfully informative Religions of the Silk Road. Also see The Great Mosque in Xian.

Of course there is much else in the Belian Museum, including many swoon-inducing Buddhist art works. Here are just two samples:

A Tang Dynasty Buddha

A Tang Dynasty rendering of Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, unearthed in Xian in 1952.

Kyrgyzstan | Tash Rabat Caravanserai

Woke up this morning thinking about the Tash Rabat Carvanserai which I had visited seven or eight years ago. I had been dreaming of Lady Ga Ga throughout most of the night, and I guess the inevitable Connection Between Lady Ga Ga and Caravanserais triggered my memories of Tash Rabat. Located in Kyrgyzstan, between the small city of Naryn, on the upper reaches of the Naryn River, one of the sources of the fabled Syr Darya River (the ancient Jaxartes), and Kashgar, in Xinjiang, this is one of best preserved caravan hostels on the entire eastern section of the Silk Road. I stopped overnight here while traveling from Bishkek, the current capital of Kyrgyzstan, to Kashgar. Of course you can no longer stay in the caravanserai itself, but the local Kyrgyz maintain a small wooden guesthouse nearby and there are also several gers available for rent. I stayed in a ger.

Tash Rabat Caravanserai

Although it is a standard sight-seeing stop for most travelers from Bishkek to Kashgar via the Torugart Pass, with many of them staying overnight, very little is known about the history of the caravanseria itself. The local Kyrgyz claim to know nothing, except that it was a standard stop on the old Silk Road. Other sources maintain that the caravanseria was originally a Nestorian Christian monastery or church dating back to the 10th century. The interior layout is indeed in the form of a cross, with a large doomed room at the intersection of the arms and the vertical column. Since there was a Nestorian Bishopric in Kashgar in the 12th century it is not outside the realm of possibility that the Nestorian Christians established an outpost here. (Incidentally, see The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia--and How It Died (also Kindle Edition) for an utterly fascinating account of Christianity in Asia during the first Millennium. Many people forget that for its first one thousand years Christianity was essentially an Asian religion. Only later did it become identified with the “West”. )

Still other sources maintain that the building was once a Buddhist temple or monastery. Others dismiss both these assertions and claim that the caravanserai was purpose-built in the 14th century. Anyhow, the building measures roughly about 110 feet deep by 100 feet wide, with a wall 18 feet high at the entrance and tapering down to four or five feet at the back. Off the main corridor are numerous rooms, some measuring only 8 by 8 feet, which were apparently used by the more humble travelers. This corridor leads to a large room which served as the lobby, kitchen, and dining room combined. This room is capped by a dome which extends sixty or more feet above the floor. It looks as if there may have been frescos or paintings around the top edge of the dome, but these are now largely obliterated. It was eerily silent here under the dome even during the day when there was a lot of ruckus outside—drunken Kyrgyz brawling with each other, dog fights, etc. Off to the side of this central area were several large bedrooms apparently meant for more affluent travelers.

At one point while I was there full-sized bus arrived with at least forty veiled women on board. I did not see any men except for the two drivers. They went together into the main room under the dome and after all other visitors, including myself, were shooed out, they apparently engaged in prayers or a ceremony of some sort. After or hour or so they came out of the building and immediately boarded the bus and left. The local Kyrgyzs allowed that they were Sufis, but other than that would say nothing about what they were doing there.

A elderly Russian man who claimed he lived about twenty miles down road from the caravanserai and just happened to be passing by could shed no more light on the Sufis, but he did say there was a local legend which maintained that the caravanserai was built over the entrance to a cave which extended for dozen of miles south, with an opening on the other side of the Chinese border. He claimed that in the nineteenth century daring smugglers used the caves to smuggle gold and other compact items into China. Whether there is any truth to this legend I cannot say.

Looking up the valley from Tash Rabat. The old Silk Road went up this valley.

Nowadays the road heads west and then swings around some spurs of the Tian Shan Mountains before reaching the Torugart Pass to the south. In the old days the caravan route went straight up the valley from the caravanserai and over the Tash Rabat Pass through the Tian Shan. This was the last pass before the 12,310-foot Torugart Pass leading to Kashgar and Xinjiang. I hired a horse from the local Kyrgyz and rode up the valley to the 13,018-foot Tash Rabat Pass for a look around. The north side of the pass is quite steep and would have been a trial for heavily-laden horses or camels. I really wanted to ride on to the Torugart Pass, but this of course was impossible. The next day I continued on by jeep to the Chinese border at Torugart Pass and on to the storied Silk Road City of Kashgar.

View south from 13,018-foot Tash Rabat Pass

World | Lady Ga Ga | Nobel Peace Prize

Now that Obama, or as he is known in some circles, the Madhi, has gotten a Nobel Peace Prize, can Lady Ga Ga be far behind? She’s due up in 2010. Obama has already admitted he has taken a back seat to her:

She [Lady Ga Ga] sat front-and-center at the black-tie Human Rights Campaign Gala in the ballroom of the Washington Convention Center, where 3,000 gay advocates and allies clinked glasses and liberally exercised the right to give standing ovations (she got two). HRC President Joe Solmonese says she was an obvious invite —"She pushes boundaries and brings people along" — and credited her for the dinner's rapid sellout. Even the president of the United States knows his place. "It is a privilege to be here tonight to open for Lady Ga Ga," Obama said during his remarks.

Get behind me, Obama!
Yassar Arafat got one! Jimmy Carter got one! Obama got one! I want one!

Mongolia | Ulaan Baatar | Wedding Celebration

As noted, October 6 was an Auspicious Day in Mongolia. Reportedly no less than 137 couples choose October 6th to get married. After I made an Ovoo Offering on Öndör Gegeen Uul my friend Enkha and I proceeded to a wedding cerebration in a ger district on the northern edge of Ulaan Baatar. Actually this couple had gotten married several years ago and already had a bouncing baby boy, but they had never had a wedding party, so they decided that this was a good day to actually celebrate their nuptials. The party was in honor of Otgoo, the youngest daughter of my old pal Zegvee, which whom I have done no less than ten Horse and Camel Trips, and her husband.

Ger district in northern Ulaan Baatar

Inside the baishin the table was groaning with delicacies

Sheep back and ribs: Uutz in Mongolian

A centerpiece of flatbreads known in Mongolian as Tavgiin Idee

Otgoo and her husband

Tsegüün, the couple’s little boy and the apple of everybody’s eye. Because of his prodigious appetite and impressive physique they already have him pegged as a wrestler.

ZevgeeTümen-Ölzii, wife of Zevgee

Tümen-Ölzii, her oldest daugher, and a relative

Zevgee’s oldest daughter and her daughter
Zevgee’s son-in-law Badmaa making a toast

Sister and grandmother of Otgoo’s husband

The husband’s little sister with an award she just won for sprinting in a track meet. She is also an accomplished flute player. Quite a talented girl!

Grizzled Zevgee tickled pink to be sitting next to the mouth-wateringly delectable Enkha

Scandanavia | Nobel Booby Prize

Update: Obama Wins Heisman Trophy!

Has the Nobel Prize Committee gone completely nuts? The Daily Beast seems to think so. Commenting on the Noble Prize for Literature going to Herta Muller (who the hell . . . ?) and the Noble Peace Prize going to Obama, Lee Siegel unloads:

Never mind the handwringing over whether Muller’s husband, a novelist named Richard Wagner, was related to Richard Wagner [yes, that Richard Wagner], which, combined with the fact that her father had been an officer in Hitler’s SS, was just asking for trouble. The important thing was to confirm, absolutely, that Obama himself was not related to Hitler—despite the resemblance in a certain type of poster that had been in circulation over the summer—and that his plan for overhauling health care was not derived from the Nazi euthanasia program, which Muller’s father probably supported, and which Muller, and Wagner, most certainly—we hope!—are opposed to. Wagner the husband, that is.

What a mess! But then the Nobel Peace Prize, especially in the last decades, has been mostly a self-satirizing disaster.

Need we add that Nicholas Roerich was once nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize . . . ?

Mongolia | Baljinnyam and Dashnyam | Oyu Tolgoi Copper Mine

In my earlier post about an Ovoo Offering I mentioned that October 6, the 17th day of month according to the Lunar calendar, was an extremely auspicious day in Mongolia, although I myself could not say why. An explanation is now forthcoming. It has to do with, as you probably guessed, the Mongolian deities Baljinnyam and Dashnyam:

In Mongolian Buddhism several deities are worshipped and regarded as divine beings. Each one is in charge of specific issues relevant to human beings. According to the Mongolian Buddhist mythology, two of these deities, the god of "wealth and prosperity" (Baljinnyam), and his partner the god of "cheerfulness and energy" (Dashnyam), meet twelve times a year on specific dates. Each meeting has its agenda of subjects which they will discuss.

Their discussion topics are wide-ranging, related to all aspects of life. Some of these issues are good for mankind and some are bad. The agendas are usually a mixture of good and bad issues. This means that the days when Baljinnaym and Dashnyam meet together are not necessarily good days.

Only one specific meeting date once a year, has an agenda which is completely favorable to humanity. The subjects they will discuss on this date are happiness, prosperity, good health and the wealth of humanity. This year the lucky date is the 17th day of the middle month of Autumn according to the Mongolian Buddhist calendar (October 6, 2009) and it is therefore a very special day for Mongolian Buddhism and for the Mongolian people.

Not by coincidence the Mongolian Government choose October 6 to sign its long-awaited agreement to open the Huge Oyu Tolgoi Copper Mine in the South Gobi. Presumably the government hopes Baljinnaym and Dashnyam will give their blessings to This Endeavor.

This wasn’t just a Buddhist thing. Shamans were also called in:

On that same day [Oct. 6] at the time of the ceremony a group of old Shamans climbed the Bogd Mountain south of Ulaanbaatar, performing a Shaman ritual asking the mountains to bless the agreement. [This quote is apparently incorrect; see comments section. Actually, I thought it inappropriate that shamans would be blessing a mining venture.]

Mongolia | Zaisan Tolgoi | Ovoo Offering

Tuesday, October 6, the 17th day of the Lunar Month, was one of the most auspicious days of the year in Mongolia. I wish I could say why. Unfortunately the half dozen or more explanations I heard all went in one ear and out the other. Perhaps some local pandit can enlighten us on this matter. (Batbold, are you there?) Anyhow, all kinds of festivities were planned city-wide. My friend Ms. S and I decided to commemorate this day by making an ovoo offering at the ovoo just below Öndör Gegeenii Uul, the mountain directly in front of my hovel in Zaisan Tolgoi. Walking up the valley to the mountain we passed several gers where women in dress deels were arranging big spreads of food on outdoor tables. By the bank of the small stream running down the valley a group of six men were sharing what looked to be not their first bottle of vodka for the day, although it was only 8:00 in the morning. We turned and climbed up toward Öndör Gegeenii Uul, the mountain to which I normally retire to View the Heavens.

Öndör Gegeenii Uul

Ms. S offering a prayer to Öndör Gegeenii Uul

Today however we were headed for the ovoo about half way up Öndör Gegeenii Uul and not to the summit of the mountain itself.

Ovoo on the way to Öndör Gegeenii Uul. On the far right can be seen the Khiimoryn Ovoo, where by tradition male Ulaan Baatarites go to celebrate the Tsagaan Sar, the New Year’s celebration.

Looking toward the city from the ovoo. Zaisan Tolgoi (hill) is at the far right.

Ovoo offering of cookies, candies, milk, and vodka

Ms. S circumambulating the ovoo

Mongolia | Zaisan Tolgoi | Harvest Moon

Update: see Tang Dynasty Times for more on the Harvest Moon.

The Harvest Moon will grace the skies over Zaisan Tolgoi on October 4, rising at 5:58 pm and setting at 8:04 am on the 5th, This year I intend to view the entire transit of the Full Moon across the skies from my perch on the mountain in front of my hovel in Zaisan Tolgoi. Obviously this will require staying up all night. I will build a small fire, so if you night owls in Ulaan Baatar stumbling out of your lowly drinking dens see a glowing light on the top of the mountain behind Zaisan Tolgoi do not be alarmed. It is not the return of Baron Ungern-Sternberg.

My mountain, top center

As you probably already know the Harvest Moon is the Full Moon closest to the Autumn Equinox, which usually occurs around September 23th. Three years out of four, roughly speaking, the Harvest Moon will be in September, but this year it occurs in October, eleven days after the Autumn Equinox. The previous Full Moon was on September 5, 18 days before the Autumn Equinox.

The Harvest Moon was memorialized in the song “Shine On, Harvest Moon” by the immortal Ruth Etting, American’s Sweetheart of Song:

Shine on, shine on harvest moon up in the sky
I ain't had no lovin' since January, February, June, or July
Snow time ain't no time to sit outdoors and spoon
Shine on, shine on harvest moon for me 'n' my gal

C'mon, shine on harvest moon way up there in the sky. Don'tcha
know I ain't had no lovin' since January, February, June, AND July? Now, looka
here—don't you know better than to set out there in the snow 'n' spoon?
C'mon, I don't want no half moon, I want a full moon.

Oh, won't you shine on, shine on harvest moon (shine on, shine on)
Up in the sky? (shine on)
I ain't had no lovin' since January, February, June, or July
(ah-ooba, ah-ooba, ah-ooba , ah-ooh)
Don't you know you're gonna freeze to death
Settin' out there in the snow tryin' to spoon?
So shine on, shine on harvest moon for me 'n' my gal

Ruthie, America’s Sweetheart, baring her gams, which was pretty daring back in 1935.

The Hunter’s Moon, defined simply as the next Full Moon after the Harvest Moon, is my personal favorite. This year it will occur on November 3. Mark your calendars now.