14 October 2015

Gentlefolk,

This post is about our trip to Zoucheng, Jining Prefecture in Shandong Province, 28 September to 1 October 2015.

This year Mid-Autumn Festival (holiday) was on Sunday 27 September, and the National Day holidays from 1 - 7 October.  Our university decided to combine the two holidays rather than split them.  So we had off from Sunday 27 September to Sunday 4 October and teaching resumed on Monday 5 October.

One of our colleagues, Steven, is married to a local girl.  His wife Amy is pregnant (for mid-November) and is now staying with her family in Zoucheng.  Steve was going to see his wife and we decided to accompany him.

The other reason for wanting to visit Zoucheng  was because it is the home-town of Mencius (often referred to as "The 2nd Sage", Confucius being the 1st Sage).  It is located about 30 km south of Qufu, the home-town of Confucius.

Zoucheng and Qufu are located in Jining Prefecture, south of the Provincial capital Jinan and not far from famous Mount Tai (Tai shan).

As the crow flies, Zoucheng is about 300km from Qingdao but there is no direct route.  Trains go via the provincial capital Jinan and the most convenient highway goes via Rizhao.

The fast train from Qingdao to Zoucheng was sold out, so we took a sleeper berths on the slow train ($24 each).  It took almost 8 hours (11am - 6.45pm), but we could sleep and read and it was quite comfortable.  We decided to take the bus back - a 5 hour trip via Rizhao.

It was good to see Amy again - she was looking very big with only 6 weeks to go.

On the first day we visited the Mencius Temple (where he taught) and Mencius Mansion (where he lived).  We also visited the Zoucheng Museum (impressive building, but not much inside), had lunch with Amy's family, looked around the city centre and Steve & Amy's apartment in a relatively new complex on the Western edge of the city.

The following day we all took a bus to Jining City, the main urban area in this Prefecture.

Mencius (Chinese: Meng zi; 孟子)

Popularly known as "China's 2nd Sage" (Confucius is the "1st Sage"), Mencius promoted Confucian philosophy.  But while the Confucian Analects contain short, pithy, self-contained statements, Mencius' writings (collected in a book just called "Mencius") were longer, in-depth and analytical.

Mencius believed that human nature was basically good. He said that kings should rule through persuasion rather than force and if they became too "self-seeking" then revolution was justified.

Mencius's mother is often held up as an exemplary female figure in Chinese culture. A well-known traditional Chinese four-character idiom is 孟母三遷 (mèng mǔ sān qiān; literal translation: "Mencius's mother, three moves").

This saying refers to the legend that Mencius's mother (his father died when he was young and she faced hardships bringing him up on her own) moved house three times before finding a location that was suitable for the child's upbringing. As an expression, the idiom refers to the importance of finding the proper environment for raising children.

When his mother died, Mencius took leave for 3 years from his official post, which is regarded as a example of great filial piety.

Here are some pictures of our trip:

We stayed at the Green Tree Inn (there are three in Zoucheng). Nice room for $22 per night (including breakfast).

A view from the 5th floor breakfast room. The blue room covers a huge market.  Amy said that she often went there with school-mates.  But it is quiet now, having been overtaken by shops and malls.

Confucius (Kong Zi), popularly known as "China's First Sage" (551 - 479 BC). His home town was Qufu, about 30 km north of Zoucheng.  Don't you love his eyebrows and his buck-teeth!

Mencius (or Meng Zi) regarded as "China's Second Sage" 372 - 289 BC.   He lived 100 years later, but was a keen follower of Confucius and propagated his ideas.

Another depiction of the two Sages, leader and follower.

The cover of a scholarly book on Mencius.

The main gate of the Mencius Temple in Zoucheng. Entry cost $6.50. Unfortunately there were no English-speaking guides available, so we hired the audio guide.  

Amy, Steven, and Vera at the entrance of the Mencius Temple.

One of the halls in the grounds of the Mencius Temple.  Lots of cypress trees - some said to be more than 800 years old.

The Mencius Family Mansion included an activities area for visitors.  Here is Steven showing off his archery prowess (10 arrows for $1.60).

We visited the Zoucheng Museum, built 12 years ago for about $6 million.  A big, impressive building, but unfortunately not many exhibits inside. Entry is free.

Waiting for a bus in the downtown area of Zoucheng. We had surprisingly good pizza at Margritta Pizza ($2 per slice; they had a promotion "buy one, get one free" which effectively made it $1 per slice). 

Amy and Steven have a nice 2 bedroom apartment, which cost about $60,000. Zoucheng is a relatively small, inland city and everything is significantly cheaper here than in big cities such as Qingdao and Jinan.

Amy & Steven's apartment is in the complex at the back.  Now some high-rise towers are being built along the main road to Jining City.  But construction seems to have slowed down - perhaps the developer is in financial trouble?

A short, but interesting visit.  It was good to get away from the campus for a few days.  We have now seen both Qufu (Confucius) and Zoucheng (Mencius) - there is no doubt that Qufu is bigger, livelier and on-the-whole more interesting.

...

That's it for this post.

Best wishes, Stay well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao

www.upc.edu.cn

Wednesday, 14 October 2015.