Went to see the Tang Dynasty Tombs of Empress Wu Dze Tien but the tomb was not accessible. The government had a few concerns on preservation. Well, in general the Chinese culture has a taboo in breaking into tombs even caskets. The public word is that they fear the water may flood the tombs in the process of excavation. Second, they are not equipped in preserving the excavated artifacts. I didn’t mind, I support preservation.
Upon the long wide walk towards the inaccessible tomb, tourist will come across rows of mystic animal stone figures who guard and greet all visitors. There is also a section of human figures toward the top. The empress wanted to these figures in her burial sight to document the political stately achievements she made as a ruler. These figures were heads of states. Story goes, the local were furious to begin with of having a female ruler and then by such a display as honoring a female ruler that they chopped off the stone heads to mock her in death.
Today Corey asked me about depression and suicide. We talked quite a bit. She as a typical person educated after the Cultural Revolution maintains the stance that she does not believe in spirits or ghosts and yet she was asking about them.
We decided to catch a movie at night called “The Banquet”. I found it to be uninteresting or original. I did like the costume design. It was my first movie experience in public theatre in China.
