The park is located across from Tiananmen Square, and on the south-western border of the
UG will proceed to bore you with mundane background information before revealing his personal experiences as the Undercover Senior Citizen.
History:Before its name was changed in 1918, the park was called the Sheji Tan (社稷坛) -- the sacrifical altar for the God of Earth and God of Grains during the Ming (1368-1644 AD) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties. Whereas now the common visitor will only see pleasant old folks dancing, singing and practicing taichi, in the past it was likely more common to see severed pig heads and other freshly slaughtered sacrificial animals, along with the butchers sharpening their bloody knives. In the centre of the park is the altar, which is known by the common folk as the 5 Coloured Earth (五色土). The altar platform is in the shape of a square. Within the platform, the dirt is divided into five colours, each colour representing the different geographic regions in
In the east: blue/green dirt. Symbolizes Tai Hao in the east. He holds a compass to administer Spring’s Wood God.
In the south: red dirt. Symbolizes Yan Di in the south. He holds a steelyard to administer Summer’s Fire God. (Question: What's a steelyard?)
In the west: white dirt. Symbolizes Shao Hao in the west. He holds a carpenter’s square to take care of Autumn’s Metal God.
In the north: black dirt. He symbolizes Zhuan Xu in the north. He holds a steelyard to control the Water God.
In the centre: yellow dirt. Yellow symbolizes the Yellow Emperor (the first sovereign of
The Number 5:
Five is such a special number in Chinese philosophy that there are also 5 Treasured Grains (五谷). However, there is debate over the identity of the final treasured grain. The first four are accepted as: broomcorn millet (黍), millet (稷), beans (稷) and wheat/barely/oats (麦). The final one is either rice (稻), which seems a no-brainer, or hemp (麻). Yes, that’s right, hemp. (History of hemp 1 and 2).
UG never expected hemp to be one of the possible treasured grains of his ancestors – the image of his grandparents sucking back on a reefer is inconceivable. However, there is suitable evidence to suggest that hemp could be one of the treasured grains, because it had many non-recreational applications over its recorded 10 000 years of use in
There are also 5 Sacred Mountains (五岳)in China:
Mount Tai (泰山) -- the Eastern Mountain in Shandong Province
Mount Hua (华山)-- the Western Mountain in Shan'xi Province
Mount Heng (衡山)-- the Southern Mountain in Hunan Province
Mount Heng (恒山)-- the Northern Mountain in Shanxi Province
Mount Song (嵩山)-- the Central Mountain in Henan Province
The 5 Internal Organs (五脏): the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys
[This doesn't mean that there are only five organs in Chinese medicine, just that these five organs have different functions than the other ones.]
The 5 Poisonous Creatures (无毒):scorpion, viper, centipede, house lizard and toad
The 5 Classics (五经): The Book of Songs (《诗经》), The Book of History (《书经》), The Book of Changes (《易经》), The Book of Rites (《礼记》), and The Spring and Autumn Annals (《春秋》)
The 5 Flavours (五味): sweet, sour, bitter, pungent and salty
The 5 Spices (五香): prickly ash, star aniseed, cinnamon, clove and fennel
The 5 Chief Forms of Punishment in ancient China (五刑): tattooing the face, cutting off the nose, cutting off the feet, castration and decapitation. [If someone were going to punish you with one of the following punishments and he gave you a choice, which one would you choose?]
And the list goes on, including one style of poetry with only five characters per line and the Chinese flag, which has five stars, each with 5 points.
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