Undercover Senior Citizen Brief: Sun Yat-sen Park -- Background a.

For the first time, UG will releas snippets from his Undercover Senior Citizen Brief from the UG World Factbook (which is at the moment only 1 page long and consists of only one country). Disguised as Undercover Senior Citizen (refer to Master of Disguises post), UG was able to infiltrate a tight-knit clan of taichi-practicing retirees in the Sun Yat-sen Park. Sun Yat-sen, also called Sun Zhong Shan in Mandarin, is revered as the father of modern China.

The park is located across from Tiananmen Square, and on the south-western border of the Forbidden City.

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 China. The dirt is also arranged according to the Daoist theory of the Five Elements (metal, wood, water, fire and earth).

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 China and the common ancestor of the Chinese people). He rules all that is under the heavens. In his hand he holds a rope to administer his sacred assistants in the four corners.

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 China. Starting from 8000 BC, hemp was used in China to make clothes, rope, fishnets, food, oil, paper and medicine. 5000 years ago, Shen Nong – the Holy Farmer – researched the curative virtues of plants, including hemp. He recorded that it was good at curing malaria, female disorders (whatever those are), and other illnesses. Yet he warns that “if taken in excess, it will produce hallucinations and munchies.” Legend has it that the Holy Farmer died by consuming a poisonous plant during one of his many experiments to cure his munchies.

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.