My last day here before I can go on vacation and I'm exited. For my final piece of this project I shall talk about the civil service exams. One occupation was studying for these. The Civil service exam was to choose government officials. The allure of this was no taxes, no military service, and respect. The only problem was that these were really really hard. If even the letters were slightly off it would be a failure. In fact while taking the tests test takers would take the test in cubicles with benches, beds and an armed gaurd. Wealthy children would start to study at a young age, their parents paying tutors to train them, even still there was a still a high rate of failure. And the few highest scorers got to take another in front of the emperor, They became famous.

The photograph below is merely a refrence to tests in genral . and in no means should it be interpreted as having anything to do with ancient china it is simply a picture of someone taking a test.

The great Wall

Yay! I reached the capitol. And I come to a huge wall(quick fact:The wall of Nanjing was the biggest city wall in history). Lucky I got here early because Zhu Di Plans to move the capitol to Beijing. Speaking of walls lets talk about the Great wall, the biggest public works project IN HISTORY.
It started way back in the Qin dynasty with emperor Qin Shi Huang trying to unite China. It started off as an earthen fortification. Centuries later in the Ming Dynasty a brutal defeat at Mongol hands led to a huge upgrade. The walls length was increased to 6000 kilometers. its height increased to 26 feet and its with to 30ft in some places. Thousands of people died during construction, their bodies were buried inside the wall. The outside of the wall was brick and stone held together by mortar the center was earth and rubble. The great wall had garrisons varying of various sizes holding men every few miles. on the walls slits were cut out for archers and guns.These defenses defended the Ming until the Manchu of North eastern China took over. The great wall was so strong it still stands today. To the right is a picture of the wall.

As I'm walking towards Nanjing A newspaper fluttered by in the wind. And guess what, I need a newspaper article for my project.

Family Feud Turns Bloody

Today in Nanjing a new emperor takes the throne. The former emperor, Huidi, is dead, and Zhu Di, the prince of Yan and Huidi's uncle, is the new emperor. After three years of fighting for the throne that took place between Hui and his uncle, Zhu di is finally victorious. The battle was long and bloody. Zhu Di's forces were outnumbered, but through superior training and strategy, Zhu Di's smaller force defeated Hui's men.

Zhu Di has wanted Huidi's place ever since Hui's grandfather died. Zhu and several other uncles were plotting against Hui for several years until now, May 17, 1403.

In the upper right is a picture of Zhu Di.

Persuasive paragraph

I've been talking a lot about ancient China; but what about current China? One matter that needs addressing in current China is workers righs. Workers' rights in china must be improved. One condition is work hours. Working conditions in China now are apalling. People,often 14 year old girls, are working twelve hours a day Seven days a week. Workers also work overtime without extra pay. This is is not only unjust, but also unhealthy. What would be more fare is to lower the work hours and pay overtime not only would this make the workers happier, but when they worked they would be more alert focused and productive. Another serious issue is the fining of workers who come to work tired or break curfew. The average monthly salary in 2006 was about 853 yuan in US dollars it would be 125 dollars a month combined with fines this could be lowerd significantly. Companies should abolish fining. First of all when companies fine workers for disobeying then people can't do what they wan't and therefor there lives are completly controled by the companies they work for. Second of all people can get fined out of an entire salary. And when pay day arives they get nothing, making there work slave labor and making it illegal. And finally companies hold back pay for months at a time forcing employies too stay as long as possible.This can't continue because it's almost like owning someone. Improving chinas work laws would make this illegal ending Sweatshops grip over china's workers. The people most to blame are those who proffit off this. Like the Owners of the factories, and the big corporations who proffit off of the labor.

Today on my way to Nanjing I passed a man selling clothes the cloths he sold were like big dresses. They were called tunics. When I tried to purchase one with my small amount of coins he said that these were silk and were far to expensive for me. Silk was warn by wealthy people in ancient china. Women wore ankle length tunics while men wore knee length tunics.

(Silk if you don't already know is produced by silk worms who eat Mulberries)

To the right is a picture of chines women wearing there silk tunics.

Today I was walking along on my way to Nanjing when I passed a man painting pictures of the landscape I asked the man his name he told me his name was Shen Zhou. Then I remembered he was one four great artists of the Ming dynasty. so the obvious thing to do was to interview them for my project.

This is the greatest of the ming dynasty artists Shen Zhou
Hello Shenzou tell me about yourself and your childhood?
Well I grew up in a comfortable estate with my family. I enjoyed it very much. I love nature, and painting landscapes.
How did you get into painting?
My father had a huge collection of paintings calligraphy and other fine art, and his friends were scholars and artists who loved art as well. This upbringing was probably what brought me to become an artist.
What are some of your paintings?
My most famous painting would probably be "poet on the mountain top"
What are the major aspects you like to include in your paintings?
I like to include nature into all of my paintings.
How do you feel about art during the current dynasty?
I believe that art is flourishing and that there are more great artists to come.
Thank you for your time Mr. Zhou.



This is Shen Zhou's painting "Poet on a mountain top"

Travel

My last day with my foster family is hard. Even though I do not understand them and they do not understand me, it is still an emotional goodbye. They handed me several coins with holes in them and I was on my way. My next stop the capital at Nanjing. The current emperor is Huidi but will be remembered as Jianwen. He is currently at war with his uncle. I've seen several group of soldiers on the road. I started in Nanchang Fu and there are about a thousand miles to go. Ill take this time to tell you about China's Geography. Right now, I'm traveling along a huge river called the Yangtze along it the hills are formed into terraces for easy farming. In other places high steep cliffs jut up from the river, its truly amazing.