Superstitions, Beijing

Now is time to use your imagination:

When the "river" of people flowing across the Forbidden City arrives to a place where, touching a small screen promises "good fortune" what happens?

Yes... that!

We survived.

Chinese tradition has a special veneration for mountains. That was a problem in Beijing, with the emperor's palace staying in a very flat area.

The solution? Building a mountain.
Thus we can see inside the Forbidden City a temple atop a pile of rocks, technically (and officially) a small mountain.

You should never buy clocks as gifts for Chinese friends (unless they do not mind). Many older folks still frown at that as the Chinese words for "sending clocks" sound almost the same as "sending you to your grave". So, if you are intending to buy a gift for a Chinese friend, clocks should never be a consideration!

On the other hand, watches are fine.

Al the buildings in the Forbidden City were very richly decorated. But it is really worth to stop and pay attention on the decorations on the roofs.

Almost every roof has those small statues. these statues represent persons, demons and animals (dragons).

I was told that these satues were there to keep the bad ghosts away.

Above these satties you see a kind of wire, that is just to keep the birds away.

There is old tree in Dongyue temple called "Shou huai". Shou is mean long life. In the past, most Chinese believe deity by Confucianism. They often go to temple to impetrate long life. They write their desirability on a red cards called blessing cards, then hang it to let immortal know it. Surely most people don't believe it again. However, hang blessing cards come down as a custom activity. Many red cards hang around the old three just express people's wish. They want to life as the red cards, flourishing as red flame

Dragon and phoenix express the most exalted status. In the past, dragon deputize emperor and phoenix deputize empress. Everything used by empero all have dragon, like cup, quilt, chair and so on. The wall was chiseled typical pattern. In addtion, red is propitious colour in China. Just a square of wall put up antiquated China thoroughly.

During many centuries the Imperial Palace burned down many times, as most of the buildings are mainly made of wood. To protect the buildings against lightning, the architects put these figures on every corner of the roofs.

The first figur is a man riding on a hen. It is said, that once a tyrant prince in 3rd century b.c. was defeated and killed by his enemies. To remember his evil deeds the people put his figure on a hen on the end of the roof. The hen cannot jump from the roof, because the prince is too heavy and the hen cannot go back, because a dragon is on the other end.. Between the princes figure and the dragon are some other figures. All figures are symboles to prevent the house from fire and lightning. Phenix, Lion, Horse and so on...

In many musea in China you will see those double doors.The evil is always going straight through doors ! So a double one will protect the owner for evil.
This you will see on bridges in Shanghai - it is just a traditional believe !