Posted by Jerry on March 1st, 2005 — Posted in History, Journal, Technology, Travel
What an amazing find! Apparently some archeologists became curious at the longevity of China’s ancient walls – especially as the country is somewhat prone to earthquakes. It seems that the answer lay in the glutinous starch in rice porridge which was added to the mortar according to a report by Xinhua news agency. During recent maintenance work on the city wall of the Shaanxi provincial capital Xi’an in the north-west of mainland China, workers found that plaster remnants on ancient bricks were quite hard to remove… and tests showed the mortar reacted to reagents consistent with the reaction of rice, and the molecular structure was consistent with the presence of rice starch. At the molecular level, sticky rice displays good adhesion and flexibility due to the length and quantity of molecular filaments – the very thing that makes rice (and rice glue) sticky.
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on January 29th, 2005 — Posted in History, Journal, Travel
Claims that one of Leonardo da Vinci’s workshops may have been found at the Santissima Annunziata Monastery in Florence are certainly intriguing. The claims seem based on three things: firstly, that many artists lived and worked at the monastery at the time Leonardo was in Florence; secondly, there are frescoes on the wall in a style not unlike Leonardo’s, including what appear to sketches for Leonardo’s Angel Gabriel; and thirdly, a so-called ‘secret room’ off one corner of the main room would have offered a plausibly discrete area for Leonardo to conduct his anatomical research – an area he could close off from prying eyes.
Art historians hope that the collection of five rooms – likely a combined residence and workshop – in a building just off the Piazza of the Santissima Annunziatain in central Florence, may shed some more light on the life of the Renaissance artist. And even if it is not the studio of Leonardo, the rooms may at least shed some light on what is was like to live in Florence as an artist in the 16th century.
The Italian institute of military geography – now a part owner and occupier of the building – may also be partly responsible for the discovery. Think about it – if you put together a collection of bright young visually literate people in a room to study (a group of people taught to analyse and question every aspect of their surroundings) and there are a bunch of old faded frescoes on the wall, sooner or later someone would surely wonder about the origin of the frescoes – especially if there are striking resemblances to the style of of one of Florence’s most famous artists.
But why would they remain undiscovered for so long? Surely those at the monastery would have some idea or at least curiosity about the frescoes? My guess is that there were more prosaic factors at work. It was and I believe still is a working monastery. It is an old building, and the thing about old buildings is that over time their functions change, requiring modifications to the building – new walls, relocation of doors and so on. Now suppose you suspected that there might be something historically special about the frescoes – can you imagine how quickly an historical preservation order would be slapped on the place? Wham! suddenly you can’t just knock a new doorway in or build a partition wall unless it was in keeping with the sixteenth century structure. Suddenly you can’t just lease out a couple of rooms to a local teaching institution – the security risk would be too great – as would the insurance costs! Best to keep it a little-known rumour within a small religious community, and perhaps occasionally sneak in to admire the brush work 🙂
Who knows what the truth may be – perhaps it was an artist who had studied under a student of Leonardo or just someone who admired that style. For now there is no proof that it is one of Leonardo’s studios, but there is certainly an exciting forensic art history assignment for some lucky group of researchers!
cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on January 4th, 2005 — Posted in History, Journal, Travel
Continuing my series of photos from the band’s tour to Beijing Nov/Dec 2004, I thought I’d post these…
On 4 December it dawned foggy in Beijing. We took the opportunity to visit the Ancient Observatory. It resides on part of the Beijing City Wall and is topped by several armillary spheres and azimuth instruments in bronze, built by the Jesuits in the 17th century.
A surreal sight in modern Beijing
The observatory dates back to Kublai Khan’s days when it was situated north of its present location. The Chinese have a long tradition of astrology and consequently have long been keen observers of the heavens.
Ancient carving depicting a comet
The present observatory was built in 1442 (the 7th year of the Zhengtong reign of the Ming dynasty) to facilitate both astrological purposes and seafaring navigation (the book 1421 discusses the remarkable accuracy of Chinese navigation of the period.)
Armillary sphere – 1439
The Jesuits were present in the capital from 1601 when Fr Matteo Ricci’s group was allowed to work with Chinese scientists. But the most remarkable of the Jesuits was a Flemish priest called Fr Ferdinand Verbiest (1623-1688) who arrived in Beijing in 1659 as a special advisor to the Qing court to assist in the delicate task of correcting the Chinese calendar.
Shortly after Verbiest arrived in Peking the Jesuits were accused of teaching a false religion and were imprisoned and tortured, pending execution. But in a dramatic reversal of fortune, an earthquake destroyed the part of the palace chosen for the execution, and seen as an omen, the sentence was not carried out and the Jesuits were released. The emperor Kang Hsi later ordered a public debate to ascertain the relative merits of Christian and Moslem astronomy. The debate involved three tests: to determine the shadow of a fixed gnomon, to predict the position of the planets at a fixed time and to predict the exact time of a lunar eclipse which had been expected about that time. The challenge was between the Chinese Moslem, Yang, and the Christian, Verbiest. The Heavens would be the judge. Verbiest had the superior astronomical data and won convincingly – securing him the immediate appointment as chair of the Board of Mathematics.
Of the eight bronze instruments on display six were designed and constructed under Verbiest’s supervision. They were built between 1669 and 1673.
Azimuth theodolite (1715) for measuring azimuth and altitude of celestial bodies
Sextant (1673) for measuring angular distance between stars and angular diameter of the sun and moon – one of Verbiest’s instruments.
Altazimuth (1673) for measuring azimuths of celestial bodies – Verbiest
Ecliptic Armilla (1673) – another of Verbiest’s instruments – for measuring ecliptic longitude differences and latitude of celestial bodies.
Each of the instruments are supported on fantastic bronze dragons and delicate traceries:
And here is a view of the observatory museum situated at the base of the observatory. Inside are bronze and brass navigation instruments, model clypsedra (water clocks) and some ancient pottery depicting celestial events.
The museum also houses the ancient seismograph for registering the occurrence and direction of earthquakes. It was invented in 132AD by Zheng Heng of the Bast Han dynasty.
All in all this was one of the best museums we visited in Beijing – a real gem and well worth a visit!
cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on December 21st, 2004 — Posted in History, Journal, Travel
We couldn’t go to China and not see the Great Wall – what an amazing structure!
The wall was completed during the Qin dynasty (221-207BC) although several sections predate this period. It extends more than 6500 km from Shanhaiguan in the east to Jiayuguan in the Gobi Desert to the west. The wall is actually several walls that were joined together under the direction of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. It was built to keep the Mongolians out (notably Genghis Khan). While it failed dismally as a defensive structure, it had what these days might be called ‘undocumented features’ or unintended consequences. When the wall was built, China was far from being a unified country, and each sub-kingdom had its own reasons for maintaining their bit of the wall.
The issue was geography – many people were kept separate by the sharp ridges of mountain ranges – all but impassable to any but the most intrepid donkey rider. Then along comes the wall, hugging the razor-sharp ridge-lines and providing, perhaps for the first time a trafficable path between provinces. As a result, the wall became a trading highway which did more than any decree to unify the country!
The Wall provided a network facilitating communication between people divided by a common language. Ironically the wall continues that tradition by providing a secure elevated structure on which to attach mobile phone repeater links!
The Badaling section of the wall is one of the steeper sections, but it affords a terrific view once you start to gain altitude along the 2000+steps
One interesting custom we encountered was that of lovers bringing a padlock – often engraved with their names – and locking the padlock to a chain provided for the purpose on the Great Wall, to symbolise the enduring nature of their love. Apparently it is not just the wall, but mountains too are favoured for this practice!
And as you near the top you can have a certificate signed to mark your climb. This was all the certificate I needed:
The wall is certainly an imposing structure and you can just imagine what resources it took to build it – in cost, building material, and in lives. It is well worth a visit!
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on December 20th, 2004 — Posted in History, Journal, Travel
Okay, you asked for more images and here they are – these ones are of the Forbidden City. If you have seen the movie “The Last Emperor” you will have seen at least some of these…
The mist made modern Beijing disappear as though it were not quite real
One of the hidden corridors
The Starbucks coffee shop is quite discrete…
It’s the details that count – these scenes are painted delicately and high in the rafters – they are slowly being painted over in the ‘restoration’ effort – so catch them while you can!
Here is one of the magnificent ceilings
Another fabulous ceiling in the Forbidden City
This woman was sweeping despite the fog and the lack of leaves or rubbish – unseen by most who passed…
The terraces were bounded by beautifully carved walls and drained by fabulous gargoyles
A small corner in the greater scheme of things
I’ll add more on other parts of our visit soon
cheers
Jerry
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