WUHAN
The capital of Hubei province, Wuhan lies at the confluence
of the Yangzi and Han Rivers, roughly midway between Beijing
and Guangzhou. The city is comprised of three towns -
Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang - facing each other across
the rivers and linked by several bridges. The area was
first settled more than 3,000 years ago in the Han Dynasty,
when Hanyang became a busy port. In the first and third
centuries A.D., walls were built to protect Hanyang and
Wuchang. About 300 years ago, Hankou became one of the
country's top four trading towns. |
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In the early 20th
century, Wuhan became a hot spot of revolutionary activities.
In 1911, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen led a revolution supported  by
workers that eventually overthrew the Qing Dynasty. There
are many memorial structures devoted to the revolutionaries,
such as the Red Building, which housed the National Revolutionary
Army Government in the 1911 Movement, the Monument to the
Martyrs of the February 7 Railway Workers' Strike and the
Central Peasant Movement Institute. The city has long been
an important industrial and commercial center in central China,
which is also the halfway point in the Yangtze River's long
stretch from Chongqing to Shanghai and the major port and
transportation hub along the Yangtze River and Beijing-Guangzhou
railway.
Yellow Crane Tower
Yellow Crane Tower, located on Snake Hill in Wuchang, is one
of the "Three Famous Towers in south of Yangtze River.
According to records, the tower was first built in 223 A.D
during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280). After completion,
the tower once served as a gathering place for celebrities
and poets to make merry and compose poetry. It was estimated
that up to the Tongzhi Reign of the Qing dynasty, as many
as 300 poems on admiring the tower had been found in the historical
literature, in which "Yellow Crane Tower" wrote
by Cui Hao, a famous poet of Tang dynasty (618-907) made the
tower well known throughout China. Destroyed many times in
successive dynasties, the tower was rebuilt for the last time
at the end of 19 century. The present tower is the result
of four years of restoration beginning in 1981. The tower,
51.4 meters high, is five-storied with yellow tiles and red
pillars, overlapping ridges and interlocking eaves, more magnificent
than the old one. The ground floor of the new is 20 meters
wide in each side and the old tower is only 15 meters wide.
Therefore we can say that Yellow Crane Tower has been reconstructed
instead of being renovated. Now, the tower has already been
regarded as the symbol of Wuhan.
Hubei
Provincial Museum
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Established in 1953, Hubei Provincial Museum is one
of the most important research and collection institution
in the  province.
More than 140,000 collections, mainly from a big tomb
excavated in 1978, are well preserved here, including
645 pieces of first class cultural relics and 16 pieces
of national treasures. In the summer of 1978, Hubei
provincial archaeologists working near Cheng Guan in
Sui County excavated a huge tomb more than 2,400 years
old. Dating back from around 433 BC, the tomb belongs
to Marquis Yi of the state of Zeng, one of the hosts
of lesser states during the Warring States Period (475-221
B.C.). More than 15,000 relics were excavated from the
tomb, including the bronze ritual vessels, coffins,
musical instruments, gold and jade decorative items,
lacquer wares, weapons and inscribed bamboo strips.
There are 8 kinds and 125 pieces of musical instruments
excavated from the tomb, including bells, stone chimes
and drums, among which chime bell is most famous.
Musical
Instruments - Jade Chime Bell - As the heaviest
musical instrument in the world, this set of chime bell,
with a total weight of 2,500 kilogram, consists of 65
pieces - the biggest bell is 152.3cm high and 203.6kg
in weight and the smallest 20.4cm long and 2.4kg in
weight. They were suspended on 3 ordered frames and
divided into 8 groups. The Niu Bell on the upper layer,
19 pieces, were used for producing clear tones, thirty-three
pieces of Yong Bell on the middle layer for playing
melody and twelve pieces of Yong Bell on the lower layer
for  accompanying.
Each bell can produce two different tones when struck.
The chime bell was covered roughly five and half octaves
and entire 12 semitones, which were most like current
C major. Gold inscriptions of 3,755 words were carved
on the body, the frame and hung hooks recording the
order of bells, events, notes and records of note names,
scale names, octaves and musical pitch connection between
other states. The unearthed play implements are six
pieces of T-shaped color-painted wooden poles and two
pieces of colorful wooden sticks. It is one of the major
archaeological discoveries in the 20th century. Wuhan
Historical Museum is now the major tourist program while
visitors may enjoy the magic ancient music played by
the Jade Chimes in the morning or afternoon.
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