Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Dedicated to a Local Scholar

The small cultural museum in Lingxian was dedicated to a local scholar (wise man). The grounds, which contained statues, character-etched stones and exhibits, included dozens of rose bushes in full bloom.

One 8 foot tall tablet, with characters etched all over both sides, is housed in the building in the picture on the left. The tablet is more than 600 years old. Our guide informed us it took 30 years to transcribe the characters on the ancient tablet and etch them into a new tablet displayed in a similar pavilion across the courtyard.

The picture on the right shows the statue of the scholar to whom the museum is dedicated. In the picture below the scholar, our host interpreter, Lin Fen and I are taking a close look at the tablet. Other pictures show some of the roses, the main courtyard in the museum, and Lucille posing in front of the pavilion that houses the newer version of the tablet.

Lingxian County with 12 rural communities is a major agricultural county, producing wheat, corn, cotton, soybeans, vegetables and fruits, that also has textile, chemical, machinery, light industry facilities. We saw many roadside stands selling watermelon and other farm products during our ride around the County.

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