China [antikvár]

In 1978, when it once again became possible for Westerners to visit China, 1.8 million people took advantage of the opportunity. By 1987, the number had swelled to 23.7 million, and the rate of growth doesn't show any signs of slowing down. As though there wasn't enough for them to see and do, foreign visitors are lured by luxury cruises along China's coast, by newly-developed beach resorts and even an American-style amusement park It is possible to pay for many things with credit cards, and if a visitor has trouble manipulating chopsticks, forks are available nearly everywhere. It is possible for Westerners to experience China without experiencing severe culture shock. But no matter what other things they may have come to experience, every visitor makes it a point to see the Great WaU, ironically a sjonbol of China's historical effort to keep foreigners out. And no one who sees the waU for the first time is quite prepared for the experience. It is nothing more or less than the greatest man-made structure on the face of the earth. In some places it is wide enough for five cavalrymen to march side-by-side between its massive towers. It averages 21.5 feet high, and extends about 3,750 miles from the Bohai Gulf to the Gobi Desert. It was once nearly twice as long as it is today, but over the centuries, wind and rain have destroyed sections that held back the mighty armies of the north. In the 1970s, at least one long section was destroyed by Chinese soldiers who found it a handy source of stones to build a new military base. Those same soldiers were put to work rebuilding what they had torn down and found out for themselves what an incredible feat had been accomplished by the original builders. Parts of the wall have been standing for almost 2,400 years. Yet China's great philosopher, Confucius, had been dead for more than 150 years when construction began. And he was the product of change in a thousand-year tradition that had existed before him. There is no reliable history of the beginnings of Chinese culture. But the first dynasties, dating back to 2333 B.C., were said to have been headed by three successive wise kings. The first was Yao, who bequeathed his kingdom to one of his subjects. Shun, rather than his son. Shun did the same, but his successor, Yu, established the custom of hereditary rule. All three have been credited with almost supernatural powers, but their stories were handed down by word of mouth for nearly2,000 years before written records were established. The Shang Dynasty, established around 1751 B.C., was the first to record its exploits in writing, and is generally considered the beginning of Chinese history. Its kings were probably the first to establish walled cities. They are also believed to have been the first to be buried in elaborate tombs with animal and human sacrifices at their side. The Shang kings expanded their territory in every direction. But the city-states they absorbed remained relatively independent of them. The center of power was far away andoutof touch. At the height of Shang influence, the dynasty controlled about 30 states, each of which was in turn controlled by a lord whose only obligation was to provide soldiers in time of war, to send prescribed tributes to the capital and to honor the king as a supreme being. By the time the dynasty ended, the actual power of the king, even though he was considered almost a god, was already being eroded. The Zhou Dynasty was able to unseat the Shangs partly by conspiring with the disloyal feudal lords. Its first king had to risk the same disloyalty by