Thanksgiving shopping

I had a friend ask about shopping on Thanksgiving Day - Is it a good thing or bad?

We live in a materialistic world.  In fact our whole economic system has been set up to depend on it!  We are being told to spend, spend, spend - it will "increase" the economy.  But this is a lie!  Spending does not "increase" the economy - it increases our debt and our dependence on "things". 

Why are stores opening on Thanksgiving?  Because if they wait until Friday - then people have to pick and choose which stores/sales to attend.  If some stores open early, then the theory is you don't have to choose.  You can shop them ALL!   You can HAVE it all!  (And they will even finance it for you - isn't that convenient?!)

We are never satiated.  We are all  Madame Blueberry!  No matter how much "stuff" we have, we always want MORE.    Money isn't an issue; we just "finance" it.  Space isn't an issue; we just rent another storage unit.  We buy it not because we need it, but because "it was such a great price!"  When will it stop?!

 As much as I hate to admit it, I too am caught up in this materialistic world.  I think about the little house we rented (900 sq ft) for six of us and how we couldn't fit all of our "junk" into it.  I learned after we moved, that the family who built the house had 10 children.  Yes, 10!  Twice as many people fit into that house and I would even bet that they fit "comfortably" into it. 

When did all of this change? And why do we do this?  Why are we so focused on "things"?  I believe we buy things to fill an emptiness inside of us.  We are searching for happiness, acceptance, and love.  Satan has tricked us into believing that the more we have, the better our lives will be.  But it is just the opposite.  The more "things" we have, the less time we have to spend with the people in our lives who really DO matter.  The more our focus increases on the temporal things, the less time we spend attaining the eternal.  And that is exactly what Satan wants.  He knows that true happiness, acceptance and love come from God. 

So is shopping on Thanksgiving good or bad?  I will let you decide.  But as for me and my house...we will leave the "stuff"ing for the turkey. 

The Forbidden City - Beijing

The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City is also know as the Palace Museum

or the Purple Forbidden City. 

In ancient times, the emperor was said to be a son of Heaven, and therefore

Heaven's supreme power was bestowed upon him. 

The emperors' residence (the forbidden city) on earth was built as a replica of the Purple Palace

where God was thought to live in Heaven.

 During the time of the Ming and Qing dynasties entrance to the "city"

was gained only by the emperor and those he chose - thus it was "forbidden"

 to almost all of the Chinese people.





This is a map of the original city built in 1420 and used by the Ming and Qing Dynasties. 

The bottom half of the map with the large gate at the bottom and the four
large courtyards above - is now Tian'an men Square. 
You will notice that all of the city is surrounded by a moat.
 The moat is 20 feet deep and more than 50 feet wide. 
The hill that is in shadow at the top of the map was created
 from the dirt removed to build the moat. 

 Little "rivers" cross the city between the moat on each side.

 

 

The halls where the Emperors conducted business are all elevated.

 

A close-up of the details in painting and carving of the buildings

 

 A close-up of the roof.  Each roof has these little creatures. 

Supposedly the more creatures on the roof, the higher the status of the people living in the home.

 

An example of the carved staircases.  Notice that even the steps had intricate carvings.

 

Yellow was the color used to symbolize the royal family. 

All of the roofs in the Forbidden city are yellow and you will see it used in all of the paintings on the buildings

 

 

Close-up of one of the thrones that were used by the emperors.

A Brass Lion

  The entrance to the garden. 
There are gardens on both sides of the main courtyards that run down the center of the city. 
 We were only allowed to see this one. 

 

I would love to go back in time and see what the forbidden city looked like during the Ming dynasty. 

 It is still beautiful, but it must have been absolutely stunning.

 

Dui Xiu Shan. 

(More impressive in person than photo).
The Chinese believe in Feng Shui - creating balance in all things. 
In their gardens there is always running water and an artificial "mountain"
so that the energy can flow freely through the garden.

 

This is the pagoda on top of the artificial hill that was created from digging the moat. 

 It is about 50-60 feet high.

 

The moat

The city was completely surrounded by the moat and a wall 10 meters tall.  The wall was 10 meters wide at the bottom,
tapering off to 6 meters wide at the top.  So IF you could make it across the moat,
 the slope and height of the wall made it impossible to climb.

 

The north entrance to the city (near the pagoda on the "hill")

 

 

The doors at the bottom are entrances to the next large courtyard.

 There were originally 10 courtyards through the center of the city. 

 

  

The doors to each courtyard are about a foot thick and sit on top of a threshold. 

The thresholds vary in height throughout China to symbolize status -

 with the emperor's being the tallest.

 The Chinese are very superstitious.

 They believed that ghosts roamed the streets, but the ghosts could not jump or step over things.

 Therefore the high thresholds would keep the ghosts from getting into their houses. 

 

Close-up of the roof details

(the posts above the door represent the families status - the more posts the higher the status.)

 

An example of the painting and detail on every building





China - the people

The Chinese are remarkable people. 

They have endured thousands of years of tyranny and yet continue to thrive. 

Here are a few of my favorite photos of these beautiful people.

Temple of Heaven 天壇 - Beijing

We visited the Temple of Heaven on our last day in Beijing. 

The Temple of Heaven was built from 1406 - 1420 and was visited by emperors from the Ming and Qing dynasties.  It is larger than the Forbidden City (the Emperor's residence) to show respect to the gods of heaven. 

In Chinese culture the square represented earth and the circle represented heaven.  So the temples (we only visited the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests) are round and each sits in a square courtyard - thus representing the uniting of heaven and earth. 

Originally only the emperors and their families (and guards) could enter the temples and surrounding gardens. 

In 1918 the grounds were opened to all Chinese and has since been made into a beautiful park.

 

Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests

The temple is constructed completely of wood with NO nails.
Inside there are a series of pillars - four on the inside, 12 pillars in the middle and another 12 pillars on the outside.  The four inner pillars represent the four seasons.  The 12 middle pillars represent the 12 months of the year and the outer 12 represent the Sichen - an ancient Chines unit of time equaling 2 hours (thus representing a 24 hour day).  The roof is made of three levels to signify getting closer to heaven.



A close-up of the inside showing some of the pillars. 
The painting and colors are amazing (the picture doesn't do it justice)

The Temple sits on top of three levels - again representing the ascent to heaven.

One of the carved staircases leading to the temple.
This is the top representing the heavens. 
 

 Imperial Hall of Heaven

Inside the Hall of Heaven, there are house-shaped shrines holding god tablets. On the first and fifth day of each lunar month, officials would sweep the dust and burn the incense there. The emperor would give a ritual there on the eve of the Ceremony of Worshipping Heaven.

 

The three gates to the hall

Inside the Hall

Other Buildings and Gardens

The pavilion to the inner gate - you can see the top of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in the back.
(The whole complex is surrounded by a wall. 
Then an inner wall surrounds the temples limiting access to them to the Emperors only.)

Notice the carvings on the roof tiles and the intricate painted designs
(this building has not been restored - so much of the paint has faded.)

Many people come to the park for morning exercise.  These ladies stood on one leg like this for over 15 minutes.
 (Notice I did NOT join them - ha!)



We were lucky to see a couple getting their wedding photos. 
Red is the traditional color for Chinese wedding dresses.