Visit other Residences in...
|
The Princess Taiping
Princess Taiping is a replica of a Gan Zeng Chuan(趕繒船), made by a group of experienced craftsmen from Fujian Province. They have attempted to replicate a Ming Dynasty (14th -17th Century) -style sailing junk using the natural materials and traditional techniques of more than 600 years ago.
Visitors to this Estate
 It is not known when Princess Taiping was born, but it is known that she was the youngest of six known children of Emperor Gaozong and his second wife Empress Wu (later known as Wu Zetian). In 670, when Empress Wu's mother Lady Yang died, Empress Wu had Princess Taiping become a Taoist nun to gain divine favor on behalf of her grandmother Lady Yang. At a later point, when Emperor Gaozong was negotiating a peace treaty with Tufan, the king of Tufan requested to marry Princess Taiping, and Emperor Gaozong declined — and, as an excuse, built a Taoist temple named Taiping Temple (太平觀) and commissioned her as the abbess of the temple.  In 681, however, Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu selected Xue Shao (薛紹), a son of Emperor Gaozong's sister Princess Chengyang and Princess Chengyang's second husband Xue Yao (薛曜) (and thus, Princess Taiping's cousin) to be Princess Taiping's husband. A grand wedding was held in the fall of 681, and it was said that there were so many torches used in the procession from the palace to Xuanyang District (宣陽坊), where the Xue clan lived, that the trees on the side of the streets were all heated to death. Empress Wu, believing that Lady Xiao, the wife of Xue Shao's brother Xue Yi (薛顗), and Lady Cheng, the wife of another brother Xue Xu (薛緒), were both of low birth and should not be her daughter's sisters-in-law, commented, "How can my daughter be a sister-in-law to the daughters of farmers?" She considered forcing Xue Yi and Xue Xu to divorce, but someone noted to her that Lady Xiao was a grandniece of the deceased chancellor Xiao Yu, and she relented. Princess Taiping's marriage to Xue Shao yielded three sons — Xue Chongjian (薛崇簡), Xue Chongmin (薛崇敏), and Xue Chongxing (薛崇行).  The Princess Taiping - Chinese Replica Junk Expedition 2008 Princess Taiping is a replica of a Gan Zeng Chuan(趕繒船), made by a group of experienced craftsmen from Fujian Province. They have attempted to replicate a Ming Dynasty (14th -17th Century) -style sailing junk using the natural materials and traditional techniques of more than 600 years ago. She will be engaged in a series of sailing trials and experimental expeditions. Through this activity an important record will be bequeathed to our younger generation.  Historical Notes: In the western world, this type of Chinese ship is generally known as a Chinese "Junk". However, in my opinion this is a rather prejudiced translation. According to my study, the Chinese word of this kind of ship is written as , pronounced as "Gorl", and which means a large ship sailing on rivers or lakes. The chinese word of river is written as , pronounced as "Jung". Therefore, this ship may be referred to as a "Jung-Gorl", or simply "Gorl", but by no means should it be called a "Junk". The multi-masts sailing ship was invented by the Chinese around 200 A.D.. During 1405 to 1433, the famous Chinese explorer, Cheng He, had made seven voyages to explore the western world. He had reached as far as the east coast of Africa and the Red Sea, and the time was 87 years earlier than Columbus's voyage (1492). Cheng's fleet consists of as many as 27,800 crew, including sailors, soldiers, and merchants. The fleet was made up by hundreds of sailing ships. Several Chinese historical records, including the official Ming dynasty chronicle -, indicated that the largest ones (the Treasure Ships) were huge ships having nine masts, weighted 1500 tons, more than 120 meters (400 feet) in length*, and can carry over 1000 passengers.  Credits and permissions: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia CreativeCommons Chinese Sailing Ship (c. 1400) flickr Hong Kong Maritime Museum
The Articles of The Princess Taiping:
Sort by: Featured Date | |
The Discussions of The Princess Taiping:
|
