Chapter 0436 – The Great Golden Pagoda (II)

“This …… this is the Great Golden Pagoda?!”

Looking at the slender spire of the tower that shimmered with dazzling golden light in the sunlight, Zhuang Rui couldn’t help but be shocked.

The Great Golden Pagoda in the distance, like a golden mystery rising from the horizon, a breathtaking miracle shining in the sun, was shaped neither as an Islamic dome nor a Hindu minaret, but like an upright gourd.

“Yes, this is our Great Pagoda of Shede Palace, which the World Cultural Heritage Preservation Organization once said was, along with the Borobudur Pagoda in Indonesia and Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the jewels of Oriental art, the most famous pagoda in the world, and the symbol of our Myanmar …… ”

After hearing Zhuang Rui’s words, that dark and thin driver, unexpectedly explained to Zhuang Rui in Chinese, although his Chinese was a bit stiff, but the meaning was still expressed, when he spoke, his face was even more a look of pride.

Zhuang Rui would have liked to use China’s Great Wall to refute the driver, but at this time the car has arrived at the periphery of the Great Pagoda, see the entire Great Pagoda full Zhuang Rui suddenly dumbfounded, to the side of the mouth, no longer able to say the words.

More than one hundred meters high big golden tower, stands in front of Zhuang Rui, this feeling is like standing in a more than thirty layer high building, people are so small, in that huge golden tower around, there are dozens of small golden tower, arching big golden tower, into the eye, everywhere is golden color, strongly impacted Zhuang Rui and other people’s visual senses, give a kind of grandeur and opulence of the feeling.

Getting out of the car, Zhuang Rui saw Yang Hao paid the fare, the driver did not leave immediately, but pushed open the door down, respectfully to the Great Pagoda with folded hands, the mouth also recited the chanting of the sutras, after almost a minute, before driving away.

After the cab left, Yang Hao said with a smile, “This driver is a bit interesting, acting like a monk.”

“I guess that driver has really been a monk, you don’t know the history of Burma!”

Before Zhuang Rui came to Myanmar, he had supplemented his knowledge about Myanmar, he knew that Myanmar, like Thailand, is a famous Buddhist country, Buddhism has been introduced to Myanmar for more than 2,500 years, and more than 85% of the people in the whole country of Myanmar believe in Buddhism.

More pagodas, more temples, more monks are the three major features of Myanmar’s Buddhist culture, the Burmese men have to cut their hair and become monks at least once in their lives, which is considered to be practicing to accumulate virtues, Zhuang Rui just said that the driver may have been a monk, because of this.

Burmese Buddhists believe that building pagodas can create lifelong blessings and cultivate blessings for the next life. According to statistics, there are more than 100,000 large and small pagodas in the country. Therefore, Myanmar is also known as the “Land of Pagodas”.

The Great Pagoda of Yangon, built more than 2,500 years ago, is the masterpiece of Myanmar’s pagodas, a masterpiece of the world’s Buddhist architectural art, as well as the world’s oldest and most expensive pagoda.

The Great Pagoda is up to 100 meters high, surrounded by 64 small pagodas around the baking, the pagoda body plastered with gold leaf, only the main tower has nearly 30,000 pieces of gold, weighing more than 7 tons, the top of the pagoda by gold casting, but also inlaid with 5,448 grains of diamonds and 2,317 grains of rubies, the whole Great Pagoda flowing light, gold, magnificent.

“This is the world’s most valuable antique!”

Zhuang Rui look is in awe, the price of those diamonds and gemstones, simply can not use money to estimate, not to mention that there are more than 7 tons of gold, to know, this one gold tower, is equivalent to the United States in the World Bank gold reserves of one thousandth.

As the saying goes: hearing is not believing and seeing is not believing, Zhuang Rui in Myanmar geography to see the description of the Great Pagoda, the heart is still some disdain, to say that man-made buildings, China’s Forbidden City that represents the highest level of ancient architecture it, so to Myanmar, he did not rise up to play the mind.

However, after seeing the Great Pagoda, Zhuang Rui realized that he used to be a little arrogant, the Great Pagoda, indeed worthy of the Burmese pride and joy.

The Great Pagoda is built on the mountain, Zhuang Rui spent three dollars at the entrance to buy a book to introduce the Great Pagoda of colorful pages, which has the Chinese, English and Burmese three kinds of text, a detailed introduction to the history of the Great Pagoda, there are also many mythological stories.

The legend begins with a pair of merchant brothers who met the Buddha – they received eight hairs of the Buddha to be sent to Burma for enshrinement. The brothers traveled to Burma and with the help of the local king found the sacred mountain where many of the Buddha’s treasures were enshrined.

When the eight hairs of Buddha were taken out of the golden box of the two brothers for enshrinement, something incredible happened: the light emanating from the hairs penetrated heaven and hell, making the blind see, the deaf hear, and the mute speak clearly, and the sky descended with dry thunders, the earth shook, and even Sumeru Mountain was affected, and jewels descended from the sky like rain to a depth of up to their knees, and the trees on the Himalayas, even though they were not in the blossoming season, also have blossomed and borne fruit.

These are all legends of course, but inside the Great Golden Pagoda, the relics of the four Buddhas are indeed enshrined, including the walking stick of the Detaining Sun Buddha, the purifying water vessel of the Rightly Guided Golden Silent Buddha, the robe of the Gautama Buddha, and in addition, the eight hairs of the Buddha Sakyamuni, which are worshipped and incensed every day by countless devout Buddhists.

Walking into the gate, you can see the huge pagoda base, which is 433 meters in circumference, surrounded by 64 small pagodas and 4 medium pagodas built in different styles of wood and stone, with four entrances guarded by stone lions, and a series of stairs leading to the platform on the hill after the entrances.

The tower is surrounded by more than 15,000 gold and silver bells, the wind blows the bells, clear and pleasant, the sound spreads in all directions.

Dajinta southeast, northwest and north have the gate, the door with the Chinese temple in front of the usual guardian lions, each with a pair of tall stone lions. Inside the door there is a promenade of stone steps to the top of the pagoda, both sides of the steps are full of stalls, with wood, bamboo, bone, ivory and other carved statues of the Buddha and human statues, incense, candles, flowers, and a variety of Burmese flavors snacks for the Buddha.

Zhuang Rui and Yang Hao three people, is now standing at the entrance to the south gate of the Golden Pagoda, on both sides of the gate, there is a pair of lion-faced statues guard, Zhuang Rui do not know this is rumored to be two thousand five hundred years ago, and the Egyptian pyramids, whether there is any mysterious connection.

At the staff’s prompting, Zhuang Rui and others have removed their shoes, entered the Great Pagoda, which is to show respect for the Buddha, is the foreign head of state president to come, but also to remove the shoes.

Above a series of steps, there is a statue of Buddha, and the bottom of the pagoda is made of bricks and overlaid with gold nuggets, which are real gold bricks made of pure gold, donated by Buddhists from all walks of life up and down Burma, and in the niches on the ambulatory inside the pagoda, jade statues of the Buddha of varying shapes and sizes are enshrined.

Walking in the exotic large pagoda, from time to time there are wearing monks barefoot from the side of the walk through, although this golden pagoda extremely extravagant, but people standing inside, Zhuang Rui only feel the state of mind unprecedented peace and tranquility, the heart of the layer of the world annoyance, seems to be gone.

Today is the last day of 2004, many devout Buddhists have come here, ready to meet the beginning of the new year, so in the tower, everywhere is a crowd, but no one here clamor, are orderly along the flow of people, worship each enshrined in the tower of the Buddha.

Walked around the tower after a circle, visited a few relics of the Lord Buddha, Zhuang Rui and Yang Hao three people, from the southeast corner out of the tower, the sky is still sunny, but Zhuang Rui and Yang Hao this is not feel so hot, may be the tranquility of the mind led to it!

The southeast corner of the Great Pagoda, there is a Bodhi tree, is said to be transplanted from the Indian Sakyamuni Vajra Throne of the sacred tree in the nursery, in the Bodhi tree on the left, and there is a Qing dynasty Guangxu years, by the overseas Chinese donations to the construction of Chinese temples called “Fuhui Palace”.

Here is much more lively, many vendors on the ground selling souvenirs and some antique coins, that very Chinese characteristics of the high temple, plus vendors mixed with Chinese shouting, give Zhuang Rui feeling, like coming to the domestic antique market in general.

“Peng Fei, see what’s interesting, buy a little for both Nui Nui and Ya Ya to bring back ……”

Yesterday after Ouyang Wan brought the inamorata back to the courtyard, the little one immediately got acquainted with Yaya, the rest of her brothers and sisters are too much older than her, can’t play together, now the family has come to Yaya, the little inamorata immediately became Yaya’s follower, the relationship between the two little girls is too good to be true.

Before coming, Zhuang Rui took 30,000 dollars, put on Peng Fei’s body, is so that the expenses on this journey, are paid by Peng Fei.

Here on the stall, most of the characters or Buddha carving, the material is nothing more than ivory and wood, although the carving is not bad, just Zhuang Rui not much to look at the eye, he never believed that foreign monks will recite this sentence, nothing to run here to invite the Bodhisattva why!

“A few people come to me here to see it! They are all authentic ivory, bamboo, and old wood root carvings, like a fake ……”

When a few people walked to a stall, the stall owner’s pure Mandarin, will Zhuang Rui and others attracted, there are many Burmese will speak Chinese is not false, but obviously can hear the language in the raw, and this looks more than thirty years old middle-aged man’s pure Mandarin, showing his identity, absolutely is Chinese undoubtedly.

His stall on the variety of items, relatively speaking, a little richer, in addition to those carved wood, ivory, bone and other things in addition to the Buddha, there are also bamboo handmade vases and other things, of course, just decorative, not water, the production is quite exquisite, in addition to rattan products, decorated with sequins colorful sand cages, very Burmese characteristics.

Zhuang Rui was attracted by those sand cages, squatted down to look up, casually asked the stall owner: “This big brother, listen to your accent, is Chinese, right?”

The stall owner replied, “Yes, I came to Burma from my grandfather’s generation, more than half a century ago! But the year before last, he went back to his homeland to recognize his relatives.”

Zhuang Rui couldn’t help but be in awe of what he heard and asked, “Your grandfather was in the Chinese Expeditionary Army back then and stayed in Burma?”

There were quite a few Chinese people living in Burma, and all of them were soldiers.

Back then, during the War of Resistance Against Japan, China had sent two expeditionary forces totaling 260,000 men to fight in Burma, and because of the Allied command blunders and poor collaboration, the first expedition ended in failure, and the number of people who were captured, blown up, starved to death, and died or disappeared from infectious diseases that claimed their lives in the debacle, amounted to as many as seventy thousand people.

Many of the surviving Chinese soldiers stayed in Burma until the 1990s, when the dusty history was reveled and a campaign was launched to welcome the bones and souls of the fallen heroes, and many veterans returned to the mainland to search for their ancestors.

The second kind of people who stayed in Burma were the Kuomintang troops led by Li Mei, who were defeated from Yunnan during the Liberation War, and entered Burma and became entrenched in the Golden Triangle area.