Looking west to Chang 'an and looking east to Luoyang, pursuing the origin of Chinese civilization (Continued 3: Famen Temple on the Western Line of Xi'an)

- -Parent-child self-driving tour in Northwest China in July 2020

D04 (08/7): Visit Shaanxi Province History Museum/Famen Temple and stay at Novotel Bell Tower Hotel.

The Shaanxi Province History Museum is a very popular place. Although daily visits are free, making an appointment is really troublesome. I have not made an appointment since I arrived in Xi'an on the 5th. On the afternoon of the 05th, I made a phone call to the museum to inquire about booking tickets. The staff told me that there was no other way but to make an appointment online. Let me ask one more question, when do you open reservations? Tell me that starting from 0 a.m. that day, you can make reservations for the next two days. I immediately made up my mind to go online at midnight to make an appointment.

Unexpectedly, when I waited until midnight on July 06 and clicked on the official App of the Shaanxi Province History Museum, another line popped up in the system: "From 0:00 to 4:00 is the system maintenance time." Hehe, it seems that I am going all out today and won't sleep.

A joke is a joke. After setting the alarm on my mobile phone, I went to bed. The alarm sounded on time at 4 a.m.. I got up, quickly clicked on the ticket reservation system on my mobile phone, and booked the tickets for the children and adults who had just been released on July 08 at an extremely fast speed. In this way, I can safely go to sleep again.

I woke up at 6:45AM in the morning and clicked on my mobile phone curiously to see how many tickets were left. The first batch of reserved tickets for the 9:00-10:30 period was already full. There are still tickets available for other times.

The Shaanxi Province History Museum is vast and magnificent, has rich collections, and is prosperous in cultural relics. The museum has as many as 1.72 million Tibetan pieces. It contains simple stone tools used in the initial stage of ancient humans, and various artifacts in social life before 1840. The time span is more than one million years.

The cultural relics here are not only numerous and diverse, but also of great value. Among them, the bronze wares of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties are exquisite, and the pottery figurines of the past are in a variety of shapes. The gold and silver wares of the Han and Tang Dynasties are unique in the country. The murals of the Tang tombs are unparalleled in the world. They can be described as a dazzling array and a collection of high-quality products.

The land of Sanqin is where the Chinese nation lived and thrived. It is also one of the important areas where Chinese civilization was born and developed. Thirteen dynasties, including the most glorious Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties in Chinese history, established their capitals here. Rich cultural relics and profound cultural accumulation have formed Shaanxi's unique historical and cultural features.

Children like to read "The Treasure Hunt in Shaanxi", and the stories in it are familiar to them. They mention the cultural relics in the collection of the Shaanxi Province History Museum-the treasure of the town hall, the "Golden Monster". It happened that I took this picture and read the commentary. It turned out that this was a decoration worn by the King Xiongnu on his waistband, symbolizing the noble identity. So I shared this feeling with my children, and everyone was happy.

From the origin of Lantian Man, to the early pottery relics of the New and Old Stone Ages, to the later rise of bronzes in the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the excavation of portrait stone murals of the Han Dynasty, the beautiful birth of Sancai of the Tang Dynasty, as well as the painting and ceramic art of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and the blue and white porcelain of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, this period of colorful history shines with dazzling brilliance in the historical process of Chinese civilization.

After all, he is a child. Spend a long time in such a museum rich in cultural relics and historic sites, and he will inevitably feel boring for a long time. So, the children began to browse quickly and kept turning back to urge me to read quickly. Near noon, I finally finished watching the Tang Dynasty Heritage Exhibition of Hejia Village Cellar Cultural Relics, so I drove to Famen Temple in Fufeng County, Baoji.

Originally, he recommended Prince Long to go to Maoling first, hoping to let him experience the style of the Han Dynasty and the unparalleled martial arts of Huo Qubing, the general of the hussars, and Wei Qing. Unexpectedly, Prince Long was very strong-minded and was unmoved and directly said that he would go to Famen Temple.

I had to do it. It took more than an hour's drive and entered the scenic spot at 14:00PM. After checking the health code, ID card, and ticket, we started the visit smoothly.

This Famen Temple has made great progress compared to more than ten years ago. The towering buildings, the magnificent temples, and the spirit tower with hands raised high and palms displaying the finger relics of Buddha Sakyamuni all demonstrate the respect and nobility of this former royal temple.

Famen Temple was built during the Huan Ling period at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It has a history of more than 1700 years and is known as the "ancestor of the Guanzhong Pagoda Temple". The three words "Famen Temple" were named by Li Yuan, the Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty.

The weather was hot and the ground was roasted. It was 38 degrees. Grandma was not feeling well and walked very slowly. We walked forward slowly. On the vast square, there are tall Buddha statues sitting opposite each other, including Manjusri, Samantabhadra, Avalokitesvara, and Taqaishuru Bodhisattva. Until nearly 16:30PM, we had not reached the main entrance of Famen Temple and suddenly discovered that the scenic area was about to close.

So, Prince Long and I shook off my grandma and strode straight towards the gate of Famen Temple. In less than half an hour, I browsed the entire temple. The Treasures Exhibition of Famen Temple contains many valuable rare cultural relics, from gold and jade Buddha statues to porcelain, from Buddhist staff to various magic tools. There are also thin and pure glassware unearthed in the Tang Dynasty, which is eye-opening.

After visiting Famen Temple, grandma and Prince Long chose to take the last sightseeing bus back first. I walked towards the Buddha Finger Shella. In the distance, there is a towering giant building with hands folded together. The highest point is dedicated to the Buddha's true phalanx relic.

Only on the first day or fifteenth day of the lunar new year will the Buddha's finger bone relic be open to the public. Unfortunately, it is closed today.

I piously knelt down in front of the Buddha's stupa and prayed and made wishes, then turned around and entered the inner hall to visit the introduction of historical pictures of Famen Temple.

Coming out of the scenic spot, Xiaobao and grandma had been waiting for a long time. I was holding the red bean milk tea I had just bought, and Prince Long ran over happily.

After drinking milk tea, we drove back to Xi'an. Prince Long only complained of a headache. Maybe the weather has been too hot these days. Did the child have a little heat stroke? First, I settled the children to go to bed. At night, I found a nearby restaurant and ate oily noodles. In order to kill bacteria and fight the epidemic, I already eat raw garlic every day.

After repeated arguments for answering questions, the car rental company finally agreed that they would send someone to the hotel to communicate with me and arrange for on-site maintenance. This was the right way to solve the problem. However, communication models and service efficiency urgently need to be improved.

<Unfinished Thousand Buddha Pavilion