礼致河南 中原文化之旅

Henan is the cradle of Chinese civilization， which has profound cultural tradition and heritage. Song Yang Academy and Shaolin Temple are the combination of Wen and Wu， the dynamic and the static， which endow Songshan Mountain with unique flexibility and solemn. Zen Music played in Songshan Mountain valley composes a heavenly Zen Music Shaolin Grand Ceremony with nature. Lets bravely travel through the strange and dangerous wall built-up highway on Taihang Mountain cliff， step into splendid China and salute to Henan cultural tour！

河南是华夏文明的发源地，有着深厚的文化传统与遗产。嵩阳书院，悠悠少林。文与武，动与静的交融，赋予了嵩山独有的灵动和厚重。在嵩山峡谷中奏响的禅乐与大自然构成一种天籁般的禅宗少林音乐大典。勇敢地穿越在巍巍太行悬崖峭壁上开凿而出的奇险挂壁公路。让我们一起踏上锦绣中华·礼致河南的文化之旅！

Song Yang Academy—An Idea Dialogue with ancient Literati

Song Yang Academy is one of the earliest academies with great influence. Song Yang Academy in Henan， White Deer Grotto Academy in Jiangxi Lushan Mountain， Yuelu Academy in Hunan Changsha， and Sui Yang Academy in Henan Shangqiu are known as "Four Great Academies" in ancient China. The academy is simple and elegant. The main buildings on the central axis are complete in varieties with quinary and corridors. The two ancient cypresses are special and crowned as "general cypresses” by Emperor Wudi.

Song Yang Academy was the place to teach Confucianism. If you want to enter the academy， you first need to pass the gate with memorial archway， with 4 Chinese characters “Gao Shan Yang Zhi” on it， which means the quality and knowledge of Confucius is like mountain， enough for people to admire. Before entering the gate， all students should pay attention to their words， deeds and clothes， so as to not disrespectful.

After passing the memorial arch of “Gao Shan Yang Zhi”， we can see a flat gray stone road in front of us. Then， steps of slabs appear， which are embraced by dense bamboo on both sides. Time seems to back to ancient times， and we can see numerous students quickly ran to school.

In the right side of steps is “Beiting” with red pillars and gray tiles. Under Beiting is one of the earliest stone tablets left by Eastern Wei Dynasty. There are many Buddhist statues， and they keep the style of “Cao clothing out of water “. The characters above are in typical tablet script， which is between regular script and official script， the font is energetic and saturated， which belongs to the top grade of tablet script calligraphy. Ascending the stairs， a raised circular area in gray fences appears in our sight， in the middle of which， there is a lush almond tree. Under the three， a solid stone table and four cylindrical benches are put. This is to commemorate the old routine that Confucius lectures under the almond tree.

Tang Dynasty Tablet is nearby. It is one of the triple gems of Song Yang Academy. The modeling of the Tablet shows the grand， magnificent and spectacular style of Tang Dynasty architecture. On the base of the tablet， many beautiful statues are carved， which are solid and stable， and shows its straightness and fluency. The above tablet cap is dignified and elegant， and especially shows the flexibility and solidness of the body.

Coming to the real gate of Song Yang Academy， you can see a pair of stone lions with vigorous eyes， which witness numerous students and dignitaries in and out of the academy. They are all alike， keeping silent. The whole Song Yang Academy building belongs to shed-like structure， and represents the Confucian conception of simplicity， moderation， and peacefulness. The four characters"Song Yang Shu Yuan" above the door are modeled on Su Dongpos style. On both sides of the door， there is a couplet written by Emperor Qianlong， which is magnificent and full of romantic style.

Have an Innocent Morning Class in Shaolin Temple

When I came to Shaolin Temple on September 3， it is just the time to the prayer meetings to commemorate the Seventieth Anniversary of the victory of Anti-Japanese War. On this special day， a lot of Buddhists also came to the temple early to have a morning lesson on early with the monks， and they chanted and listened to the classics. They put themselves in the spiritual purification， praying for the motherland.

At 5 o clock in the morning， the night was not completely faded. We reached the Mahavira Hall in Songshan Shaolin Temple to have the morning lessons with the monks. Without the bustling noise during the day， the brilliant the Mahavira Hall appears more solemn and mysterious. Candlelight blandly overflew from the doors and Windows. This is the place with the brightest light in the Shaolin Temple.

Without light or sound， there are four red lighting candles in the Temple. Mahavira Hall is the place where Buddhist works. There are Shakyamuni Buddha and two of his disciples， Kasyapa， Mahakasyapa， Bhai？ajyaguru， Amitbha and the temple of Zen Buddhism in the early progenitor Dharma and strength fighting skillrepresentative Bodhisattva. Under the candlelight， bodhisattva presents some more dignity.

Inside a piece of the silent hall， it seems to hear peoples breathing. On both sides of the lobby， the monks and Shramanera stand linearly. The Abbot was accompanied by two waiters into the hall， crossing his hands with eye closed， in front of the Shakyamuni Buddha. At this moment， the clock on the east side of the hall was stricken. The crisp sweet bell broke the silence， and through the halls to the heart. Then here comes the sound of reading classics by all the monks with the sincere hearts.