New Observatory Built!

March 1276

Imperial Inquirer

The building of the Gaocheng Astronomical Observatory is finished.  Emperor Kublai Khan had ordered it's construction a few months ago.  The observatory was built in Gaocheng.  The emperor believes that this will lead to great astronomical finds.

The observatory has two main parts, the body and the shigui.  It is about nine and half high by itself, with another three added if you include the two cabinets on the top.  The shigui is about 31 meters long and about half a meter wide.  The shigui also points north.  We were able to talk to Shen Qian, one of the builders of the observatory.  He said, " We worked hard on building it, so I hope it's useful."

New Observatory Shall Lead to Many Great Discoveries!

1276 A.D.

A new astronomical observatory has been built in Gaocheng.  It was built by order of Emperor Kublai Khan, along with 26 others that have not been built yet.  This new observatory will bring honor with its discoveries.

This new and advanced observatory will improve our understanding of astronomy. It will help us observe the movement of the sun and stars.  Our observations with this observatory may help us make a new calender!  The observatory is bound to attract astronomers and help them make discoveries.

Some people have gone against this wonderful idea, saying that it's wasting money and that the workers were forced away from their families.  It was built in Gaocheng, so the majority of the workers were from the area and not far from their families.  As for money, the price of the observatory can easily be earned back through trade.

The new Gaocheng Astronomical Observatory should be a respected sight.  The emperor should continue his plans and build all 27 observatories.  The people of China should aspire to be astronomers so they can make many discoveries with the observatory.

The Yuan Dynasty: A Time of Conquest

The Yuan Dynasty (1271 to 1368) had a vast amount of land.  Modern China’s borders are a lot smaller than the Yuan Dynasty’s.  The Yuan Dynasty stretched from Russia to Myanmar, and included modern day North Korea and Mongolia.  The Mongols were fierce warriors that constantly expanding their empire.  As they expanded south they met the Song Dynasty, a small dynasty that ruled over southern China.  When they conquered the Song, they moved the capitol to Dadu, which is modern day Beijing, and started the Yuan Dynasty.

The Hand Cannon: A Leap Forward in Warfare

Some of the earliest hand cannons were made during the Yuan dynasty.  It had a metal barrel attached to a wooden stock.  There were two ways of firing.  One person could hold the cannon in two hands while another person ignited it.  You could also place it on a rest, allowing you to hold the cannon in one hand and ignite it with the other.  You could ignite the cannons with wood, coal, or slow-burning matches.  Some of the ammunition used included pebbles, iron balls, and arrows.
The Hand cannon was invented in China in the twelfth or thirteenth century.  Europeans and Arabs began to use hand cannons by the fourteenth century.  The Koreans had also gained knowledge of the hand cannon at the same time.
Hand cannons were very popular in Europe.  They could pierce heavy armor and were cheep to make.  They also acted as terror weapons.  The loud boom could startle troops and horses.  You needed little practice to use one too.  While the hand cannon is not in use today, many of its descendants are in use today.  All the guns used in wars, police forces, and in civilian protection are all descendants of the hand cannon.

Yuan Dynasty: An Era of Tolerance

Many religions flourished during the Yuan Dynasty.  One of them was Buddhism.  Buddhists believed that all suffering was caused by greed.  They also believed that you could get rid of your suffering by removing greed from your life.  You become enlightened when you remove your greed.  Buddhists practiced meditation and moderation.  Moderation means using only what you need and nothing more.  Many Buddhists texts were translated into Mongolian during the Yuan Dynasty.
Another major belief system was Daoism.  Daoists believed in the “Dao” or the way.  The Dao is the path of nature.  To achieve a harmonious life you must not go against the way of nature.  Things that didn’t happen in nature, such as striving for wealth or power was unnatural because nothing in nature did the same.  Nature accepts everything that comes it’s way, whether it was good or bad.  That led Daoists to believe that you can’t have good without bad, and that you need to balance out the two to gain peace.

Zhao Mengfu: One of the Three Great Calligraphers of the Yuan Dynasty

Zhao Mengfu was a descendant of a Song Dynasty imperial family.  He became an official at the age of fourteen.  When the Yuan Dynasty begin he took to calligraphy and literature.  He eventually became an official of the Yuan Dynasty.  His works were of a high artistic level.  The emperor was so impressed with his works that he compared Zhao to a few famous artists from previous dynasties.

Zhao made many great works like “The Annotation of the Collection of Ancient Texts”.  Zhao’s main talent was calligraphy. Seal character, official script, running script and the cursive hand were some of the types of calligraphy that Zhao was skilled in.  In fact, Zhao created his own type of calligraphy called Zhaoti. He eventually became one of the Three Great Calligraphers of the Yuan Dynasty.

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