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Mysterious Chinese inscriptions hidden in the Washington Monument for 165 years Global Journal

The interior of the Washington Monument hides a story related to the folklore of China's Qing Dynasty.

By Sue TorresPublished about a year ago 7 min read
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Washington Monument

In the capital of the United States, on the axis of the Washington Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial, there is such a structure.

This is the Washington Monument, built in honor of George Washington, the first president of the United States. However, you would never guess that this building, which took 41 years to build and was completed in 1885 at a height of 169 meters, contains a story related to the folklore of the Chinese Qing Dynasty.

It turns out that on the tenth floor of the Washington Monument is a mysterious stone tablet with Chinese characters from China. This stone tablet was given to the Washington Monument in 1853 by the Qing dynasty's Zhejiang Ningbo Restorationists and is inscribed with a Chinese character that reads.

"According to Washington, a different person. He was braver than Sheng Guang and more powerful than Cao Liu, but he did not tyrannize his title and did not pass it on to his descendants, but created the law of election so that the whole world would be public. Its governance country to let good customs, and do not advocate martial arts, but also very different from other countries. I have seen his portrait, masculine and resolute, whoops, can not be said to be a human being. The United States of America as a country, covering an area of 10,000 miles, did not set up the number of kings and lords, did not follow the world and the rules, the public instrument to pay the public debate, the creation of an ancient and modern unprecedented situation, a what is also strange? The United States of America is a nation of 10,000 miles, without a king or a vassal, without the rules of the world, and with a public instrument of public opinion, creating a situation unprecedented in the past and present.

This Chinese character comes from the book "Ying Huan Zhi Lu" by Xu Jiyu, and the inscription from the Daoguang period roughly translates as.

"Washington was a singular man! He led the independence movement with more courage than Chen Sheng Wu Guang's uprising; he founded the United States and established one side, more than Cao Cao Liu Bei, the great man of one side. He had already led an army and opened up miles of territory, but he did not take the throne as emperor and did not pass the leadership position to his children. Instead, he created the method of election. This behavior was almost like the world is public. He ruled the country in favor of maintaining good moral customs of the people, rather than ruling by force. This is different from other countries I saw the portrait of Washington, his majestic appearance is majestic, how can not be called a human being ah? The United States of America, a nation of ten thousand miles, does not have the title of king and waiter and does not follow the rules of hereditary titles. The power of the state is discussed and exercised by the public, creating a situation that has never been seen before or since. How can the figures of the West, ancient and modern, not be first with Washington?"

Who was Xu Jiyu? He was born in the last year of the "Kang-Qian Dynasty" (1795) and was a native of Wutai, Shanxi. When the Opium War broke out in 1840, Xu Jiyu had already moved to Fujian as an official, and in 1846, when he was governor of Fujian, he was deeply affected by the defeat of the Opium War and the decline of the country's fortunes and the fact that its industries were lagging behind those of the West. He began to think about the reasons for the country's decline and to collect information to study why the West was so powerful and could beat the Qing Dynasty to death. After years of research and study, he completed the first systematic introduction to world geography in Asia, Ying Huan Zhi Lu, in 1848.

In that era, Xu Jiyu was able to analyze and summarize the history of the United States and its political system in more detail, and the book also contained a map of the world.

Xu Jiyu himself particularly agreed with the merits of Washington, who wrote: "After establishing the country, Washington surrendered his power and lived a quiet life. The people refused to let him go and were determined to establish him as emperor. Washington then said to the crowd, 'It is selfish to build a nation and pass that power on to your descendants. It is your duty to choose men of talent and virtue to hold positions of national leadership.'" According to Xu Jiyu, it is unprecedented in history for a man like Washington to lead the people to take over the "world" but completely abandons the monarchy and implement democratic politics.

However, in the Qing Dynasty, the praise of democracy and the rule of law eventually brought Xu Jiyu bad luck, and in 1851 he was censured by the official in charge of propaganda, so the court removed him from the post of governor, and then transferred him to the capital, where he was given a job that was almost like a butler's job. -The next year, he was not allowed to do the job, was sent back to his hometown, and became a commoner.

Coincidentally, Zhang Sigui (1816-1888), a Ningbo reformer, later learned about this. He was particularly impressed by the commentary on Washington, which he had read with great admiration, and was deeply moved by it. So he told his American student, William Ding, about it.

In June 1850, he was sent to China as a missionary and spent the first ten years of his life in Ningbo, where his Chinese teacher was Zhang Shigui. Ting was greatly interested in Xu Jishe, who also knew that the U.S. government was soliciting items related to the Washington Monument overseas, and came up with an idea during the exchange that was quickly put into action. In 1853, Ding sent the monument to the United States, where it was presented to the Washington Memorial, which is how the mysterious monument came to be Washington Memorial 165 years ago.

Portrait

In 1862, after Xu Jishe's story was reported in the New York Times, the Americans became very interested in Xu Jiyu, and in 1867, Johnson, the 17th President of the United States, asked the painter Pratt to copy a portrait of Washington and gave it to Pu Anshen, the then Ambassador to China, to present to Xu. Pu Anshen said at the presentation ceremony: "Washington, like the Chinese people, firmly believes that everyone in the world can breathe the air of freedom; like the Chinese people, adhere to a principle put forward by Confucius in two thousand three hundred years ago: do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Xu Jie replied as follows: "I read the letter yesterday and was honored by it. I am very pleased to see the elegant statue of Washington, the founding father of your country, and I admire it with great admiration. I think that Washington was the first to build a miracle in your country, and created the law of the world so that it can be passed on to the world. I would like to thank you for your kind words of appreciation. The name is given separately."

Xu Jiyu's admiration for Washington was undiminished. The New York Times of 1868 also wrote a special commentary on the matter, "The Influence of the United States in China," saying, "This writer was banished twenty years ago for extolling our great first president. Lately, through the good offices of Mr. Pope Anson, he seems to have been honored and rewarded more than ever. It is a striking sign of the times that so obstinate a prisoner has regained favor and distinction. In the twenty-five years up to now, the study of the history of the barbarians has become the most dangerous of the disciplines in which the Chinese engage in research, and an honest geographer has dared to repeat Galileo's mistake."

Twenty-eight years after Xu Jiyu's death, a boy was born in the Xu family named Xu Xiangqian, later one of the founding marshals of the new China, Xu Qianqian. According to the genealogy of the Xu clan in Wutai County, Shanxi, Xu Jiyu is the 15th generation of the Xu clan in Wutai County, and Xu Qianqian is the 19th generation, a descendant of Xu Jiyu from the same clan.

This 165 years ago, the Chinese Qing Dynasty's reading and the United States of America origin, is not also let you have a new impression of the real history.

HistoricalHumanity
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About the Creator

Sue Torres

Is there any other reason to live to change the world?

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