View allAll Photos Tagged CAI Community Review

毛泽东(1893年12月26日-1976年9月9日),字润之(原作咏芝,后改润芝),笔名子任。湖南湘潭人。中国人民的领袖,伟大的马克思主义者,伟大的无产阶级革命家 [23] 、战略家、理论家,中国共产党、中国人民解放军和中华人民共和国的主要缔造者和领导人,马克思主义中国化的伟大开拓者,近代以来中国伟大的爱国者和民族英雄,中国共产党第一代中央领导集体的核心,领导中国人民彻底改变自己命运和国家面貌的一代伟人 [16] [23] 。

1949至1976年,毛泽东担任中华人民共和国最高领导人。他对马克思列宁主义的发展、军事理论的贡献以及对共产党的理论贡献被称为毛泽东思想。因毛泽东担任过的主要职务几乎全部称为主席,所以也被人们尊称为“毛主席”。

毛泽东被视为现代世界历史中最重要的人物之一,《时代》杂志也将他评为20世纪最具影响100人之一

  

Mao Zedong[a] (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which he led as the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from the establishment of the PRC in 1949 until his death in 1976. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist, his theories, military strategies, and political policies are collectively known as Maoism. Mao was the son of a prosperous peasant in Shaoshan, Hunan. He supported Chinese nationalism and had an anti-imperialist outlook early in his life, and was particularly influenced by the events of the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 and May Fourth Movement of 1919. He later adopted Marxism–Leninism while working at Peking University as a librarian and became a founding member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), leading the Autumn Harvest Uprising in 1927. During the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the CCP, Mao helped to found the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, led the Jiangxi Soviet's radical land reform policies, and ultimately became head of the CCP during the Long March. Although the CCP temporarily allied with the KMT under the Second United Front during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), China's civil war resumed after Japan's surrender, and Mao's forces defeated the Nationalist government, which withdrew to Taiwan in 1949. On 1 October 1949, Mao proclaimed the foundation of the PRC, a Marxist–Leninist single-party state controlled by the CCP. In the following years he solidified his control through the Chinese Land Reform against landlords, the Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries, the "Three-anti and Five-anti Campaigns", and through a psychological victory in the Korean War, which altogether resulted in the deaths of several million Chinese. From 1953 to 1958, Mao played an important role in enforcing planned economy in China, constructing the first Constitution of the PRC, launching the industrialisation program, and initiating military projects such as the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" project and Project 523. His foreign policies during this time were dominated by the Sino-Soviet split which drove a wedge between China and the Soviet Union. In 1955, Mao launched the Sufan movement, and in 1957 he launched the Anti-Rightist Campaign, in which at least 550,000 people, mostly intellectuals and dissidents, were persecuted. In 1958, he launched the Great Leap Forward that aimed to rapidly transform China's economy from agrarian to industrial, which led to the deadliest famine in history and the deaths of 15–55 million people between 1958 and 1962. In 1963, Mao launched the Socialist Education Movement, and in 1966 he initiated the Cultural Revolution, a program to remove "counter-revolutionary" elements in Chinese society which lasted 10 years and was marked by violent class struggle, widespread destruction of cultural artifacts, and an unprecedented elevation of Mao's cult of personality. Tens of millions of people were persecuted during the Revolution, while the estimated number of deaths ranges from hundreds of thousands to millions. After years of ill health, Mao suffered a series of heart attacks in 1976 and died at the age of 82. During Mao's era, China's population grew from around 550 million to over 900 million while the government did not strictly enforce its family planning policy.

A controversial figure within and outside China, Mao is still regarded as one of the most influential figures of the twentieth century. Beyond politics, Mao is also known as a theorist, military strategist, and poet. During the Mao era, China was heavily involved with other southeast Asian communist conflicts such as the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Cambodian Civil War, which brought the Khmer Rouge to power. The government during Mao's rule was responsible for vast numbers of deaths with estimates ranging from 40 to 80 million victims through starvation, persecution, prison labour, and mass executions. Mao has been praised for transforming China from a semi-colony to a leading world power, with greatly advanced literacy, women's rights, basic healthcare, primary education and life expectancy. During Mao's lifetime, the English-language media universally rendered his name as Mao Tse-tung, using the Wade-Giles system of transliteration for Standard Chinese though with the circumflex accent in the syllable Tsê dropped. Due to its recognizability, the spelling was used widely, even by the Foreign Ministry of the PRC after Hanyu Pinyin became the PRC's official romanisation system for Mandarin Chinese in 1958; the well-known booklet of Mao's political statements, The Little Red Book, was officially entitled Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung in English translations. While the pinyin-derived spelling Mao Zedong is increasingly common, the Wade-Giles-derived spelling Mao Tse-tung continues to be used in modern publications to some extent.Mao Zedong was born on 26 December 1893, in Shaoshan village, Hunan.His father, Mao Yichang, was a formerly impoverished peasant who had become one of the wealthiest farmers in Shaoshan. Growing up in rural Hunan, Mao described his father as a stern disciplinarian, who would beat him and his three siblings, the boys Zemin and Zetan, as well as an adopted girl, Zejian. Mao's mother, Wen Qimei, was a devout Buddhist who tried to temper her husband's strict attitude.[14] Mao too became a Buddhist, but abandoned this faith in his mid-teenage years. At age 8, Mao was sent to Shaoshan Primary School. Learning the value systems of Confucianism, he later admitted that he did not enjoy the classical Chinese texts preaching Confucian morals, instead favouring classic novels like Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin. At age 13, Mao finished primary education, and his father united him in an arranged marriage to the 17-year-old Luo Yixiu, thereby uniting their land-owning families. Mao refused to recognise her as his wife, becoming a fierce critic of arranged marriage and temporarily moving away. Luo was locally disgraced and died in 1910, at only 21 years old. While working on his father's farm, Mao read voraciously and developed a "political consciousness" from Zheng Guanying's booklet which lamented the deterioration of Chinese power and argued for the adoption of representative democracy.[18] Interested in history, Mao was inspired by the military prowess and nationalistic fervour of George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte. His political views were shaped by Gelaohui-led protests which erupted following a famine in Changsha, the capital of Hunan; Mao supported the protesters' demands, but the armed forces suppressed the dissenters and executed their leaders.[20] The famine spread to Shaoshan, where starving peasants seized his father's grain. He disapproved of their actions as morally wrong, but claimed sympathy for their situation. At age 16, Mao moved to a higher primary school in nearby Dongshan, where he was bullied for his peasant background. Inspired by Sun's republicanism, the army rose up across southern China, sparking the Xinhai Revolution. Changsha's governor fled, leaving the city in republican control.[29] Supporting the revolution, Mao joined the rebel army as a private soldier, but was not involved in fighting. The northern provinces remained loyal to the emperor, and hoping to avoid a civil war, Sun—proclaimed "provisional president" by his supporters—compromised with the monarchist general Yuan Shikai. The monarchy was abolished, creating the Republic of China, but the monarchist Yuan became president. The revolution over, Mao resigned from the army in 1912, after six months as a soldier. Around this time, Mao discovered socialism from a newspaper article; proceeding to read pamphlets by Jiang Kanghu, the student founder of the Chinese Socialist Party, Mao remained interested yet unconvinced by the idea. Mao moved to Beijing, where his mentor Yang Changji had taken a job at Peking University. Yang thought Mao exceptionally "intelligent and handsome",[ securing him a job as assistant to the university librarian Li Dazhao, who would become an early Chinese Communist. Li authored a series of New Youth articles on the October Revolution in Russia, during which the Communist Bolshevik Party under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin had seized power. Lenin was an advocate of the socio-political theory of Marxism, first developed by the German sociologists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, and Li's articles added Marxism to the doctrines in Chinese revolutionary movement. Becoming "more and more radical", Mao was initially influenced by Peter Kropotkin's anarchism, which was the most prominent radical doctrine of the day. Chinese anarchists, such as Cai Yuanpei, Chancellor of Peking University, called for complete social revolution in social relations, family structure, and women's equality, rather than the simple change in the form of government called for by earlier revolutionaries. He joined Li's Study Group and "developed rapidly toward Marxism" during the winter of 1919.[51] Paid a low wage, Mao lived in a cramped room with seven other Hunanese students, but believed that Beijing's beauty offered "vivid and living compensation". A number of his friends took advantage of the anarchist-organised Mouvement Travail-Études to study in France, but Mao declined, perhaps because of an inability to learn languages. At the university, Mao was snubbed by other students due to his rural Hunanese accent and lowly position. He joined the university's Philosophy and Journalism Societies and attended lectures and seminars by the likes of Chen Duxiu, Hu Shih, and Qian Xuantong.[ Mao's time in Beijing ended in the spring of 1919, when he travelled to Shanghai with friends who were preparing to leave for France. He did not return to Shaoshan, where his mother was terminally ill. She died in October 1919 and her husband died in January 1920.On 4 May 1919, students in Beijing gathered at the Tiananmen to protest the Chinese government's weak resistance to Japanese expansion in China. Patriots were outraged at the influence given to Japan in the Twenty-One Demands in 1915, the complicity of Duan Qirui's Beiyang Government, and the betrayal of China in the Treaty of Versailles, wherein Japan was allowed to receive territories in Shandong which had been surrendered by Germany. These demonstrations ignited the nationwide May Fourth Movement and fuelled the New Culture Movement which blamed China's diplomatic defeats on social and cultural backwardness. In Changsha, Mao had begun teaching history at the Xiuye Primary School[ and organising protests against the pro-Duan Governor of Hunan Province, Zhang Jingyao, popularly known as "Zhang the Venomous" due to his corrupt and violent rule. In late May, Mao co-founded the Hunanese Student Association with He Shueng and Deng Zhongxia, organising a student strike for June and in July 1919 began production of a weekly radical magazine, Xiang River Review. Using vernacular language that would be understandable to the majority of China's populace, he advocated the need for a "Great Union of the Popular Masses", strengthened trade unions able to wage non-violent revolution.[clarification needed] His ideas were not Marxist, but heavily influenced by Kropotkin's concept of mutual aid. Students in Beijing rallying during the May Fourth Movement

Zhang banned the Student Association, but Mao continued publishing after assuming editorship of the liberal magazine New Hunan (Xin Hunan) and offered articles in popular local newspaper Ta Kung Pao. Several of these advocated feminist views, calling for the liberation of women in Chinese society; Mao was influenced by his forced arranged-marriage.[61] In December 1919, Mao helped organise a general strike in Hunan, securing some concessions, but Mao and other student leaders felt threatened by Zhang, and Mao returned to Beijing, visiting the terminally ill Yang Changji.[62] Mao found that his articles had achieved a level of fame among the revolutionary movement, and set about soliciting support in overthrowing Zhang.[63] Coming across newly translated Marxist literature by Thomas Kirkup, Karl Kautsky, and Marx and Engels—notably The Communist Manifesto—he came under their increasing influence, but was still eclectic in his views. Mao visited Tianjin, Jinan, and Qufu,[65] before moving to Shanghai, where he worked as a laundryman and met Chen Duxiu, noting that Chen's adoption of Marxism "deeply impressed me at what was probably a critical period in my life". In Shanghai, Mao met an old teacher of his, Yi Peiji, a revolutionary and member of the Kuomintang (KMT), or Chinese Nationalist Party, which was gaining increasing support and influence. Yi introduced Mao to General Tan Yankai, a senior KMT member who held the loyalty of troops stationed along the Hunanese border with Guangdong. Tan was plotting to overthrow Zhang, and Mao aided him by organising the Changsha students. In June 1920, Tan led his troops into Changsha, and Zhang fled. In the subsequent reorganisation of the provincial administration, Mao was appointed headmaster of the junior section of the First Normal School. Now receiving a large income, he married Yang Kaihui, daughter of Yang Changji, in the winter of 1920. The Chinese Communist Party was founded by Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao in the French concession of Shanghai in 1921 as a study society and informal network. Mao set up a Changsha branch, also establishing a branch of the Socialist Youth Corps and a Cultural Book Society which opened a bookstore to propagate revolutionary literature throughout Hunan.[68] He was involved in the movement for Hunan autonomy, in the hope that a Hunanese constitution would increase civil liberties and make his revolutionary activity easier. When the movement was successful in establishing provincial autonomy under a new warlord, Mao forgot his involvement.[69] By 1921, small Marxist groups existed in Shanghai, Beijing, Changsha, Wuhan, Guangzhou, and Jinan; it was decided to hold a central meeting, which began in Shanghai on 23 July 1921. The first session of the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was attended by 13 delegates, Mao included. After the authorities sent a police spy to the congress, the delegates moved to a boat on South Lake near Jiaxing, in Zhejiang, to escape detection. Although Soviet and Comintern delegates attended, the first congress ignored Lenin's advice to accept a temporary alliance between the Communists and the "bourgeois democrats" who also advocated national revolution; instead they stuck to the orthodox Marxist belief that only the urban proletariat could lead a socialist revolution. Mao was now party secretary for Hunan stationed in Changsha, and to build the party there he followed a variety of tactics. In August 1921, he founded the Self-Study University, through which readers could gain access to revolutionary literature, housed in the premises of the Society for the Study of Wang Fuzhi, a Qing dynasty Hunanese philosopher who had resisted the Manchus. He joined the YMCA Mass Education Movement to fight illiteracy, though he edited the textbooks to include radical sentiments. He continued organising workers to strike against the administration of Hunan Governor Zhao Hengti. Yet labour issues remained central. The successful and famous Anyuan coal mines strikes [zh] (contrary to later Party historians) depended on both "proletarian" and "bourgeois" strategies. Liu Shaoqi and Li Lisan and Mao not only mobilised the miners, but formed schools and cooperatives and engaged local intellectuals, gentry, military officers, merchants, Red Gang dragon heads and even church clergy. Mao's labour organizing work in the Anyuan mines also involved his wife Yang Kaihui, who worked for women's rights, including literacy and educational issues, in the nearby peasant communities. Although Mao and Yang were not the originators of this political organizing method of combining labor organizing among male workers with a focus on women's rights issues in their communities, they were among the most effective at using this method. Mao's political organizing success in the Anyuan mines resulted in Chen Duxiu inviting him to become a member of the Communist Party's Central Committee. Mao claimed that he missed the July 1922 Second Congress of the Communist Party in Shanghai because he lost the address. Adopting Lenin's advice, the delegates agreed to an alliance with the "bourgeois democrats" of the KMT for the good of the "national revolution". Communist Party members joined the KMT, hoping to push its politics leftward. Mao enthusiastically agreed with this decision, arguing for an alliance across China's socio-economic classes, and eventually rose to become propaganda chief of the KMT. Mao was a vocal anti-imperialist and in his writings he lambasted the governments of Japan, the UK and US, describing the latter as "the most murderous of hangmen". At the Third Congress of the Communist Party in Shanghai in June 1923, the delegates reaffirmed their commitment to working with the KMT. Supporting this position, Mao was elected to the Party Committee, taking up residence in Shanghai. At the First KMT Congress, held in Guangzhou in early 1924, Mao was elected an alternate member of the KMT Central Executive Committee, and put forward four resolutions to decentralise power to urban and rural bureaus. His enthusiastic support for the KMT earned him the suspicion of Li Li-san, his Hunan comrade. In late 1924, Mao returned to Shaoshan, perhaps to recuperate from an illness. He found that the peasantry were increasingly restless and some had seized land from wealthy landowners to found communes. This convinced him of the revolutionary potential of the peasantry, an idea advocated by the KMT leftists but not the Communists. In the winter of 1925, Mao fled to Guangzhou after his revolutionary activities attracted the attention of Zhao's regional authorities. There, he ran the 6th term of the KMT's Peasant Movement Training Institute from May to September 1926. The Peasant Movement Training Institute under Mao trained cadre and prepared them for militant activity, taking them through military training exercises and getting them to study basic left-wing texts. In March 1927, Mao appeared at the Third Plenum of the KMT Central Executive Committee in Wuhan, which sought to strip General Chiang of his power by appointing Wang Jingwei leader. There, Mao played an active role in the discussions regarding the peasant issue, defending a set of "Regulations for the Repression of Local Bullies and Bad Gentry", which advocated the death penalty or life imprisonment for anyone found guilty of counter-revolutionary activity, arguing that in a revolutionary situation, "peaceful methods cannot suffice". In April 1927, Mao was appointed to the KMT's five-member Central Land Committee, urging peasants to refuse to pay rent. Mao led another group to put together a "Draft Resolution on the Land Question", which called for the confiscation of land belonging to "local bullies and bad gentry, corrupt officials, militarists and all counter-revolutionary elements in the villages". Proceeding to carry out a "Land Survey", he stated that anyone owning over 30 mou (four and a half acres), constituting 13% of the population, were uniformly counter-revolutionary. He accepted that there was great variation in revolutionary enthusiasm across the country, and that a flexible policy of land redistribution was necessary.[ Presenting his conclusions at the Enlarged Land Committee meeting, many expressed reservations, some believing that it went too far, and others not far enough. Ultimately, his suggestions were only partially implemented.

When party leader Sun Yat-sen died in May 1925, he was succeeded by Chiang Kai-shek, who moved to marginalise the left-KMT and the Communists. Mao nevertheless supported Chiang's National Revolutionary Army, who embarked on the Northern Expedition attack in 1926 on warlords. In the wake of this expedition, peasants rose up, appropriating the land of the wealthy landowners, who were in many cases killed. Such uprisings angered senior KMT figures, who were themselves landowners, emphasising the growing class and ideological divide within the revolutionary movement. Fresh from the success of the Northern Expedition against the warlords, Chiang turned on the Communists, who by now numbered in the tens of thousands across China. Chiang ignored the orders of the Wuhan-based left KMT government and marched on Shanghai, a city controlled by Communist militias. As the Communists awaited Chiang's arrival, he loosed the White Terror, massacring 5000 with the aid of the Green Gang.[90][93] In Beijing, 19 leading Communists were killed by Zhang Zuolin.[94][95] That May, tens of thousands of Communists and those suspected of being communists were killed, and the CCP lost approximately 15,000 of its 25,000 members.[95]

 

The CCP continued supporting the Wuhan KMT government, a position Mao initially supported,[95] but by the time of the CCP's Fifth Congress he had changed his mind, deciding to stake all hope on the peasant militia.[96] The question was rendered moot when the Wuhan government expelled all Communists from the KMT on 15 July.[96] The CCP founded the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army of China, better known as the "Red Army", to battle Chiang. A battalion led by General Zhu De was ordered to take the city of Nanchang on 1 August 1927, in what became known as the Nanchang Uprising. They were initially successful, but were forced into retreat after five days, marching south to Shantou, and from there they were driven into the wilderness of Fujian.[96] Mao was appointed commander-in-chief of the Red Army and led four regiments against Changsha in the Autumn Harvest Uprising, in the hope of sparking peasant uprisings across Hunan. On the eve of the attack, Mao composed a poem—the earliest of his to survive—titled "Changsha". His plan was to attack the KMT-held city from three directions on 9 September, but the Fourth Regiment deserted to the KMT cause, attacking the Third Regiment. Mao's army made it to Changsha, but could not take it; by 15 September, he accepted defeat and with 1000 survivors marched east to the Jinggang Mountains of Jiangxi. The CCP Central Committee, hiding in Shanghai, expelled Mao from their ranks and from the Hunan Provincial Committee, as punishment for his "military opportunism", for his focus on rural activity, and for being too lenient with "bad gentry". The more orthodox Communists especially regarded the peasants as backward and ridiculed Mao's idea of mobilizing them.[67] They nevertheless adopted three policies he had long championed: the immediate formation of Workers' councils, the confiscation of all land without exemption, and the rejection of the KMT. Mao's response was to ignore them.[He established a base in Jinggangshan City, an area of the Jinggang Mountains, where he united five villages as a self-governing state, and supported the confiscation of land from rich landlords, who were "re-educated" and sometimes executed. He ensured that no massacres took place in the region, and pursued a more lenient approach than that advocated by the Central Committee. In addition to land redistribution, Mao promoted literacy and non-hierarchical organizational relationships in Jinggangshan, transforming the area's social and economic life and attracted many local supporters. Mao proclaimed that "Even the lame, the deaf and the blind could all come in useful for the revolutionary struggle", he boosted the army's numbers,[103] incorporating two groups of bandits into his army, building a force of around 1,800 troops.[104] He laid down rules for his soldiers: prompt obedience to orders, all confiscations were to be turned over to the government, and nothing was to be confiscated from poorer peasants. In doing so, he moulded his men into a disciplined, efficient fighting force. In spring 1928, the Central Committee ordered Mao's troops to southern Hunan, hoping to spark peasant uprisings. Mao was skeptical, but complied. They reached Hunan, where they were attacked by the KMT and fled after heavy losses. Meanwhile, KMT troops had invaded Jinggangshan, leaving them without a base.[107] Wandering the countryside, Mao's forces came across a CCP regiment led by General Zhu De and Lin Biao; they united, and attempted to retake Jinggangshan. They were initially successful, but the KMT counter-attacked, and pushed the CCP back; over the next few weeks, they fought an entrenched guerrilla war in the mountains.[105][108] The Central Committee again ordered Mao to march to south Hunan, but he refused, and remained at his base. Contrastingly, Zhu complied, and led his armies away. Mao's troops fended the KMT off for 25 days while he left the camp at night to find reinforcements. He reunited with the decimated Zhu's army, and together they returned to Jinggangshan and retook the base. There they were joined by a defecting KMT regiment and Peng Dehuai's Fifth Red Army. In the mountainous area they were unable to grow enough crops to feed everyone, leading to food shortages throughout the winter. In 1928, Mao met and married He Zizhen, an 18-year-old revolutionary who would bear him six children.. In January 1929, Mao and Zhu evacuated the base with 2,000 men and a further 800 provided by Peng, and took their armies south, to the area around Tonggu and Xinfeng in Jiangxi.[113] The evacuation led to a drop in morale, and many troops became disobedient and began thieving; this worried Li Lisan and the Central Committee, who saw Mao's army as lumpenproletariat, that were unable to share in proletariat class consciousness.[114][115] In keeping with orthodox Marxist thought, Li believed that only the urban proletariat could lead a successful revolution, and saw little need for Mao's peasant guerrillas; he ordered Mao to disband his army into units to be sent out to spread the revolutionary message. Mao replied that while he concurred with Li's theoretical position, he would not disband his army nor abandon his base.[115][116] Both Li and Mao saw the Chinese revolution as the key to world revolution, believing that a CCP victory would spark the overthrow of global imperialism and capitalism. In this, they disagreed with the official line of the Soviet government and Comintern. Officials in Moscow desired greater control over the CCP and removed Li from power by calling him to Russia for an inquest into his errors. They replaced him with Soviet-educated Chinese Communists, known as the "28 Bolsheviks", two of whom, Bo Gu and Zhang Wentian, took control of the Central Committee. Mao disagreed with the new leadership, believing they grasped little of the Chinese situation, and he soon emerged as their key rival. n February 1930, Mao created the Southwest Jiangxi Provincial Soviet Government in the region under his control. In November, he suffered emotional trauma after his second wife Yang Kaihui and sister were captured and beheaded by KMT general He Jian. Facing internal problems, members of the Jiangxi Soviet accused him of being too moderate, and hence anti-revolutionary. In December, they tried to overthrow Mao, resulting in the Futian incident, during which Mao's loyalists tortured many and executed between 2000 and 3000 dissenters.The CCP Central Committee moved to Jiangxi which it saw as a secure area. In November, it proclaimed Jiangxi to be the Soviet Republic of China, an independent Communist-governed state. Although he was proclaimed Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, Mao's power was diminished, as his control of the Red Army was allocated to Zhou Enlai. Meanwhile, Mao recovered from tuberculosis. The KMT armies adopted a policy of encirclement and annihilation of the Red armies. Outnumbered, Mao responded with guerrilla tactics influenced by the works of ancient military strategists like Sun Tzu, but Zhou and the new leadership followed a policy of open confrontation and conventional warfare. In doing so, the Red Army successfully defeated the first and second encirclements.[128][129] Angered at his armies' failure, Chiang Kai-shek personally arrived to lead the operation. He too faced setbacks and retreated to deal with the further Japanese incursions into China.[126][130] As a result of the KMT's change of focus to the defence of China against Japanese expansionism, the Red Army was able to expand its area of control, eventually encompassing a population of 3 million. Mao proceeded with his land reform program. In November 1931 he announced the start of a "land verification project" which was expanded in June 1933. He also orchestrated education programs and implemented measures to increase female political participation. Chiang viewed the Communists as a greater threat than the Japanese and returned to Jiangxi, where he initiated the fifth encirclement campaign, which involved the construction of a concrete and barbed wire "wall of fire" around the state, which was accompanied by aerial bombardment, to which Zhou's tactics proved ineffective. Trapped inside, morale among the Red Army dropped as food and medicine became scarce. The leadership decided to evacuate. On 14 October 1934, the Red Army broke through the KMT line on the Jiangxi Soviet's south-west corner at Xinfeng with 85,000 soldiers and 15,000 party cadres and embarked on the "Long March". In order to make the escape, many of the wounded and the ill, as well as women and children, were left behind, defended by a group of guerrilla fighters whom the KMT massacred.[133][134] The 100,000 who escaped headed to southern Hunan, first crossing the Xiang River after heavy fighting,[ and then the Wu River, in Guizhou where they took Zunyi in January 1935. Temporarily resting in the city, they held a conference; here, Mao was elected to a position of leadership, becoming Chairman of the Politburo, and de facto leader of both Party and Red Army, in part because his candidacy was supported by Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. Insisting that they operate as a guerrilla force, he laid out a destination: the Shenshi Soviet in Shaanxi, Northern China, from where the Communists could focus on fighting the Japanese. Mao believed that in focusing on the anti-imperialist struggle, the Communists would earn the trust of the Chinese people, who in turn would renounce the KMT. From Zunyi, Mao led his troops to Loushan Pass, where they faced armed opposition but successfully crossed the river. Chiang flew into the area to lead his armies against Mao, but the Communists outmanoeuvred him and crossed the Jinsha River.[137] Faced with the more difficult task of crossing the Tatu River, they managed it by fighting a battle over the Luding Bridge in May, taking Luding.[138] Marching through the mountain ranges around Ma'anshan,[139] in Moukung, Western Szechuan, they encountered the 50,000-strong CCP Fourth Front Army of Zhang Guotao, and together proceeded to Maoerhkai and then Gansu. Zhang and Mao disagreed over what to do; the latter wished to proceed to Shaanxi, while Zhang wanted to retreat east to Tibet or Sikkim, far from the KMT threat. It was agreed that they would go their separate ways, with Zhu De joining Zhang.[140] Mao's forces proceeded north, through hundreds of kilometres of Grasslands, an area of quagmire where they were attacked by Manchu tribesman and where many soldiers succumbed to famine and disease.[141][142] Finally reaching Shaanxi, they fought off both the KMT and an Islamic cavalry militia before crossing the Min Mountains and Mount Liupan and reaching the Shenshi Soviet; only 7,000–8000 had survived.[142][143] The Long March cemented Mao's status as the dominant figure in the party. In November 1935, he was named chairman of the Military Commission. From this point onward, Mao was the Communist Party's undisputed leader, even though he would not become party chairman until 1943.. Mao's troops arrived at the Yan'an Soviet during October 1935 and settled in Pao An, until spring 1936. While there, they developed links with local communities, redistributed and farmed the land, offered medical treatment, and began literacy programs.[142][145][146] Mao now commanded 15,000 soldiers, boosted by the arrival of He Long's men from Hunan and the armies of Zhu De and Zhang Guotao returned from Tibet.[145] In February 1936, they established the North West Anti-Japanese Red Army University in Yan'an, through which they trained increasing numbers of new recruits.[147] In January 1937, they began the "anti-Japanese expedition", that sent groups of guerrilla fighters into Japanese-controlled territory to undertake sporadic attacks.[148][149] In May 1937, a Communist Conference was held in Yan'an to discuss the situation.[150] Western reporters also arrived in the "Border Region" (as the Soviet had been renamed); most notable were Edgar Snow, who used his experiences as a basis for Red Star Over China, and Agnes Smedley, whose accounts brought international attention to Mao's cause..On the Long March, Mao's wife He Zizen had been injured by a shrapnel wound to the head. She travelled to Moscow for medical treatment; Mao proceeded to divorce her and marry an actress, Jiang Qing.[152][153] He Zizhen was reportedly "dispatched to a mental asylum in Moscow to make room" for Qing.[154] Mao moved into a cave-house and spent much of his time reading, tending his garden and theorising.[155] He came to believe that the Red Army alone was unable to defeat the Japanese, and that a Communist-led "government of national defence" should be formed with the KMT and other "bourgeois nationalist" elements to achieve this goal.[156] Although despising Chiang Kai-shek as a "traitor to the nation",[157] on 5 May, he telegrammed the Military Council of the Nanking National Government proposing a military alliance, a course of action advocated by Stalin.[158] Although Chiang intended to ignore Mao's message and continue the civil war, he was arrested by one of his own generals, Zhang Xueliang, in Xi'an, leading to the Xi'an Incident; Zhang forced Chiang to discuss the issue with the Communists, resulting in the formation of a United Front with concessions on both sides on 25 December 1937. The Japanese had taken both Shanghai and Nanking (Nanjing)—resulting in the Nanking Massacre, an atrocity Mao never spoke of all his life—and was pushing the Kuomintang government inland to Chungking.[160] The Japanese's brutality led to increasing numbers of Chinese joining the fight, and the Red Army grew from 50,000 to 500,000.[161][162] In August 1938, the Red Army formed the New Fourth Army and the Eighth Route Army, which were nominally under the command of Chiang's National Revolutionary Army.[163] In August 1940, the Red Army initiated the Hundred Regiments Campaign, in which 400,000 troops attacked the Japanese simultaneously in five provinces. It was a military success that resulted in the death of 20,000 Japanese, the disruption of railways and the loss of a coal mine.[162][164] From his base in Yan'an, Mao authored several texts for his troops, including Philosophy of Revolution, which offered an introduction to the Marxist theory of knowledge; Protracted Warfare, which dealt with guerrilla and mobile military tactics; and New Democracy, which laid forward ideas for China's future. In 1944, the U.S. sent a special diplomatic envoy, called the Dixie Mission, to the Chinese Communist Party. The American soldiers who were sent to the mission were favourably impressed. The party seemed less corrupt, more unified, and more vigorous in its resistance to Japan than the Kuomintang. The soldiers confirmed to their superiors that the party was both strong and popular over a broad area.[166] In the end of the mission, the contacts which the U.S. developed with the Chinese Communist Party led to very little.[166] After the end of World War II, the U.S. continued their diplomatic and military assistance to Chiang Kai-shek and his KMT government forces against the People's Liberation Army (PLA) led by Mao Zedong during the civil war and abandoned the idea of a coalition government which would include the CCP.[167] Likewise, the Soviet Union gave support to Mao by occupying north-eastern China, and secretly giving it to the Chinese communists in March 1946. In 1948, under direct orders from Mao, the People's Liberation Army starved out the Kuomintang forces occupying the city of Changchun. At least 160,000 civilians are believed to have perished during the siege, which lasted from June until October. PLA lieutenant colonel Zhang Zhenglu, who documented the siege in his book White Snow, Red Blood, compared it to Hiroshima: "The casualties were about the same. Hiroshima took nine seconds; Changchun took five months."[169] On 21 January 1949, Kuomintang forces suffered great losses in decisive battles against Mao's forces.[170] In the early morning of 10 December 1949, PLA troops laid siege to Chongqing and Chengdu on mainland China, and Chiang Kai-shek fled from the mainland to Formosa (Taiwan). Mao proclaimed the establishment of The People's Republic of China from the Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tian'anmen) on 1 October 1949, and later that week declared "The Chinese people have stood up" (中国人民从此站起来了).[172] Mao went to Moscow for long talks in the winter of 1949–50. Mao initiated the talks which focused on the political and economic revolution in China, foreign policy, railways, naval bases, and Soviet economic and technical aid. The resulting treaty reflected Stalin's dominance and his willingness to help Mao. Mao pushed the Party to organise campaigns to reform society and extend control. These campaigns were given urgency in October 1950, when Mao made the decision to send the People's Volunteer Army, a special unit of the People's Liberation Army, into the Korean War and fight as well as to reinforce the armed forces of North Korea, the Korean People's Army, which had been in full retreat. The United States placed a trade embargo on the People's Republic as a result of its involvement in the Korean War, lasting until Richard Nixon's improvements of relations. At least 180 thousand Chinese troops died during the war.. Mao directed operations to the minutest detail. As the Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), he was also the Supreme Commander in Chief of the PLA and the People's Republic and Chairman of the Party. Chinese troops in Korea were under the overall command of then newly installed Premier Zhou Enlai, with General Peng Dehuai as field commander and political commissar.. During the land reform campaigns, large numbers of landlords and rich peasants were beaten to death at mass meetings organised by the Communist Party as land was taken from them and given to poorer peasants, which significantly reduced economic inequality.[177][178] The Campaign to Suppress Counter-revolutionaries[179] targeted bureaucratic burgeoisie, such as compradores, merchants and Kuomintang officials who were seen by the party as economic parasites or political enemies.[180] In 1976, the U.S. State department estimated as many as a million were killed in the land reform, and 800,000 killed in the counter-revolutionary campaign.Mao himself claimed that a total of 700,000 people were killed in attacks on "counter-revolutionaries" during the years 1950–1952.[182] Because there was a policy to select "at least one landlord, and usually several, in virtually every village for public execution",[183] the number of deaths range between 2 million[183][184][179] and 5 million.[185][186] In addition, at least 1.5 million people,[187] perhaps as many as 4 to 6 million,[188] were sent to "reform through labour" camps where many perished.[188] Mao played a personal role in organising the mass repressions and established a system of execution quotas,[189] which were often exceeded.[179] He defended these killings as necessary for the securing of power.The Mao government is credited with eradicating both consumption and production of opium during the 1950s using unrestrained repression and social reform.[7][191] Ten million addicts were forced into compulsory treatment, dealers were executed, and opium-producing regions were planted with new crops. Remaining opium production shifted south of the Chinese border into the Golden Triangle region. Starting in 1951, Mao initiated two successive movements in an effort to rid urban areas of corruption by targeting wealthy capitalists and political opponents, known as the three-anti/five-anti campaigns. Whereas the three-anti campaign was a focused purge of government, industrial and party officials, the five-anti campaign set its sights slightly broader, targeting capitalist elements in general. Workers denounced their bosses, spouses turned on their spouses, and children informed on their parents; the victims were often humiliated at struggle sessions, where a targeted person would be verbally and physically abused until they confessed to crimes. Mao insisted that minor offenders be criticised and reformed or sent to labour camps, "while the worst among them should be shot". In January 1958, Mao launched the second Five-Year Plan, known as the Great Leap Forward, a plan intended to turn China from an agrarian nation to an industrialised one and as an alternative model for economic growth to the Soviet model focusing on heavy industry that was advocated by others in the party. Under this economic program, the relatively small agricultural collectives that had been formed to date were rapidly merged into far larger people's communes, and many of the peasants were ordered to work on massive infrastructure projects and on the production of iron and steel. Some private food production was banned, and livestock and farm implements were brought under collective ownership. Under the Great Leap Forward, Mao and other party leaders ordered the implementation of a variety of unproven and unscientific new agricultural techniques by the new communes. The combined effect of the diversion of labour to steel production and infrastructure projects, and cyclical natural disasters led to an approximately 15% drop in grain production in 1959 followed by a further 10% decline in 1960 and no recovery in 1961. In an effort to win favour with their superiors and avoid being purged, each layer in the party exaggerated the amount of grain produced under them. Based upon the falsely reported success, party cadres were ordered to requisition a disproportionately high amount of that fictitious harvest for state use, primarily for use in the cities and urban areas but also for export. The result, compounded in some areas by drought and in others by floods, was that farmers were left with little food for themselves and many millions starved to death in the Great Chinese Famine. The people of urban areas in China were given food stamps each month, but the people of rural areas were expected to grow their own crops and give some of the crops back to the government. The death count in rural parts of China surpassed the deaths in the urban centers. Additionally, the Chinese government continued to export food that could have been allocated to the country's starving citizens.[204] The famine was a direct cause of the death of some 30 million Chinese peasants between 1959 and 1962.[205] Furthermore, many children who became malnourished during years of hardship died after the Great Leap Forward came to an end in 1962.In late autumn 1958, Mao condemned the practices that were being used during Great Leap Forward such as forcing peasants to do exhausting labour without enough food or rest which resulted in epidemics and starvation. He also acknowledged that anti-rightist campaigns were a major cause of "production at the expense of livelihood." He refused to abandon the Great Leap Forward to solve these difficulties, but he did demand that they be confronted. After the July 1959 clash at Lushan Conference with Peng Dehuai, Mao launched a new anti-rightist campaign along with the radical policies that he previously abandoned. It wasn't until the spring of 1960, that Mao would again express concern about abnormal deaths and other abuses, but he did not move to stop them. Bernstein concludes that the Chairman "wilfully ignored the lessons of the first radical phase for the sake of achieving extreme ideological and developmental goals" Mao stepped down as President of China on 27 April 1959.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong

 

1961年

毛泽东像集(七)

毛泽东像集(七)(19张)

1月14日至18日,主持召开中共八届九中全会,号召大兴调查研究之风。这次会议正式批准了调整国民经济的八字方针。会后组织和领导三个调查组,深入浙江、湖南、广东农村调查研究。

5月21日至6月12日,主持召开中共中央工作会议,讨论修改《农村人民公社工作条例(草案)》(即农业六十条)。其中规定,取消供给制;办不办食堂,完全由社员讨论决定。

8月23日至9月16日,在庐山主持召开中共中央工作会议,讨论工业、粮食、财贸、教育等问题。会议强调切实地执行调整经济的八字方针。

9月29日,提出“三级所有,队为基础”,将农村人民公社的基本核算单位下放到生产队。 [10]

1962年

1月11日至2月7日,主持召开中共扩大的中央工作会议(又称“七千人大会”),作关于民主集中制问题的重要讲话。

7月至9月,在北戴河、北京先后召开中共中央工作会议和八届十中全会,批判所谓“黑暗风”、“单干风”、“翻案风”,作关于阶级、形势、矛盾和党内团结问题的讲话,进一步发展了关于阶级斗争是社会主义社会的主要矛盾的错误论点。

1963年

2月11日至28日,召开中共中央工作会议,会议确定在农村普遍进行“四清”运动和城市开展“五反”运动。

3月5日,在《人民日报》发表题词“向雷锋同志学习”。

5月,在杭州主持制定《中共中央关于目前农村工作若干问题的决定(草案)》(简称“前十条”),作为指导农村“四清”的纲领性文件。

12月16日,听取聂荣臻关于科学技术十年规划的汇报,指出:不搞科学技术,生产力无法提高。

12月,作出关于文艺工作的第一个批示。

1964年

2月13日,召集教育工作座谈会,提出改革教育体制的设想。

5月,在听取关于第三个五年计划的汇报时,提出两个拳头(农业、国防)一个屁股(基础工业)的思想;还提出把全国划分为一、二、三线的战略布局。

6月15日和16日,观看北京、济南部队军事训练汇报表演。

6月16日,在北京十三陵召开的小型会议上,作关于培养无产阶级革命事业接班人的讲话。

6月,再次对文艺工作作批示,文艺界进而扩大到意识形态其他领域,错误地开展了过火的政治批判。

10月16日,中国第一颗原子弹爆炸成功。

12月15日至28日,主持召开中央工作会议,讨论制定《农村社会主义教育运动中目前提出的一些问题》(简称“二十三条”),部分地纠正“四清”运动中“左”的做法,但错误地提出“运动的重点是整党内那些走资本主义道路的当权派”。 [12]

1965年

5月22日至29日,重上井冈山。

7月27日,会见从海外归来的原国民党政府代总统李宗仁和夫人。

11月初,批准发表《评新编历史剧〈海瑞罢官〉》一文,揭开“文化大革命”的序幕。

1966年

3月12日,致信刘少奇,提出“备战备荒为人民”。

3月底,错误地指责由彭真主持制定的文化革命五人小组《关于当前学术讨论的汇报提纲》。 [12]

5月7日,作出“五·七指示”,提出人民解放军“应该是一个大学校”,各行各业要以本业为主,“兼学别样”,“教育要革命”等。

5月16日,中共中央政治局扩大会议通过毛泽东主持制定的《中国共产党中央委员会通知》,对当时党和国家政治形势作了严重错误的估计。

8月1日至12日,主持召开中共八届十一中全会,通过《关于无产阶级文化大革命的决定》。会议期间,印发了毛泽东5日写的《炮打司令部——我的一张大字报》,不点名地批评了刘少奇、邓小平。5月的中央政治局扩大会议和这次会议的召开,是“文化大革命”全面发动的标志。

8月18日至11月26日,在北京先后八次接见来自全国各地的院校师生和红卫兵。

1967年

1月,对上海“一月革命”表示支持。此后夺权之风遍及全国。

1月23日,批示发出《中国人民解放军坚决支持革命左派群众的决定》。

2月11日和16日,谭震林、陈毅、叶剑英、李富春、李先念、徐向前、聂荣臻等不满林彪、江青一伙的倒行逆施,对“文化大革命”的错误做法提出了强烈的批评,是为“大闹怀仁堂”。毛泽东在听取了中央文革小组的汇报后,表示很不满意。 [12]

6月17日,中国第一颗氢弹爆炸成功。

7月至9月,视察华北、中南和华东地区,号召“实现革命的大联合”,指出“正确地对待干部”。

8月底,批准对中央文革小组成员王力、关锋实行隔离审查。1968年1月,又对戚本禹实行隔离审查。

1968年

1月16日,对江青等人送来的所谓“伍豪等脱离共产党启事”等材料作出重要批示:“此事早已弄清,是国民党造谣污蔑”,使他们诬陷周恩来的图谋未能得逞。

10月13日至31日,主持召开中共八届十二中全会,在极不正常的情况下,通过诬陷刘少奇并开除他的党籍的错误决定。 [12]

12月22日,“知识青年到农村去,接受贫下中农的再教育,很有必要”的指示,在《人民日报》发表,知识青年上山下乡的热潮由此开始。

1969年

4月1日至24日,主持召开中国共产党第九次全国代表大会,批准“文化大革命”的错误理论和实践,并把林彪定为接班人写入党章。 [13]

4月28日,在中共九届一中全会上再次当选为中央委员会主席。

1970年

4月24日,中国第一颗人造地球卫星发射成功。

5月20日,发表《全世界人民团结起来,打败美国侵略者及其一切走狗!》的声明。

8月23日至9月6日,在庐山主持召开中共九届二中全会,写《我的一点意见》,揭露挫败林彪、陈伯达企图抢班夺权的阴谋。

12月18日,会见美国友人斯诺,表示欢迎美国总统尼克松来华访问。

1971-1976年

1971年

8月至9月,在南方巡视期间,同当地党政军负责人多次谈话,揭露林彪的阴谋。途中机警地几次变更行动计划,于9月12日回到北京,粉碎林彪集团的反革命武装政变阴谋。

9月13日,同周恩来等果断地处理林彪叛逃事件。在周恩来请示要不要拦截林彪座机时,毛泽东表示:“由他去吧”。

10月25日,第二十六届联合国大会以压倒多数通过决议,恢复中华人民共和国在联合国的一切合法权利,把蒋介石集团的代表驱逐出去。

11月14日,接见参加成都地区座谈会的同志,为所谓“二月逆流”平反。

1972年

1月10日,参加陈毅的追悼会。

2月21日,会见来华访问的美国总统尼克松;28日,中美双方在上海发表联合公报,决定实现中美两国关系正常化。

9月27日,会见日本内阁总理大臣田中角荣;29日,中日两国政府发表联合声明,宣布实现中日邦交正常化,正式建立外交关系。

1973年

3月,提议恢复邓小平的国务院副总理职务。

8月24日至28日,主持召开中国共产党第十次全国代表大会,使一批老一辈无产阶级革命家重新进入中央委员会,但同时江青集团的势力也得到加强。

8月30日,在中共十届一中全会上当选中央委员会主席。

12月,提出邓小平担任中共中央政治局委员、人民解放军总参谋长。还提出要给贺龙、罗瑞卿、杨成武、余立金、傅崇碧平反。

1974年

1月18日,批准转发《林彪与孔孟之道》材料。“批林批孔”运动由此开始。

2月22日,会见赞比亚总统卡翁达,谈话中提出“三个世界”划分的思想。

7月17日,在中共中央政治局会议上批评王洪文、张春桥、江青、姚文元搞帮派活动,第一次提出“四人帮”问题。

9月29日,经毛泽东批准,中共中央为贺龙平反。

10月4日,提议由邓小平担任国务院第一副总理职务。

11月12日,对江青来信作批示,批评她的“组阁”野心,明确指出“不要由你组阁(当后台老板)”。

1975年

1月13日至17日,第四届全国人民代表大会第一次会议在北京举行,会议重申在本世纪内实现四个现代化,选出以朱德为委员长的全国人大常务委员会组成人员,任命周恩来为总理、邓小平等为副总理的国务院组成人员。会后,周恩来病重,国务院工作实际由邓小平主持。

2月,在毛泽东支持下,邓小平开始领导对铁路、教育等方面的调整整顿工作。

5月3日,召集在北京的中共中央政治局委员谈话,强调要搞马列主义,要团结,要光明正大,再次批评“四人帮”。

7月14日,对文艺问题发表谈话,指出党的文艺政策应该调整。

11月下旬,审阅批准《打招呼的讲话要点》,错误地发动所谓“批邓、反击右倾翻案风”运动。 [13]

1976年

1月8日,周恩来在北京逝世。

1月21日、28日,先后提议华国锋任国务院代总理和主持中央日常工作。

3月下旬至4月5日,北京市上百万群众连续几天自发到天安门广场,献花圈、诗词,悼念周恩来,声讨“四人帮”。毛泽东错误地批准了否定“天安门事件”的报告 [13] 。

4月7日,根据毛泽东提议,中共中央政治局通过《中共中央关于华国锋同志任中共中央第一副主席、国务院总理的决议》和《关于撤销邓小平党内外一切职务的决议》。

9月9日,在北京逝世。

 

baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%AF%9B%E6%B3%BD%E4%B8%9C/113835

Cha Nguyễn Lạc Hóa và Làng Bình HưngAlbumCha Nguyễn Lạc Hóa và Làng Bình Hưng

59 ảnh · Updated 4 năm trước

Trong một tổ chức, một hội đoàn, một làng xã, hay một nước đang trong thời kỳ thay đổi hoặc đang bị biến cố khủng hoảng, nếu người lãnh đạo là một người có kinh nghiệm, khôn ngoan, biết thế nào là lợi ích cho dân, có uy tín thu hút dân (charisma), và có tài lãnh đạo thì hội đoàn, hoặc tổ chức, hoặc đất nước được phát triển và vương lên. Câu chuyện của album này dạy cho ta một bài học điển hình về sự lãnh đạo của một tu sĩ người Hoa trong thời kỳ chiến tranh Việt Nam. Nhờ tài lãnh đạo của người “tu sĩ chiến đấu” (a fighting priest) này mà một làng được dựng lên giữa nơi sình lầy, nằm ngay giữa lãnh thổ của phía thù địch, mà lại phát triển mạnh mẽ. Báo chí Tây Phương đặt tên làng này là “một làng không chịu chết” (a village that refused to die). Cha Nguyễn Lạc Hóa và Làng Bình Hưng Cha Augustine Nguyễn Lạc Hóa là một tu sĩ Công Giáo người Hoa gốc Quảng Đông. Cha sinh ngày 18 tháng 8 năm 1908 tại một làng bên nước Trung Hoa gần biên giới Việt Nam và vịnh Bắc Bộ. Tên tiếng Quảng Đông của cha Hóa là Yun Loc Fa, hoặc tiếng Quan Thoại thì gọi là Yuan Lo-Hua. Sau một thời gian tu học tại Penang, Mã Lai Á, cha Hua được thụ phong linh mục tại Hồng Kông vào năm 1935. Khi chiến tranh chống Phát Xít Nhật bùng nổ, cha Hua bị động viên và phải ngưng làm tu sĩ để tham gia chiến tranh với chức Thiếu Úy chỉ huy một toán du kích trong quân đội của Tưởng Giới Thạch. Khi Nhật đầu hàng thì cha Hua được thăng chức Thiếu Tá. Trong cuộc nội chiến giữa phía Cộng Sản dưới Mao Trạch Đông và Quốc Dân Đảng dưới Tưởng Giới Thạch, cha Hua được thăng chức Trung Tá, nhưng chưa được chức thực thụ thì phía Quốc Dân Đảng bắt đầu thua cuộc và quân đội tan rã. Cha Hóa lấy cơ hội đó để từ chức và về quê tiếp tục cuộc đời tu sĩ. Sau đó, cha bị phía CS bắt bỏ tù với tội phản động vì lúc đó Mao đã bắt đầu đưa ra chính sách sở hữu hoá các tôn giáo, và muốn ly khai giáo hội Công Giáo ra khỏi Vatican. Sau một năm tù, cha Hua với sự giúp đở của một số giáo dân đã trốn bằng thuyền tới Hải Ninh, Bắc Việt Nam vào năm 1950. Tại Việt Nam, cha lấy tên Việt là Nguyễn Lạc Hóa và bắt đầu vận động để giúp các tín đồ Công Giáo bên Trung Hoa trốn sang Việt Nam. Sau 6 tháng, cha Hóa đã giúp được tổng cộng 450 gia đình, tức 2174 giáo dân người Hoa tới Việt Nam. Khi nhóm Việt Minh bắt đầu bành trướng và hoạt động mạnh với sự giúp đỡ của Mao Trạch Đông, cha và đa số giáo dân của cha khoảng 2100 người rời Việt Nam sang Cam Bốt và tái định cư tại Snoul, tỉnh Kratie. Sau 7 năm sống tại đó, chính quyền Cam Bốt bắt đầu chính sách trung lập chính trị và công nhận Trung Hoa nằm dưới quyền của Cộng Sản và Mao Trạch Đông. Sợ rằng giáo dân của cha có thể sẽ bị trả về Trung Hoa, cha Hóa bắt đầu tìm đường sang miền Nam Việt Nam. Trong cuộc gặp gỡ vào năm 1958 giữa cha và Tổng Thống Ngô Đình Diệm, do sự dàn xếp của một người bạn tên là Bernard Yoh, TT Diệm quyết định giúp cha Hóa và giáo dân của cha tái định cư. TT Diệm cho cha Hóa chọn ba chổ để định cư. Cha chọn nơi có nhiều đất trống để khai thác và dễ trồng trọt lúa gạo vì vùng đất phì nhiều và nhiều nước, đó là vùng Cà Mau, tỉnh An Xuyên. Nhưng vùng này cũng được coi là nơi nguy hiểm nhất trong ba chổ để chọn, vì sau khi ký hiệp định Geneve 1954, Việt Minh đã chọn vùng Cà Mau làm nơi tập kết quân du kích và đã lưu trữ nhiều vũ khí và đạn dược tại đó. Với sự trợ giúp của chính quyền Sài Gòn và sau 3 tháng lao động cực khổ ngày đêm đắp đất cho cao để xây làng, cha Hóa và giáo dân đã hoàn tất được 200 căn nhà và đặt tên làng là Bình Hưng, để biểu hiệu sự san bằng đất sình lầy và xây cất một nơi có thể sinh sống. Với kinh nghiệm của một cựu quân nhân đã từng tham chiến, cha Hóa thiết kế làng theo hình vuông để dễ phòng thủ, và xây một lạch nước xuyên qua giữa làng với một cây cầu để dân có thể đi qua đi lại dễ dàng. Cha chia dân làng thành những toán dân tự vệ nhỏ với mỗi toán gồm 5 người canh gát từng khu làng. Lúc đầu Việt Cộng để yên, nhưng sau khi thấy làng đã xây cất xong và làm lễ khánh thành với cờ vàng ba sọc đỏ, họ bắt đầu gửi những toán nhỏ đến làng để vừa tuyền truyền chiêu dụ vừa quấy nhiễu. Lúc đầu dân làng chỉ có dao và chọc nhọn bằng gỗ, nhưng vẫn đẩy lui được những toán Việt Cộng này vì một số dân làng đã từng có kinh nghiệm đi lính bên Trung Hoa trong thời chống Phát Xít Nhật, và biết cách đánh xáp lá cà dùng dao và chọc nhọn. Sau những vụ quấy nhiễu như thế, chính quyền Sài Gòn bắt đầu cấp vũ khí. Mới đầu là 6 quả lựu đạn và 12 khẩu súng trường củ, rồi sau thêm 50 khẩu súng trường, hai súng trung liên, và 7 súng tiểu liên. Ngoài ra, cha Hóa và dân làng cũng bắt đầu giao tế với các làng người Việt lân cận để vừa tương trợ lẫn nhau và vừa trao đổi tin tức khi bị du kích Việt Cộng tấn công. Trong suốt năm 1960, làng thường bị tấn công và bị bắn tỉa bởi Việt Cộng. Nhưng với tù binh bắt được, làng đã xây một tường đất bao quanh làng với chòi canh gác để giúp bảo vệ làng. Chính quyền Sài Gòn cũng cung cấp thêm 50 súng trường Lebel của Pháp, và 120 khẩu súng Springfield đã tịch thu được từ nhóm Bình Xuyên. Với đạn dược còn thiếu, Bernard Yoh cho cha Hóa một máy ráp đạn cũ mà ông đã thường dùng để làm đạn đi săn bắn, để làng Bình Hưng tạm thời tự làm đạn lấy. Dùng kinh nghiệm chiến đấu, cha Hoá không muốn chờ cho kẻ thù địch tấn công mình, nên đã truyền lịnh dân tự vệ làng phải chia toán đi tuần hành hằng ngày để tìm du kích Việt Cộng rồi tiêu diệt. Ngày 3 tháng giêng năm 1961, một lực lượng Việt Cộng khoảng 400 người tấn công một toán 90 người dân tự vệ của làng Bình Hưng. Trận đánh gồm những cuộc phục kích qua lại giữa hai bên. Sau 3 ngày, lực lượng Việt Cộng đã bị tổn thất với 172 người bị giết. Trong trận đánh này, Chuẩn Tướng Không Quân Mỹ Edward Lansdale có viếng thăm làng Bình Hưng và đã làm một bài tường trình ca ngợi thành tích chiến đấu của dân làng. Sau đó, TT Diệm đã cho phép Mỹ viện trợ thêm quân sự và vật liệu để giúp dân làng củng cố phòng thủ với đầy đủ vũ khí, đạn, thuốc men, và thức phẩm. Tháng 6 năm 1961, dân tự vệ làng Bình Hưng chính thức được chính quyền Sài Gòn chấp nhận là Nhóm Nhân Dân Tự Vệ 1001, và cho hợp vào quân đội VNCH. Cha Hóa từ chối không nhận chức vụ và lương bỗng của một sĩ quan chỉ huy, nhưng cha tình nguyện làm người chỉ huy quân đội vô chức vụ. Cha Hoá cũng đề nghị và TT Diệm đồng ý đổi tên nhóm từ Nhân Dân Tự Vệ 1001 thành lực lượng Hải Yến (Sea Swallow), vì mầu trắng đen của loài chim này tương tự áo đen của tu sĩ với cổ trắng, và loài chim này giúp nhà nông bằng cách ăn những sâu bọ phá mùa màng. Trước khi chấp nhận trách nhiệm chỉ huy quân đội, cha Hoá đã tham khảo ý kiến Bề Trên của cha. Mặc dầu, Đức Giám Mục không cho phép nhưng vì thấy sự sống còn của làng lệ thuộc vào sự lãnh đạo và kinh nghiệm quân sự của cha, Đức Giám Mục làm ngơ để cha Hoá lãnh trách nhiệm này. Ban đầu vào năm 1959, TT Diệm đã trực tiếp dùng quỹ riêng để trả một ít lương cho lực lượng 180 dân tự vệ, nhưng lương bỗng bắt đầu được trả chính thức cho lực lượng 300 dân tự vệ vào năm 1961 với khoảng $12 đô mỗi người một tháng. Sĩ quan hoặc lính đều được trả lương bằng nhau. Ngoài ra cha Hóa cũng dùng quỹ riêng của cha để trả thêm 40 dân tự vệ khác. Những thành phần mới tham gia lực lượng và còn đang huấn luyện thì chỉ được cung cấp thực phẩm mà thôi. Tổng cộng, lực lượng nhân dân tự vệ Hải Yến của làng Bình Hưng có 340 người, với thêm 80 người mới tham gia và đang học tập. Ngoài ra, để giúp cho dân làng sinh sống và có áo quần để mặc, cha Hóa và người bạn Bernard Yoh đã phải vay nợ cá nhân lên tới hơn $100 ngàn đô vào giữa năm 1961. Sau khi được yểm trợ tài chánh khá hơn, cha Hóa bắt đầu đi khắp miền Nam để chiêu dụ thêm lính cho làng. Mặc dầu cha đã báo trước cuộc sống mới sẽ có nhiều vụ tham chiến, với lương ít ỏi, và có thể nguy hiểm tới tính mạng, khoảng 242 người dân Thượng tình nguyện tham gia cùng với và một đại đội gồm 132 người Nùng. Sau này, theo tài liệu mật thì nhóm người Nùng này thật ra là những cựu chiến binh Quốc Dân Đảng của Tưởng Giới Thạch. Vừa là một người lãnh đạo quân sự mang nón sắt, vừa là một ông cha mang áo dòng, cha Hóa đã dựng lên một lực lượng võ trang chống du kích rất hữu hiệu. Kế hoạch quân sự của cha là trận chiến không thể thắng nếu chỉ thụ động chờ địch thù tới, mà phải mang chiến tranh tới địch thủ của mình. Nhóm Hải Yến đi tuần hành hàng ngày hàng đêm bất cứ thời tiết nào, để tìm Việt Cộng và phục kích. Một hệ thống tình báo với sự giúp đở đưa tin tức của những nhà nông người Việt lân cận và một số gián điệp nằm vùng giúp báo trước những hoạt động và di chuyển của phía Việt Cộng trong vùng. Với Bernard Yoh vận động không ngừng các hội đoàn từ thiện và chính quyền tại Sài Gòn để giúp đở về quân sự, thuốc men, sửa, bột và dầu nấu ăn, làng đã phát triển gấp 4 lần trong vòng hai năm từ khi được dựng lên, với số dân tị nạn người Hoa và người Việt bắt đầu dọn về để sống dưới sự lãnh đạo của cha Hóa. Đối với một nhà báo nước ngoài tới thăm làng vào tháng giêng năm 1962, cảnh làng và các ấp chung quanh của Biệt Khu Hải Yến nhìn có vẽ khó phòng thủ và thường bị Việt Cộng quấy nhiễu, nhưng cha Hóa lúc nào cũng có tự tin, lính phòng thủ ai cũng vui vẻ mặc dầu phải đương đầu với cái chết hàng ngày bất cứ lúc nào, và dân làng có vẽ mãn nguyện. Những yếu tố này đã làm cho làng Bình Hưng khác hẳn với những làng xã khác trên khắp miền Nam Việt Nam. Với tiếng tăm chiến đấu không sợ chết ngay giữa lòng địch, trực thăng bắt đầu chở các khách quan và nhà báo tới viếng thăm thường xuyên, cha Hóa bắt đầu tạo một nhóm 56 lính vệ binh danh dự để đón khách quan trọng tới thăm làng. Người ngoài được chứng kiến một lực lượng tự vệ chỉ trong vòng một năm đã phát triển từ 340 dân tự vệ nay tới 500 lính mặc đồng phục khaki, rất có kỷ luật, trang bị với súng trường M1 hoặc Carbine. Họ chào nhau bằng cách chào của hướng đạo với ba ngón tay giữa. Ngoài ra có một số nữ ý tá thường đi theo tuần hành với lính Hải Yến. Tất cả đều có tinh thần đồng đội cao và can đảm để chiến đấu. Khi hỏi tại sao những người lính này lại muốn tình nguyện cho một cuộc sống cực khổ và nguy hiểm như thế, cha Hoá trả lời, “Con người sinh ra với mục đích là để làm một cái gì đó” (Man was born to do something). Cha Hóa thường nhấn mạnh rằng cách tốt nhất để chống du kích là tấn công khi địch thủ còn đang tập trung, vì lúc đó địch thủ đang thiếu tổ chức và dễ bị đánh. Cha Hóa khoe rằng những hoạt động của Việt Cộng quanh vùng lân cận của làng đã gần như bị dẹp tắt bởi lính của làng Bình Hưng. Cha cũng nói lực lượng Hải Yến của cha đã lên tới 1 ngàn người, trong số này có 600 người là cựu chiến binh trong phe Quốc Dân Đảng của Tưởng Giới Thạch với nhiều kinh nghiệm chiến đấu chống Phát Xít Nhật và Cộng Sản Trung Quốc. Hai năm vừa qua, lực lượng Hải Yến mất chỉ 27 người trong khi phía Việt Cộng có khoảng 500 người bị giết. Đa số những tổn thất của nhóm Hải Yến là do mìn và bẫy chống cá nhân. Cha Hóa rất thỏa mãn khi nghe tin cấp lãnh đạo Cộng Sản đã không hài lòng với hoạt động của Việt Cộng trong vùng và đã quyết định tăng cường lực lượng của họ với những lính du kích từ nơi khác. Ngày hôm trước, lực lượng của cha đã tham chiến với một nhóm từ vùng khác tới, nhưng cha tin rằng nhóm Hải Yến của cha sẽ giết hoặc bắt làm tù binh những nhóm Việt Cộng đó. Tù binh Việt Cộng được chứa trong một căn nhà dài không có cửa sổ. Với một khu riêng chứa khoảng 40 lính Cộng Sản cứng đầu và nguy hiểm nhất, và số 108 còn lại chỉ dùng căn nhà này để ngủ ban đêm và ban ngày họ phải làm việc ngoài đồng 5 tiếng mỗi ngày và 2 tiếng phải học tập về sự thật của Cộng Sản, thế nào là dân chủ và tự do. Đa số những tù binh này chỉ là những người làm nông không biết gì về chủ nghiã chính trị như Cộng Sản hoặc dân chủ. Khi cha Hóa cảm thấy họ đã thấm nhuần những bài học thì cha thả họ tự do về làng của họ. Mốt số xin tình nguyện tham gia lực lượng Bình Hưng và cha đã cho phép một số nhỏ ở lại định cư trong làng. Khi làng Bình Hưng và những thôn xã lân cận bắt đầu phát triển và lực lượng tự vệ càng ngày càng lớn mạnh, chính quyền Sài Gòn cho đây là một ví dụ điển hình cho những làng khác noi gương theo, và cha Hóa đã trở thành một người có tiếng trong vùng. Tháng 2 năm 1962, nhóm Hải Yến được nâng lên thành Nhân Dân Tự Vệ Biệt Khu Hải Yến. Một vùng với diện tích khoảng 400km vuông, với 21 làng xã, và 25 ngàn dân. Khi làng Bình Hưng được thiết lập vào năm 1959, cha Hóa ước tính khoảng 90 phần trăm dân trong vùng Hải Yến là thân Cộng hoặc bị Việt Cộng đe dọa nên phải ủng hộ. Nhưng mỗi khi đi tuần hành, lực lượng của cha Hóa càng đi xa vô các chiến khu của địch thủ và bình định hóa những khu đó. Vào cuối năm 1963, lực lượng Hải Yến đã kiểm sóat được khoảng 200km vuông, nghĩa là 50 phần trăm khu Hải Yến và 60% dân số. Hai chiến khu chính Việt Cộng vẫn kiểm soát 40 phần trăm dân và đất trong vùng và phòng thủ bởi khoảng 400 quân du kích. Trong số 18 ngàn dân dưới sự kiểm soát của nhóm Hải Yến, cha Hóa không phân biệt giữa 3,7 ngàn dân Công Giáo và dân ngoài Công Giáo. Cha Hóa nói, “Trong chiến dịch này chúng ta không thể phân biệt người Phật Giáo với Công Giáo. Nếu chúng ta chiến đấu cho tự do, chúng ta phải tin rằng tất cả mọi người đều phải được tự do”. Trong khi có những chuyện xích mích và bạo động tôn giáo tại các nơi khác trong năm 1963, vùng Biệt Khu Hải Yến lại không xảy ra vấn đề đụng độ giữa các tôn giáo. Tới đầu năm 1964 thì vùng Hải Yến đã xây xong một phi trường với phi đạo dài khoảng 700m và 1m cao trên vùng sình lầy. Các vùng nông thôn bắt đầu phát triển càng ngày càng xa ra từ làng Bình Hưng vô tới Tân Hưng Tây. Biệt Khu Hải Yến lúc bấy giờ là khu mạnh nhất của chinh quyền Sài Gòn trong vùng Cà Mau về mặt quân sự và chính trị, mặc dầu xưa nay vùng này vốn nằm dưới sự kiểm soát của Việt Cộng. Vào giữa năm 1964, chính quyền Sài Gòn gửi 2 Thiếu Tá người Nùng và cũng là bạn của cha Hóa tới Biệt Khu Hải Yến để lãnh trách nhiệm chỉ huy quân sự, và chính quyền yêu cầu cha Hóa nhận chức vụ cha Tuyên Úy và Cố Vấn. Cha Hóa đã chấp nhận và nói, “tôi muốn được thôi những trách nhiệm khó khăn phức tạp và tôi muốn lực lượng tự vệ vẫn được giữ nguyên vẹn, nhưng người tu hành không nên liên hệ với quân sự”. Rộng lượng đối với các dân tộc và các tôn giáo là lý tưởng mà cha Hóa và dân của cha đã bảo tồn từ khi lập ra làng Bình Hưng. Một lực lượng tự vệ với hơn 1,1 ngàn lính là kết quả của một người tu sĩ tị nạn trong một cuộc đấu tranh cho tự do. Đối với cha Hóa và những người theo cha, những lời cha đã chọn để ghi trên đài tưởng niệm các chiến sĩ trận vong của làng, trích từ một học giả của lịch sử Trung Hoa tên là Wen T’ien-hsiung trước khi bị xử tử, “Kể từ khi con người sinh ra, ai đã thoát khỏi sự chết? Tốt hơn là chết cho một lý tưởng xứng đáng để làm ví dụ cho lịch sử về sau”. Tháng 8 năm 1964 Manila Dịch vắn tắt từ website viết về tiểu sử của cha Hóa bởi tổ chức giải thưởng Ramon Magsaysay, www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Biography/BiographyHoaAug.htm Ghi chú thêm tin tức từ những nguồn khác: 1.Theo nguồn Wikipedia, năm 1961, sau khi Edward Lansdale thăm cha Hóa và làng Bình Hưng rồi trở về Hoa Thịnh Đốn tường trình tình hình, Tổng Thống John Kennedy đã chú ý đặc biệt về cha Nguyễn Lạc Hóa và làng cha đã tạo ra. Thị trấn Newburyport thuộc tiểu bang Massachusetts nhận làng Bình Hưng làm một cộng đồng kết nghĩa (sister community). 2.Năm 1964, cha Hóa được giải thưởng Ramon Magsaysay trong phần phục vụ cộng đồng. Giải Ramon Magsaysay được đặt tên cho vị tổng thống đầu tiên của Phi Luật Tân để nâng cao tinh thần thanh liêm trong chính quyền, can đảm trong việc phục vụ dân, và thực dụng ly tưởng của một xả hội dân chủ. Giải thưởng hàng năm này được tạo ra bởi Quỹ Rockefeller Brothers Fund ở Nữu Ước. 3.Theo nguồn Taiwan Review, là một kẻ thù đối với chủ nghĩa Cộng Sản, Cha Hóa đã từng viết khoảng 10 lá thư gửi cho Mao Trạch Đông. Một trong những lá thư đó cha có viết, “Ông Mao à, tôi muốn cảm ơn ông vì ông đã dạy cho tôi biết thế nào là ý nghĩa của sự tự do. Bây giờ, tôi là một kẻ thù đời đời của ông. Tôi sẽ thuyết phục càng thêm nhiều người mỗi ngày để họ trở thành địch thủ của ông cho tới khi nào chính ông và những ý tưởng ác độc của ông không còn nữa”. Theo nguồn Taiwan Review, những tù binh và ngay cả cán bộ nồng cốt Việt Cộng đã có ấn tượng tốt đối với cha Hoá, vì họ được cấp giường ngũ, mền, và mùng. Tù binh chỉ phải làm khoảng 6 tiếng mỗi ngày và được nghỉ ngày Chúa Nhật. Họ được ăn mỗi ngày 3 bửa và được thuốc lá với một ít tiền xài vặt. Dân làng rất thân thiện với tù binh và thường hay cung cấp thêm thực phẩm. Có mấy lần Việt Cộng gửi gián điệp và thành phân VC chìm gồm có những cô gái trẻ đẹp vô để thám thính và quấy nhiễu làng, nhưng không được nhiều hiệu quả tốt vì chính những người này cũng quay lại đi theo nhóm Hải Yến một khi họ đã chứng kiến cuộc sống của làng này. 4.Cha Nguy ễn Lạc Hóa đã qua đời vào năm 1989 với tuổi thọ là 81 tuổi. 5.Theo nhiếp ảnh gia Stan Atkinson, với tình thế phức chính trị tại Sài Gòn ngày càng hỗn độn và đồi trụy. Cha Hóa nhận thấy giấc mơ sống tự do sẽ không thành đạt tại Việt Nam. Mặc dầu cha vẫn là một người thanh liêm, nhưng sự tuyên truyền mạnh mẽ của Việt Cộng đã thành công trong việc móc nối tiếng tăm của cha với chính quyền tham nhũng ở Sài Gòn. Cha Hóa cảm thấy cơ hội đạt được sự mong muốn tự do tại Việt Nam càng ngày càng thấp. Chán nản với thời thế, cha rời khỏi làng Bình Hưng và hồi hưu tại một giáo xứ Công Giáo ở Đài Bắc thủ đô nước Đài Loan và đã qua đời tại đó. Theo ông Stan Atkinson, trong suốt cuộc đời làm nhiếp ảnh gia đi khắp nơi trên thế giới, ông chưa gặp một người nào ngay cả những lãnh đạo như cha Hoá, một người mà ông cho là khó quên nhất. 6.Về phía VNCHXHCN, Nguyễn Lạc Hóa được cho là "đã chỉ đạo tàn sát nhiều người và hãm hiếp, mổ bụng, lấy mật, ăn gan nạn nhân trong thời kỳ là người đứng đầu khu dinh điền Bình Hưng" (nay thuộc tỉnh Cà Mau). Khu dinh điền Bình Hưng được Việt Nam Cộng Hòa lập nên để đưa người của Quốc gia vào các khu căn cứ kháng chiến của những người Cộng sản. 7.Về phiá VNCHXHCN, Nguyễn Lạc Hóa được cho là "đồ tể" đột lốt thầy tu, đã tàn sát hơn 1600 người với hình thức giết người man rợ. Ngày nay tại khu làng Bình Hưng, Nhà Nước có xây một tượng đài gọi là di tích lịch sử cấp quốc gia để tưởng niệm những liệt sĩ và dân lành đã bị nhóm Hải Yến giết tại đó. Theo Nhà Nước, thi trong thời chiến, làng này có một cây cầu gọi là Cầu Vĩnh Biệt vì tù binh nào đi qua cầu đó là biết sẽ bị tra tấn và giết chết.

I took a bus @ 60 clicks south of town to hike over to this lone bldg., claimed to be the oldest surviving Zoroastrian temple known to archaeology (or so I've read), and the finest surviving Median bldg., well-situated high on a hill or mesa surrounded by a flat desert plain. (The Medes are considered to be the ancestors of the Kurds, in part.) It should be a Unesco site, for it's also the best early example anywhere of the use of rib vaulting (!), which was developed in Iran. (Read about the rib vaulting here.: www.flickr.com/photos/97924400@N00/5218198153/stats/ ) Maze-like with high mud-brick walls, a tunnel descends in steep steps at an angle from one end of the complex that was still being excavated when I was there (and which has been cleared since). Noone else was around. www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Images2/Median/Tepe_Nush_i_Jan_pla...

- "The importance of the site lies principally in the architectural remains constructed in the 8th and 7th cent.s BC when the Medes were the dominant population in central western Iran. In the order in which they were built, the monumental bldg.s in this hill-top sanctuary include an originally isolated tower-like temple which housed a stepped altar on which a [sacred] fire [was maintained], a 2nd temple, a strongly fortified storage facility, and a columned hall, 20 x 15 m.s with 3 rows of 4 columns - a forerunner of the famed columned halls of the Persians at Pasargadae and Persepolis. ["The central temple ... had a narrow entrance leading from the neighbouring room into an antechamber possessing a stepped 'Maltese cross’ ground plan and a spiral ramp leading to an upper level. It then led to a sanctuary with a triangular cella or inner body of the temple and large blind windows with ‘toothed’ lintels decorating the walls {seen here}. A brick fire altar (85 cm.s high) with 4 steps was screened from the entrance. ... The 2nd temple, located just to the west, had similar rooms and a spiral ramp but with a different orientation and an asymmetrical ground plan. The fort measured 25 x 22 m.s, approximately the size of the Gate of All Lands at Persepolis, with 4 long [high-walled storage] magazines [that made an impression on me, the walls of these narrow spaces were as high as 8 m.s!] and a guardroom with another spiral ramp for access to at least one other floor, while the hall with a slightly irregular ground plan was somewhat smaller with 12 columns supporting a flat roof. Very little stone was used in construction throughout the site but the bricks (particularly in the vaults) were often carefully shaped." {Bradt}]. In a remarkable development most of these distinctive structures came to be at least partially filled and encased with shale and mud-brick, "perhaps to protect the sanctity of the temple from later squatters." As a result, the bldg.s proved to be in an exceptional state of preservation with intact doorways and, on occasion, intact ceilings as well. Subsequently, likely in the 6th cent. BC, squatters occupied those structures to which they could still obtain access. Before Tepe Nush-i Jan was investigated [by a British team from 1967 to '74] there was little to no evidence for the archaeology of the Medes from their own homeland. Today other sites, such as Godin Tepe and Ozbaki Tepe ... can be recognized as belonging to the same culture." www.peeters-leuven.be/boekoverz.asp?nr=8198 "This was a tremendously important find: perhaps the earliest temple with a fire altar in situ found in western Iran." (Bradt) (What and where is the oldest in Eastern Iran or in Central Asia?)

- Impressive and with much atmosphere, this is a delicate testament in an inspiring setting to the era of the Median Magi and the development of an ancient religion which is the source of the Christian concept of good and evil and of heaven and hell (if not limbo and purgatory).

- These niches have been damaged since this earlier photo was taken: www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Images2/Median/Tepe_Nush_i_Jan_cen....

- www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Archaeology/median_archaeology.htm

- Scanned with a high def scanner.

 

- Update 2021.: Look at what I just found.: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBOIz-fwOi4 The part of the temple seen in my photo was excavated from the 10:30 min. pt. in this video and Mr. Sronach (then Director of the British Institute of Persian Studies) points to the point in his model of the site where I stood to take this shot at the 6:15 min. pt. Just below and before me as I take this shot was a low fire altar ("a stepped feature, stepped inwards... with a fire bowl at the centre of the square top of the altar") or its former site. It could be the oldest fire altar yet found.

  

HAMADAN: Hamadan isn't the most historic city nor the most historic ruined city I toured that trip (which would be Istanbul and Susa respectively), but it could be the most legendary. As Ecbatana or Hagmatané (or Hekmatané), it became the capitol of the Medes and of the Median empire and was then, for @ 200 yr.s, co-capital with Susa of the Achaemenid Persian empire, the greatest the world had seen and would see (in area) until the arrival of Genghis Khan > 1,500 yr.s later. (Persepolis was a ceremonial centre, never a capital.) It also served as the co-capital of the huge Parthian empire for @ 450 yr.s, and was even a Seljuq capital for 60. In 'Paradise Regain'd' Milton wrote "Ecbatana her structure vast there shows."

 

- History: "Hamadan is a very old city. It may conceivably, but improbably, be mentioned in cuneiform texts from @ 1100 B.C., the time of the Assyrian King Tiglath-Pilesar I." (Bosworth) According to one legend Ecbatana or Hagmatāna or Haŋmatāna ('the place of gathering' according to Darius I in the Bisotun inscription), was founded by the mythical King Jamshid and had been inhabited since at least the 2nd mill. B.C. Its location close to Mount Alvand (3,575 m.s) and the pass across the Zagros has always given it a strategic and mercantile importance. It's known from Assyrian records that the city, referred to as 'Akessaia', existed in the time of the Kassites (in the 2nd mill. B.C.). According to ancient Greek historians, the Median king Deioces (Daiukku) fortified a palace at Ecbatana in 728 B.C. and the city grew in succeeding decades, becoming rich and opulent. Herodotus reports that it had splendid palaces and 7 concentric defensive walls painted in white, black, red, blue and orange, respectively, the inner two coated in gold and silver. (Some theorize that the walls of this complex might have formed an ancient ziggurat with multiple stories, common in the ancient Middle East.) Herodotus' description is corroborated in part by Neo-Assyrian stone reliefs depicting Median citadels ringed by concentric walls. Ctesias, Xenophon, Justin, Polybius and others have also written about the city and the Medes.

- Herodotus: "The Medes built the city now called Ecbatana, the walls of which are of great size and strength, rising in circles one within the other. The plan of the place is that each of the walls should out-top the one beyond it by the battlements. The nature of the ground, which is a gentle hill, favors this arrangement in some degree but it is mainly effected by art. The number of the circles is 7, the royal palace and the treasuries standing within the last. The circuit of the outer wall is very nearly the same with that of Athens. On this wall the battlements are white, of the next black, of the 3rd scarlet, of the 4th blue, the 5th orange; all these colours with paint. The last two have their battlements coated respectively with silver and gold. All these fortifications Deioces had caused to be raised for himself and his own palace." 500 yrs. after Herodotus, Polybius wrote that "Ecbatana was the richest and most beautiful city in the world." Those gold and silver walls come to mind (amongst other things) as if from a folk-tale, when I refer to Ecbatana as legendary.

- As the power and prestige of the Medes grew in the 7th and 6th cent.s B.C. in opposition to Babylon, Ecbatana came to represent the greatest threat to that city. A large wall on the eastern side of Babylon was dubbed the Median wall as it faced east towards Media and Ecbatana, but the city grew and spread to the east of that wall to such an extent in centuries to come following its fall to Cyrus, etc. that it would almost bisect the city. This is the origin of the use of the word 'median', as a point or line of division or delineation /b/ 2 halves of a whole.

- In 550/549 B.C. (the 6th year of Nabodinus) Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid empire, defeated Astyages (Istuvegü), Cyrus's grandfather, and the Medes and took control of the region and the city. A Babylonian text from the 5th cent. B.C. reports how Astyages was dethroned and how Cyrus conquered Ecbatana.: "King Astyages called up his troops and marched against Cyrus, king of Anšan [i.e. Persis], in order to meet him in battle. The army of Astyages revolted against him and delivered him in fetters to Cyrus. Cyrus marched against the country of Ecbatana; the royal residence he seized; silver, gold, other valuables of the country Ecbatana he took as booty and brought to Anšan." Cyrus then went on to conquer Babylon and most of the ancient world known to the Greeks and Persians in the early 6th cent. B.C. (Egypt would be conquered later by Darius.) The Medes retook Ecbatana In 521 B.C., but Darius recaptured it within 6 mos. (as detailed in his vast inscription at Bisotun). He then made Ecbatana his summer capital and royal residence that same year, while Susa became the winter capital, a selection made in part for the benefit of the stability and unity of the empire, Ecbatana being the former Median capital and Susa the great Elamite metropolis for the ages. The Achaemenid Persians had enfranchised the Medes and the Elamites significantly (not that they might have had much choice), something seen in the reliefs of Medes and Persians in procession on the walls at Persepolis. Ecbatana served as a treasury and as a royal archive as well. It had other advantages in its location and in its role as a staging post at a crossroads on the main east-west thoroughfare, the 'Royal road'. The city reached the height of its glory as an Achaemenid co-capital.

- Polybius, writing in the 2nd cent. B.C., states: "It had always been the royal residence of the Medes and is said to have greatly exceeded all the other cities [of Media] in wealth and in the magnificence of its bldg.s. It ... has no wall, but possesses a citadel, the fortifications of which are of wonderful strength. Beneath this stands the palace ..., @ 7 stades in circumference, and by the magnificence of the separate structures in it conveys a high idea of the wealth of its original founders. For the woodwork was all of cedar and cypress, but no part of it was left exposed, and the rafters, the compartments of the ceiling, and the columns in the porticoes and colonnades were plated with either silver or gold, and all the tiles were silver. Most of the precious metals were stripped off in the invasion of Alexander and his Macedonians, and the rest during the reigns of Antigonus [Antiochus the Great] and Seleucus, the son of Nicator, but still, when Antiochus reached the place, the temple of Aene alone had the columns round it still gilded and a number of silver tiles were piled up in it, while a few gold bricks and a considerable quantity of silver ones remained. From all the objects I have mentioned sufficient was collected to coin money with the king's effigy amounting to very nearly 4,000 talents."

- Some valuable finds from the ancient town came to light in the 20th cent., but the lower layers of settlement can't be adequately explored without uprooting the modern city. In recent years, significant portions of the city centre have been given over to excavations. 5 gold plates and a silver plate with cuneiform inscriptions were found there. "In 1923, 2 small foundation tablets, one in silver and one in gold, bearing the name of Darius I (521-485 B.C.) were discovered; they recorded the construction of palaces. The Achaemenids and likely the Medes before them built their palaces on an eminence in what is now the NW part of town, much of which is beneath the modern city." ('Persian Cities')

- The annual royal migration /b/ co-capitals was a function of the climate in both cities, which is cold and wintry in Hamadan but comfortable in Susa in winter, and roasting in Susa but comfortable in Hamadan in summer. To this day Hamadan is a popular retreat with Iranians in the warmer months where the climate in autumn and spring is one of the most pleasant in the country.

- Ecbatana is referenced in the biblical book of Ezra (Ezra 6:2) as the city in which a scroll was found containing the famous edict of King Cyrus granting the Jews permission to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.

"1. Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the rolls [or scrolls], where the treasures were laid up in Babylon. 2. And there was found at Achmetha [Ecbatana], in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a record thus written: 3. "In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus issued a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem: “Let the house be rebuilt, the place where they offered sacrifices; and let the foundations of it be firmly laid, its height 60 cubits [@ 90' or 27 m.s] and its width 60 cubits." [King Darius then states] 8. "Moreover I issue a decree as to what you shall do for the elders of these Jews, for the building of this house of God: Let the cost be paid at the king’s expense from taxes on the region beyond [west of] the [Euphrates] river; this is to be given immediately to these men, so that they are not hindered." 13: Then Tattenai, governor of the region beyond the river, Shethar-Boznai, and their companions diligently did according to what King Darius had sent." Frye notes that while Ecbatana was "an ideal summer resort for the court, there's no evidence that [it] contained the royal archives after Darius" (Heritage of Persia), but then, again, most of Ecbatana is buried under Hamadan.

- Alexander the Great conquered the city in 331 B.C., and it was there that his friend and lover Hephaestion died in the fall of 324. (See below under 'Sang-e Shir'). It was also at Ecbatana that the Macedonian general Parmenion was assassinated on Alexander's orders. Arrian mentions that the captured Persian treasure was kept at the citadel of Ecbatana under the watchful eye of Harpalus.

- The city flourished under the Seleucids and then very much so under the Parthians for whom it served as a summer capital and co-capital of their great empire (with Ctesiphon as winter capital), as well as the site of their primary mint, producing drachms, tetradrachms, and assorted bronze denominations. The Parthians who resisted Rome and were the Romans' rivals would remain in power in much of the Middle East for > 450 yr.s. Ecbatana would remain an important cultural, trading and transit centre on the ancient 'royal road' to Baghdad throughout the Sassanian period and following the arrival of 'the Army of Islam' in 645 A.D.

- The 10th cent. brought a series of disasters. Many of the residents were massacred by a local warlord in 931, an earthquake caused great damage in @ 956, and many died in religious riots in 962. Peace and prosperity were restored under the Seljuq Turks in 1100 who made the city a great capital once more for some 60 yr.s, but the Mongols sacked it and slayed most of the locals in 1220 and again in 1224. It was soon rebuilt and the Il-Khan Baidu was crowned there in 1295. By @ 1340 the town had become renowned for its goldsmiths' market. The brutal Timur Leng, nearly as great a scourge as the Mongols, captured and destroyed the city again in 1386, but it soon returned to relative prosperity. It was a scene of conflict /b/ the Aq Qoyunlu and Qara Qoyunlu tribal confederations, and /b/ the Safavids and Ottomans. The region was taken by the Ottomans in 1724 and occupied for 6 yr.s during which there were several outbreaks of plague. It was retaken by Nader Shah Afshar in 1732, but fell to the Turks again for a year or 2 before restoration to Persia by treaty. The city suffered greatly in the course of these vicissitudes and fell into a decline from which it wouldn't recover until its re-emergence as an important trading centre in the mid-19th cent. The English traveler Buckingham described the city as ‘a pile of ruins’ in 1816, but it's population stood at 40,000 4 yr.s later (?). The city was redesigned to a modern city plan by German engineer Karl Frisch (a cartwheel with 6 avenues radiating from Imam Khomeini square). Today the population stands at @ 554,000. (Wikipedia, Bradt, etc.)

  

- The moserferkhane (sp?) in which I stayed in Hamadan was in a large bldg. in the urban centre in which I and the other occupants had access to a wide, flat roof where a local, colourfully-dressed Kurdish woman washed and hung her laundry up to dry.

 

- I took a photo in the city of the hands of a man sitting with his friend that were covered in tattoos, incl. a large one of Ali I think. (I haven't seen many other shi'ite tattoos like that, if any. But it's too blurry to scan.)

 

- Hamadan is similar to Tabriz as it's a modern, urban city with much gray concrete, but with a glorious history and random antique bldg.s, etc. that must be sought out. It also has a large archaeological site or series of sites with much adobe mud brick. Tourism there is also most often cerebral, requiring some concentration and much imagination in seeking to get a sense of the history.

 

Per my LP, and in the order that photos appear in negative strips, I toured the following.:

 

- The JAME MOSQUE (Qajar) with its 3 lovely, remaining eivans, 6 minarets, and its impressively large double-shell brick dome, tiled on its exterior, but with a bare interior.

 

- the famous GOMBAD-é ALAVIYAN (Seljuq, likely 12th cent.): A famous, relatively well-preserved, square mausoleum of the Alavi family (the pre-eminent clan in town in the Seljuq era), renowned for the quality of its elaborate, intricate stucco decoration most likely added in the Il-Khanid era, with whirling, intricate floral motifs and geometric designs on the exterior and interior walls and mihrab. The Sassanian Persians invented stucco and stucco ornamentation > 1500 yr.s ago, so medieval Persian stucco-ornamentation is quintessential for that period. The stucco is now a dark gray and much of it resembles moth-eaten lace (it's > 800 yr.s old). The foliage might symbolize or represent the gardens of paradise (appropriate for a tomb). I revisited it the next morning to get better photos in the better morning light, but they weren't. (I'll scan a photo anyway.) youtu.be/sZJ6C4VnEf0

 

- The TOMB of BABA TAHER: This is a modern construction (1970) set in a garden. The LP describes it as 'heavily buttressed' and as resembling "a failed prototype for Thunderbird 3". The walls surrounding the cenotaph are comprised of large slabs of stone with inscriptions, framed above and below by translucent panels of alabaster. A dervish poet who wrote metaphysical works during the 11th cent. reign of the Seljuq conqueror Tugril, Taher is renowned for his passionate, mystical, poetic quatrains written in the Hamadani dialect of Persian, which, it's been said, "could melt the snows of Alvand". (Bradt) Described as 'the first great Sufi love poet in Persian literature', his Sufi love poetry remains very popular and is still often set to music. Recitations of his 'do-baytī' style poems (in quatrain form) are often "accompanied by the setar, the 3-stringed viol or lute. This style of poetry is known as Pahlaviat and is very ancient."

"I am that sea now gathered in a tear.

I am that universe now centered here.

I am that book of destiny which seems

To form a lonely dot of hope and fear.

If I am trapped in flesh and lust - I'm Thine

And though I doubt Thine ways, or trust - I'm Thine.

Whether to Christ I cling or Mazda's Wing

Behind these veils of dreams and dust - I'm Thine."

- The Kalemat-e Qesaar is attributed to him, a collection of @ 400 aphorisms in Arabic, which have been the subject of commentaries. E.g.: "Knowledge is the guide to gnosis, and when gnosis has come the vision of knowledge lapses and there remain only the movements of knowledge to gnosis."

 

- ARAMGAH (tomb) of ESTHER and MORDECHAI: Ancient tombs purported to be those of the biblical Queen Esther of the Book of Esther, Jewish consort to King Ahasuerus of Susa (thought to be Xerxes [r 486-'65 B.C.]) and her cousin/guardian Mordechai, are housed within an unusual, "vaguely Tolkeinesque" [LP], early-17th cent. (some say Il-Khanid), brick bldg. under a simple but impressive tall, pointed dome. Entry is gained through an exotic, granite slab door (400 kg.s) which looks to be much more ancient than the bldg. itself (similar to this: www.flickr.com/photos/97924400@N00/7137438437/in/datepost... ), and which, at < 4', forces visitors to bow in deference when they enter. (I'll scan a photo). The interior is a bit like Hamadan itself and Tabriz, rather plain with some fascinating antique bits and pieces, and of course the cenotaphs. Several ancient stone plaques carved with inscriptions in Hebrew are inserted into the walls, and something approaching Hebrew is written on sections of the walls and in panels, "repainted so often by those who evidently couldn't understand them, that they've become stylized beyond legibility." (LP) (Interesting.) One plaque is 'the Generation record', a "genealogy of Esther and Mordechai, descendants of the blessed Jacob by 15 lineal generations." (I wish I'd known that when I saw it.) The 2 large cenotaphs in the main chamber are within elaborately carved and fashioned "ebony chests created 200 yr.s ago by an artist from Toyserkan" to replace originals burned in a fire caused by a pilgrim's candle (the real graves are in the crypt below). Watch the tour given by Rabbi Rajad in the video in this link.: youtu.be/h9oMFn0arYQ I spent a length of time inside poring over all the details and trying to get a sense of the importance and depth of the place, and I had it to myself. There are gravestones in the plaza outside the shrine, which I would've seen but don't recall. I was unaware of the new subterranean synagogue that I've read about online.

- This is the most important pilgrimage site for Jews in Iran (Iranian Jews are known as 'Esther's Children'), and the most revered I've visited anywhere after the Wailing wall and the 'Temple Mount'. That said, the identification's "not supported by Jews outside Iran and doesn't appear in either Babylonian or Jerusalemite Talmuds. The earliest Jewish source on the tombs is Benjamin of Tudela, who visited Hamadān in the year 1067. ... [The archaeologist Ernst] Herzfeld rejected the identification of the tombs as those of Esther and Mordechai, who he said were buried at Susa. [? Why wouldn't a Jewish-Persian queen or consort be buried at the summer co-capital of the empire, home to the oldest Jewish community o/s the Levant {see below}, rather than at Susa? Something to google.] He maintained that Šūšandoḵt [aka Susan] was interred in one, she being the daughter of the Jewish Exilarch and wife of the Sassanian king Yazdegerd I (r. 399-420) who persuaded him to sanction the renewal of a Jewish colony at Ecbatana" (LP). Stuart C. Brown concurs. www.iranicaonline.org/articles/esther-and-mordechai "Another tradition first recorded in the Middle Ages places the graves of Esther and Mordechai in the Galilean archaeological site of Kfar Bar'am, close to the kibbutz of the same name, near Israel's northern border with Lebanon." (Wikipedia) (? Why there?)

- "Shahin Shirazi, in his 14th cent. Ardashir-nāmah, was the first known Persian Jew to write of the dreams of Esther and Mordechai and of a journey they made to Hamadan, stating that they died in the synagogue and within an hour of one another. That narrative may derive from earlier Judeo-Persian sources, now vanished. ..." (Ibid.)

- The Book of Esther in a nutshell: A Jewish orphan, Hadassah, who's so lovely she comes to be known as Esther ('Star', Joan Collins in the movie), marries well to the Persian king Ahasuerus. Her cousin Mordechai overhears a plot to do in the king, warns Esther who warns the king and credits Mordechai. But Mordechai refuses to kneel to Haman, the Agagite court chamberlain (a descendant of Agag, king of the Amalekites), who, annoyed, obtains a royal decree for a pogrom against all Jews (b/c Mordechai's Jewish) with the date scheduled by the spin of a 'pur' (similar in function to dice). Later, the king is reminded that Mordechai saved him that time (in his review of 'the annals of the kingdom') and honours him. Esther reveals to the king at a banquet that she and Mordechai are Jewish and that Haman obtained an order to slaughter the Jews (the king didn't know?), so he orders Haman to be hanged and issues a counter-decree that the Jews must defend themselves at the scheduled pogrom and how, and so they do and prevail and celebrate.

- The Persian court in 'Esther and the King' (1960): youtu.be/N3BkF7PPhMM

 

- "In view of Esther's setting in Susa, its Persian background, its Aramaisms, and its lack of reference to Palestine, there's widespread agreement that it was composed in the eastern diaspora, quite probably at Susa itself." (Yamauchi) But according to Wikipedia, the "general agreement amongst scholars [is] that the book of Esther is a work of fiction. Persian kings didn't marry outside of 7 Persian noble families" according to Herodotus (although Darius did, notes Yamauchi), and while "Ahasuerus can translate to Xerxes, as both derive from the Persian Khshayārsha, his queen was Amestris [his first cousin], the daughter of Otanes, one of the 7 noblemen reputed to have killed the magus Gaumata who impersonated King Bardiya [according to Darius] in 522 B.C." An arranged marriage? Amestris wasn't very nice, nor was Xerxes if Herodotus wasn't completely off-base (and he might have been). Xerxes is said to have imposed himself on his niece/daughter-in-law Artaynte, but Amestris blamed the young woman's mother, her brother-in-law's wife, a great beauty (whom Xerxes had pursued as well). It would be in poor taste to recount how Amestris had her 'punished'. This account could involve some calumny for Herodotus also reports that Amestris had "twice 7" (14?) children of respectable men sacrificed to a god of the underworld in her dotage, which would be inconsistent with Zoroastrianism. What's interesting is that Ahasuerus comes off as a bit of a dick too in 'the Book', similar to Xerxes.

- "Some scholars speculate that the story [of Esther] was used as a basis for the Jewish appropriation of a non-Jewish feast (purim = 'lot' [as in 'drawing lots'], from the Akkadian 'purum'), a 'festal legend' with roots in "a historicized Babylonian myth or ritual in which Mordecai and Esther represent the Babylonian gods Marduk and Ishtar, while others trace the ritual to the Persian New Year" Now Ruz. (Wikipedia, etc.) Purim and Now Ruz, both celebratory, are held only days apart. The said Babylonian festival, 'Zagmku', involved the worship of Markuk or Merodach, and the burning of a man (according to historian James Frazer), while Purim had been referred to as 'the Burning of Hamam' in early historical texts.

- I'm impressed with Yamauchi's article (in the next link), although it's dated (1980), in which he debunks much of the debunking. (But this is a deep rabbit-hole, and I haven't read much yet.) He quotes Shea who notes that "the classical historians almost universally lost interest in Xerxes after his forces were defeated at Plataea and Mykale in 479 [B.C.]" and that the very limited Persian sources aren't informative (apart from the Bisotun inscription which predates Xerxes). Xerxes' reign came to an end in 464, 15 yr.s later. Why wouldn't he go on to find someone younger and hotter (and nicer too)? His father Darius married 6 x, and Xerxes was the Persian emperor! The fact that Amestris' son Artaxerxes succeeds him and that she had influence during her son's reign doesn't negate that possibility (or likelihood). 'The Book' doesn't claim that Esther bore Ahasuerus an heir, nor that Queen Vashti (Amestris?) left the scene entirely (Ahasuerus banished her from his presence), and the show must go on. "The bearing of fragmentary extra-biblical sources for the period of Xerxes on the question of the historicity of Esther should be obvious. Berg perceptively observes: "... [that] we possess no information concerning the historical situation posited in Esther apart from the story itself. Views that the book represents the novelistic expansion of an historical event thus rest upon a circular argument"." Well put.

- But one piece of hard evidence has come to light, "the occurrence of the name Marduka in a tablet from Borsippa ... published [in] 1942" following its sale to the Pergamon in Berlin. "Marduka is listed as a sipir (an 'accountant') who makes an inspection tour of Susa during the last years of Darius or the early years of Xerxes." In the Book of Esther, Mordechai "had been appointed ... to an administrative position" (2:19) and "held office in the palace" (2:21). Ungnad argues that "it's improbable that there were two Mardukas serving as high officials in Susa", and so he must be the biblical Mordechai. "This conclusion has been widely accepted. According to Gordis it's "the strongest support thus far for the historical character of the book"."

- In a plot twist, some scholars suggest that the cruel or vilified Queen Amestris might herself have been Esther. Consider the undeniable similarity /b/ their names, with 4 letters in common, 3 in a row. Amestris' son Artaxerxes was supportive of Judea and the Judeans, which of course he would be if Esther was his mother. (But then so were Cyrus and Darius.)

- Yamauchi also reviews evidence of accuracy and insight in the depiction of the subject matter in the Book.: "Mayer notes that Esther betrays an accurate knowledge of chronological data, topography, palace protocols, court intrigues, etc. ... Talmon concludes: ... there is a fairly universal agreement among scholars that the author of the Esther-story generally shows an intimate knowledge of Persian court-etiquette and public administration. ... If his tale does not mirror historical reality, it is indeed well imagined." He notes that "[t]here are 30 or more personal names of Persian and Elamite origin and 12 Persian loan[-word]s in the text of Esther", preserved "with remarkable accuracy" in the Masoretic text. Berg: "The number of Persian words in Esther and its numerous Aramaisms suggest the story's composition in a period not far removed from the events it describes." As to depictions of Susa, "scholars have been impressed with the writer's detailed knowledge of the palace and its various rooms. He distinguishes /b/ the gate of the king (2:19), the outer court (6:4), the inner court (4:11), the house of the women (2:9) and a 2nd house of the women (2:14) for concubines. Particularly striking is his use of a special word [in Hebrew] (1:5; 7:8), which in light of Akkadian texts, means "a special building within a palace". Oppenheim comments, "while the citizens of Susa are given a feast by Ahasuerus "in the court of the garden of the royal kiosk," he himself has a symposion with the queen and Haman in that kiosk." biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/bsac/1980_099_yamauchi.pdf

 

- I'm not religious, I'm just having some fun doing some detective work online. (Yes, for me that's fun. I know ... ). In reading up a bit re the evidence as to Esther's historicity or otherwise, I find it interesting that the Book has been a source for historians studying the early 5th cent. B.C. history of the administration of the Achaemenid empire (see above) together with Herodotus, as a result of the Macedonian destruction of the Persian archives. That's my take-away. But much of the available material on the topic is a detailed and difficult slog, as many of those who write (and write and write) on this topic and 'take up the quest' have real bias. PhD candidate Gérard Gertoux's voluminous book 'Wife of Xerxes and mother of Artaxerxes I: Queen Esther' is an example. www.academia.edu/43728591/Wife_of_Xerxes_and_mother_of_Ar... Gertoux's not only religious (Yamauchi certainly is), he's a fundamentalist. (A French fundamentalist?) univ-lyon2.academia.edu/GerardGERTOUX E.g.: In the course of an impressive deluge of details with a frustrating lack of footnotes he writes that "mainstream historians refuse to identify Esther with Amestris (The Histories VII:61) for the following reasons:" He then lists and discusses 5 non-'reasons' which include that the name Esther "doesn't appear in the tablets of Persepolis". Well neither does that of any other queen. But he won't discuss the accounts of Amestris' Persian roots, the basis for her political marriage to Xerxes, etc. which contradict his claim. "Amestris' name was neither a throne name because the Persian queens did not reign, but were merely wives of kings, except Esther who received half of Xerxes' kingdom (Est 5:3-5)." But isn't that evidence that 5:3-5 is false? It can take a fair bit of reading before coming across loopier bits like that, as often happens when reading the output of Christian historians who all want to be Robert Langdon.

- Whether or not Esther and Mordechai were historical figures and are buried here, the tomb has been venerated as a holy site by Jews and Muslims since at least the 1st mill. A.D. I like how Kambiv Tazarv puts it (in his video in the link above).: "Legends are reflections of thoughts and views of nations and in many aspects are more powerful than the history of a nation."

- Hamadan's Jewish community is claimed to be the oldest outside Israel (! - predating that on Elephantine). "A group of Israelites were brought to the Persian plateau by King Shalmaneser of Assyria in @ 722 B.C. and “settled there in the cities of the Medes.” (2 Kings 18.11). According to Habib Levy, “the Jews of Hamadān believe they are of the tribe of Simeon [one of the 12], most having chosen the name ‘Simeon’ for their male children in generations past”. ... Hamadān became an important centre for Jewish culture and religious education in Persia [from the mid-8th cent., following the arrival of Islam and a greater degree of religious freedom relative to that under the Zoroastrian Sassanians] until the late 18th cent." www.iranicaonline.org/articles/hamadan-viii

- I toured this complex well enough, but didn't meet any Jewish people here or anywhere en route (that I recall) until I reached Esfahan and then Yazd (although I toured Daniel's tomb at Susa en route before then). I'll write more about Iranian Jewry in a description to a photo taken in Esfahan.

 

- IMAM KHOMEINI SQUARE (Pahlavi, 1928): Hamadan is anchored @ this star-shaped square, with 6 avenues that spread out from the angles of the star. A series of wide, 2-story brick bldg.s with shops on the ground floor stretch from one corner to the next and surround a traffic roundabout and central park. They have tall, narrow arched windows on the 2nd floor, some have central Qajar-style gables (within which European, baroque and un-Islamic winged cherubs in white stucco hold hands and hoist vases of flowers), and round, 3-story tall towers at the corners under pointed silver domes. These are at the centre of the redesign and reconstruction of much of Hamadan by German engineer Karl Frisch (although they look dated for 1928), seen to the 30 sec. pt. in this Expoza video.: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmO49eWVz0Y

 

- BORJ-e GORBAN (13th cent.): A very well-preserved, brick, dodecagonal tomb tower with a 12-sided, conical dome and 12 blind arches on its exterior, is otherwise as plain as can be. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hamadan_-_Borj-e_Qorban.jpg

 

- SANG-e SHIR (the 'Stone Lion'): The ugliness of this legendary but lumpen, black and blobby artifact is part of its charm, although it has no need for charm as a visit to this remnant of a much-larger-than-life-sized sculpture of a lion is tourism at its most cerebral. This is said to be the only surviving, distinct monument from ancient, legendary Ecbatana, once one in a pair at 'the Lion's Gate'. youtu.be/JL0-UbimNNk?si=l71XAMMebNHjEHuL You can at least see the two deep round holes where the eyes once were, and another above them in the forehead of what was once a face, and which was black in 2000. It's been raised high on a plinth since then, cleaned up, and it appears in photos online that the hole in the forehead's been filled in cosmetically. "In 1968, Heinz Luschey demonstrated that the lion is of Hellenistic [Macedonian] origin [not yet Seleucid], in light of its close similarity to a sculpture of a lion at Chaeronea (erected in 338 B.C.). His theory that the lions were sculpted and erected on the orders of Alexander the Great to commemorate the death of his friend and lover Hephaestion in 324 B.C. has been adopted by Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization." (Wikipedia)

- youtube.com/shorts/WUXrupGb8Qs?si=pw9ce8TyJXmnel3j

 

- Hephaestion contracted a fever in 324 B.C. while a series of games and festivals were underway in Ecbatana. The fever ran for 7 days and he seemed to be on the mend when he suddenly relapsed, Alexander was summoned, but Hephaestion died before he arrived, at age 32. (Some modern historians theorize that he'd been poisoned just as he was recovering.) youtu.be/A0XzFhLCprQ "Alexander was overwhelmed with grief. Arrian reports that he "flung himself on the body of his friend and lay there nearly all day in tears, and refused to be parted from him until he was dragged away by force by his companions. ... Until the 3rd day following Hephaestion's death, Alexander neither tasted food nor paid any attention to his personal appearance, but lay on the ground either bewailing or silently mourning." He had the doctor, Glaucias, crucified, ordered that the shrine of Asclepios in Ecbatana be razed to the ground, and cut his hair short in mourning on the inspiration of Achilles' last gift to Patroclus on his funeral pyre. ... Plutarch reports that "Alexander's grief was uncontrollable" and that he ordered a period of mourning throughout the empire and many signs of mourning, notably [and famously] that the manes and tails of all horses should be shorn, the demolition of the battlements of neighbouring cities, the destruction of the crenellations in the city's defensive walls, and the banning of flutes and every kind of music for the period. "Many of the Companions, out of respect for Alexander, dedicated themselves and their arms to Hephaestion". He was given a magnificent funeral [in Babylon], the cost of which is variously given in the sources as 10,000 or 12,000 talents, @ $200,000,000 or $ 240,000,000 today. [?!] Alexander himself drove the funeral carriage part of the way back to Babylon ... [etc.]. Alexander petitioned the oracle at Siwa to grant Hephaestion divine status and thus he was honoured as a 'Divine Hero'. At the time of his own death a mere 8 mos. later, Alexander was still planning lasting monuments to Hephaestion's memory." (all Wikipedia) After all that, it's easy to believe that the lions could've been commissioned in late 324 or early 325 B.C. as just one more memorial to Hephaestion.

- "The early Muslims believed that Balinus, the master of talismans, had placed [the lion] at the gates of the city to counter-act the severe winter cold. ... The Abbasid caliph Al-Muktafi (902-'08) wished to remove the great stone lion to Baghdad on a wagon drawn by elephants, but was dissuaded by his courtiers from so difficult a task." Less than 30 yr.s later in 931, the gates of the city were demolished by Dailamites (from the region of the SW coast of the Caspian) when they sacked Hamadan. Their leader Mardāvij, 'Man-hanger' (founder of the Ziyarids) ordered that one or both lions be taken to Rayy as booty, but they proved too heavy and unwieldy and so, quite miffed, he ordered their demolition. One was entirely destroyed and the other had its arms broken, was pulled to the ground, and was mutilated with its eyes gouged and a hole drilled in its forehead. :( It lay on its side on the ground for 1018 yr.s until 1949 when it was raised once again with the addition of a supplemental supporting arm. Young women have touched it over the intervening centuries in the hope that it would grant them fertility.

 

- At Sang-e Shir I was approached by 2 young double-dating couples, 2 med students and their girlfriends, who were very friendly. I told them I was about to head over to Tappeh ye Hekmateneh (Ecbatana mound), the famous archaeological site, and either they gave me a lift or we took a cab. I then set out to walk through the maze of remains of low adobe walls, taking in the details, etc. while they watched for a bit, then looked a bit concerned, and as there was much more to see than I expected, I asked if we could meet up at a particular park nearby at an appointed time, 5:00 I think. They said okay, I went back to my tourism, and later attended at that park at 5 sharp and waited but they stood me up. I should've made more of an effort to explain that I had 3 mos. to learn and see as much as I could in one of the oldest, most historic countries I'd set foot in, and that while these adobe ruins were dull as dust to them, they were almost all I could see (in 2000) of their legendary home-town which I'd be leaving soon. What they saw was some weird guy for whom walking around low, ancient ruins, alone! (again, Iranians are very social, very extroverted) was more important or interesting than speaking with them, and 2 of these were successful med students. They might've thought I'd been rude too as they'd been so friendly. In a way it was a similar dynamic as that with the kids that threw rocks at Hasanlu, Susa and Sialk. It just shows to go how different interests, perspectives and expectations can be across cultures.

 

- The TAPPE-ye HEKMATANE (Mound of ECBATANA): As to the Ecbatana of Herodotus, "[s]mall sections of the [site's] total area have been fitfully excavated by several teams over the last century, most extensively in the 90s." (LP) "Excavations in the 20s uncovered 2 tablets naming Darius the Great [r  522-486 BC] and Artaxerxes II [445-359/8 BC]. In the 70s, 25 ha.s were acquired for further excavations and the remains of a 9 m.-thick defensive wall (!) were uncovered, originally surmounted by a series of towers. In 1974, 15 slipper coffins, likely dating from the 1st century BC or AD, were discovered in a Parthian cemetery, and since 1983 two stretches of the ancient city wall, with houses and alleys, have been located. (Bradt) Again, I walked all @, over and through the excavation site and its ancient dwellings and passages. Adobe dissolves and erodes such that large, ancient structures in the outer parts of the site will appear to have melted, but there was much left that gave a sense of the great scale of the city and its defenses, and much was well preserved too, with intact walls of adobe brick (at least to a height) in the interior of the site, with niches, etc. and some amphorae left in situ. I took a photo of a large, wide, well-preserved, smooth, brick ramp-like structure (?) that I'll scan. Again, it was very cerebral. Most often it was hard to tell what I was looking at, how it had been used, etc., and I kept reminding myself that this had been the city of the 7 concentric coloured walls and of palaces plated in gold and silver.

- The 'Justification of Outstanding Universal Value' in the pitch for designation of the site of 'Hegmataneh' in Iran's tentative list for Unesco reveals that much of what's to be seen there today dates from the Parthian era.

- More trenches have been excavated since 2000 and roofs and plank walkways at ground level have been installed to allow tourists to look down into the excavated ruins from above. youtu.be/DJuoDKVD9CQ There's a new Hekmatane museum on-site now, and 2 plain, late-19th cent. churches have been restored (and get more attention in videos online and otherwise than they merit). I don't consider them to be misses, but a Victorian-era marble grave-slab in the floor of the Protestant church is more proof of how small the world is. It surmounts the tomb of one Annie Montgomery, a missionary from P.E.I. who was Lucy Maud's 1st cousin. ! (For what it's worth, L. M. Montgomery wrote 'Anne of Green Gables', the most popular Canadian novel of all time. It has cult status in Japan where it was "the best selling novel for 50 years". youtu.be/oh8TLtvnxuM?si=2F-M-JFO9EtzBDkD )

 

- ARAMGAH-e BU ALI SINA (Tomb of AVICENNA, 1952): This modernist tomb that reminds most westerners of a rocket ship was designed by Hooshang Seyhourn and is said to have been inspired by the famous, 11th cent. Borj-e Qavus (Qabus) SE of the Caspian (Qabus was Avicenna's "illustrious prospective sponsor" until his untimely passing [LG]). It's in a class of modernist tombs and monuments with that of Baba Taher to celebrated, medieval, Persian luminaries (chiefly poets; I'd tour 2 more in Shiraz) and are amongst the most popular tourist attractions with the locals in the country. (I wrote that this tomb "is probably the biggest tourist attraction in town" on the back of a photo 20 yr.s ago.) I took in the tomb and its attractive interior with a large marble slab and calligraphy above the crypt of the world-famous physician, philosopher, physicist, and poet, Abu Ali Al-Hussein Ibn Abdullah Ibn Sina, aka Avicenna, "recognized by both East and West as one of the great figures in intellectual history", and a museum devoted to the man, his life and works on the grounds, with manuscripts, a display of medicinal herbs, old medical instruments, etc. Born near Bukhara in 980, he was one of the most famous figures in Persian history with instant name recognition in the west. (In the prologue to the Canterbury Tales, a 'Doctour of Phisyk’ is introduced as a character who'd studied "Olde Ypocras, Haly, and Galyen, Serapion, Razis, and Avycen".) His works and theories were of enormously immense and immensely enormous influence in the West for centuries, and in large part because he had the ambition and confidence to attempt to learn about and treat all illnesses. I don't know how common his approach was in early 11th cent. Iran, but his definition of medicine (set out in his 'Canon Medicinae', see below) is famous.: "Medicine is the science by which we learn the various states of the body; in health, when not in health; the means by which health is likely to be lost; and, when lost, is likely to be restored. In other words, it is the art whereby health is concerned and the art by which it is restored after being lost." He was a pioneer in the study of the effect of environment on health and in the field of preventive medicine (which is, of course, huge). He considered whether events like rare diseases or disorders have natural causes. He used the example of polydactyly to explain his perception that causal reasons exist for all medical events. This view of medical phenomena anticipated developments in the Enlightenment by 7 centuries.

- Unfortunately, he might've been too deferential to Hippocrates and other ancient Greeks to adequately question the theory that illness often results with disproportionate volumes of 'humors', bodily fluids: blood, yellow and black bile, and phlegm, and which must be regulated or balanced. Somehow he expanded on this theory and developed it (something that struck me while touring the museum). For centuries 'physicians' in Europe and West Asia, taking instruction from Avicenna, bled their patients with leeches, etc., and, in so doing, killed untold numbers in their care. (The more things change ... .) Of course Europeans are to blame for blindly accepting these theories passed on from ancient Greek sources, and I'm all for lancing infected boils, etc., but I'm reminded of all those times when I've asked for directions and someone who didn't know any better said "it's that way" when they should've said "I don't know". (This isn't to say that there's that much wrong with being wrong, so long as you're not making shit up or blithely repeating made-up shit. But again Avicenna's ambition to seek to effectively treat and cure disease and his refusal to accept it as fate might've been his most positive influence. [But I'm a bit conflicted.])

- "From the early 14th to the mid-16th cent. Avicenna ranked with Hippocrates and Galen as an acknowledged authority in the field of medicine in Western Europe. His works had a formative influence on the scholastic medicine of the later Middle Ages and continued in use for teaching in some places up to the 18th cent. Although he was more of a philosopher and natural scientist than a physician, Europeans saw him primarily as the Princeps medicorum (Prince of physicians), while Muslims revered him as the æayḵ-al-raʾīs (Chief master, i.e. of all the sciences). It's not yet possible however to assess his impact on the rise of scientific medicine in the West while systematic studies of the various fields are still, on the whole, lacking. ... Three of his medical works were available in Latin in the later Middle Ages, incl. al-Qānūn fi’l-ṭebb, a 5-vol. medical encyclopedia translated as 'Canon Medicinae', ... one of the fruits of the endeavours of the 12th-cent. Toledan school of translators to open up the whole range of Arabic learning. [!] ... With its immense wealth of information, it provided Western physicians with a synopsis of virtually all knowledge amassed in the preceding 1,500 yr.s and stimulated them to work further on their own." (Encyclopedia Iranica) His 'Canon' quickly became the most important medical text or reference-book in the West until the 17th cent., introducing technical medical terminology used for centuries to follow.

- Following al-Kindi and al-Farabi, his synthesis of Aristotelian ideas with Persian philosophy helped to inspire a golden age of Islamic scholarship. Historian of philosophy Peter Adamson considers his famous argument for God's existence to be his greatest contribution to the history of philosophy. Avicennian logic influenced several early European logicians such as Albertus Magnus and William of Ockham (he of 'Ockham's razor' fame). His work on metaphysics influenced St Thomas Aquinas.

- In optics, Avicenna was amongst those who argued that light had a speed, observing that "if the perception of light is due to the emission of some sort of particles by a luminous source, the speed of light must be finite." Unlike al-Razi, he explicitly disputed the theory of the transmutation of substances, the basis for 'alchemy.' He wrote: "Those of the chemical craft know well that no change can be effected in the different species of substances." He's also to thank for the development of steam distillation with which essential oils are extracted.

- Al Jazeera doc. re Avicenna's 'Canon': youtu.be/E8pwGDhppr0 Avicenna and his Canon are discussed from the 11:25 min. pt. to 15:18 and from 18:55 to 19:22.: youtu.be/c8HlFFDTBWQ youtu.be/FsnjHV-Xuys

- "His work remains popular even today and is the focus of scientific publications ranging from perinatal medicine to cardiology. [?!] In fact, several chapters of the Canon alone are dedicated to the functional neuro-anatomy of the spinal cord, valuable information that continues to enlighten neurosurgeons today, particularly with regard to head trauma and skull fractures. [! - A quote from Zahra Aligabi, Anatomical and Translational Sciences, George Washington U.] ... In the first volume, he voices his beliefs regarding Hippocrates’ humoral theory; he speaks [too] extensively on the 4 humors and their relation to the temperaments, anatomy, and physiology of the human body." www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7427450/

- Avicenna "fled from his enemies at court in Bukhara, arriving in Hamadan in @ 1015 to practice medicine for some 9 yr.s, then moved to Rayy and Esfahan, returning to Hamadan only to die of colic in 1037." (Bradt) His treatises "influenced later Muslim thinkers in such diverse areas of study as theology, philology, mathematics, astronomy, physics and music. His works numbered almost 450 volumes, of which @ 240 have survived. 150 of those concentrate on philosophy and 40 on medicine. [Again], his most famous works are The Book of Healing, and The Canon of Medicine."

- A crater on the moon is named after him.

- A trailer from the 1982 Soviet film about his life in Bukhara, 'Youth of Genius': youtu.be/MXEXYMdIitw Ben Kinglsey plays Avicenna.: youtu.be/P6uLiuIvEkQ

 

- NUSH-i JAN (a day trip, see above).

 

- GANJNAMEH ('Book of Treasures', Achaemenid, early 5th cent. B.C., a day trip): The site of two well-preserved, smooth, vertical, royal Achaemenid-era panels of cuneiform, @ 2 x 3 m.s each and carved from the living granite, is a popular week-end destination for locals 12 clicks SW of town (in large part b/c of a small waterfall nearby, trees, views and tea-houses in a mtn. valley). "Literally ‘Treasure Book', Ganjnameh is so named because for years its cuneiform rock carvings were thought to be cryptic clues to the locations of caches of mythical Median treasure [something I didn't know]. Belatedly translated, the texts record the victories and lineage of Darius the Great (r  522–486 BC) and his son Xerxes (r 486-465 BC), and thank Ahura Mazda for making them such fine kings. Per Achaemenid policy, the pronouncements are repeated in Old Persian, Elamite and neo-Babylonian." This site had been an important mtn. pass and was on a thoroughfare in Achaemenid times. (Bradt, etc.)

- The Xerxes inscription: "The Great God Ahuramazda, greatest of all gods, who created the earth and the sky and the people; who made Xerxes king, an outstanding king, an outstanding ruler among innumerable rulers; I [am] the great king Xerxes, king of kings, king of lands with numerous inhabitants, king of this vast kingdom with far-flung territories, son of the Achaemenid monarch Darius." www.orientalarchitecture.com/sid/787/iran/hamadan/ganjnam...

 

- As to misses in and @ Hamadan, I don't recall the Imamzadeh-ye Hossein "in a little courtyard with an ancient mulberry tree." (LP)

- The impressive, derelict 'Great Synagogue': www.7dorim.com/en/pictures/hamedan-great-synagogue/

- Malayer, near Nush-i Jan, the former Dowlatabad, is the home of a replica of the leaning tower of Pisa (not in 2000) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayer#/media/File:Pizza_tower_in_... and of an ambitious new Niagara Falls! youtu.be/a2BCh3oyINs?si=pulenHnFhLUlqE5B youtu.be/IUHunJGsBMU?si=0UobbcxUhyETBKVC

- @ 30-35 clicks SE as the crow flies is Tuyserkan, home to the attractive, well-preserved, octagonal and conically-domed Seljuq gombad of Habakkuk (Heyquq [?] on google maps), the Jewish prophet of the 'Book of Habakkuk'. youtu.be/yQDdchJm79k Beneath the shrine is a basement with 3 floors (?), but his grave's in the courtyard under a stone inscribed in Hebrew and Persian naming his father as Shioua Lovit and his mother as Lesho Namit. Both Muslims and Jews visit to pay their respects. Another miss. He was the 8th of the 12 minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible, and his oracles and prayers are recorded in the Book of Habakkuk. His name appears in the Bible only in Habakkuk 1:1 and 3:1, and no biographical details are provided. Most scholars believe he was living in Jerusalem when he wrote his prophesy and that he was active @ 612 B.C., the year Babylon rose to power, as the book consists in 5 oracles re the Chaldeans (Babylonians). Some assume he was a member of the Tribe of Levi who served as musicians in Solomon's Temple, as the final chapter is a song. Per Persian tradition he served as a guardian at Solomon's Temple, was captured and imprisoned by the Babylonians, was freed by Cyrus the Great (47 yr.s later?), and came to Ecbatana where he remained until he died. Jewish tradition dating to the 12th cent. however locates his tomb on a hillside in the Upper Galilee @ 6 miles SW of Safed, in a small, stone, 20th cent. bldg. (Wikipedia, etc.)

- The lofty, modern mausoleum (1975) of poet Mir Razi (Razi-al-din e Artimanik, 1570-1627) son-in-law to Safavid Shah Abbas and author of the Saqinameh and Sogandnameh, is on the other side of town.

- Tuyserkan was on the silk road and is home to a Safavid era bridge with 4 arches, the Baghvar mosque (18th cent.) with a > 2,000 yr. old sycamore tree on its grounds, 25 m.s high (maintained by the locals), a traditional bazaar (17th cent.), and the renovated, early 17th cent. Safavid Farasfaj caravanserai. It's the walnut-growing capital of the country and the locals make a range of dishes with walnuts as a prime ingredient. youtu.be/MF50MvmICno youtu.be/LNjlMaPUieU

- Ardalan castle (Qajar), 30-35 km.s SW of Hamadan, is an adobe jewel, square with an intact perimeter wall and round towers at each corner.

  

- From Hamadan, I took a bus NW, W., and S., skirting Mt. Alvand, on the 46 and south to Kangavar, 1 hr. and 20 min.s, @ 90 clicks. The 46 runs along or close to the course of the ancient 'Silk road'.

- The 46 runs through the historic city of Asadabad, "an important royal site under the Sassanians. Mardanshah, son of Khosrow II and his wife Shirin, lived there and a Sassanian palace was kept at a place nearby named Āzarmīḏdoḵt. The most visible Sassanian site in the medieval period was variously referred to then as Maṭābeḵ Kesrā ('Kitchens of Chosroes') or the Ayvān al-Ṣanj ('Portico of the Cymbal'). In 810-11, the forces of al-Ma'mun, a son of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, defeated those of his brother al-Amin in battle at Asadabad, and al-Ma'mun took control of the province of Jebal.

- Godin Tepe, a lofty, dramatically sited archaeological site and former fortress excavated by the ROM (in Toronto) was a big miss. I was familiar with it as the ROM had a large display with some artifacts, but primarily copies and casts of items discovered on-site. The domain of a local war-lord in the late 4th mill. B.C., it loomed high above the ancient silk road (rather 'the lapis lazuli road' then). In 1992, Godin Tepe found international attn. with the discovery of the earliest evidence of the fermentation and production of beer anywhere, calcium oxalate ions in the residue in the grooves of a pottery sherd from the site (and in the ROM's collection) romtmsem.rom.on.ca/objects/394893/beer-jar;jsessionid=2BD... , which inspired the clever marketing of this Argentinian brew.: youtu.be/SroXlMSj85M But the site was dethroned in 2018 with the discovery of 13,000 yr. old beer residue the "consistency of gruel" in a cave in the Carmel mtn.s in Israel, produced by the semi-nomadic Natufians. (But the Natufians were hunter-gatherers. - ? That the earliest evidence of fermentation would be found in the Levant, the cradle of agriculture, is intuitive, but how could it predate agriculture? Rather, an appreciation for beer "may have been a motivation for people to settle down in the first place. The oldest known bread, possibly > 14,000 yr.s old, was found recently at a Natufian site in Jordan, and together the two may have been the inspiration for the cultivation of cereals." newatlas.com/oldest-alcohol-ancient-beer/56335/ (First you get the buzz, then you get the farm, then the city, then global warfare, THEN you get the women.: youtu.be/Q77o5OJhGXc ) But it can still be said (only for now) that the residue from Godin Tepe is the earliest evidence of "a beverage fermented from malted barley, the foundation of [modern] beer". www.wineenthusiast.com/culture/beer/iran-beer-back-home-b... It's also been reported that the first 'take-out windows' known to archaeology (2) were discovered there. (Who wouldn't want to see the first 'take-out windows'?) www.livescience.com/16773-ancient-takeout-window-godin-te... Godin Tepe's only @ 5 clicks E. of the 48 at the pt. where it turns SW towards Kangavar.

Figures published today show tree planting in Wales is flat-lining

But grants will be available for small scale woodland creation projects in Wales between 27 June and 29 July

 

Coed Cadw Woodland Trust is alarmed by continued low level of new woodland planting in Wales confirmed in official figures today. This is despite the growing evidence of the importance of trees and woods for wildlife, the economy and as a vital element of green spaces for health and well-being of communities.

 

The figures released here (www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/wapr2016.pdf/$FILE/wapr2016.pdf) show just 100 ha of new woodland was planted in Wales last year, the same as the year before. This is despite the Welsh Government’s published aspiration to create 100,000 ha of new woodland between now and 2030.

 

Jerry Langford, Coed Cadw’s Director in Wales says:

 

“There’s an ever growing body of evidence of the importance of trees and woodland in creating resilient farms, in tackling air pollution, improving water quality and offering scope to deliver natural flood management. That’s on top of what they can offer for wildlife and their productive potential of timber. Low planting rates mean that Wales is missing the opportunity to benefit in this way. We think the Welsh Government’s ambition to create 100,000 ha of new woodland between now and 2030 would go a long way towards delivering the far-sighted commitment to sustainable land management that is now enshrined in the Environment (Wales) Act.”

 

Woodland cover in Wales stands at just 14 per cent, making Wales one of the least wooded countries in Europe. The Woodland Trust believes that the poor planting figures are partly due to uncertainty and delays in introducing the new Glastir Woodland Creation grants, and the way in which the Government changed farm subsidy rules last year to penalise farmers retaining trees on their land.

 

Jerry Langford continues: “We support the Welsh Government in its genuine desire to see Wales benefit more from woodland and trees, but if this aspiration is to be delivered, there needs to be a consistent commitment from across Government.”

 

There is some good news, however. Lesley Griffiths, Wales’ new Environment Minister announced on Monday that there will be an opportunity to apply for Small Grants towards measures which will help lock up carbon, such as support small woodland planting, tree planting and hedgerow creation and restoration, between 27 June and 29 July. The scheme will offer grants of up to £5,000 per customer and up to £1.5 million is available in total.

 

One farmer who has recognised the value of trees on his farm and who is aiming to plant more is Arwel Davies of Braich y Waun Farm in the Upper Cain catchment near Llanfyllin. He is one of 10 farmers in the valley who received funding through the Coed Cymru/Rivers Trusts Soil and Water Nature Fund Scheme, supported by the Welsh Government, and subsequently from the Woodland Trust, to restore hedges as shelter and for the management of surface water runoff.

 

He explains his desire to plant more trees by telling a family anecdote: “On first buying the farm, my grandfather took his father out to stand alongside one of the system of banks and hedges and said: ‘We ought to appreciate all the sheer hard labour that went into creating these banks and hedges. They give our stock so much shelter.’ In a way they knew more about farming then, than we do today.”

 

If you are considering creating new woodland , hedges, shelterbelts copses etc. and would like advice and information on Welsh Government grants available for tree planting or direct support available through Coed Cadw’s own schemes for woodland or hedge creation, including its subsidised farm tree packs, then please contact its woodland creation team on 0330333 5303 or plant@woodlandtrust.org.uk

  

UK Figures: In England, the figure was just 700 ha compared to 2,400 ha last year. In Scotland, 4,600 was planted, 40% less than last year’s 7,600 ha and far short of the 10,000ha target. And in Northern Ireland planting reached just 100 ha in comparison to 200ha last year.

 

Ffigyrau plannu coed siomedig iawn ar gyfer Cymru yn cael eu cyhoeddi heddiw

Ond fe fydd grantiau ar gael ar gyfer plannu ar raddfa fechan rhwng 27 Mehefin ac ar 29 Gorffennaf

 

Mae Coed Cadw Woodland Trust yn poeni’n arw am y lefel isel o blannu coetir newydd yng Nghymru, sy’n cael ei gadarnhau gan y ffigurau swyddogol a gyhoeddwyd heddiw. Mae hyn er gwaethaf y dystiolaeth gynyddol am bwysigrwydd coed a choedwigoedd ar gyfer bywyd gwyllt, yr economi ac fel ffordd hanfodol o greu mannau gwyrdd ar gyfer iechyd a lles cymunedau.

 

Mae'r ffigurau a ryddhawyd yma yn dangos na phlannwyd ond 100 ha o goetir newydd yng Nghymru y llynedd, yr un ffigwr a’r flwyddyn cynt. Mae hyn er gwaethaf dyhead Llywodraeth Cymru i greu 100,000 ha o goetir newydd rhwng nawr a 2030.

 

Dywed Jerry Langford, Cyfarwyddwr Coed Cadw yng Nghymru:

 

"Mae yna fwy a mwy o dystiolaeth am bwysigrwydd coed a choetiroedd i wneud ffermydd yn wytnach i effeithiau newid yr hinsawdd, i fynd i'r afael â llygredd aer, gwella ansawdd dŵr a chynnig cyfle i reoli llifogydd mewn ffordd naturiol. Fe allan nhw gynhyrchu pren hefyd, wrth gwrs, a chynnig cynefinoedd gwerthfawr i fyd natur. Mae’r lefel isel o blannu yn golygu bod Cymru’n colli'r cyfle i elwa fel hyn. Dyna pam rydym yn meddwl y gallai uchelgais Llywodraeth Cymru i greu 100,000 ha o goetir newydd rhwng nawr a 2030 fynd yn bell tuag at gyflawni'r ymrwymiad i reoli tir mewn ffordd gynaliadwy sydd bellach wedi'i ymgorffori yn Neddf yr Amgylchedd (Cymru). "

 

Dim ond 14% o dirwedd Cymru sydd o dan orchudd coed ar hyn o byrd, sy’n golygu fod Cymru'n un o wledydd lleiaf coediog Ewrop. Mae Coed Cadw yn credu bod y ffigurau plannu gwael yn ganlyniad, i raddau, i ansicrwydd ac oedi wrth gyflwyno'r grantiau Creu Coetiroedd Glastir newydd, a'r ffordd y mae'r Llywodraeth wedi newid rheolau cymhorthdal fferm y llynedd i gosbi ffermwyr am gadw coed ar eu tir.

 

Jerry Langford parhau: "Rydym yn cefnogi deheuad Llywodraeth Cymru i sicrhau fod Cymru yn elwa mwy ar goed goetiroedd, ond ydi’r awydd yma’n mynd i gael ei gyflawni, mae angen ymrwymiad cyson ar draws y Llywodraeth."

 

Mae yna rywfaint o newyddion da, fodd bynnag. Fe gyhoeddodd Lesley Griffiths, y Gweinidog newydd dros yr Amgylchedd Dydd Llun y bydd cyfle i wneud cais am Grantiau Bychain tuag at fesurau a fydd yn helpu cloi carbon, fel plannu coetiroedd bychain, plannu coed a chreu ac adfer gwrychoedd, a hynny rhwng 27 Mehefin ac ar 29 Gorffennaf. Fe fydd y cynllun yn cynnig grantiau o hyd at £ 5,000 i bob cwsmer ac fe fydd hyd at £ 1.5 miliwn ar gael yn gyfan gwbl.

 

Un ffermwr sydd wedi cydnabod gwerth coed ar ei fferm ac sy'n anelu at blannu mwy yw Arwel Davies o Fferm Braich y Waun yn nalgylch Afon Cain Uchaf ger Llanfyllin. Mae'n un o 10 ffermwr yn y cwm a dderbyniodd gyllid drwy Gynllun Cronfa Natur Dŵr a Phridd Afonydd Cymru a Choed Cymru, a gefnogir gan Lywodraeth Cymru, ac yn dilyn hynny oddi wrth Coed Cadw, i adfer gwrychoedd fel cysgod ac ar gyfer rheoli dŵr ffo.

 

Mae'n egluro ei awydd i blannu mwy o goed trwy ddweud hanes am ei deulu: "Pan brynodd fy nhaid y fferm, fe aeth o a’n nhad i sefyll wrth ochr rhan o’r system o fanciau a gwrychoedd a ddywedodd wrtho fo: 'Ddylen ni werthfawrogi'r holl waith caled a wnaed i greu’r banciau a gwrychoedd hyn. Maen nhw’n rhoi cymaint o gysgod i’n stoc ni.' Mewn ffordd roedden nhw’n gwybod mwy am ffermio bryd hynny na ninnau heddiw."

 

Os ydych yn ystyried creu coetir newydd, gwrychoedd, lleiniau cysgodol ac ati, ac yn dymuno cael cyngor a gwybodaeth am grantiau Llywodraeth Cymru ar gael ar gyfer plannu coed neu gefnogaeth uniongyrchol sydd ar gael drwy gynlluniau Coed Cadw ei hun ar gyfer creu coetiroedd a gwrychoedd, gan gynnwys pecynnau coed fferm wedi eu sybsideiddio, yna cysylltwch â'u tîm creu coetir ar 0330333 5303 neu plant@woodlandtrust.org.uk

  

Ffigurau DU: Yn Lloegr, roedd y ffigwr dim ond 700 ha o’i gymharu â 2,400 ha'r llynedd. Yn yr Alban plannwyd 4,600 ha, 40% yn llai na'r llynedd, sef 7,600 ha, ac yn is o lawer na'r targed sef 10,000ha. Ac yng Ngogledd Iwerddon dim ond 100 ha a blannwyd o gymharu â 200ha y llynedd.

 

For media enquiries contact:

 

Rory Francis (Publicity and Public Affairs Officer for Wales) on 0343 770 5738 or 07760 171174, Afallon, Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd LL41 3RH Email roryfrancis@woodlandtrust.org.uk

 

Or The Woodland Trust Press Office email media@woodland-trust.org.uk or Tel 01476 581121

 

Coed Cadw (The Woodland Trust)

The Woodland Trust is the UK’s largest charity championing native woods and trees. It has 300,000 members and supporters. The Trust has three key aims: i) to enable the creation of more native woods and places rich in trees; ii) to protect native woods, trees and their wildlife for the future and; iii) to inspire everyone to enjoy and value woods and trees.

 

Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). These include over 100 sites in Wales, with a total area of 1,580 hectares (3,900 acres). It offers free public access to nearly all of its sites. The Trust’s Welsh language name, “Coed Cadw”, is an old Welsh term, used in medieval laws to describe protected or preserved woodland.

  

SOURCES:

 

June 16th planting figures www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-7aqknx

Woodland Area, Planting and Restocking: 2016 Edition on 16 June 2016.

UK New planting tables, for 1976 to 2015: www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-7aqknx

 

The State of Natural Capital: Protecting and improving Natural Capital for Prosperity and Well-being, Third Report to Economic Affairs Committee, Natural Capital Committee, January 2015 www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_d...

 

Europe Economics: Woodlands are worth £270 billion to the UK economy www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/mediafile/100523043/RR-WT-060315...

 

Woodland Trust response to the Spending review www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/mediafile/100701000/Spending-Rev...

    

Bạn có biết rằng quạt trần công nghiệp HVLS (High Volume Low Speed) là một giải pháp làm mát hiệu quả và tiết kiệm năng lượng cho các môi trường công nghiệp lớn? Trên thực tế, quạt trần HVLS đã trở thành một công nghệ tiên tiến trong việc cải thiện không khí và tạo sự thoải mái cho nhân viên làm việc. Trong bài viết này, chúng ta sẽ tìm hiểu về lợi ích của việc sử dụng quạt trần công nghiệp HVLS trong môi trường công nghiệp.

Lợi ích của sử dụng quạt trần công nghiệp HVLS

Tiết kiệm năng lượng

Quạt trần công nghiệp HVLS có khả năng tạo ra lưu lượng không khí lớn. Với cánh quạt siêu lớn và tốc độ quay chậm, quạt HVLS di chuyển một lượng không khí đáng kể trong một thời gian ngắn. Điều này giúp làm giảm nhiệt độ và cung cấp không khí tươi cho toàn bộ không gian làm việc một cách hiệu quả.

Mặc dù quạt trần HVLS có kích thước lớn, nhưng chúng vận hành ở tốc độ chậm và tiêu thụ điện năng rất ít so với các loại quạt thông thường. Điều này giúp giảm chi phí điện năng và tiết kiệm nguồn tài nguyên quý giá.

Cải thiện chất lượng không khí

Quạt trần HVLS tạo ra một luồng không khí tự nhiên thông qua cánh quạt siêu lớn. Điều này giúp thông gió và đảm bảo rằng không khí trong môi trường làm việc luôn được cung cấp và thay thế liên tục. Luồng không khí này giúp giảm độ ẩm, loại bỏ mùi hôi và hạ nhiệt độ trong không gian công nghiệp.

Quạt trần HVLS tạo ra lưu lượng không khí mạnh, giúp loại bỏ bụi và hóa chất trong không khí một cách hiệu quả. Điều này rất quan trọng trong các môi trường công nghiệp nơi có sự tồn tại của các chất gây ô nhiễm và bụi mịn. Quạt HVLS đảm bảo không khí trong môi trường làm việc sạch và an toàn.

Tăng hiệu suất làm việc

Quạt trần công nghiệp HVLS giúp giảm nhiệt độ và cung cấp không khí tươi, tạo điều kiện làm việc thoải mái cho nhân viên trong môi trường công nghiệp. Khi không gian làm việc thoáng đãng và mát mẻ, nhân viên có thể tập trung cao độ và nâng cao hiệu suất làm việc.

Quạt trần công nghiệp cánh dài giúp giảm căng thẳng và mệt mỏi cho nhân viên làm việc trong môi trường công nghiệp. Điều này đặc biệt quan trọng trong các ngành công nghiệp có áp lực công việc lớn và nhiệt độ cao. Quạt HVLS tạo ra sự thoải mái và giảm căng thẳng, giúp nhân viên duy trì sự tập trung và hiệu suất cao trong quá trình làm việc.

Kết luận

Quạt trần công nghiệp HVLS là một giải pháp hiệu quả để làm mát và cải thiện chất lượng không khí trong môi trường công nghiệp. Với khả năng tiết kiệm năng lượng, tạo lưu lượng không khí lớn, và tạo điều kiện làm việc thoải mái, quạt HVLS đã chứng minh được lợi ích của mình trong việc nâng cao hiệu suất làm việc và sự thoải mái cho nhân viên. Hãy xem xét sử dụng quạt trần công nghiệp HVLS trong môi trường công nghiệp của bạn để tận hưởng những lợi ích mà nó mang lại.

   

1.Myfxbook là gì?

Myfxbook là một nền tảng, website, và cộng đồng xã hội dành cho các trader chuyên giao dịch và đầu tư vào thị trường ngoại hối (Forex). Nó đã đạt được sự tin tưởng của hàng triệu nhà đầu tư trên khắp thế giới nhờ vào các ưu điểm độc đáo và thú vị trong dịch vụ giao dịch ngoại hối hiện nay. Đặc điểm quan trọng của Myfxbook là khả năng kết nối các tài khoản giao dịch và chia sẻ thông tin với nhau thông qua nền tảng của Myfxbook.

Myfxbook không chỉ dành cho các trader có kinh nghiệm mà còn là một địa chỉ đáng tin cậy cho những người mới bắt đầu tham gia thị trường ngoại hối. Nền tảng này cho phép các trader kết nối, chia sẻ ý tưởng, và hợp tác với nhau để đạt được mục tiêu chung là tối ưu hóa lợi nhuận từ giao dịch ngoại hối.

 

2.Những công cụ & dịch vụ trên Myfxbook

Myfxbook cung cấp một loạt các công cụ và dịch vụ hữu ích để hỗ trợ các trader trong quá trình giao dịch Forex:

2.1. Home

Công cụ này cung cấp thông tin mới nhất về thị trường ngoại hối và các tính năng hỗ trợ thông tin như tin tức kinh tế, lịch kinh tế để theo dõi các sự kiện quan trọng, phân tích cơ bản để hỗ trợ giao dịch theo tin tức, và máy tính Forex để tính toán các thông số quan trọng trong giao dịch.

 

2.2. Portfolio

Công cụ này cho phép trader liên kết tài khoản giao dịch của họ với Myfxbook và hiển thị thông tin chi tiết về giao dịch tại nền tảng này.

 

2.3. Charts

Công cụ này cho phép theo dõi biểu đồ giá thời gian thực và thiết kế các mô hình phân tích kỹ thuật. Nó cũng cho phép chia sẻ mô hình phân tích kỹ thuật với cộng đồng Myfxbook.

 

2.4. Markets

Công cụ này cung cấp thông tin chi tiết về tình hình thị trường Forex dựa trên khung thời gian thực và báo giá của các cặp tiền tệ.

2.5. Systems

Công cụ Systems giúp so sánh các hệ thống giao dịch trên nhiều tài khoản đầu tư khác nhau và truy cập vào hệ thống giao dịch của các trader khác trên thị trường.

2.6. Community

Công cụ này là trung tâm của cộng đồng Myfxbook. Tại đây, trader có thể thảo luận, trao đổi thông tin về thị trường, kỹ năng giao dịch Forex, và hợp tác với nhau. Trader có thể tạo các chủ đề, tham gia tranh luận, và nhờ tư vấn từ cộng đồng.

2.7. Review

Công cụ này giúp trader đánh giá và chia sẻ thông tin về các khía cạnh của thị trường và các dịch vụ liên quan, như sàn giao dịch, tín hiệu giao dịch, VPS, và nhiều khía cạnh khác.

 

3.Hướng dẫn kết nối tài khoản giao dịch MT4/MT5 với MyFxBook

Để kết nối tài khoản giao dịch MT4/MT5 với Myfxbook, bạn có hai cách phổ biến:

3.1.Cách 1: Sử dụng EA (MetaTrader4)

Đăng ký tài khoản bằng email.

Đăng nhập vào tài khoản, chọn "Add account" trong phần Portfolio và chờ phản hồi từ hệ thống.

Tiếp tục chọn "Add Account" và tự do lựa chọn nền tảng giao dịch thông qua hình ảnh hiển thị trên màn hình.

Liên kết tài khoản bằng cách cài đặt EA Myfxbook.

Khởi chạy MT4/MT5 và chọn "Myfxbook" trong phần Navigator để hoàn thành quá trình liên kết tài khoản.

 

3.2.Cách 2: Tự động chọn nền tảng (MetaTrader 4 - Auto Update)

Đăng nhập vào tài khoản Myfxbook và chọn "Add Account".

Điền các thông tin yêu cầu như tên đăng nhập, sàn môi giới, tên Server, số tài khoản, và mật khẩu nhà đầu tư.

Thay đổi mật khẩu nhà đầu tư trên nền tảng MT4 thành mật khẩu cá nhân để an toàn hơn.

Sau khi điền đầy đủ thông tin, chọn "Create Account" để kết nối tài khoản.

Xác thực tài khoản bằng cách thay đổi mật khẩu.

 

4.Hướng dẫn phân tích tài khoản trên MyFxBook

Myfxbook cung cấp nhiều công cụ phân tích tài khoản, cho phép bạn xem chi tiết về hiệu suất giao dịch của tài khoản. Dưới đây là một số hướng dẫn cơ bản về cách sử dụng các công cụ này:

Portfolio: Truy cập phần Portfolio để xem tổng quan về tài khoản giao dịch của bạn, bao gồm tỷ lệ lợi nhuận, mức drawdown, và thống kê khác.

Systems: Trong phần Systems, bạn có thể tìm kiếm và theo dõi các hệ thống giao dịch của các trader khác.

Charts: Sử dụng công cụ Charts để xem biểu đồ lợi nhuận và drawdown của tài khoản theo thời gian.

Trading Analysis: Cung cấp phân tích giao dịch chi tiết về tài khoản, bao gồm thống kê về lợi nhuận, lệnh thắng/thua, và nhiều chỉ số khác.

History & Stats: Xem lịch sử giao dịch và các thống kê chi tiết về lệnh đã được thực hiện trên tài khoản.

Community: Kết nối với cộng đồng Myfxbook để thảo luận, học hỏi, và hợp tác với các trader khác.

 

Myfxbook cung cấp nhiều công cụ hữu ích để theo dõi và phân tích tài khoản giao dịch của bạn, cũng như để kết nối và tương tác với cộng đồng trader. Hãy thực hiện theo hướng dẫn trên để tận dụng tối đa các tính năng của Myfxbook.

5.Hướng dẫn thực hiện copy trading với Myfxbook

 

Để thực hiện copy trading với Myfxbook, đầu tiên, đăng ký tài khoản, sau đó tìm và chọn nhà cung cấp tín hiệu phù hợp với bạn. Đăng ký và kết nối tài khoản giao dịch của bạn với nhà cung cấp tín hiệu. Cuối cùng, quản lý và theo dõi quá trình copy trading trên tài khoản Myfxbook của bạn. Hãy luôn thận trọng và quản lý rủi ro khi tham gia copy trading để đảm bảo an toàn tài chính của bạn.

 

Nguồn: thebrokers.com/news/myfxbook-la-gi