Taming the Dragon
<p>2010. Beijing. November 10th. I walk down the street called Guozijian 國子監 , so named for the<a href="https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/guozijian-street.htm" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"> Guozijian Academy</a>, which takes up a large part of it’s Northern side. Originally established in 1306, the East-West running hutong’s main cultural sites are the academy and the adjacent Confucius Temple. Although now a tourist site, during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, the Guozijian Academy was the administrative headquarters and the highest level of learning officials could aspire to study during these dynasties. With Confucius Temple directly next door, the street gives off an air of austerity where cold, hard, knowledge taught by rote learning, recitation of the classics, and officialdom being weeded out through a harrowing sequence of rigid tests were the main order of business back in the day. On a Fall day in November, 2010, the red-walled austerity is balanced by the stark contrast of a Beijing blue sky. A man walks his bird in a cage. He grasps the handle with a strong hand, and although there is a cover over the cage, the sounds from underneath indicate life within. </p>
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