#67 Teaching at Taizhou College, China (Beijing - The Marco Polo Bridge)

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Some ten miles from Beijing's city center stands the "Lugou Qiao", also known as the "Marco Polo Bridge", named after the famed traveller, who enthusiastically described this enduring, 11-arched bridge in his famous book, "The Travels".

The historic significance of this 820 year old bridge is close to the heart of every Chinese, not only for its beauty of the marble-stone construction dating to the Jin Dynasty of 1189, but also for the bloody battles of 1937 between the Japanese Imperial Army and the Nationalist Chinese Soldiers, leading to the Japanese occupation of Beijing, followed by a full-scale war.

The pain and the suffering of the Chinese people in the hands of the Japanese is never to be forgotten, much less forgiven. The conflict and the bloody atrocities remain today as one of the great divides between the two nations. It has been the topic of many of my conversations, from party members to bus-drivers as well as with teachers and students. These talks have always been painfully, if not angrily initiated by them, and usually begin with the question: "What do you think of the Japanese?"

Only two months ago, "Japanese and Chinese Relations" was the theme of a seminar given at our college, to which I was invited. The ferver with which the destain for the Japanese was presented, and is still expressed daily around me, leaves no doubt in my mind, that the wounds of that sorrowful conflict will take many more decades and perhaps centuries to heal.

The cost of human lifes and the cruel suffering of the Chinese population will always be deeply impregnated in their hearts, and will be remembered with great reverence by each of China's successive generation. The population is reminded of that part of its history through daily doses of TV war-movies and in the on-going education of the young.

Japan's reluctance to admit and apologize for the misery it had caused during its occupation does nothing to ease the deeply felt antagonism and pain entrenched in the soul of every Chinese.

The solid-marble Marco Polo Bridge spans the Yongding River at the town of Wanping in the Feng Tai District, and spans some 876 fascinating feet. Most visitors traverse it somberly as if pilgrims, in quiet contemplation, reminding each other not only of history's tragedy, but also of the uniqueness and beauty of the bridge.

Both ends of the bridge are graced by "stelae", huge stone-blocks recording history for posterity. These stelae are inscribed with the poetry of two Qing Emperors.

Other beautiful monuments, park areas, and historical reminders surround the bridge entrance, and invite further exploration before entering the fortress-wall of the city of Wanping, once used as a garrison-quarter for the Japanese occupation forces.

The balustrades along the length of the marble bridge are decorated by over 400 hand-carved stone lions, each one slightly different in appearance and each a pleasing work of art. Legends tell, that these fierce-looking carvings come to live during the night as guardians of this marvelous construction.

Much of the bridge is still in its original form, and the unusual width provides ample room for the visitor to linger and ponder one of China's special memorials. Though never constructed or intended as a monument to China's martyrs, the sounds of pain and sorrow and sacrifice of brave men and women linger upon every stone of the Marco Polo Bridge.

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