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It's brilliant to see stuff like this still wearing cherished numberplates, this one would not normally stand out to me but I just had to document it. Still, I feel it may be worthwhile taking photos of every single 5 on the roads now, they are slowly but surely thinning out....
This one is a 1989 model, still taxed into next year too.
"True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it be lost."
- Charles Caleb Colton
Eco Fashion Week April 22, 2013 Three stylists with $500 each made three runway collections from outfits presented by Value Village. Photos by Sean Herd.
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Very Old machine it is one of the effects of the English colonization of Egypt
Are currently in one of the old houses whos owned by one of the very poor Egyptians in a very very poor area.
The most IMPORTANT ISSUE is that no one knows its there and no one knows the value of this ...ARCHEOLOGICAL...MACHINE...
...UNTIL NOW !!!
...IMAGINE THAT ...?!?!?!
Jeff McMullen, Wayne Muir, (standing) Naomi Wolfe, Ken Ralph, Annette
Schneider (seated)
“Closing the Space Between Us”
Easing the Crisis in Indigenous
Health and Education
Jeff McMullen
2007 Annual Aquinas Lecture
Australian Catholic University Ballarat
Jim-baa-yer Indigenous Unit
Friday 14th September 2007
I am torn as I stand here tonight between sharing what I know is happening to Aboriginal communities and wanting to be there as the sun rises tomorrow.
In Barunga, a Jawoyn community in southern Arnhem Land, they will walk tomorrow along a heavily trodden sandy track through the trees to bury a very young man who died way too soon. He is the son of an Aboriginal teacher, Lorraine Bennett, a woman my family thinks of as one of our favourite people in the world. My words tonight are in honour of this young life and of his wonderful mother who has taught so much to so many other children, even mine.
When my son, Will, now 12, and daughter, Claire, now 13, were considerably younger they sent Lorraine books, the right books, the ones she said she needed. This inspiring teacher with the beautiful smile used those books to start the first preschool in Wugularr, 120 kilometres south of Katherine.
Lorraine works now for the Sunrise Health Service Aboriginal Corporation which has the huge job of bringing health to people scattered across vast distances in Arnhem Land. Lorraine directs the early learning and health education project supported by Ian Thorpe’s Fountain for Youth trust. She understands that if we are to create a brighter and more hopeful life for all Australian children then we need to create the change that can only come through education. If we are to overcome the crisis in Aboriginal communities around this country we have to educate ourselves to understand the truth.
Over fifty years of world wandering has deepened my appreciation of the extraordinary journey made by Aboriginal people to be here today as the world’s oldest continuous culture.
I am not romanticising the past but it is essential to acknowledge the strength, the beauty and the value of Australia’s Indigenous cultures to understand the scale of the crisis afflicting so many of our 460,000 Indigenous people.
Wherever you live in Australia you need to find out the longer timelines of the history of this land and its people to understand what is happening now.
Here in Victoria, it was plagues of sickness following European occupation that ravaged the Wathawurrung people on this land of theirs. Not since the arrival of those European illnesses has Aboriginal culture as a whole faced such a grave threat.
There is a genuine emergency today in the heartland of this country but it is not mentioned once in over 500 pages of legislation rushed through our Federal Parliament to try to legitimise the illegitimate takeover of the rights of Aboriginal communities. Eerily, it is hard to find mention of children in those 500 pages of legislation.
The federal intervention, approved by both major political parties, almost completely misreads the real trauma and the greatest threat to Aboriginal lives.
What is killing most Aboriginal people 17 to 20 years before their time is a plague of chronic illness known as Syndrome X. This is a new Black Death cutting the heart out of several generations of Aboriginal people. It is both physical and mental sickness on such a scale that Aboriginal communities are now shrouded in a seemingly endless procession of funerals and mourning.
In the 1980’s, travelling widely in the remote communities, I used the phrase “a health emergency” to describe for governments and our nation the accelerating plague of diabetes, renal disease, strokes, hypertension and heart disease. Syndrome X has been gathering terrible force. Governments, state and federal, have held numerous inquiries, health strategies have been plotted time and again, but no Government has invested adequately in the integrated program of health, housing, work and, in particular, education that can end this preventable cluster of chronic illnesses.
Look at it this way. Over 70% of your family’s good health is determined by your socio-economic status : your education, the money you earn at work, the quality of your home and the health care you access. Aboriginal people, on the UN’s measurement, have the second worst quality of life on earth, outdone in squalor and disadvantage only by the poorest rural Chinese.
Here in the midst of a Golden Age for most Australians, when the wealth of this Aboriginal Land has built an astonishing federal surplus of over 17 billion dollars this year, we still have hundreds of thousands of Aboriginal people, the owners of this Land, living in dire poverty. They are by far the most disadvantaged of Australia’s two million people living below the poverty line. I have seen children who wander around looking for food. Thousands of children are not even enrolled for school and many teenagers wander aimlessly. Whole communities have been denied their human right to adequate food, housing, health and education. As a result we are now witnessing the very rapid disintegration of so many Aboriginal families, in remote, rural and urban communities.
Aboriginal people have barely wiped the tears from their eyes when there’s news of another death, especially young men who see no future in their own country, ashamed middle aged men in the grip of alcohol and illness who know they can’t support their families and broken men who die in the long grass or sometimes in a police cell.
Just a few years ago at Barunga we buried one of the Jawoyn’s great modern leaders. The late Bangardi Lee was just 53, young enough to be my brother. But in these parts I meet few Aboriginal men my age. Mr Lee died after suffering but never complaining about his handful of Syndrome X chronic illnesses. This thoughtful man knew that education was the key to a better chance of health for all of his community and he had asked Ian Thorpe and myself to lend a hand to try to improve the staggering 93% illiteracy in this zone of distress. As he was lowered into the ground, in the Aboriginal custom we pressed our sweat onto the coffin and I whispered a promise that I would do as he asked and do what we could until these children, the Children of the Sunrise, had the same opportunity as my own.
When my mother was a country child, growing up on the land near Singleton in the Hunter Valley, she lived opposite a shanty settlement of very poor Aboriginal families. She told my brothers and I that as she walked barefoot to school she came to see that it was wrong that Aboriginal children were then denied a chance to learn in that same school. In my family we felt the same way to know that in the whole of the Northern Territory only 62 Aboriginal children completed high school in government schools in 2004 as we worked with Ian Thorpe to build an early learning and health education program. My son, Will and daughter, Claire, were unsettled when they learned that Aboriginal children had so little. They, too, knew it was wrong. It was the unfairness they couldn’t bear.
“I know why these kids find it so hard when they start school”, Will said. “They never see a book at home.” Yes, bookless homes, scores of communities without a library or a pre-school this is part of our failure. Claire and Will truly could not imagine a childhood without books, without that world of pure joy and discovery that is opened up through reading.
Yet every Australian literacy study confirms that by Year 3 many Indigenous children have fallen eighteen months behind the national literacy and numeracy standards. The strugglers continue to deteriorate and by grade seven lag five years behind. How will these Australian children make their way through life with the literacy level of a six-year-old?
If they can’t read or write properly how will they ever find their way out of the maze of poverty and poor health? How will they get a driver’s licence to move with freedom in the wider world or ever hold down a well paying job? Almost certainly non-readers will become dependent on others for simple but sometimes critical functions. In the Jawoyn communities, Bangardi Lee used to say how distressing it was for his people to turn to outsiders, even to write letters begging for help from Canberra.
Closing the gap in life expectancy between Aboriginal people and the rest of Australians is our greatest national challenge. The key is to close the gap in education.
It is no coincidence that in regions like Arnhem Land where the median age of death of Aboriginal men is around 46, much lower than the national average of around 56 for Indigenous men, you also find these illiteracy rates as high as 93%. The explanation lies in the complex chain of factors that produce disadvantage beginning at birth and developing into a loss of control over individual lives and even the destiny of whole communities.
In the case of some children the disadvantage starts in utero. American scholar, Paul E. Barton, found that of fourteen major factors contributing to the racial gap in educational achievement, eight of them occurred before the child reached school. Of great interest to me was Barton’s finding that hunger, nutrition and low-birthweight were important contributors. He is not alone in these findings.
Syndrome X, that cluster of illnesses devastating Aboriginal lives, was for a long time explained by some as the consequence of a weak gene. I heard the same racial excuse used thirty years ago to explain the disproportionate amount of these illnesses among Native Americans or African-Americans I was filming at the time for Four Corners. But this theory has been shattered in recent years. Professor John Bertram of Monash University and a team that included the Menzies School of Health Research in the NT and the University of Mississippi examined autopsies of those who had died of the Syndrome X illnesses. They found a fascinating constant. It crossed over races but it hovered around hunger and poverty. The common factor was being born a dangerously low birth weight baby.
Young Aboriginal mothers are often malnourished and have untreated infections. In utero their unborn baby develops too few nephrons in the kidney. These are the tiny filters. You don’t catch up on nephrons. The hand you are dealt at birth is what you will live and die with. With too few nephrons the kidney of the Aboriginal child struggles and overcompensates, with an increased risk of scarring and ultimately early kidney disease, then premature death. I wear another hat as a Trustee of Jimmy Little’s Foundation which is committed to helping Aboriginal people on dialysis get back to their country when they are battling through the last years of their lives. Australian hospitals are now seeing the start of an avalanche of patients requiring costly dialysis but many Aboriginal people won’t get this treatment and they too will die years before their time.
This is the epitaph we chisel on their tombstones. Born into disadvantage and died that way.
A leading Aboriginal scholar, Professor Ted Wilkes and Dr Fiona Stanley of the Telethon Institute report in their landmark Western Australian assessment of Aboriginal health a disturbing pattern of hunger, poor nutrition and a high incidence of smoking and drinking even while those young Aboriginal mothers were pregnant. 49 per cent of Indigenous mothers smoked through pregnancy and 23 per cent continued to drink alcohol. These are two more of the major causes of those dangerously low birth-weight babies.
What distressed the researchers the most was that apparently the health education message had never reached these young people or had been ignored. If you work in education we need to make a far more vigorous and creative effort, with messages shaped by Indigenous people, to help especially young teenage mothers understand that it is not only their health that is threatened. It is the future of their child, including the child’s intellect and ability to learn.
This kind of education is not part of the Federal Government’s intervention in the Northern Territory.
The Federal Government has never adequately funded the vital screening and prevention programs to prevent the epidemics of illness and disease. Led by the ex-Army Captain, Mal Brough, some troops lend a hand on logistics but they should be building up the vital services that have never been provided in so many of these communities. The Volunteer GP’s are now paid by the Federal Government to complete health checks to establish an audit of a health disaster that has been assessed numerous times. They will not be there long enough to provide real treatment. When they go home the pattern of chronic illness will remain.
The Northern Territory Intervention patronisingly ignores the good work by Aboriginal medical services, staffed by black and white Australians who can never get the adequate primary health care funding they need.
Mal Brough’s Intervention is a show of concern but it offers very little treatment for the conditions or illnesses of poverty that afflict these children.
Most of these children will never access the pharmaceutical benefits scheme because there are chemist shops in Aboriginal communities. They will not access the medical benefits scheme either because there may be only one GP for a vast area of the Northern Territory.
According to the National Rural health Alliance the number of Australian-trained GP’s choosing
to bring care to the seven million Australians living in the bush has plummeted.
The Aboriginal Health Services need more nurses, dentists and other health professionals. Their patients are about five times sicker than other Australians.
Aboriginal children have ailments hardly seen in our cities in thirty years, including the world’s highest rate of acute rheumatic heart fever, scabies, anaemia and other diseases of poverty, and otitis media, middle ear infections which cause serious loss of hearing and become a life long learning disability for over 80% of the Jawoyn children. These infections, which are detected in babies as young as three months spread rapidly in overcrowded houses, often with ten, fifteen or more people crowded together, sleeping on old mattresses. There’s broken plumbing, stoves and fridges often don’t work and there’s no one with a real plan to help them find their way out of this maze of poverty and bad health.
Patrick Dodson has stated firmly that only the Federal Government has the level of funding required to change this health disaster. This year, the Aboriginal Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commissioner, Tom Calma decided to lead the Close the Gap campaign to focus our nation on this task at the start of a long federal election season. Cathy Freeman, Ian Thorpe and virtually every significant health organization in this land have joined forces to communicate a hopeful and positive message that within a decade we can make true progress and that with the will and the national commitment we will see that the ten thousand Aboriginal children born this year finally move towards a genuine equality of opportunity.
The Australian Medical Association, using estimates shaped by the health economist John Deeble, has estimated that an additional $460 million dollars a year is urgently required for primary health care in Aboriginal communities. I have pleaded for the past six years with the Federal Government to create the emergency level of aid that is required to deal with this genuine emergency. Kevin Rudd has put a couple of hundred million dollars on the table for an increased commitment to Indigenous Health. If the Prime Minister wants to see change in the lives of abused and neglected Aboriginal children he should now make a stronger commitment to provide the required level of Primary Health Care. I am not interested in more blaming. Let’s stop talking and get this done. In that prized future fund we have the bounty. Now we must have the belief. Let me share with you the proof that it can be done.
A good deal of research, especially by the Canadian scientist, Dr Fraser Mustard, has established that for every additional year of education provided to a whole community of young teenage women, we will add up to four years life expectancy to their first child.
Professor Ken Wyatt, formerly head of Aboriginal Health in NSW and now in charge of Western Australia’s Aboriginal health policy, adds another great incentive. Increasing the education of those young women by a single year can also reduce the danger of infant mortality when they give birth by between 7 and 10%. This is what I think of when I say, “Literacy is for life”.
What more motivation or sense of purpose can we want to create a very different kind of intervention : primary health care, managed and delivered by well funded Aboriginal health organizations, and education on a revolutionary scale that we have never provided Aboriginal children. Guaranteed pre-school education for all Australian children would be a great place to start. Go Kevin 07! But come on John! If you are going to fight out this election Prime Minister and offer a plan for the future, radically boost the investment in early learning.
Indigenous children are so disadvantaged that we need a literacy brigade of well educated people to rapidly lift the rate of learning. After I made this proposal two years ago at the Garma National Education Conference in the Northern Territory, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs responded by inviting the so called Grey Panthers to visit some remote communities in their caravans. This, as every teacher knows, is simply not enough.
The most disadvantaged students, in fact, require the highest standards of teaching. Some retired teachers and principals would have those talents and many others with appropriate cultural training could support these badly undermanned schools. The real champions of Indigenous education like Dr Chris Sara believe that the first step is to retrain principals to retrain their teachers to believe that Aboriginal children can reach the same standard of learning as the rest of Australian children.
But as with health workers, we need to fund an adequate education force equal to the great national task ahead of us.
I escorted the Federal Education Minister to one of the remote communities to show her that this can be done.
At Ian Thorpe’s Fountain for Youth Trust we have had some good support from the Federal Education department for our seven year effort to help improve the health and education of all Australian children.
Ian has been a true champion, visiting many of the remote communities, encouraging the children, their parents and their teachers. He is a strong man, with a big heart and a very fine mind. When asked how long he will persist in this work, he says, until we get the job done.
Charles Perkins told me many years ago that for Aboriginal people the road to equality would be a very long and hard one. We have to remain relentless and find the best in one another. Aboriginal people have been teaching me this for years.
Our strategy at Ian Thorpe’s Fountain for Youth trust is to focus on the well being of the young mothers, with early learning for their infants and a highly successful program of support for literacy at the primary school level.
Our Literacy Backpacks are tackling those bookless homes and supporting the NT teachers by closing the space between the school and the home. First we raise funds from the public. $200 can fund a child’s Literacy Backpack for a year’s worth of good reading. We seek support from companies like Credit Suisse Australia, Kessler and Vodafone to help resource a good school library with books tailored to the Accelerated Learning strategy favoured in the remote area schools. We enrol the kids in the Scholastic or Wombat Book club so they have the same encouragement and enjoyment as my children did as they make their own selections of reading. Instead of forcing truant kids to walk around picking up rubbish and other punitive, humiliating versions of this so called “tough love” approach of the NT intervention, the teachers we work with give the children an incentive to learn, to find themselves in the book. If the kids make good progress they get vouchers to purchase any book they like from the Katherine Bookshop. It’s owner, another spirited woman who believes in education, says many of these Aboriginal families are now saving and spending hundreds of dollars to provide more books for their children.
In the Literacy Backpacks the children take home a selection of reading for the whole family, for their younger brothers and sisters as well. They also carry home Aboriginal newspapers like the Koori Mail and the National Indigenous Times. Magazines on nutrition, cooking and baby care are very popular among the women. It’s incentive. It’s what these families are looking for and when children see their parents reading a newspaper or a magazine about contemporary Indigenous issues they know that learning is not a “gubba thing” just for white fellas..
To see people reading in those once bookless homes is a great satisfaction for teachers like Lorraine Bennett. Many of these Aboriginal schools in the Jawoyn communities are seeing significant measurable increases in the reading performances of the children.
Some of the girls used to ask my daughter Claire, “What are you going to do next ? “Well high school first,” she’d say. “I want to run fast like Cathy Freeman, swim fast like Ian, and then go to University like mum and dad.” I like to see our kids together, the boys running wild with Will and sharing their stories. Australian children sharing dreams.
Most of these children have never been far from their homelands. Learning and finding out what they truly need to know, those life empowering skills, will allow them to travel and come home. The greatest sense of progress is to hear children we know now talk of going to high school in Darwin or Cairns. It’s always hard to leave home and not every kid can handle that journey. Many Aboriginal leaders would love to see new residential high schools built to let children from several different communities share their school week together and then go home for a long weekend. At the moment scholarships and a very long journey is the only way. If they can make it, their mothers and fathers glow with pride.
It is so important to most of these parents to see that Indigenous culture is as prized as everything else in the school syllabus. Ian Thorpe’s Trust supports Aboriginal people to train the children in music, art and dance. Where possible these talents can flow into viable work and business that allows people a real chance to move from away from life limiting welfare dependency. In Wugularr, the Aboriginal actor, Tom Lewis, and local men organised the rebuilding of a Cultural Education Centre where young people are now trained in many forms of cultural expression usually shown off proudly at the annual Walking with Spirits festival.
In Queensland I have collaborated with the Aboriginal educator, Ernie Grant, on his “My Land, My Tracks” project. This is a teaching aide to help orient children to find out who they really are and how they fit into the longer timelines of Australian history. My experience with communities like Yarrabah and Kuranda, near Cairns, indicates that all forms of learning rapidly improve when Aboriginal children are more secure in their cultural knowledge and can value and respect their elders and their heritage. With Ernie Grant I share a passion to see Indigenous Studies elevated in importance in all levels of Australian education. As much as I learned at University I have made an effort throughout my professional lifetime to expand and deepen my appreciation of what it really means to live in this Aboriginal land. This can be a personal journey for every Australian.
What is missing in the Federal Government’s intervention into Aboriginal community life is any real empathy, any sense that we are walking with them, listening and learning. I am sorry but the words do matter and there is a coldness and insensitivity about this new policy of assimilation. There has been little meaningful consultation with the Aboriginal community leaders. Some were so upset they travelled to Federal Parliament but still couldn’t meet with those planning this radical upheaval. Very few Aboriginal people that I know in the Northern Territory agree that traditional lands should be under federal control through five year leases, evolving possibly into 99 year leases. Most are opposed to ending the permit system. Many more are fearful that John Howard’s Northern Territory plan, in the name of protecting children, is attempting to take over most aspects of running their families and communities.
In the name of ending welfare dependency we see the return to white management and clearly discriminatory practices. It is hard to see how this punitive approach will provide the training or even the right atmosphere for Aboriginal people to make their own moves to something better.
Claiming to “save their children” does not disguise the truth that this policy once more treats Aboriginal parents as incapable of looking after their children. It shames men and women, all of them, regardless of their behaviour. It is a return to the Mission mentality of subservience and inferiority. I thought we had agreed to leave that behind.
We must be honest here. The NT legislation is blatant discrimination. One set of rules for someone else. The legislation set aside the provisions of the Racial Discrimination Act. It also ignores the recommendations of the UN Committee against Discrimination urging Australia to uphold the right of Indigenous people to consultation in the decision making about their lives. The First Australians do have a right to autonomy that is once more being denied. Yet once more we are hearing that old misguided argument made when Aboriginal children of the Stolen Generation were denied their rights. We have to save the children, is again the cry.
The NT Intervention is an ideological power-play by a Prime Minister who has never believed that Aboriginal people have an exceptional, sacred right to their Land,
the entitlement of Native Title legally established by the High Court. This is a Prime Minister, according to his biography, that told his Treasurer that he would not walk in a Reconciliation March with Cabinet. I have tried to work cooperatively with several of Mr Howard’s federal ministers and know some want far better than this for Aboriginal people. But our federal parliament in a failure of will and judgement has ridden along with this intervention and watched the steady erosion of Aboriginal rights for over a decade.
The Federal Government’s refusal to say SORRY effectively ended Reconciliation. The Governments 10 Point Plan undermined Native Title. This was followed by the denial of the Indigenous Right to Self-Determination, the abolishment of ATSC and the isolation of Indigenous leaders who do not support assimilation. Then came the cultivation of a new Conservative agenda to remove or weaken the teaching of Aboriginal culture in schools. For an animist people who see the Land as their Mother the final and greatest insult is to see the Federal Government take control of the community land on which they live.
After many lifetimes of denial of who Aboriginal people really are, came many more lifetimes of struggle to win respect for their Culture and see them treated as equals.
It is a shameful Big Lie to present the abuse of these rights as in the best interests of Aboriginal people.
The NT intervention is replete with treachery and a looming sense of greater tragedy to come if it is allowed to continue as planned. Thankfully the outcry from many has softened the initial order for mandatory sexual inspections of Aboriginal children.
But the health organizations that do the hard work of caring for all of these children say nothing has yet been done to fund that essential primary health care or education on the scale required.
After all of the battles for justice and civil rights, that long road trudged by true Australian heroes like Jack Patton and William Ferguson, the historic claims by Vincent Lingiari, Eddie Mabo, the Wik people and others, are we now going to watch in silence as Aboriginal people once more see their lives taken over by
Government managers.
It is forty years since the moral force of Australians expressed clearly in the 1967 referendum our belief in human equality.
It is time to speak up and insist that whomever wins the coming federal election our federal government must invest some of that future fund in the real future of a great society, health and education for our children.
These are the Children of the Sunrise.
SOURCES
1. “No Excuses – Closing the Racial Gap in Learning. Stephen and Abigail Thernstrom. Simon & Schuster. New York. 2003.
2.“My Land, My Tracks”. Ernie Grant. Innisfail & District Education Centre. Innisfail.1998.
3.“Preliminary findings in a multiracial study of kidneys in autopsy”. Hoy, W.E., Douglas-Denton, R.N., Hughson, M.D., Cass, A.,Johnson,K., Betram, J.F., Kidney Journal International. 83, 31-37. June 2003.
4.“Benefits of Swimming Pools in Two Remote Communities in Western Australia”. (Includes Aboriginal childhood illness assessment) Lehmann,L., Tennant,M., Silva,D., McAullay,D., Lannigan,F., Coates,H. and Stanley,F. British Medical Journal (2003) 7412, 415-419.
5. “Public Report Card, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health: Time for Action”. Australian Medical Association. www.ama.com
6.“Parsing the Achievement Gap”, Paul E. Barton.
Analyses 14 factors contributing to the Racial
gap in Learning. Published by The Policy
Information Centre of the Educational Testing
Service. New York. 2003.
7. Western Australia Aboriginal Health Survey. Dr
Fiona Stanley, Assoc. Professor Ted Wilkes et
al. Telethon Institute for Child health
Research. Perth. WA.
8. Details of Health Education, Early Learning at
the Women Centres & Literacy Backpack
Projects available from Ian Thorpe’s Fountain
for Youth Trust. PO Box 402, Manly, NSW.
1655. Telephone : 02-89669422.
Kmart's store brand in Australia/New Zealand is called "Smart Value", instead of "Smart Sense", as it's called in the US. But other than that, the logo looks the same.
A World Economic Forum‑Water Resources Group meeting in Mongolia, co‑hosted by the Office of the President of Mongolia and the Water Resources Group in June 2011
VIP 尊貴客戶鑑賞 7 件藝術品
Seven valuable works of art for VIP valued customers to appreciate
Youtube:
2022 年 3 月份全球觀眾： 1,373 總觀看次數及1,588 總觀看時間 (分鐘)
Youtube:
Global audience in March 2022: 1,373 total views and 1,588 total watch time (minutes)
youtube.com/shorts/5gn_UiOEH6I?feature=share
Uploaded on April 12, 2022, the number of visitors on the first two days of upload was 127.
2022 年 4 月 12 日上傳，上傳首二日訪問人數為 127 人。
Facebook 臉書：
擁有 48,000 名全球會員的臉書公共社群網站 'Fine Art to sell'：
Facebook:
Facebook Public Group 'Fine Art to sell' that has 48,000 global members:
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Flickr:
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Uploaded on April 12, 2022, the number of visitors on the first day of upload was 96.
2022 年 4 月 12 日上傳，上傳首日訪問人數為 96 人。
(1) 價格：新台幣八億八千萬元。
極為罕見稀少的外太空外星隕石鑽石 (一面形似人類腳底、一面形似人類腳背、它形似人類腳掌形狀)。
Youtube:
2022 年 3 月份全球觀眾： 1,373 總觀看次數及1,588 總觀看時間 (分鐘)
Facebook 臉書：
擁有 48,000 名全球會員的臉書公共社群網站 'Fine Art to sell'：
www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/316826...
重量：2,091 公克
國際上「隕石鑽石」價格為每顆至少新台幣7.5億元以上 (美金2,500萬元以上，請參閱「隕石鑽石 - 百度百科 baike.baidu.hk/item/%E9%9A%95%E7%9F%B3%E9%91%BD%E7%9F%B3/... 」)
全球目前「隕石鑽石」只發現三顆，一顆在中華人民共和國、二在美利堅合眾國、三「似乎也是最大一顆」則在中華民國的台灣。
「天然宇宙神韻」形狀
來自宇宙的天然迷人和令人驚嘆的藝術作品
極為罕見稀少的「外太空外星隕石鑽石 」(一面形似人類「腳底」、一面形似人類「腳背」、它形似人類「腳掌」形狀)。
在地球上，過去從未被發現，將來也不會被發現。
1、我們已經「專業研究隕石」數十多年，「貨真價實」。
2、我們有「隕石專業人員」會把「賣出隕石」預先「以手工特別盤整過一段時日」，使「賣出隕石」能夠讓購買者「更容易吸收」外太空外星隕石的「宇宙外太空外星微量元素及其能量」，而這些都是地球上所沒有具備的「微量元素及其能量」。
3、不是我們賣出的隕石，如果未經過我們的「隕石專業人員以手工特別盤整過一段時日」，可能會讓其購買者「完全無法、或是非常地不容易 ‘’吸收‘’ 外太空外星隕石的 '宇宙外太空外星微量元素及其能量'」；只能當作是「擺設用、收藏用、或是投資用隕石」，或只是「隕石擺件、或吊飾」使用而已。
這真是非常地可惜，如同浪費了「宇宙外太空中極為稀有、罕見、尤其珍貴」的外太空外星隕石之「宇宙外太空外星微量元素及其能量」。
千萬請勿浪費宇宙外太空外星隕石！
上開說法是有何憑據呢？
1、數千年來，西藏藏傳佛教喇嘛皆是採用「外太空外星隕石天鐵」與「外太空外星隕石天銅」製作「金剛法器」，如金剛杵、金剛降魔杵與金剛法鈴等等。
這就是西藏藏傳佛教喇嘛引用「外太空外星隕石之 ‘’宇宙外太空外星微量元素及其能量‘’」，並藉由西藏藏傳佛教喇嘛的「法會佛事活動、和藏傳佛教儀式」，達到讓人「更容易吸收」外太空外星隕石的「宇宙外太空外星微量元素及其能量」的千古年來如山鐵證。
2、「隕石的微量元素與健康」部分，請參閱文末之每日頭條新聞報導內容。
kknews.cc/news/9n55mkl.html#amp_tf=%E4%BE%86%E6%BA%90%EF%...
但千萬注意，上開文中所介紹「將多類石隕石或泡水或煮水，就可以獲得富含微量元素的水。」者部分，則萬萬不可，因為外太空外星隕石的「宇宙外太空外星微量元素及其能量」是完全無法被溶入水份子中的。
而數千年來，也從未曾聽說過，有何西藏藏傳佛教喇嘛曾經將伊採用「外太空外星隕石天鐵」與「外太空外星隕石天銅」所製成的「金剛法器」，如金剛杵、金剛降魔杵與金剛法鈴等等，或泡水、或煮水，而讓信徒們飲用者情事。
天然宇宙神韻形狀
Natural Cosmic Charming Shape
天然宇宙神韻形狀
來自宇宙的天然迷人和令人驚嘆的藝術作品
極為罕見稀少的外太空外星隕石鑽石 (一面形似人類腳底、一面形似人類腳背、它形似人類腳掌形狀)。
在地球上，過去從未被發現，將來也不會被發現。
此隕石鑽石具備「球粒石隕石 Chondrite Aerolite (a stony meteorite)」應有的隕石氣印 (拇指印)、深黑色隕石熔殼、隕石熔流微細線、隕石的高比重密度 3.5、球粒石隕石會稍微吸引磁鐵的磁性、表面上可見些許鎳鐵球粒 (銀白色顆粒)、球粒石隕石具有的球粒、球粒石隕石斷面或表面上都能看到金屬銀白色的顆粒斑點，甚至於在隕石表面上尚具有隕石鑽石的非常微小鑽石晶體顆粒。
重量：2,091 grams 公克
尺寸：長 16.3 x 寬 8.9 x 厚 6.4 cm 公分
比重密度：3.5
地球普通岩石的密度為 2.5 - 3.0
鐵礦石的密度 4.0 - 6.0
鐵隕石的密度是 7.0 - 8.0
大多數隕石是由重礦物組成，密度為 3.0 - 8.0
石隕石密度 3 - 3.5
普通隕石的密度是 3.0 - 3.7
月球隕石的密度是 2.7 - 3.8
石隕石中的鐵鎳金屬含量小於等於30%；
石鐵隕石的鐵鎳金屬含量在30% - 65%之間；
鐵隕石的鐵鎳金屬含量大於等於95%。
玻璃隕石不含金屬成分。
「石隕石」分為「球粒隕石」 (占大部分) 與「非球粒隕石」兩個子類。
石隕石，是來自地球以外太陽系其他天體的碎片，絕大多數來自位於火星和木星之間的小行星。
球粒隕石 (Chondrite) 是行星母體未經過熔融或行星分化，而未被改變的石隕石。
球粒隕石是由原始太陽系中存在的塵埃和砂石粒子吸積形成的，並且在超過 45.5 億年前產生了小行星。這些球粒隕石的小行星母體是 (或曾經是) 中小型的小行星，它們是從未曾大到可以進行熔融和行星分化的太陽系小天體的一部分。
它們的特點之一是存在著由不同礦物形成圓形晶粒的隕石球粒，通常構成球粒隕石體積的20%至80%。它們的球粒直徑大小一般在0.5至1毫米之間。
球粒隕石中的金屬顆粒主要為鐵和鎳，而鎳的存在也是決定一顆石頭是否隕石的常用指標。
重量：2,091 公克
國際上「隕石鑽石」價格為每顆至少新台幣 7.5 億元以上 (美金 2,500 萬元以上，請參閱「隕石鑽石 - 百度百科
baike.baidu.hk/item/%E9%9A%95%E7%9F%B3%E9%91%BD%E7%9F%B3/... 」)
全球目前「隕石鑽石」只發現三顆，一顆在中華人民共和國、二在美利堅合眾國、三「也似乎是最大的一顆」則在中華民國的台灣。
Youtube:
2022 年 3 月份全球觀眾： 1,373 總觀看次數及1,588 總觀看時間 (分鐘)
Facebook 臉書：
擁有 48,000 名全球會員的臉書公共社群網站 'Fine Art to sell'：
m.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/31649615...
Natural Cosmic Charming Shape
Natural Charming and Amazing Work of Art by the Universe
An extremely rare extraterrestrial Alien stone meteorite diamond of the outer space (one side resembles the sole of a human foot, the other resembles the instep of a human foot, and it resembles the footpalm shape of a human foot).
Youtube:
Global audience in March 2022: 1,373 total views and 1,588 total watch time (minutes)
Facebook:
Facebook Public Group 'Fine Art to sell' that has 48,000 global members:
www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/316826...
On Earth never has it been found in the past and will not be found in the future.
This meteorite diamond has the features of meteorite regmaglypts (thumbprints), dark black meteorite fusion crust, tiny meteorite fusion flow lines, high specific gravity density of meteorite 3.5, and the magnetic characteristic to attract magnet slightly by a chondrite meteorite. There are some nickel-iron chondrules (silver-white particles) on the surface, chondrules of chondrite stony meteorite, and metallic silver-white particle spots of chondrite stony meteorite being seen on the section or the surface, even on the surface of this meteorite, very tiny diamond crystal grains of a meteorite diamond being seen as well.
Weight: 2,091 grams
Dimensions: Length 16.3 x Width 8.9 x Depth 6.4 cm
Specific Gravity Density: 3.5
The average Specific Gravity Density of Earth's rock: 2.5 - 3.0
The Specific Gravity Density of iron ore: 4.0 - 6.0
The Specific Gravity Density of iron meteorite: 7.0 - 8.0
Most meteorites are composed of heavy minerals and have a Specific Gravity Density of 3.0 - 8.0
The Specific Gravity Density of Stone Meteorite: 3 - 3.5
The Specific Gravity Density of normal meteorites: 3.0 - 3.7
The Specific Gravity Density of lunar meteorites: 2.7 - 3.8
The iron-nickel metal content of stony meteorites is less than or equal to 30%;
The iron-nickel metal content of stony-iron meteorites is between 30% and 65%;
The iron-nickel metal content of iron meteorites is greater than or equal to 95%.
Glass meteorites do not contain metallic components.
"Stony meteorite" is divided into "chondrite" (mostly) and "achondrite", two sub-categories.
Stony meteorites are debris from other celestial bodies in the solar system other than Earth, most of which come from asteroids located between Mars and Jupiter.
Chondrites are stony meteorites whose celestial parent bodies have not been melted or differentiated, and without changing.
Chondrites were formed by the accretion of dust and sand particles that existed in the original solar system and produced asteroids more than 4.55 billion years ago. The asteroid parent bodies of these chondrites are (or were) small to medium-sized asteroids, that were part of small solar system bodies, that were never large enough to undergo melting and planetary differentiation.
One of their characteristics is the presence of chondrules, which are circular grains of different minerals, and typically make up 20 to 80 percent of the volume of the chondrite. Their spherulites are generally between 0.5 and 1 mm in diameter.
The metal particles in chondrites are mainly iron and nickel, and the presence of nickel is also a common indicator for determining whether a stone is a meteorite.
Weight: 2,091 grams
The international price of "meteorite diamonds" is at least NT$750 million per piece (more than US$ 25 million, please refer to "Meteorite Diamonds - Baidu Encyclopedia"
baike.baidu.hk/item/%E9%9A%95%E7%9F%B3%E9%91%BD%E7%9F%B3/... ”)
At present, only three "meteorite diamonds" have been found in the world, one in the People's Republic of China, two in the United States, and three "seems to be the largest" in Taiwan, the Republic of China.
Youtube:
Global audience in March 2022: 1,373 total views and 1,588 total watch time (minutes)
Facebook:
Facebook Public Group 'Fine Art to sell' that has 48,000 global members:
m.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/31649615...
kknews.cc/news/9n55mkl.html#amp_tf=%E4%BE%86%E6%BA%90%EF%...
「每日頭條」新聞
隕石的微量元素與健康
時間＼2018-10-07
2018年2月17曰，我在新浪微博發表過一篇題為《養生保健7種隕石礦物元素》的文章，有興趣的新朋友可以百度「華北隕石」微博中看到，當時，讀者反映很不錯，好多人認真進行了嘗試，作用顯著。
這就是隕石走向大眾化可喜的發展結果。也有個別朋友詢問，如何獲得隕石微量元素？在此簡單述說，大家一定知道「礦泉水」，經過水質檢測部門進行水質分析，這種來自山石縫隙間的水富含多種礦物微量元素。同樣的道理，我們將多類石隕石或泡或煮，就可以獲得富含微量元素的水。
隕石養生是一門新的科學。儘管，隕石養生功效直接使人的睡眠改善，多種慢性疾病康復等等，仍然需要喜好隕石者認真嘗試，不斷深入探究。我們收藏隕石，不要首先考慮它能賣多少錢？
關鍵看它有沒有養生功效，能讓我們睡的好，吃的飽，身體少毛病，少不適感，這才是它最大價值。只要發現特具養生能量的隕石，就是好藏品！為了更完善，更全面的科學利用隕石，今天再來補充說明三種特別的隕石微量元素，以便大家有針對性的運用。
【1】隕石中的「鍶」元素
在隕石里發現多種礦物元素，據說有一百餘種，而更重要的是隕石里有些元素對於人體來說都是必需品。比如隕石中的「鍶」元素，就是人體骨骼及牙齒所生長的組成成分，它能夠促進骨骼的發育成長，維繫人體正常的生理功能，在經研究中發現，鍶與鈣、鎂、矽、鋰等元素一樣，也能防治心血管類的疾病，與長壽息息相關，其機理可能是鍶元素在腸道內會與鈉元素競爭，從而減少人體對於鈉元素本身的吸收，這對於平常飲食口重，攝取鹽分較多的人群，血粘稠患者簡直算是救星。
【2】隕石中的「鈷」元素、和【3】「鈦」元素
還有像隕石中的「鈷」元素和「鈦」元素，前者能夠增強人體甲狀腺的生理功能，要知道鈷元素可是合成腺素所必需的成分，因此對於甲狀腺腫大的症狀有著一定的療效，同時還能預防甲狀腺腫瘤，而後者的功效則更為強大，鈦元素能夠刺激吞噬細胞，使免疫力增強的這一效益已被證實，鈦由於有親生物特性，在人體內，可以抵抗分泌物的腐蝕，對任何殺菌方法都較為適應，另外鈦元素還是一種能通過放射一致的波長使得細胞電離，從而達到調節人體內電流元素的作用，這也直接解釋了，為什麼人長時間接觸過隕石後，可以對人體產生有益的生理作用。
各種礦物元素是存在於所有身體組織和體液中的無機物質，它們的存在對於生命所依賴的許多生理化學過程至關重要。
這些礦物元素可以廣義的分為基本元素，例如鈣、磷、鈉、氯和微量元素，例如鐵、銅、鈷、鉀、鎂、碘、鋅、錳、鉬、氟、鉻、硒和硫。
這些礦物元素是不同於蛋白質、脂肪、碳水化合物和維他命等的營養實體。儘管需求量不大，但它們是各種酶、激素和細胞的組成部分，它們之間的新陳代謝相互關聯，相互輔助，也影響到其它組織。
礦物元素對人體健康的重要性已經被人類意識到。這些元素的缺乏或紊亂會對新陳代謝和組織結構產生重要影響，從而導致多種疾病的產生。
不幸的是，大多數人並沒有從膳食中攝取到足夠的這些必要礦物元素。而且，隨著年齡的增長，人體對這些基本和微量元素的需求都會增加，同時某些藥物的服用也會導致這些礦物元素的流失。
因此，單從攝取膳食和水中的礦物元素很難補足，而有針對性的從隕石中獲得一些隕石礦物元素，也是一種可行的方法。但要記住一點，貴在長久堅持！
（2）價格： 新台幣十一億七千七百萬元。
北宋汝窯天青釉刻劃印花五爪龍吐珠十二梅花紋折沿盤
Youtube:
2022 年 3 月份全球觀眾： 1,373 總觀看次數及1,588 總觀看時間 (分鐘)
Facebook 臉書：
擁有 48,000 名全球會員的臉書公共社群網站 'Fine Art to sell'：
m.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/31677981...
www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/317863...
圓盤直徑：17.9 ～ 18.0 cm 厘米
圈足直徑：9.1 ～ 9.2 cm 厘米
本瓷盤為滿釉支燒，五支釘痕，香灰胎，天青釉，冰裂紋片，潤之如玉，在器物底部可見細如芝麻狀的支釘痕五個，痕跡很淺，大小如芝麻。
瓷盤龍紋上有數處「黑點之古瓷瑕疵」，龍紋線條「皆是手工製作、亦顯左右不對稱」，十二梅花紋「大小、間隙、寬度、深度皆不相同，明顯是由手工刻劃形成」，底部圈足兩側壁緣有「瑪瑙入釉及聚釉痕跡」，折沿口緣內側邊線上有一個明顯之「棕眼之古瓷瑕疵」，滿釉有古代柴燒氣泡及冰裂開片紋，底部圈足略為外撇。
而此傳世北宋汝窯瓷器的胎體有三個特點：
第一點是輕薄。
第二點胎色為香灰色，胎骨輕薄，胎質看色粗松實則細密。汝瓷胎色呈淺灰、灰白，因其色調與香燃燒之後形成的香灰相似，因而俗稱「香灰胎」。
第三點是汝瓷胎質細膩滋潤，堅緻緊密，被譽為「銅骨」。另外，接觸過傳世汝瓷的人常有「扣聲如磬」的形容，這在一定程度上也說明了汝瓷胎的輕薄與緻密。
另外，器底於光線下呈現略為凹凸不平，是由於泥坯中間的部位水份未乾，成型泥胎在掙脫粘連的泥范（模）時，由北宋窯工左右輕微轉動脫模操作所形成。
現代博物館裡的專業人士、收藏家、鑑賞家、學者、專家等等，因為他們都不是北宋皇帝宋徽宗本人，所以顯然他們已經把自己作為平民老百姓的品味，當作是應該屬於北宋皇帝宋徽宗的最愛。他們普遍認為，市面上流傳下來的 80 餘件傳世汝窯瓷器，應該就是北宋皇帝宋徽宗的御用汝官窯瓷器。 你認為有可能嗎？
Northern Song Dynasty Ru Kiln Sky-green glazed inscribed and printed Five-clawed Dragon Spit Bead and Twelve Plum Patterns Folding Edge Plate
Youtube:
Global audience in March 2022: 1,373 total views and 1,588 total watch time (minutes)
Facebook:
Facebook Public Group 'Fine Art to sell' that has 48,000 global members:
m.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/31677981...
www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/317863...
Plate diameter: 17.9 - 18.0 cm
Ring foot diameter: 9.1 - 9.2 cm
This porcelain plate was full-glazed and burned with supporting-nails, five supporting-nail marks, incense-ash-like-earth-yellow-greyish porcelain body, sky-green glaze, broken-ice-cracking-like cracking-patterns, jade-like smoothness, and five sesame-like supporting-nail marks can be seen on the bottom of the utensil, the marks are very shallow, their sizes are such as sesames.
The dragon pattern on the porcelain plate has several "black spots of ancient porcelain flaws", the dragon pattern lines "are all handmade and also show asymmetry between the left and right", and the twelve plum patterns "are different in size, gap, width, and depth, which were obviously formed by hand-carving", there are "marks of agate mixed in the glaze and polyglaze" on both side walls of the bottom ring foot, and an obvious "brown-eye-small-hole" which is an ancient porcelain flaw, on the inner edge line of the folding mouth edge. It was fully glazed with ancient wood-fired air bubbles and broken-ice-cracking-like cracking-patterns. The bottom ring foot is slightly slanted outward.
The porcelain body of this handed down Ru kiln porcelain in the Northern Song Dynasty has three characteristics:
The first is “light and thinness”.
The second is that the porcelain fetal color is incense-ash-like-earth-yellow-greyish, the porcelain fetal bone is light and thin, and the fetal quality seems to be rough but fine. The color of Ru porcelain body is light-gray and gray-white, because its color is similar to the incense ash formed after burning incense, so it is commonly known as "incense gray porcelain body".
The third is that the texture of Ru porcelain is delicate and smooth, firm and compact, and is known as "bronze bone". In addition, people who have come into contact with the handed down Ru porcelain often describe it as "sound like a chime (a musical stone)", which to a certain extent also shows the lightness and compactness of the Ru porcelain body.
In addition, the bottom of the utensil is slightly uneven under the light. Because when the water in the middle of the porcelain mud body was not dry yet and meanwhile the molded mud body was slightly turned left and right to be broken away from the sticking mud mold. So long as the porcelain kiln workers in the Northern Song Dynasty took the above procedure, then the uneven bottom would have been formed.
Professionals in the modern museums, collectors, connoisseurs, scholars, experts, and so on, because they are all not the Emperor Song Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty himself, so obviously they have regarded their own taste of being the common people, as the same favorite that should belonged to the Emperor Song Huizong in the Northern Song Dynasty. They generally believed that more than 80 pieces of Ru kiln porcelain handed down on the market should be the personal royal Ru Imperial kiln porcelain wares of the Northern Song Emperor Song Huizong. Do you think it is possible?
來源：
屬擊敗蒙古元朝歐亞大帝國的明朝皇帝朱元璋所分封為軍事大元帥的「陳秀甫」(陳秀甫亦為明代開國功臣光祿大夫《光祿大夫為皇帝開國及軍事作戰的出糧出資金錢財主》) 家族傳世的祖傳傳世品。
Provenance:
The handed down collection from the family ancestor of Chen Xiufu, a military marshal who was assigned by the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (Zhu Yuanzhang defeated the Eurasian Empire of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty), (Chen Xiufu was also the founding hero of the Ming Dynasty, whose official name was Guangludafu, "Guangludafu was the rich and wealthy capitalist of food and money supplied for the emperor's nation-founding and military operations.").
（3）價格：新台幣三億元。
中國周朝周文王鈎首龍頭鈎身鈎尾狐狸紋青銅鎏金戰袍帶鈎
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重量：301 grams 公克
尺寸：長 22.8 x 寬 4.4 x 高 3.3 cm 公分
《山海經》裡記載青丘之山，有九尾狐。這個九尾狐，經學者研究，很可能是九個氏族，或者是當地氏族崇拜的圖騰。甚至周文王也曾給商紂王獻過九尾狐。周文王被商紂王關在羑里，西岐方面為了救他出來，就到處尋找珍禽異獸。散宜生弄到了一隻九尾狐，連同其他珍寶獻給了商紂王。商紂王一高興就把姬昌 (周文王) 給放了。原文是：
文王拘羑里，散宜生至西海之濱，取白狐青翰獻紂，紂大悅。（《尚書大傳》，青翰，青色的野雞）
散宜生至吳，得九尾狐，以獻紂也。 （《幽通賦》注）
因此，周文王因「九尾狐」而得救，致御用青銅鎏金戰袍帶鈎為鈎首龍頭鈎身鈎尾雕狐狸紋。
King Zhou Wenwang's gilt bronze war robe hook with dragon head, fox pattern hook body and hook tail, Zhou Dynasty, China
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Weight: 301 grams
Dimensions: Length 22.8 x Width 4.4 x Height 3.3 cm
The "Shan Hai Jing" records that there was nine-tailed fox on the mountain of Qingqiu. This nine-tailed fox, studied by scholars, was likely to be the nine clans, or a totem worshipped by the local clan. Even King Zhou Wenwang (周文王) presented a nine-tailed fox to King Shang Zhou (商紂王). King Zhou Wenwang (周文王) was imprisoned in Yuli by King Shang Zhou (商紂王), and in order to rescue him, the subjects in Kingdom Xiqi searched everywhere for rare birds and animals. San Yisheng obtained a nine-tailed fox and presented it to King Shang Zhou (商紂王) along with other treasures. When King Shang Zhou (商紂王) was pleased, he released Ji Chang [King Zhou Wenwang (周文王)]. The original text is:
King Zhou Wenwang (周文王) was detained in Yuli, San Yisheng went to the coast of the West Sea, and took the white fox and qinghan (green pheasant) to present to King Shang Zhou (商紂王), and King Shang Zhou (商紂王) was very pleased. ("The Great Biography of Shangshu", Qinghan, the green pheasant)
San Yisheng went to Wu and got a nine-tailed fox to offer King Shang Zhou (商紂王). (The Note of "You Tong Fu")
Therefore, King Zhou Wenwang (周文王) was saved because of the "nine-tailed fox", so he used a gilt bronze war robe hook, with dragon head, fox pattern hook body and hook tail.
來源：
屬擊敗蒙古元朝歐亞大帝國的明朝皇帝朱元璋所分封為軍事大元帥的「陳秀甫」(陳秀甫亦為明代開國功臣光祿大夫《光祿大夫為皇帝開國及軍事作戰的出糧出資金錢財主》) 家族傳世的祖傳傳世品。
Provenance:
The handed down collection from the family ancestor of Chen Xiufu, a military marshal who was assigned by the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (Zhu Yuanzhang defeated the Eurasian Empire of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty), (Chen Xiufu was also the founding hero of the Ming Dynasty, whose official name was Guangludafu, "Guangludafu was the rich and wealthy capitalist of food and money supplied for the emperor's nation-founding and military operations.").
（4）價格：新台幣三千萬元。
白堊紀早期美洲大陸最高大的恐龍波塞東龍幼龍化石板
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化石板重量：591 grams 公克
化石板尺寸：長 18.0 x 寬 14.2 x 厚 0.9 cm 公分
波塞東龍（Sauroposeidon）（意思為希臘神“波塞東”的“蜥蜴地震神”）是一種蜥腳類恐龍，係從幾個不完整的標本中得知，包括在美國奧克拉荷馬州、懷俄明州、德州發現的骨床化石和足跡化石。
波塞東龍（Sauroposeidon），生存於白堊紀早期。波塞東龍是目前已知最高的恐龍，經估計有17公尺高；而身長接近30到34公尺，體重被估計為50到60公噸之間。
目前已發現數個標本，正模標本由4個頸椎構成，在1994年發現於美國奧克拉荷馬州，之後在懷俄明州、德州也發現化石與足跡化石，地質年代屬於白堊紀早期，該地區過去是史前墨西哥灣的三角洲。由於之前很少發現該時代的北美洲巨型蜥腳類化石，這些化石曾一度被認為是矽化木。
出版著錄：
《Dinosaurs and Meteorites 恐龍與隕石 恐龙与陨石 恐竜と隕石》由美國谷歌圖書出版並在全球七十九國家發行：
Google Books:
books.google.com/books/about/Dinosaurs_and_Meteorites_%E6...
Google Play:
play.google.com/store/books/details/Orion_Hsu_Dinosaurs_a...
The tallest dinosaur Sauroposeidon baby fossil stone plate in the American Continent in the early Cretaceous
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Fossil stone plate weight: 591 grams
Fossil stone plate size: length 18.0 x width 14.2 x thickness 0.9 cm
Sauroposeidon (meaning "lizard earthquake god" after the Greek god Poseidon) is a genus of sauropod dinosaur known from several incomplete specimens including a bone bed fossil and fossilized trackways that have been found in the U.S. states of Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Texas.
Sauroposeidon was living in the early Cretaceous. Sauroposeidon was the tallest known dinosaur, at an estimated height of 17 meters; its body length was nearly 30 to 34 meters, and its weight was estimated to be between 50 and 60 metric tons.
Several specimens have been found so far. The holotype is composed of 4 cervical vertebrae. It was discovered in Oklahoma, USA in 1994. Fossils and footprint fossils were also found in Wyoming and Texas. The geological age belongs to the early Cretaceous period. It used to be the delta of the prehistoric Gulf of Mexico. The fossils were once thought to be petrified wood because few giant sauropod fossils from this era have been found before.
Published bibliography:
《Dinosaurs and Meteorites 恐龍與隕石 恐龙与陨石 恐竜と隕石》Published by Google Books USA and distributed in 79 countries around the world:
Google Books:
books.google.com/books/about/Dinosaurs_and_Meteorites_%E6...
Google Play:
play.google.com/store/books/details/Orion_Hsu_Dinosaurs_a...
（5）價格：新台幣三千萬元。
唐朝皇室和闐白玉圓雕七隻豬 (代表無限財富) 紙鎮
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重量：390 grams 公克
尺寸：長 16.7 x 高 5.6 x 厚 5.1 cm 公分
玉石與眾不同的色澤和光彩，使人愛不惜手。古代由於數量少，加工困難，成為難得的奢侈品。它必定是社會地位極高的人物所擁有，玉石器就成了權力的象徵物，這又使它漸漸演變成為禮器、祭器。玉石器從原來僅僅是一種特殊的石頭轉化為代表權力、地位、財富、神權的象徵。
古代豬是財富的象徵，在漢唐時代如果說羊代表了吉祥，那麼豬就是財富的象徵。在漢唐時代豬已經是財富的重要表徵，豬也是一個富足家庭中所必備的家畜。因此在漢字中「家」中「豕」就是豬的象形文字，可見在古代漢朝與唐朝，豬確實是漢朝與唐朝皇室與人民重要的財產，也是財富的象徵之一。
由七隻豬 (代表無限財富) 紙鎮之材質和闐白玉石的皮層表面已經包漿氧化成為皮殼，而玉石皮表面的鐵元素亦氧化成為紅色，但無漢朝皇室玉雕品的圖騰紋飾，可確認此七隻豬 (代表無限財富) 紙鎮為唐朝 (618 - 907) 之皇室工藝和闐白玉圓雕巧作。
Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) Hetian White Jade circular carving imperial workshop carved Jade Seven Pigs (representing infinite wealth) paperweight
Youtube:
Global audience in March 2022: 1,373 total views and 1,588 total watch time (minutes)
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Weight: 390 grams
Dimensions: total length 16.7 cm x height 5.6 cm x depth 5.1 cm
The distinctive color and brilliance of jade make people love it at all costs. In ancient times, due to the small quantity and difficulty in processing, it became a rare luxury. It must be owned by a person of extremely high social status, and the jade carved artifact had become a symbol of power, which has gradually evolved it into a ritual tool and a sacrificial tool. The jade carved artifact was transformed from a special kind of stone into a symbol of power, status, wealth, and theocracy.
In ancient times, the pig was a symbol of wealth. In the Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, if the sheep represented auspiciousness, then the pig was a symbol of wealth. In these Dynasties, the pig was an important symbol of wealth, and the pig was also a must-have domestic animal in a wealthy family. Therefore within the Chinese character of "home", "hog" is the hieroglyph of the pig. It can be seen that in the ancient Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, the pig was indeed an important property of the imperial family and the people of these Dynasties, and it was one of the symbols of wealth.
The material of the jade Seven Pigs (representing infinite wealth) paperweight and the cortical surface of the white jade have been slurried and oxidized into a jade shell, and the iron element on the surface of the jade stone skin has also been oxidized to red. However, no patterns’ decoration of the imperial jade carvings of the Han Dynasty was carved on it. It can be confirmed that this jade Seven Pigs (representing infinite wealth) paperweight is a royal craftsmanship of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) and a skillful circular carving of white jade.
來源：
屬擊敗蒙古元朝歐亞大帝國的明朝皇帝朱元璋所分封為軍事大元帥的「陳秀甫」(陳秀甫亦為明代開國功臣光祿大夫《光祿大夫為皇帝開國及軍事作戰的出糧出資金錢財主》) 家族傳世的祖傳傳世品。
Provenance:
The handed down collection from the family ancestor of Chen Xiufu, a military marshal who was assigned by the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (Zhu Yuanzhang defeated the Eurasian Empire of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty), (Chen Xiufu was also the founding hero of the Ming Dynasty, whose official name was Guangludafu, "Guangludafu was the rich and wealthy capitalist of food and money supplied for the emperor's nation-founding and military operations.").
（6）價格：新台幣五千萬元。
唐朝 (618 - 907) 皇室工藝和闐白玉圓雕玉佛像
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重量：601 公克
尺寸：全高 19.6 厘米 x 寬 6.5 厘米 x 厚 5.8 厘米
盛唐時代可以說是佛造像的黃金時代，此時期的造像比例舒展勻稱，結構合理，已完全擺脫了隋和初唐時期的佛頭偏大，體態略僵板的感覺，動態極為自由活潑。頭部為螺髮型，大耳下垂，神情莊重而又不失慈祥。身材比例勻稱，結構合理，體態自然舒展，臉龐圓潤，曲眉豐頸，五官秀美。服飾華美，帔帛 (帔帛是美麗女式唐裝的點綴，就是我們看到畫裏唐代婦女肩上或手臂上搭着一條長長的條帶，走路隨風擺動，顯得瀟灑自然，這就是帔帛) 環繞，瓔珞 (瓔珞是一種掛於項頸，垂於胸前的飾品，用多種小巧的花朵穿串而成。 ) 小巧精緻，衣服紋線流暢自然。右手持寶珠。
由玉佛像之材質和闐白玉石的皮層表面已經包漿氧化成為皮殼，而玉石皮表面的鐵元素亦氧化成為紅色，頭部為螺髮且大耳下垂，身材比例勻稱，結構合理，披唐代帔帛，且右手持寶珠，可確認此玉佛像為唐朝 (618 - 907) 之皇室工藝和闐白玉圓雕巧作。
Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) Hetian White Jade circular carving imperial workshop carved Jade Buddha Statue
Youtube:
Global audience in March 2022: 1,373 total views and 1,588 total watch time (minutes)
Facebook:
Facebook Public Group 'Fine Art to sell' that has 48,000 global members:
www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/316780...
Weight: 601 grams
Dimensions: total height 19.6 cm x width 6.5 cm x depth 5.8 cm
The prosperous Tang Dynasty can be said to be the golden age of Buddha statues. The statues in this period are well-proportioned in proportion and reasonable in structure. They have completely gotten rid of the large head and slightly rigid body of the Buddha in the Sui and early Tang Dynasties, and the dynamics are extremely free and lively. He has a spiral hair on his head, large drooping ears, and a dignified yet kind expression. The body is well-proportioned, the structure is reasonable, the body is naturally stretched, the face is round, the eyebrows are plumply curved and the neck is full, and the facial features are beautiful. The apparels are gorgeous, shawl (shawl is the embellishment of beautiful women's Tang suits, that is, we see a long strip on the shoulders or arms of the women in the Tang Dynasty in the painting, walking with the wind swinging, looking elegant and natural, this is the shawl) is around the body. Wreath (wreath is a kind of decorations hanging on the neck and the chest, made of a variety of small flowers.) is small and delicate, the clothes' lines are smooth and natural. The right hand holds a treasure orb.
The material of the jade Buddha statue and the cortical surface of the white jade have been slurried and oxidized into a jade shell, and the iron element on the surface of the jade stone skin has also been oxidized to red. The head is spiral hair and the big ears are drooping. The body is well-proportioned, the structure is reasonable, wearing in Tang Dynasty shawl, and holding a treasure orb in the right hand. It can be confirmed that this jade Buddha statue is a royal craftsmanship of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) and a skillful circular carving of white jade.
來源：
屬擊敗蒙古元朝歐亞大帝國的明朝皇帝朱元璋所分封為軍事大元帥的「陳秀甫」(陳秀甫亦為明代開國功臣光祿大夫《光祿大夫為皇帝開國及軍事作戰的出糧出資金錢財主》) 家族傳世的祖傳傳世品。
Provenance:
The handed down collection from the family ancestor of Chen Xiufu, a military marshal who was assigned by the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (Zhu Yuanzhang defeated the Eurasian Empire of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty), (Chen Xiufu was also the founding hero of the Ming Dynasty, whose official name was Guangludafu, "Guangludafu was the rich and wealthy capitalist of food and money supplied for the emperor's nation-founding and military operations.").
（7）價格：新台幣十一億七千七百萬元
唐朝皇室和闐白玉圓雕觀世音菩薩蓮花底座造像
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2022 年 3 月份全球觀眾： 1,373 總觀看次數及1,588 總觀看時間 (分鐘)
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重量：1,627 grams 公克
尺寸：高 19.9 x 寬 9.8 x 厚 8.8 cm 公分
玉石與眾不同的色澤和光彩，使人愛不惜手。古代由於數量少，加工困難，成為難得的奢侈品。它必定是社會地位極高的人物所擁有，玉石器就成了權力的象徵物，這又使它漸漸演變成為禮器、祭器。玉石器從原來僅僅是一種特殊的石頭轉化為代表權力、地位、財富、神權的象徵。
盛唐時代可以說是佛造像的黃金時代，此時期的造像比例舒展勻稱，結構合理，已完全擺脫了隋和初唐時期的佛頭偏大，體態略僵板的感覺，動態極為自由活潑。頭部大耳下垂，神情莊重而又不失慈祥。身材比例勻稱，結構合理，體態自然舒展，臉龐圓潤，曲眉豐頸，五官秀美。服飾華美，帔帛 (帔帛是美麗女式唐裝的點綴，就是我們看到畫裏唐代婦女肩上或手臂上搭着一條長長的條帶，走路隨風擺動，顯得瀟灑自然，這就是帔帛) 環繞，瓔珞 (瓔珞是一種掛於項頸，垂於胸前的飾品，用多種小巧的花朵穿串而成。 ) 小巧精緻，衣服紋線流暢自然。觀世音菩薩雙手捧持淨水瓶。
由觀世音菩薩玉佛像之材質和闐白玉石的皮層表面已經包漿氧化成為皮殼，而玉石皮表面的鐵元素亦氧化成為紅色，頭部為大耳下垂，身材比例勻稱，結構合理，披唐代帔帛，且雙手捧持淨水瓶，可確認此觀世音菩薩玉佛像為唐朝 (618 - 907) 之皇室工藝和闐白玉圓雕巧作。
Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) Hetian White Jade circular carving imperial workshop carved Jade Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva lotus pedestal statue
Youtube:
Global audience in March 2022: 1,373 total views and 1,588 total watch time (minutes)
Facebook:
Facebook Public Group 'Fine Art to sell' that has 48,000 global members:
www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/316780...
Weight: 1,627 grams
Dimensions: total height 19.9 cm x width 9.8 cm x depth 8.8 cm
The distinctive color and brilliance of jade make people love it at all costs. In ancient times, due to the small quantity and difficulty in processing, it became a rare luxury. It must be owned by a person of extremely high social status, and the jade carved artifact had become a symbol of power, which has gradually evolved it into a ritual tool and a sacrificial tool. The jade carved artifact was transformed from a special kind of stone into a symbol of power, status, wealth, and theocracy.
The prosperous Tang Dynasty can be said to be the golden age of Buddha statues. The statues in this period are well-proportioned in proportion and reasonable in structure. They have completely gotten rid of the large head and slightly rigid body of the Buddha in the Sui and early Tang Dynasties, and the dynamics are extremely free and lively. She has large drooping ears, and a dignified yet kind expression. The body is well-proportioned, the structure is reasonable, the body is naturally stretched, the face is round, the eyebrows are plumply curved and the neck is full, and the facial features are beautiful. The apparels are gorgeous, shawl (shawl is the embellishment of beautiful women's Tang suits, that is, we see a long strip on the shoulders or arms of the women in the Tang Dynasty in the painting, walking with the wind swinging, looking elegant and natural, this is the shawl) is around the body. Wreath (wreath is a kind of decorations hanging on the neck and the chest, made of a variety of small flowers.) is small and delicate, the clothes' lines are smooth and natural. The two hands of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva hold a clean water bottle.
The material of the jade Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva lotus pedestal statue and the cortical surface of the white jade have been slurried and oxidized into a jade shell, and the iron element on the surface of the jade stone skin has also been oxidized to red. The head's big ears are drooping. The body is well-proportioned, the structure is reasonable, wearing in Tang Dynasty shawl, and the two hands of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva hold a clean water bottle. It can be confirmed that this jade Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva lotus pedestal statue is a royal craftsmanship of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) and a skillful circular carving of white jade.
來源：
屬擊敗蒙古元朝歐亞大帝國的明朝皇帝朱元璋所分封為軍事大元帥的「陳秀甫」(陳秀甫亦為明代開國功臣光祿大夫《光祿大夫為皇帝開國及軍事作戰的出糧出資金錢財主》) 家族傳世的祖傳傳世品。
Provenance:
The handed down collection from the family ancestor of Chen Xiufu, a military marshal who was assigned by the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (Zhu Yuanzhang defeated the Eurasian Empire of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty), (Chen Xiufu was also the founding hero of the Ming Dynasty, whose official name was Guangludafu, "Guangludafu was the rich and wealthy capitalist of food and money supplied for the emperor's nation-founding and military operations.").
...
A values voter at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, DC.
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The Taj Mahal (/ˌtɑːdʒ məˈhɑːl/, more often /ˈtɑːʒ/; from Persian and Arabic, "crown of palaces", pronounced [ˈt̪aːdʒ mɛˈɦɛl]) is a white marble mausoleum located on the southern bank of Yamuna River in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–1658) to house the tomb of his favorite wife of three, Mumtaz Mahal.
Construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643 but work continued on other phases of the project for an additional ten years. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million Indian rupees, which in 2015 would be valued at around 52.8 billion Indian rupees ($827 million US). The construction project employed around 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. The domed marble tomb is part of an integrated complex consisting of gardens and two red-sandstone buildings surrounded by a crenellated wall on three sides.
The Taj Mahal is regarded by many as the best example of Mughal architecture and is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India". It is one of the world’s most celebrated structures and a symbol of India’s rich history. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, the Taj Mahal attracts some 3 million visitors a year.
INSPIRATION
In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire's period of greatest prosperity, was grief-stricken when his favorite of three wives and beloved companion, Mumtaz Mahal, a Persian princess, died during the birth of their 14th child, Gauhara Begum. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632. The court chronicles of Shah Jahan's grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal. The principal mausoleum was completed in 1643 and the surrounding buildings and garden were finished about five years later.
ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
The Taj Mahal incorporates and expands on design traditions of Persian and earlier Mughal architecture. Specific inspiration came from successful Timurid and Mughal buildings including; the Gur-e Amir (the tomb of Timur, progenitor of the Mughal dynasty, in Samarkand), Humayun's Tomb, Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb (sometimes called the Baby Taj), and Shah Jahan's own Jama Masjid in Delhi. While earlier Mughal buildings were primarily constructed of red sandstone, Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones. Buildings under his patronage reached new levels of refinement.
TOMB
The tomb is the central focus of the entire complex of the Taj Mahal. It is a large, white marble structure standing on a square plinth and consists of a symmetrical building with an iwan (an arch-shaped doorway) topped by a large dome and finial. Like most Mughal tombs, the basic elements are Persian in origin.
The base structure is a large multi-chambered cube with chamfered corners forming an unequal eight-sided structure that is approximately 55 metres on each of the four long sides. Each side of the iwan is framed with a huge pishtaq or vaulted archway with two similarly shaped arched balconies stacked on either side. This motif of stacked pishtaqs is replicated on the chamfered corner areas, making the design completely symmetrical on all sides of the building. Four minarets frame the tomb, one at each corner of the plinth facing the chamfered corners. The main chamber houses the false sarcophagi of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan; the actual graves are at a lower level.
The most spectacular feature is the marble dome that surmounts the tomb. The dome is nearly 35 metres high which is close in measurement to the length of the base, and accentuated by the cylindrical "drum" it sits on which is approximately 7 metres high. Because of its shape, the dome is often called an onion dome or amrud (guava dome). The top is decorated with a lotus design which also serves to accentuate its height. The shape of the dome is emphasized by four smaller domed chattris (kiosks) placed at its corners, which replicate the onion shape of the main dome. Their columned bases open through the roof of the tomb and provide light to the interior. Tall decorative spires (guldastas) extend from edges of base walls, and provide visual emphasis to the height of the dome. The lotus motif is repeated on both the chattris and guldastas. The dome and chattris are topped by a gilded finial which mixes traditional Persian and Hindustani decorative elements.
The main finial was originally made of gold but was replaced by a copy made of gilded bronze in the early 19th century. This feature provides a clear example of integration of traditional Persian and Hindu decorative elements. The finial is topped by a moon, a typical Islamic motif whose horns point heavenward.
The minarets, which are each more than 40 metres tall, display the designer's penchant for symmetry. They were designed as working minarets - a traditional element of mosques, used by the muezzin to call the Islamic faithful to prayer. Each minaret is effectively divided into three equal parts by two working balconies that ring the tower. At the top of the tower is a final balcony surmounted by a chattri that mirrors the design of those on the tomb. The chattris all share the same decorative elements of a lotus design topped by a gilded finial. The minarets were constructed slightly outside of the plinth so that in the event of collapse, a typical occurrence with many tall constructions of the period, the material from the towers would tend to fall away from the tomb.
EXTERIOR DECORATIONS
The exterior decorations of the Taj Mahal are among the finest in Mughal architecture. As the surface area changes, the decorations are refined proportionally. The decorative elements were created by applying paint, stucco, stone inlays or carvings. In line with the Islamic prohibition against the use of anthropomorphic forms, the decorative elements can be grouped into either calligraphy, abstract forms or vegetative motifs. Throughout the complex are passages from the Qur'an that comprise some of the decorative elements. Recent scholarship suggests that the passages were chosen by Amanat Khan.
The calligraphy on the Great Gate reads "O Soul, thou art at rest. Return to the Lord at peace with Him, and He at peace with you." The calligraphy was created in 1609 by a calligrapher named Abdul Haq. Shah Jahan conferred the title of "Amanat Khan" upon him as a reward for his "dazzling virtuosity". Near the lines from the Qur'an at the base of the interior dome is the inscription, "Written by the insignificant being, Amanat Khan Shirazi." Much of the calligraphy is composed of florid thuluth script made of jasper or black marble inlaid in white marble panels. Higher panels are written in slightly larger script to reduce the skewing effect when viewed from below. The calligraphy found on the marble cenotaphs in the tomb is particularly detailed and delicate.
Abstract forms are used throughout, especially in the plinth, minarets, gateway, mosque, jawab and, to a lesser extent, on the surfaces of the tomb. The domes and vaults of the sandstone buildings are worked with tracery of incised painting to create elaborate geometric forms. Herringbone inlays define the space between many of the adjoining elements. White inlays are used in sandstone buildings, and dark or black inlays on the white marbles. Mortared areas of the marble buildings have been stained or painted in a contrasting color which creates a complex array of geometric patterns. Floors and walkways use contrasting tiles or blocks in tessellation patterns.
On the lower walls of the tomb are white marble dados sculpted with realistic bas relief depictions of flowers and vines. The marble has been polished to emphasise the exquisite detailing of the carvings. The dado frames and archway spandrels have been decorated with pietra dura inlays of highly stylised, almost geometric vines, flowers and fruits. The inlay stones are of yellow marble, jasper and jade, polished and levelled to the surface of the walls.
INTERIOR DECORATION
The interior chamber of the Taj Mahal reaches far beyond traditional decorative elements. The inlay work is not pietra dura, but a lapidary of precious and semiprecious gemstones. The inner chamber is an octagon with the design allowing for entry from each face, although only the door facing the garden to the south is used. The interior walls are about 25 metres high and are topped by a "false" interior dome decorated with a sun motif. Eight pishtaq arches define the space at ground level and, as with the exterior, each lower pishtaq is crowned by a second pishtaq about midway up the wall. The four central upper arches form balconies or viewing areas, and each balcony's exterior window has an intricate screen or jali cut from marble. In addition to the light from the balcony screens, light enters through roof openings covered by chattris at the corners. The octagonal marble screen or jali bordering the cenotaphs is made from eight marble panels carved through with intricate pierce work. The remaining surfaces are inlaid in delicate detail with semi-precious stones forming twining vines, fruits and flowers. Each chamber wall is highly decorated with dado bas-relief, intricate lapidary inlay and refined calligraphy panels which reflect, in miniature detail, the design elements seen throughout the exterior of the complex.
Muslim tradition forbids elaborate decoration of graves. Hence, the bodies of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan were put in a relatively plain crypt beneath the inner chamber with their faces turned right, towards Mecca. Mumtaz Mahal's cenotaph is placed at the precise centre of the inner chamber on a rectangular marble base of 1.5 by 2.5 metres. Both the base and casket are elaborately inlaid with precious and semiprecious gems. Calligraphic inscriptions on the casket identify and praise Mumtaz. On the lid of the casket is a raised rectangular lozenge meant to suggest a writing tablet. Shah Jahan's cenotaph is beside Mumtaz's to the western side, and is the only visible asymmetric element in the entire complex. His cenotaph is bigger than his wife's, but reflects the same elements: a larger casket on a slightly taller base precisely decorated with lapidary and calligraphy that identifies him. On the lid of the casket is a traditional sculpture of a small pen box.
The pen box and writing tablet are traditional Mughal funerary icons decorating the caskets of men and women respectively. The Ninety Nine Names of God are calligraphic inscriptions on the sides of the actual tomb of Mumtaz Mahal. Other inscriptions inside the crypt include, "O Noble, O Magnificent, O Majestic, O Unique, O Eternal, O Glorious... ". The tomb of Shah Jahan bears a calligraphic inscription that reads; "He travelled from this world to the banquet-hall of Eternity on the night of the twenty-sixth of the month of Rajab, in the year 1076 Hijri."
GARDEN
The complex is set around a large 300-metre square charbagh or Mughal garden. The garden uses raised pathways that divide each of the four quarters of the garden into 16 sunken parterres or flowerbeds. Halfway between the tomb and gateway in the center of the garden is a raised marble water tank with a reflecting pool positioned on a north-south axis to reflect the image of the mausoleum. The raised marble water tank is called al Hawd al-Kawthar in reference to the "Tank of Abundance" promised to Muhammad.
Elsewhere, the garden is laid out with avenues of trees and fountains. The charbagh garden, a design inspired by Persian gardens, was introduced to India by Babur, the first Mughal emperor. It symbolises the four flowing rivers of Jannah (Paradise) and reflects the Paradise garden derived from the Persian paridaeza, meaning 'walled garden'. In mystic Islamic texts of the Mughal period, Paradise is described as an ideal garden of abundance with four rivers flowing from a central spring or mountain, separating the garden into north, west, south and east.
Most Mughal charbaghs are rectangular with a tomb or pavilion in the center. The Taj Mahal garden is unusual in that the main element, the tomb, is located at the end of the garden. With the discovery of Mahtab Bagh or "Moonlight Garden" on the other side of the Yamuna, the interpretation of the Archaeological Survey of India is that the Yamuna river itself was incorporated into the garden's design and was meant to be seen as one of the rivers of Paradise. Similarities in layout and architectural features with the Shalimar Gardens suggests both gardens may have been designed by the same architect, Ali Mardan. Early accounts of the garden describe its profusion of vegetation, including abundant roses, daffodils, and fruit trees. As the Mughal Empire declined, the Taj Mahal and its gardens also declined. By the end of the 19th century, the British Empire controlled more than three-fifths of India, and assumed management of the Taj Mahal. They changed the landscaping to their liking which more closely resembled the formal lawns of London.
OUTLYING BUILDINGS
The Taj Mahal complex is bordered on three sides by crenellated red sandstone walls; the side facing the river is open. Outside the walls are several additional mausoleums, including those of Shah Jahan's other wives, and a larger tomb for Mumtaz's favourite servant.
The main gateway (darwaza) is a monumental structure built primarily of marble, and reminiscent of the Mughal architecture of earlier emperors. Its archways mirror the shape of the tomb's archways, and its pishtaq arches incorporate the calligraphy that decorates the tomb. The vaulted ceilings and walls have elaborate geometric designs like those found in the other sandstone buildings in the complex.
At the far end of the complex are two grand red sandstone buildings that mirror each other, and face the sides of the tomb. The backs of the buildings parallel the western and eastern walls. The western building is a mosque and the other is the jawab (answer), thought to have been constructed for architectural balance although it may have been used as a guesthouse. Distinctions between the two buildings include the jawab's lack of a mihrab (a niche in a mosque's wall facing Mecca), and its floors of geometric design whereas the floor of the mosque is laid with outlines of 569 prayer rugs in black marble. The mosque's basic design of a long hall surmounted by three domes is similar to others built by Shah Jahan, particularly the Masjid-i Jahān-Numā, or Jama Masjid, Delhi. The Mughal mosques of this period divide the sanctuary hall into three areas comprising a main sanctuary and slightly smaller sanctuaries on either side. At the Taj Mahal, each sanctuary opens onto an expansive vaulting dome. The outlying buildings were completed in 1643.
CONSTRUCTION
The Taj Mahal is built on a parcel of land to the south of the walled city of Agra. Shah Jahan presented Maharajah Jai Singh with a large palace in the center of Agra in exchange for the land. An area of roughly three acres was excavated, filled with dirt to reduce seepage, and leveled at 50 metres above riverbank. In the tomb area, wells were dug and filled with stone and rubble to form the footings of the tomb. Instead of lashed bamboo, workmen constructed a colossal brick scaffold that mirrored the tomb. The scaffold was so enormous that foremen estimated it would take years to dismantle.
The Taj Mahal was constructed using materials from all over India and Asia. It is believed over 1,000 elephants were used to transport building materials. The translucent white marble was brought from Makrana, Rajasthan, the jasper from Punjab, jade and crystal from China. The turquoise was from Tibet and the Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, while the sapphire came from Sri Lanka and the carnelian from Arabia. In all, twenty eight types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble.
According to the legend, Shah Jahan decreed that anyone could keep the bricks taken from the scaffold, and thus it was dismantled by peasants overnight. A fifteen kilometer tamped-earth ramp was built to transport marble and materials to the construction site and teams of twenty or thirty oxen pulled the blocks on specially constructed wagons. An elaborate post-and-beam pulley system was used to raise the blocks into desired position. Water was drawn from the river by a series of purs, an animal-powered rope and bucket mechanism, into a large storage tank and raised to a large distribution tank. It was passed into three subsidiary tanks, from which it was piped to the complex.
The plinth and tomb took roughly 12 years to complete. The remaining parts of the complex took an additional 10 years and were completed in order of minarets, mosque and jawab, and gateway. Since the complex was built in stages, discrepancies exist in completion dates due to differing opinions on "completion". Construction of the mausoleum itself was essentially completed by 1643 while work continued on the outlying buildings. Estimates of the cost of construction vary due to difficulties in estimating costs across time. The total cost has been estimated to be about 32 million Indian rupees, which is around 52.8 billion Indian rupees ($827 million US) based on 2015 values.
LATER DAYS
Abdul Hamid Lahauri in his book Badshahnama refers to Taj Mahal as rauza-i munawwara, meaning the illumined or illustrious tomb. Soon after the Taj Mahal's completion, Shah Jahan was deposed by his son Aurangzeb and put under house arrest at nearby Agra Fort. Upon Shah Jahan's death, Aurangzeb buried him in the mausoleum next to his wife. In the 18th century, the Jat rulers of Bharatpur invaded Agra and attacked the Taj Mahal, the two chandeliers, one of agate and another of silver, which were hung over the main cenotaph, were taken away by them, along with the gold and silver screen. Kanbo, a Mughal historian, said the gold shield which covered the 15-foot high finial at the top of the main dome was also removed during the Jat despoliation.
By the late 19th century, parts of the buildings had fallen into disrepair. During the time of the Indian rebellion of 1857, the Taj Mahal was defaced by British soldiers and government officials, who chiselled out precious stones and lapis lazuli from its walls. At the end of the 19th century, British viceroy Lord Curzon ordered a sweeping restoration project, which was completed in 1908. He also commissioned the large lamp in the interior chamber, modelled after one in a Cairo mosque. During this time the garden was remodelled with British-style lawns that are still in place today.
THREATS
In 1942, the government erected a scaffolding to disguise the building in anticipation of air attacks by the Japanese Air Force. During the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971, scaffoldings were again erected to mislead bomber pilots.
More recent threats have come from environmental pollution on the banks of Yamuna River including acid rain due to the Mathura Oil Refinery, which was opposed by Supreme Court of India directives. The pollution has been turning the Taj Mahal yellow. To help control the pollution, the Indian government has set up the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ), a 10,400-square-kilometre area around the monument where strict emissions standards are in place.
Concerns for the tomb's structural integrity have recently been raised because of a decline in the groundwater level in the Yamuna river basin which is falling at a rate of around 5 feet a year. In 2010, cracks appeared in parts of the tomb, and the minarets which surround the monument were showing signs of tilting, as the wooden foundation of the tomb may be rotting due to lack of water. In 2011 it was reported that some predictions indicated that the tomb could collapse within 5 years.
TOURISM
The Taj Mahal attracts a large number of tourists. UNESCO documented more than 2 million visitors in 2001, which increased to about 3 million in 2015. A two tier pricing system is in place, with a significantly lower entrance fee for Indian citizens and a more expensive one for foreigners. Most tourists visit in the cooler months of October, November and February. Polluting traffic is not allowed near the complex and tourists must either walk from parking lots or catch an electric bus. The Khawasspuras (northern courtyards) are currently being restored for use as a new visitor center.
The small town to the south of the Taj, known as Taj Ganji or Mumtazabad, was originally constructed with caravanserais, bazaars and markets to serve the needs of visitors and workmen. Lists of recommended travel destinations often feature the Taj Mahal, which also appears in several listings of seven wonders of the modern world, including the recently announced New Seven Wonders of the World, a recent poll with 100 million votes.
The grounds are open from 06:00 to 19:00 weekdays, except for Friday when the complex is open for prayers at the mosque between 12:00 and 14:00. The complex is open for night viewing on the day of the full moon and two days before and after, excluding Fridays and the month of Ramadan. For security reasons only five items - water in transparent bottles, small video cameras, still cameras, mobile phones and small ladies' purses - are allowed inside the Taj Mahal.
MYTHS
Ever since its construction, the building has been the source of an admiration transcending culture and geography, and so personal and emotional responses have consistently eclipsed scholastic appraisals of the monument. A longstanding myth holds that Shah Jahan planned a mausoleum to be built in black marble as a Black Taj Mahal across the Yamuna river. The idea originates from fanciful writings of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a European traveller who visited Agra in 1665. It was suggested that Shah Jahan was overthrown by his son Aurangzeb before it could be built. Ruins of blackened marble across the river in Moonlight Garden, Mahtab Bagh, seemed to support this legend. However, excavations carried out in the 1990s found that they were discolored white stones that had turned black. A more credible theory for the origins of the black mausoleum was demonstrated in 2006 by archaeologists who reconstructed part of the pool in the Moonlight Garden. A dark reflection of the white mausoleum could clearly be seen, befitting Shah Jahan's obsession with symmetry and the positioning of the pool itself.
No evidence exists for claims that describe, often in horrific detail, the deaths, dismemberments and mutilations which Shah Jahan supposedly inflicted on various architects and craftsmen associated with the tomb. Some stories claim that those involved in construction signed contracts committing themselves to have no part in any similar design. Similar claims are made for many famous buildings. No evidence exists for claims that Lord William Bentinck, governor-general of India in the 1830s, supposedly planned to demolish the Taj Mahal and auction off the marble. Bentinck's biographer John Rosselli says that the story arose from Bentinck's fund-raising sale of discarded marble from Agra Fort.
Another myth suggests that beating the silhouette of the finial will cause water to come forth. To this day, officials find broken bangles surrounding the silhouette.
In 2000, India's Supreme Court dismissed P. N. Oak's petition to declare that a Hindu king built the Taj Mahal. In 2005 a similar petition was dismissed by the Allahabad High Court. This case was brought by Amar Nath Mishra, a social worker and preacher who says that the Taj Mahal was built by the Hindu King Parmar Dev in 1196.
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