Beijing Senior Citizens are Fortunate to Have Free Visits to World Class Exhibitions

The Beijing World Art Museum is holding an exhibition of Great World Civilizations. Visiting museums is of much benefits to the senior citizens, as an elderly man in Beijing I enjoyed seeing the cultural heritage of Mesopotamia, Mexico, India, Rome, Greece and Egypt.


It is believed that while the age of ideology had ended, the world had only reverted to a normal state of affairs characterized by cultural conflict.  The primary axis of conflict in the future will be along cultural and religious lines. It would be interesting to trace back to the origin of ancient culture of humans in the world and their living style.


As an extension, the concept of different civilizations, as the highest rank of cultural identity, will become increasingly useful in analyzing the potential for world problems.


During the tour of the cultural exhibition all sorts of feelings welled up out of my mind.


I am thinking  we  have been living in a remarkably different world.  Now the people have encountered the world of cars, railways, airplanes, telephones, cameras, computers, and televisions.  And more than this, the idea of voting for  government, going to college, choosing the religion, or even choosing  identity . We have come to a modern world!


Life has utteredly changed even  in recent  300 years, and sociology was born out of a concern with this rapidly changing character of the modern, industrial world: Sociologists have identified great differences among societies that have flourished and declined throughout human history with where we have come from and where we are heading. I saw material objects displayed in the exhibition hall.  I saw the humans living thousands of years ago were members of early human societies. Seeing the objects I have a better understanding of human life before a great empire existed in Egypt, before the flowering of culture in ancient Greece, and before any society in Europe built a single city.  As people who take for granted rapid transportation and instant global communication, we can look on these exhibits  as a connection to our distant past.

Standing figure with conical hat  300-200 BC  Mexico

 

Seated Ruler with Club and Bowl  300 - 200 BC  Mexico

 

 

Comic mask  Taranto, Italy  250 - 150 BC

 

Gorgan Shed Sanctuary of Antifix  Apollo Temple  Greece

 

Greek Male figures

 

Statue of Emperor Trajan  Ist Decade od 2nd Century  Naples, Italy

 

Statue of a Togaed Magistrate  Rome

 

Statue of Venus and Eros  300 - 200 AD

 

Standing Female with Arms outstretched  Gulf Coast, Mexico  (300 - 530 AD)

 

Seated Female with Filed Teeth  150 - 250 AD  Gulf Coast, Mexico

 

Seated Diety Holding a symbol  Mexico  300 - 600 AD

 

 

The God Shiva's Bull  India, Tamil Nadu

 

Mesopotamia

 

Sphinx of a Queen  Reign of Queen Hatshepsut  Dynasty 18  1479 - 1457 BC  Egypt

 

Sphinx of a Ruler  Reign of Amasts of Dynasty 26  1479 - 1457 BC  Egypt

 

 

[source:ebeijing.gov.cn]