Wednesday, February 9th, Third Grade went to a museum of Chinese, Japanese, and Indian culture in Pasadena. The courtyard was filled with koi fish that hid under the curved bridge, many statues, and jade doors.
Many rooms showed belongings of the royal palace. The symbol of the emperor is a dragon with five claws; the symbol of the empress is the phoenix; they were each decorated on much of the pottery.
The Chinese believed in ways of evil spirits, and so, the bridge, the roof, and the door at the museum all had their unique way to keep them out. The bridge was curved, because people in China believed that evil spirits could only go in a straight line. The roof was slanted for the same reason. If spirits tried to get in, they would just bounce back up. The door’s knob had the dragon-head crest, because the dragon was known to scare away the evil spirits.
Because the many islands that make up Japan are surrounded by the blue sea, the people there mostly eat sea food. One of their best dished is sushi, which is usually wrapped in sea weed.
The gallery of India in the museum showed photographs of some amazing structures of amazing fast-moving country, such as the Taj Mahal, the Elephanta Caves, and the palace of the Raja Akbar.
