Early life and career.

Edgar Dewdney was born in Bideford, England to parents Charles Dewdney and Fanny Hollingshead. He grew up in a wealthy family, providing him with many social opportunities. Dewdney had two marriages throughout his life, neither producing any children. The first marriage was to Jane Shaw Moir in 1864, and the second in 1909 to Blanche Elizabeth Plantagenet Kemeys-Tynte. Dewdney originally wanted to pursue a career in civil engineering, studying the subject at Cardiff University. After his civil engineering training in 1859, he decided to start a life in the Pacific Northwest in hopes of making a fortune with his newly acquired qualifications. In addition, Dewdney was also motivated to move to the North-West Territories after the discovery and further mining of gold in the Fraser Valley. He was active in the development of pack trails in the colony of British Columbia including the Dewdney Trail which became the main trail into the interior of the colony.  Dewdney was active in political life in British Columbia throughout the 1860s. Dewdney had a limited understanding of the functions of Canadian politics when his interests first piqued. After a few years in Provincial politics, Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald requested Dewdney to become the Indian Commissioner in the North-West, as he knew of the “Indians” in the area quite well. Dewdney had an advantage due to his general knowledge of Indigenous peoples and that he did not originate from Ottawa. Later in his life, Dewdney held dual titles of Indian Commissioner and Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West Territories. He was also the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia and after three years retired and became a surveyor. Due to his prestigious career in politics, Dewdney was considered suitable to conduct the study and surveying of the Cascades. He discovered three routes, Allison, Coquihalla, and Railroad Passes in his 1902 exhibition. However, he disclosed that he never liked any of these routes due to their engineering difficulties. As a result, Dewdney suggested the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) should be built from Midway to Princeton, then north to Merritt and Spences Bridge, and have Fraser Canyon as the way through the Cascades. Dewdney is recognized as a legendary trail builder of colonial days in British Columbia, as this played a large role in the westward expansion of Canada. Despite this recognition, he faced issues regarding Canadian expansionism and the effect on Indigenous peoples.

Surveyor during the gold rushes of the 1860s.

Dewdney was originally employed as a surveyor, and supervised the survey of New Westminster. In 1865, Dewdney was appointed by Governor Frederick Seymour to oversee the construction of a trail to the East Kootenay region of the British Columbia Interior so that coastal merchants might benefit from the burgeoning trade associated with gold mining in that area. This was also done to secure a line of communication within the region to prevent an American takeover of that part of the province. Although used for only a few years, parts of the Dewdney Trail, as it was known, remain to this day and are used for recreational hiking. Provincial Highway 3 largely follows the route of the Dewdney Trail.

Entry into politics.

From 1868 to 1869, Dewdney became active in Colonial politics, representing the electoral district of Kootenay in the Legislative Council of British Columbia. After the Colony joined Canadian Confederation in 1871, he served as a Conservative Member of Parliament for the riding of Yale following his election in 1872. He was appointed a member of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald's cabinet in 1879, where he served as Indian commissioner for the North-West Territories until 1888.  In 1881, Macdonald arranged Dewdney's appointment as Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories, then an executive position. Dewdney resigned his seat in the Commons, but remained Indian Commissioner during his term as Lieutenant-Governor, which lasted until 1888. Macdonald, along with being Prime Minister, held the cabinet post Minister of the Interior. Dewdney took orders directly from Macdonald. Responsible government had not been granted to the North-West Territories, so Dewdney was the Territories' head of government. Perhaps his most notable decision in office was changing the territorial capital from Battleford to Wascana — Cree for "Pile of Bones" — in 1883: a featureless location without water apart from a short spring run-off Wascana Creek, trees or topography. This is where Dewdney had secured a substantial real estate for himself adjacent to the near-future planned Canadian Pacific Railway line. Other townsites were also considered probable territorial capitals, including Fort Qu'Appelle and Qu'Appelle, the latter to the extent of having been designated the cathedral city of the new Diocese of Qu'Appelle by the Church of England in Canada. The matter was a national scandal at the time. Still, the initial major street of Pile of Bones, later renamed Regina by Princess Louise, Marchioness of Lorne, was called Dewdney Avenue.  After his term as Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories, Dewdney was again elected to Parliament and served as the member for Assiniboia East (now southeastern Saskatchewan) from 1888 to 1891. During this period he also served as Minister of the Interior and Superintendent of Indian Affairs.  In 1892, he was appointed to the non-executive viceregal post of Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. He served in this post until 1897.  He retired from politics in 1900, after unsuccessfully running for Parliament in New Westminster, British Columbia.  In 1909, following the death his wife Jane, Dewdney remarried. His newlywed wife was Blanche Kemeys-Tynte, the daughter of Colonel Charles John Kemeys-Tynte of Halswell, Somerset, England.

Crisis: The starvation of the natives.

Upon taking office in May, 1879, Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories Edgar Dewdney came face to face with the plight of the natives in the wake of the disappearing buffalo. The exploitation of buffalo for the fur trade had greatly affected the Indigenous peoples who relied completely on every aspect of the buffalo for food, clothing and resources for housing. Indigenous peoples had already starved to death at Qu'Appele, Fort Walsh, Fort Macleod, Battleford, Carlton, Fort Pitt, Fort Saskatchewan, Edmonton, Touchwood Hills, Fort Ellice, Moose Mountain, Fort Calgary, and elsewhere. Dewdney's solution was to locate the native tribes on reserves. There agents would teach them how to farm.  He reported conditions at the Blackfoot Crossing in July 1879 as follows:  By that autumn, seventeen instructors were established at different reserves along with supplies of tools and seed. They began to teach the natives how to farm.  Dewdney was later denounced for not responding to four official requests for food aid during the winter of 1882-83 for "over 2000 Indians here almost naked and on the verge of starvation". When finally pressed to send food supplies after the official requests, Dewdney stated it was government policy to use famine to force Indians onto reserves.  The Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples was conducted by Dewdney in 1880 regarding the administration of Indian Affairs in the North-West Territories. This communication was written to the Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs in Ottawa and provided insight into conditions in the North-West Territories during the 1880s. This report was controversial because it only provided a colonial viewpoint into the lives of Indigenous peoples. The Indigenous voice was omitted from the report, making the report bias to colonial views. Dewdney outlined in the Royal Commission to Inquire into Changes Affecting the Administration of Justice in the North-West Territories that the “scarcity of buffalo in Fort Walsh had not been exaggerated, and numbers of Indians of the Cree, Assiniboine and Blackfeet were awaiting the arrival of Col. MacLeod and myself.” The decline of the buffalo populations created a famine which “reduced the Indians to a state of dependence on government relief supplies and even forced the Indians to seek government on their reserves.” In order to resolve the starvation crisis, Dewdney proposed relocating all Indigenous peoples in the region onto reserves. Because of the scarcity in buffalo populations, the government had no other choice but to provide Indigenous peoples on reserves with food rations, distributed by the North-West Mounted Police.  Due to the high decline in the buffalo population, many Indigenous communities were facing starvation. Changes needed to be made in regards to the government’s actions in controlling and alleviating the threat of a starvation crisis. Dewdney traveled to parts of the North-West with Col. James Macleod, the Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police, in response to the threat of a starvation crisis. Before traveling to Blackfoot Crossing, Macleod stated in Fort Walk that the resolution to the buffalo problem and the starvation of the Indigenous peoples was to promote an agricultural lifestyle rather than one based on the reliance on buffalo. After observing the crisis at Blackfoot Crossing, Dewdney stressed that the Indigenous peoples there should work to relieve themselves of starvation that resulted from the disappearance of buffalo. He proposed stationing instructors on reserves in order to educate the Indigenous peoples on how to sustain an agricultural society, as well as to provide those on reserves with the necessary supplies. The Royal Commission shows that members of the Blackfoot nation were grateful for Dewdney’s efforts made to ending the crisis. Both members of government in Ottawa and Dewdney believed that the Blackfoot Crossing could be a prosperous agricultural settlement. Upon arriving to Blackfoot, Dewdney hoped to talk about this possible prosperity but before his arrival, he had received news that a number of buffalo had crossed through the settlement and destroyed the crops.  In the early 1880s, government officials such as Dewdney withheld rations from Indigenous people as a tool to bring them into submission. From 1881 to 1883, it was recorded that buffalo and buffalo herds were headed towards Fort Walsh. Upon hearing this, Dewdney ordered that the food rations for Fort Walsh be reduced. The Northwest Mounted Police began preparation to abandon their post at the fort, which meant Indigenous peoples could only receive their treaty payments and other assistance if or when they signed the treaty and moved north. Dewdney's refusal to allow the supply of relief to Indigenous communities created a volatile environment. In October 1882, reports from Augustus Jukes, senior surgeon for the Northwest Mounted Police, regarding the limited food and lack of shelter did not have an effect on Dewdney. As a result, Fort Walsh closed in 1882 which left many Indigenous people starved, unless they signed Treaty One or Treaty Two. Dewdney said that he would recognize any male Cree as a chief if he could get the support of one hundred or more men to accept him as a leader. As a result, many Metis, Cree and Assiniboine separated from their bands in order to receive the promised rations from the government.  In 1882, it was reported that Cree and Assiniboine that settled in Cyprus Hill were supplied with minimal food rations. As a result, many Cree and Assiniboine began travelling to Indian Head. However, many died along the journey as a result of starvation. The reserve in Indian Head was called Win-cha-pa-ghen, or Skull Mountainettes, because the mountains were covered with the victims of the starvation crisis who received little aid from the government of Canada. In the spring, many made the journey back to Cyprus Hill, where Augustus Juke reported that many of the Cree and Assiniboine were in a state of starvation and did not have the basic necessities of life. This was the direct result of the Indian Commissioner’s insistence on letting them starve unless they complied with the government's request for them to sign treaties. Dewdney was quoted saying “the longer they continue to act against the wishes of the Government, the more wretched will they become.”  In 1884, tensions between Louis Riel and the government were rising. Charles Borromée, the Justice of the Supreme Court of the North-West Territories and legal advisor in the North-West Territories, sent a letter to Edgar Dewdney on September 5, 1884 regarding the conditions of Indigenous communities during the North-West Rebellion. Borromée wrote “Riel can harm the country, and that the government must come to the assistance of the Indians or misery and starvation will result.” Dewdney ultimately ignored this information, allowing the half breed (Metis) to starve.  In 1886, Dewdney described the state’s initiatives to provide rations to Indigenous communities as a “policy of reward and punishment,” implying that only bands deemed as “loyal” would receive rations, livestock, and other farming equipment. To help promote an agricultural society within Indigenous communities, treaties stipulated that farming supplies would be made available as well as livestock. Dewdney believed that one of the reasons Indigenous people could not become self supporting was due to the treaties failing to provide grist mills for grain farming. Dewdney, as Indian Commissioner, noted that there were insufficient resources and supplies despite the terms of the treaties. The government of Canada promoted self sufficiency in agriculture by Indigenous peoples as a way to offset the cost of famine relief from the government. However, the supplies that would help Indigenous peoples on reserves to create an agricultural based community were lacking. The lack of supplies from the government frustrated many. The starvation crisis would symbolize the defining issue during Edgar Dewdney’s tenure as Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories. The Crisis regarding the starvation of the natives is still seen as a major political and humanitarian crisis.

The Northwest Rebellion of 1885.

The North-West Rebellion of 1885 was an uprising led by the Metis and other Indigenous peoples of the North-West Territories against the Canadian government. The Metis felt threatened by the continuous buying and selling of land by the Canadian government. There was the question of whether the Metis would receive the land that they were entitled to, while the government continued to give more land to settlers. This, in conjunction with the decline in buffalo in the region and the lack of government relief, resulted in the North-West rebellion. The North-West Rebellion began as a peaceful protest by the Metis against the lack of government relief. The reinforcement of the North-West Mounted Police to the area was seen as a threat to the Metis, and helped to jumpstart violence between the Metis and the government. The violent altercation lasted for five months, with the eventual defeat of the Metis rebels by federal enforcers.  Edgar Dewdney was the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West Territories during the Riel-led rebellion of 1885. It is clear that there were many issues in the North-West region prior to the outbreak of the Metis rebellion. The North-West Mounted Police Superintendent L.N.F. Crozier acted as an informant for Dewdney in the events leading up to the outbreak of the rebellion. With the information that he had gathered, Dewdney believed that he could maintain peace within the region and that he had control of the situation. However, he did not have faith in the ability of Indian agents across the region to maintain and control the unrest that was beginning to arise within Indigenous communities. As a result, Dewdney called for the appointment of a second roving inspector in 1885, as he believed that it would be difficult for one man to do the job effectively over a vast amount of territory, as well as the fact that the current roving inspector T.P. Wadsworth was reporting his findings to other officials behind Dewdney’s back. Since his arrival in the North-West Territories, Dewdney supported the increase of rations for Indigenous communities and believed that it was crucial that the terms outlined in treaties were met in order to maintain peace between the Metis and colonial settlers.

Land.

The issue regarding Metis land claims and entitlement had been a topic of discussion for many years prior to the outbreak of rebellion. Louis Riel’s return to Canada caught the attention of the Canadian government, which motivated the efforts of communities along the Saskatchewan River to advance political demands. The Federal Government was not willing to negotiate with the Metis on the matter. Metis leader, Louis Riel and the Metis forwarded their demands to Ottawa in 1884. Dewdney, as Lieutenant Governor, stated that the government would investigate the claims of those who did not receive land or script in Manitoba, but made no other promises. Riel wanted “land titles and government by the people” instead of Dewdney holding absolute power in the region. The issue had been brought up to Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald many times, but had always been pushed aside to prioritize other issues occurring within the dominion. Many settlers in the region were becoming anxious and feared the outbreak of a rebellion, so in February 1885, Dewdney urged the Prime Minister to respond to their demands from the Metis. This request was once again ignored. Later that month, officials in Saskatchewan began sending reports to Dewdney regarding Metis military action that had begun in the area. It had been reported that the Metis had obtained weapons and ammunition from colonial traders, which was considered illegal. This was alarming for Dewdney, who believed that action needed to be taken to control the Metis and suppress tensions. As a result, Dewdney prepared to send police to the area if conditions worsened. When Riel and his followers began to take prisoners and recruit support from individuals on nearby reserves, Dewdney allowed one hundred Mounted Police to intervene. Dewdney was devoted to preventing other Indigenous peoples on reserves from joining Riel in the North-West Rebellion as an attempt to keep settlers in the area at ease. Land was prioritized by Riel and the Metis in order to secure their future prosperity and survival in the area. Their demands were not recognized by the government of Canada and prompted some Metis communities to prepare for military action.

Food and Rations.

Land and food were important tools used by the government of Canada to control Indigenous peoples. Therefore, land and food were key motivators in the resistance. Prior to the outbreak of the rebellion, Dewdney was unwilling to provide large amounts of rations to Metis settlements unless they were in extreme desperation. This mindset changed during the rebellion, as Dewdney’s idea was to “tempt” Metis and other Indigenous peoples to remain on their reserve and remain devoted to the dominion by offering them more rations and goods. When violence broke out between Riel and the government, Dewdney conducted a tour of reserves in the area, listening to the specific needs of the individuals living on the reserves in an attempt to keep them content. Dewdney offered them more rations of tobacco, bacon, flour, and tea. This was done to keep the Indigenous people on the reserve loyal to the state and separated from the rebellious Metis. Dewdney maintained this appeasement strategy throughout the rebellion. He emphasized the need to be loyal to the state throughout the rebellion. Dewdney suggested that rations and other goods should be withheld from “rebel Indians” after the North-West Rebellion had ended, until it was decided how justice could be achieved. Dewdney believed that those who had been loyal to the state should be rewarded after the North-West Rebellion had ended. These individuals were awarded through the distribution of money and livestock.  The North-West Rebellion can be linked to the starvation crisis, which is represented in the Frog Lake Massacre. The Frog Lake Massacre on April 2, 1885 was due to the restlessness of the Native people in the area of Frog Lake due to the lack of food and resources. Theresa Delaney, a settler who was held captive whose husband was shot in Frog Lake believed that Edgar Dewdney should be blamed as a cause for the massacre in that while visiting Frog Lake, Dewdney made many promises in regards to food and aid, but none of the promises were fulfilled. Although the massacre cannot be directly linked to Dewdney’s unfulfilled promises to the Indigenous peoples of Frog Lake, it is clear that the lack of government intervention at a time of crisis worsened the conditions. Due to the lack of resources, aid, and food provided to those in the region, it is clear that the residents of Frog Lake were living in unjust circumstances. Additionally, Dewdney acted as a mediator between the government and the Indigenous peoples of Frog Lake.

Result of the Rebellion.

The North-West Rebellion eventually ended on June 3, 1885 with subsequent consequences and as well as solutions to ensure there would be no repetition of violence. After the North-West Rebellion had ended, Dewdney took actions to improve the level of security on reserves. This was done to prevent another rebellion of the same nature from occurring in the region. Dewdney believed that all of those who were involved in the North-West Rebellion should be sentenced accordingly. He supported heavy jail sentences for the perpetrators and believed that many executions needed to be carried out in order to make a statement, including the execution of Louis Riel. Dewdney believed that the future of Indigenous communities lay in the younger generation. He feared Indigenous children and the power that they held. This was one of the arguments that justified his support the closing of day schools and the creation of Indian residential schools in order to fully transform Indigenous children into model citizens. He believed that children needed to be removed from the influence of their Indigenous parents and communities. This needed to be done in order to maintain control and ensure that another rebellion of similar nature did not occur. The failure of the North-West Rebellion caused the government of Canada to impose other regulations on the lives of individuals, such as Indian residential schools. The intended purpose of Indian residential schools were to isolate Indigenous children from the influences of their family in order to effectively assimilate them into Euro- Canadian society. These schools operated within Canada until 1996. They were opened and funded by the Canadian government and were operated by the Catholic church. At these schools, Indigenous children faced extreme physical, emotional, and sexual abuse as an assimilation tactic. The traumatization that Indigenous children faced at these schools has been passed down through generations and continues to have an extremely negative effect on Indigenous communities in the twenty-first century.

Honours.

Dewdney had the prenominal "the Honourable" and the postnominal "PC" for life by virtue of being made a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada on September 25, 1888.

Indigenous Relations.

Settler expansion westward further strained Indigenous and Crown relations. Metis and Indigenous peoples were affected by the increase in westward expansion and the methods of land settlement imposed by the government in Qu’Appelle and Saskatchewan. The Metis distrusted Dewdney due to his control over the land in question for settlement. New settlers arriving in the region began to push Metis out of Manitoba. The uncertainty regarding the fate of the Metis in Manitoba in regards to settler migration became a reality. Surveying of Metis land for the new settlers created new tensions, which Dewdney failed to acknowledge. There are some instances of Dewdney mediating territorial disputes as Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs, and while travelling the areas affected by the starvation crisis in 1879. He noted in the Royal Commission that the Sacree nation was in dispute with the Blackfeet over flour rations. The Sacree were forced to travel to Fort MacLeod in order to avoid further trauma caused by starvation, but voiced concern over the area also being inhabited by the Blackfeet. Dewdney ended the dispute and the Sacree agreed to move to Fort MacLeod. Dewdney was involved in mediating the territorial disputes between the Metis and settlers when tensions were heightened.  The early 1880s saw raids led by Indigenous bands to steal cattle and horses from ranchers. This is directly linked to the loss of buffalo in the area and the subsequent starvation crisis. These raids occurred across into the United States and created American tensions. As a Result, Dewdney created a permit system in 1882 so that groups such as the Blackfeet and Assiniboine could move across the border to hunt, visit relatives, and for leisure. Dewdney supported and defended the allegations against Canadian Indigenous peoples as being held responsible for the depredations in Northern Montana. Rancher anxieties and prompts from Americans due to raids by Indigenous peoples pushed Dewdney to move Indigenous bands “from the southern prairies of Assiniboia to reserves north of the Canadian Pacific Railroad.” This plan disrupted bands searching and following remaining buffalo across the international boundary. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police were instructed to use force when faced with bands attempting to move north. Dewdney triumphantly claimed that there were no more natives north of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) line. As a result, the development of the CPR could continue further west by the instruction of Dewdney.  Concerning governance, Dewdney advocated for the enforcement of the Indian Act to dispose Indian chiefs. This would help the colonial government maintain power in local communities by removing Indigenous leadership and eradicating self-governance. As a result of this enforcement, arrests were made against those who were viewed as ‘bad Indians.’ The use of language such as ‘bad Indians’ left for interpretation that any Metis or Indigenous person that rejected government policy was atrocious. Additionally, Dewdney mediated territorial disputes as Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs while traveling areas affected by colonial expansion as well as food and land disputes.

Criticism.

Dewdney has been criticized for using the courts as an extension of administering his own concept of justice (Gavigan, p. 38). He reportedly withheld rations from the Cree until he realized that it created more violence among them (Gavigan, p. 36).  Dewdney was known for making many promises to the Indigenous peoples which raised their morale, but ultimately leaving these promises unfulfilled. At the time of the North-West Rebellion, Dewdney was Indian Commissioner as well as Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories. This gave him a great deal of power and influence in the area and created criticism towards him, as many believe that he was able to abuse this power to ultimately achieve his goals. Dewdney was criticized for not responding to requests for food relief made to the government by Metis, Assiniboine and Cree in the winter of 1882 to 1883. The lack of a response from Dewdney in regard to official requests for food supplies to Indigenous communities can be seen as a tactic used in order to push Indigenous peoples onto reserves.  Additionally, there was concern that the Department of Indian Affairs, its agents, and Dewdney had secretly been in contact with Montana grocery and mercantile firm I.G. Baker Company. The worry was that the Department had purchased subpar goods to distribute to the Metis who were affected by the starvation crisis. It was claimed by the Hudson's Bay Company That Dewdney and other key officials in the North-West and Ottawa were linked with the company and therefore profiting off of the starvation crisis. Dewdney's relationship with the Baker Co. relates back to before his appointment as Indian Commissioner. Dewdney was known to involve himself in various business ventures and investments in the North-West that resulted in his personal financial gain. Flour supplied to Indigenous communities by the Baker Company was unfit for consumption and caused deaths in several reserves. Additionally, there was the belief that the food had been tampered with which created a formal independent investigation into the Baker Company’s flour supply. It was determined that the flour was indeed substandard, which reflected negatively on Dewdney given his relationship with the Company.  Furthermore, there are also reports that Dewdney and other agents from the Department of Indian Affairs used food as a tool for coercion. Many Indigenous people on reserves were at the mercy of these agents.

Life After the Rebellion.

It is important to note that Dewdney never truly liked living in the North-West Territories, as he saw the land as bleak and lifeless. He also disliked the harsh climate of the North-West Territories, as it could become intolerable at times. Dewdney suffered from extreme back pain, preventing him from traveling on horseback and camping between reserves. Dewdney’s wife Jane also expressed a longing to return to life in British Columbia, as it was filled with excitement and adventure. After the North-West Rebellion, Dewdney requested political appointments outside of the North-West. On September 12, 1888, he was named Minister of the Interior as well as superintendent general of Indian Affairs. Dewdney was appointed as Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia on November 2, 1892 and retired December 1, 1897. After his retirement from politics, Dewdney focused on business ventures. Throughout his life, Dewdney managed his personal finances poorly, resulting in his lack of pension to support him in his later life. Subsequently, he also focused on surveying projects for proposed railways in British Columbia. His wife Jane died in January 1909, which prompted his second marriage to Blanche Elizabeth Plantagenet Kemeys-Tynte in 1909. Money continued to be an issue for Dewdney up until his death. He attempted to receive a senate appointment as well as an appeal to receive a pension to aid him in his old age. He never received a senate appointment or a pension. Edgar Dewdney died on August 8, 1916 in Victoria, British Columbia at the age of eighty.

Edgar Dewdney, (November 5, 1835 – August 8, 1916) was a Canadian surveyor, road builder, Indian commissioner and politician born in Devonshire, England. He emigrated to British Columbia in 1859 in order to act as surveyor for the Dewdney Trail that runs through the province. In 1870, Dewdney decided to take up a role in Canadian government. In this year, he was elected to the Legislative Council of British Columbia as a representative form the Kootenay region. In 1872, he was elected as a member of Federal Government for the Yale region representing the Conservative party. He was reelected to this position in 1874 and again in 1878. Dewdney served as Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories from 1879 to 1888, and the fifth Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia from 1892 to 1897. Additionally, he served as the Indian commissioner in the North-West Territories from 1879 until 1888. In 1897, Dewdney retired from politics and began working as a financial agent until his death in 1916.

Edgar Dewdney ( - ) était un homme politique canadien né dans le Devonshire en Angleterre. Il servit comme Lieutenant-gouverneur de la province de Colombie-Britannique et des Territoires du Nord-Ouest.


Overview.

As a child, Julian Bashir fell behind in school, and was evaluated as having learning difficulties. Because of this, his parents, Richard and Amsha Bashir, had him subjected to genetic engineering. The procedure made him mentally superior to most humans, and greatly enhanced his physical abilities. However, because human genetic engineering is illegal in the United Federation of Planets, Bashir and his parents kept his procedure a secret throughout most of his adult life ("DS9" episode: "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?").  Bashir graduated second in his class at Starfleet Medical Academy, having intentionally missed a question on his final exam ("DS9": "Distant Voices"). He had his choice of assignments anywhere in the fleet, and so chose "Deep Space Nine" for the opportunity to practice "real-life frontier medicine" ("DS9": "Emissary"). He holds the rank of Lieutenant (j.g.) at the time of the series pilot, and Lieutenant from the fourth season premiere until the series finale.  Early on, his overly enthusiastic and self-important nature made some members of the crew, such as Miles O'Brien and Kira Nerys, reluctant to spend time with him. However, he eventually becomes friends with O'Brien, Jadzia Dax, and Elim Garak. Bashir flirts with Jadzia, who rejects his advances and goes on to marry Worf. After her death, Bashir joins Worf on a dangerous mission to ensure Jadzia's soul a place in Sto-Vo-Kor.  Bashir's closest friend is O'Brien, and they are frequently shown playing games (like darts) or visiting the holodeck for the recreation of one of several historical battles such as the Alamo or the Battle of Britain. He is also close friends with Elim Garak, with whom he often shares lunch in the Replimat.  During pre-Dominion war tensions, Bashir is kidnapped (sometime before "", when new uniforms are introduced) and sent to a Dominion prison camp and replaced with a Changeling (revealed during "In Purgatory's Shadow"). His replacement attempts to destroy the Bajoran sun, with the goal of wiping out Bajor, DS9, and a fleet of Federation, Klingon, and Romulan ships ("By Inferno's Light"). The DS9 crew foil the plan, and the real Bashir, along with his fellow captives, shortly thereafter free themselves. The experience (and his outing as a genetically engineered person) began a slow personality change over the course of the series into a much more somber, dark character.  Later, Bashir attempts to integrate several other genetically engineered individuals into Federation culture, with mixed success ("Statistical Probabilities", "Chrysalis").  The covert operations group Section 31 also becomes interested in him and tries twice, unsuccessfully, to "recruit" him ("Inquisition", "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges").  As depicted in the series finale "What You Leave Behind", Bashir remains aboard "Deep Space Nine", and begins a romantic relationship with Ezri Dax.  In the Mirror Universe, the alternate Bashir is a freedom fighter in the Terran Rebellion. It is unknown whether he was ever given the genetic enhancements his counterpart was. Unlike the regular Bashir, who is friendly and personable, alternate Bashir is an angry, unkempt former slave who joins the rebellion against the Klingon/Cardassian Alliance.

Reception.

The character of Julian Bashir initially sparked fan criticism. Alexander Siddig expressed his enthusiasm for the fact that he, with his English accent, unusual screen name at time of casting (Siddig El Fadil), and North African heritage was a main character on a prominent television show despite being not as easily racially identifiable to audiences as many other actors and characters were on TV at the time.

Guest appearances.

Alexander Siddig also played his role of Dr. Julian Bashir in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" season six episode "", a season concurrent to DS9's first season.

Julian Subatoi Bashir, MD is a fictional character from the television series "", portrayed by Alexander Siddig. Bashir is the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of space station Deep Space Nine and the USS "Defiant".

Julian Subatoï Bashir est un personnage fictif appartenant à l'univers de "Star Trek". Il exerce la fonction de médecin durant les sept saisons successives de la série télévisée "" et c'est l'acteur Alexander Siddig (crédité sous le nom de Siddig El Fadil jusqu'à la fin de la troisième saison) qui lui prête ses traits.


Administration.

Currently, the prefecture-level city of Yangzhou administers six county-level divisions, including three districts, two county-level cities and one county. Accordingly, they are further divided into 98 township-level divisions, including 87 towns and townships, and 11 subdistricts.

History.

Guangling (), the first settlement in the Yangzhou area, was founded in the Spring and Autumn period. After the defeat of Yue by King Fuchai of Wu, a garrison city was built above the water level on the north bank of the Yangtze c. 485 BC. This city in the shape of a three by three "li" square was named Hancheng. The newly built Han canal formed a moat around the south and east sides of the city. The purpose of Hancheng was to protect Suzhou from naval invasion from Qi. During the Han dynasty, Guangling was the seat of Guangling Commandery. It constituted a part of the Xu Province, rather than the Yang Province (Yangzhou), which was covered the entire southeastern part of China then. In 590, the city was made the capital of a newly established Yang Prefecture, and began to be referred to with its current name.  Under Emperor Yang of Sui (r. 604–617), Yangzhou was the southern capital of China. It was called Jiangdu upon the completion of the Grand Canal until the fall of the Sui dynasty. By the mid 610s, a combination of fruitless attempts to conquer the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo, together with natural disasters and provincial unrest, ensured many people Emperor Yang had lost the legitimacy of his monarchy. As revolts spread across China in 616, the Emperor abandoned the North and meanwhile withdrew to Jiangdu, where he remained until his assassination in 618.

Tang Dynasty.

The city has remained a leading economic and cultural center and major port of foreign trade and external exchange since the Tang dynasty (618–907). Many Arab and Persian merchants lived in the city in the 7th century, but they were massacred in the thousands in 760 during the An Lushan Rebellion by Tian Shengong's () rebel insurgents during the Yangzhou massacre (760).  During the Tang dynasty, many merchants from Silla also lived in Yangzhou.  The city, still known as Guangling, was briefly made the capital of Wu during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

From Song to Ming.

Yangzhou was briefly the temporary seat of the Song dynasty government between 1128 and 1129, when most of North China had been conquered by the Jurchens during the Jin–Song Wars. The Song had retreated south to the city from their original capital in Kaifeng after it was captured by the Jurchen in the Jingkang Incident of 1127.  From Yangzhou, the Song moved to Hangzhou in 1129, later establishing it as the capital of the Southern Song.  In 1280, Yangzhou was the site of a massive gunpowder explosion when the bomb store of the Weiyang arsenal accidentally caught fire. This blast killed over a hundred guards, hurled debris from buildings into the air that landed ten "li" away from the site of the explosion, and could be felt 100 "li" away as tiles on roofs shook (refer to gunpowder article).  Marco Polo claimed to have served the Yuan dynasty in Yangzhou under Kubilai Khan in the period around 1282–1287 (to 1285, according to Perkins). Although some versions of Polo's memoirs imply that he was the governor of Yangzhou, it is more likely that he was an official in the salt industry, if indeed he was employed there at all. Chinese texts offer no supporting evidence for his claim. The discovery of the 1342 tomb of Katarina Vilioni, member of an Italian trading family in Yangzhou, does, however, suggest the existence of a thriving Italian community in the city in the 14th century. Moreover, both in The Travels of Marco Polo and in the History of Yuan there is documentation about a Nestorian Christian, who funded two churches in China during the three years he served as an official of the emperor: this functionary is named "Mar Sarchis" by Marco Polo and "Ma Xuelijisi" in the History of Yuan. He served as a supervisor in the province of Zhenjiang, a region neighboring Yangzou. In fact, it is well-documented that Kublai Khan trusted foreigners more than Chinese subjects in internal affairs.  There were also Arabic inscriptions from the 13th and 14th centuries, indicating the presence of a Muslim community.  During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) until the 19th century Yangzhou acted as a major trade exchange center for salt (a government regulated commodity), rice, and silk. The Ming were largely responsible for building the city as it now stands and surrounding it with of walls.

Early Qing.

After the fall of Beijing and northern China to the Manchus in 1644, Yangzhou remained under the control of the short-lived Southern Ming based in Nanjing. Qing forces led by Prince Dodo reached Yangzhou in the spring of 1645, and despite the heroic efforts of its chief defender, Shi Kefa, the city fell on May 20, 1645, after a brief siege. The ten-day Yangzhou massacre followed, Wang alleged that the number of victims was allegedly close to 800,000, that number is now disproven and considered by modern historians and researchers to be a ridiculous exaggeration. Shi Kefa himself was killed by the Manchus when he refused to switch his allegiance to the Qing regime.  The city's rapid recovery from these events and its great prosperity through the early and middle years of the Qing dynasty were due to its role as administrative center of the Lianghuai sector of the government salt monopoly. As early as 1655, the Dutch envoy Johan Nieuhof described the city ("Jamcefu", i.e. Yangzhou-Fu, in his transcription) commented on the city's salt trade as follows: Famed at that time and since for literature, art, and the gardens of its merchant families, many of which were visited by the Kangxi and Qianling emperors during their Southern Tours, the Qing-era Yangzhou has been the focus of intensive research by historians.

Late Qing and Republican era.

The Yangzhou riot in 1868 was a pivotal moment of Anglo-Chinese relations during late Qing China that almost led to war. The crisis was fomented by the scholar-officials of the city, who opposed the presence of foreign Christian missionaries there. The riot that resulted was an angry crowd estimated at eight to ten thousand who assaulted the premises of the British China Inland Mission in Yangzhou by looting, burning and attacking the missionaries led by Hudson Taylor. No one was killed, however several of the missionaries were injured as they were forced to flee for their lives. As a result of the report of the riot, the British consul in Shanghai, Sir Walter Henry Medhurst took seventy Royal Marines in a man-of-war and steamed up the Yangtze to Nanjing in a controversial show of force that eventually resulted in an official apology from Viceroy Zeng Guofan and financial restitution made to the injured missionaries.  From the time of the Taiping Rebellion (1853) to the beginning of the Reform Era (1980) Yangzhou was in decline, due to war damage, neglect of the Grand Canal as railways replaced it in importance, and stagnation in the early decades of the PRC. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, it endured eight years of enemy occupation and was used by the Japanese as a site for internment camps. About 1200 civilians of Allied nationalities (mostly British and Australian) from Shanghai were transported here in 1943, and located in one of three camps (A, B, and C). Camps B and C were closed down in September, 1943, after the second American-Japanese prisoner exchange, and their inhabitants transferred back to Shanghai camps. Camp C, located in the former American Mission in the north-west of the city, was maintained for the duration of the war.  Among early plans for railways in the late Qing was one for a line that would connect Yangzhou to the north but this was jettisoned in favour of an alternative route. The city's status as a leading economic centre in China was never to be restored. Not until the 1990s did it begin to regain some semblance of prosperity, benefitting from national economic growth and a number of targeted development projects. With the canal now partially restored, and excellent rail and road connections, Yangzhou is once again an important transportation and market center. It also has some industrial output, chiefly in cotton and textiles. In 2004, a railway linked Yangzhou for the first time with Nanjing.

Geography.

Yangzhou is located on a plain north of the Yangtze. The Grand Canal, also known as the Jing-Hang Canal, crosses the prefecture-level from the north to the south; its modern route passes through the eastern outskirts of Yangzhou's main urban area, while its old route runs through the city center. Other major bodies of water within the prefecture-level city include the Baoshe River, Datong River, Beichengzi River, Tongyang Canal, Xintongyang Canal, Baima Lake, Baoying Lake, Gaoyou Lake and Shaobo Lake.  Like much of the entire prefecture-level city, Yangzhou's main urban area (the "city proper") is criss-crossed by an intricate network of canals and small lakes. The historic city center (the former waled city) is surrounded by canals on all sides: the Old Grand Canal forms its eastern and southern boundaries; the City Moat Canal runs along the former walled city's northern edge, connecting the Old Grand Canal with the Slender West Lake; the Erdaohe Canal runs along the old city's western edge, from the Slender West Lake to the Lotus Flower Pond (Hehuachi), which in its turn is connected by the short Erdaogou canal with the Old Grand Canal. It is possible to sail a small water craft from the Thin West Lake, via the Erdaohe, the Hehua Pond, and the Erdaogou into the Old Grand Canal.

Climate.

Yangzhou has a subtropical monsoon climate with humid changeable wind; longer winters for about 4 months, summers 3 months and shorter springs and autumns, 2 months respectively; frost-free period of 222 days and annual average sunshine of 2177 hours.  The mean annual temperature is annually; the normal monthly mean 24-hour temperature ranges from in January to in July.  The annual average precipitation is, and about 45 percent of rainfall is concentrated in the summer. The rainy season known as "plum rain season" usually lasts from mid-June to late July. During this season, the plums are ripening, hence the name plum rain.

Transportation.

Yangzhou has one Yangtze River crossing, the Runyang Yangtze River Bridge complex, which has one of the one of the longest suspension bridge spans in the world, and carries the G4011 Yangzhou–Liyang Expressway to Zhenjiang.

Air.

The Yangzhou Taizhou International Airport, completed in 2012 to serve Yangzhou and neighbouring Taizhou, is located in Jiangdu district. The Nanjing Lukou International Airport is over away; it takes one hour and 40 minutes to get there from central Yangzhou. Prior to the completion of the Yangzhou Taizhou Airport, Lukou Airport in Nanjing was the primary air gateway for passengers destined for Yangzhou. There are over 10 airline ticket offices in Yangzhou, providing convenient service for foreign and domestic tourists. domestic and international fight are available with 10 international airlines and more than 20 domestic ones

Rail.

Until 2004, Yangzhou was not served by passenger rail. Yangzhou Railway Station began construction in 2003 and was completed a year later. It is located on the western outskirts of the city, and is a major station on the Nanjing–Qidong Railway, and provides direct passenger service to the provincial capital as well as a number of major cities to the west, north, and south (such as Xi'an, Wuhan, and Guangzhou), including an overnight Z-series express train to Beijing. Later, frequent high-speed (D-series) service has been introduced on this line as well.  There is no direct rail service between Yangzhou and Shanghai, however; to travel to Shanghai, or elsewhere in the Yangtze Delta regions, travelers cross the Yangtze over the new Runyang Bridge to Zhenjiang (frequent commuter bus service is available) and take a train from the Zhenjiang Railway Station, which is located on the main Nanjing-Shanghai rail line.  In 2016, construction work started on a new north-south rail line, the Lianyungan-Huai'an-Yangzhou-Zhenjiang Railway. The new Yangzhou station will be located on the east side on the city, between Yangzhou main urban area and Jiangdu District, east of the existing Yangzhou Railway Station. The new rail line is expected to open in 2020, while the new train station will gradually become the ciy's transportation hub, and its surrounding area, Yangzhou's new central business district.

River transport.

Yangzhou harbour, south from the city center, is located at the junction of the Beijing–Hangzhou Canal and the Yangtze River. The average water depth is 15–20 meters. In 1992, the State Council approved it to become a first-grade open state harbour, and General Secretary Jiang Zemin inscribed its name. Now, it has developed into a comprehensive inland harbor, integrating passenger, freight, container transportation and harbour trade, and has become the main distribution center of northern Jiangsu province, eastern Anhui Province and southeast Shandong Province. There are several dozen categories of goods including iron and steel, timber, minerals, coal, grain, cotton, container, products of light industry and machinery. The passenger routes reach Nanjing, Wuhu, Jiujiang, Huangshi and Wuhan in the west, and Nantong and Shanghai in the east. Some well-known luxury international liners also anchor here. The harbour has greatly promoted the development of exports and the overall local economy.

Expressways.

The Ningyang (Nanjing–Yangzhou) Expressway crosses the southern part of Yangzhou's metropolitan area while the Ningtong (Nanjing–Nantong) Expressway is connected to Yangzhou at Liaojiagou. In recent years, local government have attached great importance to the development of the tourism, in conjunction with a greater effort dedicated to the improvement of the local road transport system. With a total investment of 680 million yuan, the Yangzhou section of the Ningyang Expressway was completed on December 18, 1998 and opened to traffic in June 1999. Stretching nearly, the section of the expressway starts from the Bazi Flyover as the entry/exit, via the Yanggua Highway, the Tonggang Highway, an ancient canal, the Yangwei Highway, the Beijing–Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Yangling Highway, to Liqojiagou Entry/Exit of Yangjiang Highway. It then passes the Jiangdu Flyover to directly link up with the Huaijiang Expressway. In addition, the section of Huaijiang Expressway within the territory of Yangzhou began construction on March 22, 1997, which will be commonly used by the state planned Tongjiang–Sanya and Beijing–Shanghai trunk lines. The section of Huaijiang Expressway in Yangzhou totals in length, starting from Jinghe Town of Baoying in the north to the entry/exist of Zhuanqiaozhen Flyover of Jiangdu in the south. It then links with Ningtong Expressway, passing by three counties (cities) such as Baoying, Gaoyou and Jiangdu and 26 towns, at a total cost of 3.7 billion yuan. It is expected to be open to traffic by the year 2000.

Intercity bus service.

During the daytime, frequent bus service operates between Yangzhou and nearby cities. There are several bus stations on the city's outskirts; most of the buses from Nanjing (Nanjing West Bus Station) and Zhenjiang (where the bus station is adjacent to the Zhenjiang Railway Station) arrive to Yangzhou South Bus Station, located a few kilometers southwest from downtown. Most of the intercity bus service stops in the early evening.

Transportation in the Urban Area.

The city is served by an extensive network of public bus routes.  Yangzhou's taxi industry began in 1982, and has developed rapidly since 1993. the city has over 40 taxi companies of various ownership structures, with a total of 1,571 vehicles. Parking lots were established at key stations and hotels, and eight taxi companies have opened round-the-clock telephone service. The construction department of the municipal government has strengthened the management of taxi services, providing education in the relevant laws, professional ethics and safety aspects.  In 2014, Yangzhou's government approved plans for the construction of a subway system, which will initially include two lines. Line 1 will run in the general east-west direction, from Yangzhou Railway Station in the west to the historic central city to the future high-speed railway station (east of the Grand Canal) to Jiangdu District. Line 2 will run in the general north-south direction.

Tourist Transportation.

To develop tourism in Yangzhou, sightseeing buses have been introduced in the city run by the Tianma travel agency under the Yangzhou Tourist Bureau. There is a tour guide on each bus. The route, starting from Yangzhou station, has eight stops, and passes by such scenic spots of the Slender West Lake, Daming Temple, Imperial Dock, Siwang Pagoda, Wenchang Pagoda and Shita Temple. Yangzhou Public Transit also operates No.1, No.5 and No.2 special tourist lines. No.1 bus departs from the bus station and goes by the Slender West Lake, Shigong Temple, Geyuan Garden and Heyuan Garden; No.5 bus starts from the bus station and goes by the Crane Temple, Wenchang Pagoda, Slender West Lake, Five-Pavilion Bridge, and Pingshan Hall. A sight-seeing route on Slender West Lake has opened, connecting Imperial Dock, Yichun Garden, Hong Garden, Dahong Bridge, Xiaojinshan, Diaoyutai, Five-Pavilion Bridge, and the 24-bridge, finally reaching Daming Temple and Pingshan Hall.

Industries and Shipyards.

Yangzhhou is the site of Chengxi shipyard, large shipyard where bulk carriers and other types of large ships are built. Owned partly by the state owned CSSC holdings, through Jiangsu Xinrong shipyard, Chengxi Yangzhou shipyard builds ships from 25,000 dwt to 170,000 dwt in size.

Cuisine.

Yangzhou dishes may be one of the reasons why the people of Yangzhou are so infatuated with their city. They have an appealing color, aroma, taste and appearance. The original color of each ingredient is preserved after cooking, and no oily sauce is added, so as to retain the fresh flavour of the food.  In Yangzhou all dishes, whether cheap or expensive, are elaborate. Cooks will not scrimp on their work, even with dazhu gansi (), a popular dish that costs only a few yuan. Dry bean curd is made by each restaurant that serves it, so the flavor is guaranteed. The cook slices the 1-cm-thick curd into 30 shreds, each one paper-thin but none broken, and then stews them for hours with chopped bamboo shoots and shelled shrimps in chicken soup. In this way the dry bean curd shreds can soak up the flavor of the other ingredients, and the soup is clear but savory. Not only Yangzhou cooks, but also the ordinary people are conscientious about cooking.

Culture.

The Yangzhou dialect () of Chinese is representative of Lower Yangtze Mandarin, and is particularly close to the official language of the Ming and Qing courts, which was based on the Nanjing dialect. However, it does differ considerably from modern Standard Chinese, although they are still moderately mutually intelligible.  Dialect has also been used as a tool for regional identity and politics in the Jiangbei and Jiangnan regions. While the city of Yangzhou was the center of trade, flourishing and prosperous, it was considered part of Jiangnan, which was known to be wealthy, even though Yangzhou was north of the Yangzi river. Once Yangzhou's wealth and prosperity were gone, it was then considered to be part of Jiangbei, the "backwater". After Yangzhou was removed from Jiangnan, its residents decided to replace Jianghuai Mandarin, which was the dialect of Yangzhou, with Taihu Wu dialects. In Jiangnan itself, multiple subdialects of Wu fought for the position of prestige dialect.  During a period of prosperity and Imperial favour, the arts of storytelling and painting flourished in Yangzhou. The innovative painter-calligrapher Shitao lived in Yangzhou during the 1680s and again from 1697 until his death in 1707. A later group of painters from that time called the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou are famous throughout China.  Former General secretary of CPC, President of China Jiang Zemin was born and raised in Yangzhou. His middle school is located right across from the public notary's office in Yangzhou.  Yangzhou is famous for its carved lacquerware and jade.  Some of China's most creative and eye catching dishes come from the Yangzhou school of cuisine called Huaiyang (also commonly known as the Weiyang school). Along with Sichuan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, and Shandong cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine () is a distinctive and masterful skill that locals are quite proud of.  The city is famous for its public bath houses, lacquerware, jadeware, embroidery, paper-cut, art & crafts velvet flavers.  The city was awarded Habitat Scroll of Honour in 2006.  Yangzhou is also very famous for its toy industry (especially stuffed animals). Many tourists from neighboring cities travel to the city for its good-quality and low-priced toys.  It is worth mentioning that the city is also famous for an ancient folk art called Yangzhou storytelling (), which is like Xiangsheng—the traditional Chinese comedic performance. It rose as a performing act during the Ming Dynasty. In the performance, the artist details an interesting historical story to audiences, using Yangzhou dialect. These stories have been edited by artists, so they sound very soul-stirring and funny. The best known artist of Yangzhou storytelling was Wang shaotang. His most famous works are The 10 chapters of Wu Song (), The 10 chapters of Song Jiang (), The 10 chapters of Lu Junyi (), and The 10 chapters of Shi Xiu ().

Literary references.

Yangzhou was frequently referenced in Chinese literature. Poet Li Bai (c.700–762) wrote in "Seeing Meng Haoran off to Yangzhou from Yellow Crane Pavilion":  Du Mu wrote the famous lines on Yangzhou:  The "green mansions" or "green/black lofts" ("qinglou") refers to the pleasure districts for which Yangzhou became known.

Tourism.

Tourist sights include Slender West Lake and old residences in the moated town, such as the Wang Residence and the Daming temple. Yangzhou is famous for its many well preserved Yangzhou style gardens. Most of the Historic city is in the Guangling District.

Slender West Lake.

Named after Hangzhou's famous West Lake, this long, narrow stretch of water which meanders through Yangzhou's western limits is a well-known scenic spot. A long bank planted with weeping willows spans the lake; at its midpoint stands a square terrace with pavilions at each of the corners and one in the center. Around the lake is a park in which are found several attractions: Lotus Flower Pagoda (Lianhua SO), a white structure reminiscent of the White Pagoda (Baita) in Beijing's Beihai Park; Small Gold Mountain (Xiao Jin Shan); and the Fishing Platform (Diaoyutai), a favorite retreat of the Qing emperor Qian Long. The emperor was so gratified by his luck in fishing at this spot that he ordered additional stipends for the town. As it turns out, his success had been augmented by local swimmers who lurked in the lake busily attaching fish to his hook.

Daming Temple.

Located on Shugang Hill, in the city's northwest, is Fajing Temple, formerly known as DaMing Temple. The original temple was built in Liu Song Dynasty (420–479). A nine-story pagoda, the Qilingta, was built on the temple grounds in the year of Sui Dynasty (589–618). A recent addition to the temple complex is the Jianzhen Memorial Hall, built according to Tang Dynasty methods and financed with contributions raised by Buddhist groups in Japan. When Qing Emperor Qian Long visited Yangzhou in 1765, he was troubled by The temple's name DaMing (which literally means "Great Ming') fearing that it might revive nostalgia for the Ming Dynasty, which was overthrown by his Manchu predecessors. He had it renamed Fajing Temple. The temple was seriously damaged during the Taiping Rebellion at the beginning of the 20th century. The present structure is a reconstruction dating from the 1930s.

Flat Hills (Ping Shan) Hall.

Built by the Song Dynasty writer Ouyang Xiu when he served as prefect of the city, this hall stands just west of Fajing Temple. Looking out from this hall, the mountains to the south of the Yangtze River appear as a line at the viewer's eye level, hence the name Flat Hills Hall. When Ouyang Xiu's student Su Dongpo moved to Yangzhou, he too served as prefect of the city. He had a hall built directly behind the one erected by his master, and called it Guling Hall.

Pavilion of Flourishing Culture (, Wénchāng Gé).

This round, three-story pavilion in Yangzhou's eastern sector was built in 1585 and celebrates the city's rich cultural traditions. It is also the de facto center of the city.  Built during Ming dynasty, it is located on the cross of Wenchang Road and Wenhe Road. The whole building is about 79-foot high, and looks like Temple of Heaven in Beijing. Today, bordered by many shopping stores, Wenchange had been a symbol of commercial center to residents.

Stone Pagoda.

Standing west of the Pavilion of Flourishing Culture is a five-story Tang Dynasty pagoda (). Built in 837, it is the oldest pagoda still standing in Yangzhou.

Tomb of Puhaddin.

This is essentially a Ming Dynasty graveyard that includes the tomb of Puhaddin. According to information at the tomb, he was a 16th generation descendant of Muhammad, The Prophet. The tomb is on the eastern bank of the (Old) Grand Canal in the eastern sector of the city and is adjacent to a mosque which houses a collection of valuable materials documenting China's relations with Muslim countries.

Ge Garden (, Gè Yuán).

The entrance to this typical southern style garden with its luxuriant bamboo groves, ponds, and rock grottoes is on Dongguan St. in the city's northeast section. Designed by the great Qing Dynasty landscape painter Shi Tao for Wang Yingtai, an officer of the Qing imperial court, this garden takes its name from the shape of bamboo leaves which resemble the Chinese character ge, meaning "a" or "an."

He Garden (, Hé Yuán).

This garden, also called Jixiao Shan Zhuang, was built by He Zhidao, a 19th-century Qing government official, this garden home is famous for a, two storied winding corridor, the walls of which are lined with stone tablets carved with lines of classical poetry, In the garden is also an open-air theater set on an island in the middle of a fish pond.

Yechun Garden (Yechun Yuan).

In this garden, which lies on the banks of the Xiading River at the city's northern limits, the Qing Dynasty poet Wang Yuyang and a circle of friends used to gather to recite their works. The thatched roofs of the pavilions in this garden give it a quaint, rustic air.

Yangzhou Museum & Yangzhou Block Printing Museum.

Situated on the west side of the Bright Moon Lake, the Yangzhou Chinese Block Printing Museum () and Yangzhou Museum () look into the distance of Yangzhou International Exhibition Centre and covers an area of 50,000 square meters, with a construction space of 25,000 square meters, and an exhibition area of 10,000 square metres. Its unique architectural form embodies the harmony of man nature, structure and natural environment. In August, 2003, over 300,000 ancient books blockings were collected from Guangling Press of Yangzhou and China Block Printing Museum was established under the approval of the State Council, over 300,000 ancient book blockings collected by Guangling Press of Yangzhou were included in the new museum.

Jiangdu Hydro Project.

Construction of this multiple-purpose water control project, the biggest in China, started in 1961 and was completed in 1975. The project includes facilities for irrigation, drainage, navigation, and power generation. It consists of four large modern electric pumping stations, six medium-sized check gates, thrice navigation locks, and two trunk waterways.

Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou to the east, and Zhenjiang across the river to the south. Its population was 4,414,681 at the 2010 census and its urban area is home to 2,146,980 inhabitants, including three urban districts, currently in the agglomeration.

Yangzhou (chinois simplifié : 扬州; chinois traditionnel : 揚州 ; pinyin : Yángzhōu) est une ville du centre de la province du Jiangsu en Chine. Elle se trouve sur le Yangzi Jiang (Yang Tse Kiang). Sa population était d'environ 2,1 millions d'habitants concernant la ville et 4,5 millions concernant son agglomération en 2010.


History.

Construction.

The Prambanan temple is the largest Hindu temple of ancient Java, and the first building was completed in the mid-9th century. It was likely started by Rakai Pikatan as the Hindu Sanjaya Dynasty's answer to the Buddhist Sailendra Dynasty's Borobudur and Sewu temples nearby. Historians suggest that the construction of Prambanan probably was meant to mark the return of the Hindu Sanjaya Dynasty to power in Central Java after almost a century of Buddhist Sailendra Dynasty domination. The construction of this massive Hindu temple signifies that the Medang court had shifted its patronage from Mahayana Buddhism to Shaivite Hinduism.  A temple was first built at the site around 850 CE by Rakai Pikatan and expanded extensively by King Lokapala and Balitung Maha Sambu the Sanjaya king of the Mataram Kingdom. According to the Shivagrha inscription of 856 CE, the temple was built to honor Lord Shiva, and its original name was "Shiva-grha" (the House of Shiva) or "Shiva-laya" (the Realm of Shiva). According to the Shivagrha inscription, a public water project to change the course of a river near Shivagrha temple was undertaken during the construction of the temple. The river, identified as the Opak River, now runs north to south on the western side of the Prambanan temple compound. Historians suggest that originally the river was curved further to east and was deemed too near to the main temple. The project was done by cutting the river along a north to south axis along the outer wall of the Shivagrha Temple compound. The former river course was filled in and made level to create a wider space for the temple expansion, the space for rows of "pervara" (complementary) temples.  Some archaeologists propose that the statue of Shiva in the garbhagriha (central chamber) of the main temple was modelled after King Balitung, serving as a depiction of his deified self after death.  The temple compound was expanded by successive Mataram kings, such as Daksa and Tulodong, with the addition of hundreds of "perwara" temples around the chief temple. With main "prasada" tower soaring up to 47 metres high, a vast walled temple complex consists of 240 structures, Shivagrha Trimurti temple was the tallest and the grandest of its time. Indeed the temple complex is the largest Hindu temple in ancient Java, with no other Javanese temples ever surpassed its scale. Prambanan served as the royal temple of the Kingdom of Mataram, with most of the state's religious ceremonies and sacrifices being conducted there. At the height of the kingdom, scholars estimate that hundreds of brahmins with their disciples lived within the outer wall of the temple compound. The urban center and the court of Mataram were located nearby, somewhere in the Prambanan Plain.

Abandonment.

In the 930s, the court was shifted to East Java by Mpu Sindok, who established the Isyana Dynasty. An eruption of Mount Merapi volcano, located north of Prambanan in central Java, or a power struggle probably caused the shift. That marked the beginning of the decline of the temple. It was soon abandoned and began to deteriorate.  The temples collapsed during a major earthquake in the 16th century. Although the temple ceased to be an important center of worship, the ruins scattered around the area were still recognizable and known to the local Javanese people in later times. The statues and the ruins became the theme and the inspiration for the Rara Jonggrang folktale. After the division of Mataram Sultanate in 1755, the temple ruins and the Opak River were used to demarcate the boundary between Yogyakarta and Surakarta (Solo) Sultanates, which was adopted as the current border between Yogyakarta and the province of Central Java.

Rediscovery.

The Javanese locals in the surrounding villages knew about the temple ruins before formal rediscovery, but they did not know about its historical background: which kingdoms ruled or which king commissioned the construction of the monuments. As a result, the locals developed tales and legends to explain the origin of temples, infused with myths of giants, and a cursed princess. They gave Prambanan and Sewu a wondrous origin; these were said in the Rara Jonggrang legend to have been created by a multitude of demons under the order of Bandung Bondowoso.  The temple attracted international attention early in the 19th century. In 1811 during the short-lived British occupation of the Dutch East Indies, Colin Mackenzie, a surveyor in the service of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, came upon the temples by chance. Although Sir Thomas subsequently commissioned a full survey of the ruins, they remained neglected for decades. Dutch residents carried off sculptures as garden ornaments and native villagers used the foundation stones for construction material.  Half-hearted excavations by archaeologists in the 1880s facilitated looting. In 1918, the Dutch began reconstruction of the compound and proper restoration only in 1930. Efforts at restoration continue to this day. The reconstruction of the main Shiva temple was completed around 1953 and inaugurated by Sukarno. Since much of the original stonework has been stolen and reused at remote construction sites, restoration was hampered considerably. Given the scale of the temple complex, the government decided to rebuild shrines only if at least 75% of their original masonry was available. Most of the smaller shrines are now visible only in their foundations, with no plans for their reconstruction.

Contemporary events.

In the early 1990s the government removed the market that had sprung up near the temple and redeveloped the surrounding villages and rice paddies as an archaeological park. The park covers a large area, from Yogyakarta-Solo main road in the south, encompassing the whole Prambanan complex, the ruins of Lumbung and Bubrah temples, and as far as the Sewu temple compound in the north. In 1992 the Indonesian government created a State-owned Limited Liability Enterprise (PERSERO), named "PT Taman Wisata Candi Borobudur, Prambanan, dan Ratu Boko." This enterprise is the authority for the park management of Borobudur Prambanan Ratu Boko and the surrounding region. Prambanan is one of the most visited tourist attraction in Indonesia.  The Trimurti open-air and indoor stages on the west side of the temple, across the Opak River, were built to stage the ballet of the traditional "Ramayana" epic. This traditional Javanese dance is the centuries-old dance of the Javanese court. Since the 1960s, it has been performed every full moon night in the Prambanan temple. Since then, Prambanan has become one of the major archaeological and cultural tourism attractions in Indonesia.  Since the reconstruction of the main temples in the 1990s, Prambanan has been reclaimed as an important religious center for Hindu rituals and ceremonies in Java. Balinese and Javanese Hindu communities in Yogyakarta and Central Java revived their practices of annually performing their sacred ceremonies in Prambanan, such as Galungan, Tawur Kesanga, and Nyepi.  The temple was damaged during the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake. Early photos suggested that although the complex was structurally intact, the damage was significant. Large pieces of debris, including carvings, were scattered over the ground. The temple was closed to visitors until the damage could be fully assessed. Eventually, the head of Yogyakarta Archaeological Conservation Agency stated that it would take months to identify the full extent of the damage. Some weeks later in 2006, the site was re-opened for visitors.  There is great interest in the site. In 2008, 856,029 Indonesian visitors and 114,951 foreign visitors visited Prambanan. On 6 January 2009 the reconstruction of Nandi temple finished. As of 2009, the interior of most of the temples remains off-limits for safety reasons.  On 14 February 2014, major tourist attractions in Yogyakarta and Central Java, including Borobudur, Prambanan, and Ratu Boko, were closed to visitors after being severely affected by the volcanic ash from the eruption of Kelud volcano in East Java, located about 200 kilometers east of Yogyakarta. The Kelud volcano erupted on 13 February 2014 with explosions heard as far away as Yogyakarta. Four years earlier, Prambanan was spared from the 2010 Merapi volcanic ash and eruption since the wind and ashfall were directed westward and affected Borobudur instead.  In 2012, the "Balai Pelestarian Peninggalan Purbakala Jawa Tengah" (BP3) or Central Java Heritage Preservation Authority suggested that the area in and around Prambanan should be treated as a sanctuary area. The proposed area is located in Prambanan Plain measured 30 square kilometers spanned across Sleman and Klaten Regency, which includes major temples in the area such as Prambanan, Ratu Boko, Kalasan, Sari and Plaosan temples. The sanctuary area is planned to be treated in a similar fashion to the Angkor archaeological area in Cambodia, which means the government should stop or decline permits to construct any new buildings, especially multi-storied buildings, as well as BTS towers in the area. This is meant to protect this archaeologically rich area from modern day visual obstructions and the encroachments of hotels, restaurants, and any tourism-related buildings and businesses.  On 9 to 12 November 2019, the grand "Abhiṣeka" sacred ceremony was performed in this temple compound. This Hindu ritual was held for the first time after 1,163 years after the Prambanan temple was founded on 856. The "Abhiṣeka" ceremony was meant to cleanse, sanctify and purify the temple, thus signify that the temple is not merely an archaeological and tourism site, but also restored to its original function as a focus of Hindu religious activity. Indonesian Hindus believe that this "Abhiṣeka" ceremony marked a turning point to re-consecrated the temple ground and restore the spiritual energy of Prambanan temple.

The temple compound.

Originally there were a total of 240 temples standing in Prambanan. The Prambanan Temple Compound consist of:  The Prambanan compound also known as Rara Jonggrang complex, named after the popular legend of Rara Jonggrang. There were once 240 temples standing in this Shivaite temple complex, either big or small. Today, all of 8 main temples and 8 small shrines in the inner zone are reconstructed, but only 3 out of the original 224 pervara temples are renovated. The majority of them have deteriorated; what is left are only scattered stones. The Prambanan temple complex consists of three zones; first the outer zone, second the middle zone that contains hundreds of small temples, and third the holiest inner zone that contains eight main temples and eight small shrines.  The Hindu temple complex at Prambanan is based on a square plan that contains a total of three zone yards, each of which is surrounded by four walls pierced by four large gates. The outer zone is a large space marked by a rectangular wall. The outermost walled perimeter, which originally measured about 390 metres per side, was oriented in the northeast-southwest direction. However, except for its southern gate, not much else of this enclosure has survived down to the present. The original function is unknown; possibilities are that it was a sacred park, or priests' boarding school (ashram). The supporting buildings for the temple complex were made from organic material; as a consequence no remains occur.

Shiva temple.

The inner zone or central compound is the holiest among the three zones. It is the square elevated platform surrounded by a square stone wall with stone gates on each four cardinal points. This holiest compound is assembled of eight main shrines or "candi". The three main shrines, called "Trimurti" ("three forms"), are dedicated to the three Gods: Brahma "the Creator", Vishnu "the Keeper", and Shiva "the Destroyer".  The Shiva temple is the tallest and largest structure in Prambanan Rara Jonggrang complex; it measures 47 metres tall and 34 metres wide. The main stairs are located on the eastern side. The eastern gate of Shiva temple is flanked by two small shrines, dedicated to guardian gods, Mahakala and Nandhisvara. The Shiva temple is encircled with galleries adorned with bas-reliefs telling the story of Ramayana carved on the inner walls of the balustrades. To follow the story accurately, visitors must enter from the east side and began to perform "pradakshina" or circumambulating clockwise. The bas-reliefs of Ramayana continue to the Brahma temple galleries.  The Shiva shrine is located at the center and contains five chambers, four small chambers in every cardinal direction and one bigger main chamber in the central part of the temple. The east chamber connects to the central chamber that houses the largest temple in Prambanan, a three-metre high statue of Shiva Mahadeva (the Supreme God). The statue bears "Lakçana" (attributes or symbol) of Shiva such as skull and sickle (crescent) at the crown, and third eye on the forehead; also four hands that holds Shiva's symbols: prayer beads, feather duster, and trisula (trident). Some historians believe that the depiction of Shiva as Mahadeva was also meant to personify king Balitung as the reincarnation of Shiva. So, when he died, a temple was built to commemorate him as Shiva. The statue of Shiva stands on a lotus pad on a Yoni pedestal that bears the carving of Nāga serpents on the north side of the pedestal.  The other three smaller chambers contain statues of Hindu Gods related to Shiva: his consort Durga, the rishi Agastya, and Ganesha, his son. A statue of Agastya occupies the south chamber, the west chamber houses the statue of Ganesha, while the north chamber contains the statue of "Durga Mahisasuramardini" depicting Durga as the slayer of the Bull demon. The shrine of Durga is also called the temple of "Rara Jonggrang" (Javanese: slender virgin), after a Javanese legend of princess Rara Jonggrang.

Brahma and Vishnu temples.

The two other main shrines are those of Vishnu on the north side of the Shiva shrine, and the one of Brahma on the south. Both temples face east and each contain only one large chamber, each dedicated to respected gods; Brahma temple contains the statue of Brahma and Vishnu temple houses the statue of Vishnu. Brahma and Vishnu temple measures 20 metres wide and 33 metres tall.

Vahana temples.

The other three shrines in front of the three main temples are dedicated to the vehicles (vahana) of the respective gods – the bull Nandi for Shiva, the sacred swan Hamsa for Brahma, and Vishnu's kite Garuda. Precisely in front of the Shiva temple is the Nandi temple, which contains a statue of the Nandi bull. Next to it, there are also other statues, the statue of Chandra the god of the moon and Surya the god of the sun. Chandra stands on his carriage pulled by 10 horses, the statue of Surya also stands on a carriage pulled by 7 horses. Facing the Brahma temple is the temple of Hamsa or Angsa. The chamber of this temple contains no statue, but it seems likely that there was once a statue of the sacred swan. In front of the Vishnu temple is the temple dedicated to Garuda. However, just like the Hamsa temple, the Garuda temple contains no statue, but probably once contained the statue of Garuda. Garuda holds an important role for Indonesia, as it serves as the national symbol of Indonesia, and also as the name of the airline Garuda Indonesia.

Apit temples and smaller shrines.

Between these rows of the main temple, on the north and south side, stand two "Candi Apit" temples. "Apit" in Javanese means "flank". It refers to the position of the two temples that flanked the inner courtyard on the north and south sides. The room inside the Apit temples is now empty. It is not clear to which deities these Apit temples were dedicated. However, examining the southern Apit temple bas-reliefs on the outer wall, a female deity is depicted, most probably Sarasvati, the Shakti (consort) of Brahma. Considering the Hindu pantheon represented in Prambanan temples, it is possible that the southern Apit temple was dedicated to Sarasvati, while the northern Apit temple was dedicated to Lakshmi.  Beside these 8 main temples, there are also 8 smaller shrines; 4 "Candi Kelir" on four cardinal directions of the entrance, and 4 "Candi Patok" on four corners of the inner zone. "Kelir" in Javanese means "screen", especially referring to "wayang kulit", fabric screen. It refers to a structure that obstructs the main cardinal entry of gopura. It is similar to "aling-aling" in Balinese architecture. "Patok" in Javanese means "peg". It refers to the shrine location at the four corners of the inner compound.

Pervara temples.

The two walled perimeters that surround the remaining two yards to the interior are oriented to the four cardinal points. The second yard's walled perimeter, which measures about 225 metres per side, surrounds a terraced area that consists of four rows containing 44, 52, 60, and 68 pervara temples. Respectively, each has a height of 14 metres and measures 6×6 metres at the base, or 224 structures in total. The sixteen temples located at the corners of the rows face two directions; the remaining 208 structures open to only one of the four cardinal directions.  The middle zone consists of four rows of 224 individual small shrines. There are great numbers of these temples, but most of them are still in ruins and only some have been reconstructed. These concentric rows of temples were made in an identical design. Each row towards the center is slightly elevated. These shrines are called ""Candi Perwara"", guardian or complementary temples, the additional buildings of the main temple. Some believed it was offered by regional rulers and nobles to the king as a sign of submission. The Perwara are arranged in four rows around the central temples. Some believed it had something to do with four castes, made according to the rank of the people allowed to enter them; the row nearest to the central compound was accessible to the priests only, the other three were reserved for the nobles, the knights, and the simple people respectively. While another believed that the four rows of Perwara had nothing to do with four castes, it was just simply made as a meditation place for priests and as a worship place for devotees.

Architecture.

The architecture of Prambanan temple follows the typical Hindu architecture traditions based on Vastu Shastra. The temple design incorporated mandala temple plan arrangements and also the typical high towering spires of Hindu temples. Prambanan was originally named "Shivagrha" and dedicated to the god Shiva. The temple was designed to mimic Meru, the holy mountain, the abode of Hindu gods, and the home of Shiva. The whole temple complex is a model of the Hindu universe according to Hindu cosmology and the layers of Loka.  Just like Borobudur, Prambanan also recognizes the hierarchy of the temple zones, spanned from the less holy to the holiest realms. Each Hindu and Buddhist concept has its own terms, but the concepts are essentially identical. Either the compound site plan (horizontally) or the temple structure (vertically) consists of three zones:  During the restoration, a well which contains a "pripih" (stone casket) was discovered under the center of the Shiva temple. The main temple has a well 5.75 m deep in which a stone casket was found on top a pile of charcoal, earth, and remains of burned animal bones. Sheets of gold leaves with the inscription Varuna (god of the sea) and Parvata (god of the mountains) were found here. The stone casket contained sheets of copper, charcoal, ashes, earth, 20 coins, jewels, glass, pieces of gold and silver leaves, seashells and 12 gold leaves (which were cut in the shapes of a turtle, Nāga serpent, padma, altar, and an egg).

Reliefs.

Ramayana and Bhagavata Purana.

The temple is adorned with panels of narrative bas-reliefs telling the story of the Hindu epic Ramayana and Bhagavata Purana. The narrative bas-relief panels were carved along the inner balustrades wall on the gallery around the three main temples.  The narrative panels on the balustrade read from left to right. The story starts from the east entrance where visitors turn left and move around the temple gallery in a clockwise direction. This conforms with "pradaksina", the ritual of circumambulation performed by pilgrims who move in a clockwise direction while keeping the sanctuary to their right. The story of Ramayana starts on Shiva temple balustrade and continues to Brahma temple. On the balustrades in Vishnu temple there is series of bas-relief panels depicting the stories of lord Krishna from Bhagavata Purana.  The bas-relief of Ramayana illustrate how Sita, the wife of Rama, is abducted by Ravana. The monkey king Hanuman brings his army to help Rama and rescue Sita. This story is also shown by the Ramayana Ballet, regularly performed at full moon at Trimurti open-air theatre on the west side of the illuminated Prambanan complex.

Lokapalas, Brahmins and Devatas.

On the other side of the narrative panels, the temple wall along the gallery was adorned with statues and reliefs of devatas and brahmin sages. The figures of lokapalas, the celestial guardians of directions, can be found in Shiva temple. The brahmin sage editors of veda were carved on Brahma temple wall, while in Vishnu temple the figures of male deities devatas are flanked by two apsaras.

Prambanan panel: Lion and Kalpataru.

The lower outer wall of these temples was adorned with a row of small niches containing an image of "sinha" (a lion) flanked by two panels depicting bountiful kalpataru (kalpavriksha) trees. These wish-fulfilling sacred trees, according to Hindu-Buddhist belief, are flanked on either side by kinnaras or animals, such as pairs of birds, deer, sheep, monkeys, horses, elephants etc. The pattern of lion in niche flanked by kalpataru trees is typical in the Prambanan temple compound, thus it is called a "Prambanan panel".

The Rara Jonggrang legend.

The popular legend of Rara Jonggrang is what connects the site of the Ratu Boko Palace, the origin of the Durga statue in the northern cell/chamber of the main shrine, and the origin of the Sewu temple complex nearby. The legend tells the story about Prince Bandung Bondowoso, who fell in love with Princess Rara Jonggrang, the daughter of King Boko. But the princess rejected his proposal of marriage because Bandung Bondowoso had killed King Boko and ruled her kingdom. Bandung Bondowoso insisted on the union, and finally Rara Jonggrang was forced to agree to a union in marriage, but she posed one impossible condition: Bandung must build her a thousand temples in only one night.  The Prince entered into meditation and conjured up a multitude of supernatural beings from the earth. Helped by these spirits, he succeeded in building 999 temples. When the prince was about to complete the condition, the princess woke her palace maids and ordered the women of the village to begin pounding rice and set a fire in the east of the temple, attempting to make the prince and the spirits believe that the sun was about to rise. As the cocks began to crow, fooled by the light and the sounds of daybreak, the supernatural helpers fled back into the ground. The prince was furious about the trick and in revenge he cursed Rara Jonggrang, turning her to stone. She became the last and the most beautiful of the thousand statues. According to the traditions, the unfinished thousandth temple created by the demons become the Sewu temple compounds nearby ("Sewu" means "thousands" in Javanese), and the Princess is the image of Durga in the north cell of the Shiva temple at Prambanan, which is still known as "Rara Jonggrang" or "Slender Maiden".

Other temples around Prambanan.

The Prambanan Plain spans between the southern slopes of Merapi volcano in the north and the Sewu mountain range in the south, near the present border Yogyakarta province and Klaten Regency, Central Java. Apart from the Lara Jonggrang complex, the Prambanan plain, valley and hills around it is the location of some of the earliest Buddhist temples in Indonesia. Not far to the north are found the ruins of Bubrah temple, Lumbung temple, and Sewu temple. Further east is found Plaosan temple. To the west are found Kalasan temple and Sari temple, and further to the west is Sambisari temple. While to the south the Ratu Boko compound is on higher ground. The discoveries of archaeological sites scattered only a few miles away suggest that this area was an important religious, political, and urban center.  "North of the Lara Jongrang complex"  "South of the Lara Jongrang complex"  "West of the Lara Jongrang complex"

Prambanan or Rara Jonggrang () is a 9th-century Hindu temple compound in Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, dedicated to the Trimūrti, the expression of God as the Creator (Brahma), the Preserver (Vishnu) and the Transformer (Shiva). The temple compound is located approximately northeast of the city of Yogyakarta on the boundary between Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces.

Prambanan, que les Javanais appellent aussi "Candi Rara Jonggrang", est un ensemble de 240 temples shivaites, construits au sous la dynastie Sanjaya du premier royaume de Mataram dans la région de Java central, à proximité de Yogyakarta. Une inscription datée de 856 marque ce qui est peut-être sa pierre de fondation.


France au Concours Eurovision de la chanson

Organisation.

Several French broadcasters have been used to present Eurovision in the country, formerly RTF (1956–64), ORTF (1965–74), TF1 (1975–81) and Antenne 2 (1983–92). Since 1993, France Télévisions has been responsible for France's participation in the contest, with the final being broadcast on France 2 (1993–98, 2015–present) and France 3 (1999–2014), and the semi-final which France votes in broadcast on France 4 (2005–10, 2016–present) and later France Ô (2011–15). The semi-final in 2004 was not broadcast. The viewers which were close enough to Monaco, were able to see the semi-final via TMC Monte-Carlo. Radio coverage has been provided, although not every year, by France Inter from 1971 to 1998 and since 2001, France Bleu (also 1976). In 1982, RTL Radio transmitted the contest due to the country's absence that year.  France has often changed the selection process used in order to find the country's entry for the contest, either a national final or internal selection (occasionally a combination of both formats) has been held by the broadcaster at the time.

Contest history.

France is one of the most successful countries in the Eurovision, winning the contest five times, coming second four times and coming third seven times. However, France has only hosted the Eurovision contest three times (1959,1961, 1978). France was ranked first in number of victories (either alone or tied with other countries) without interruptions from 1960 to 1993. Moreover, Amina was close to victory with the song "Le Dernier qui a parlé..." in 1991, when she finished in joint first place (with the same number of points as Sweden). Therefore, the 'countback' rule applied, but both countries had an equal number of twelve points (four lots), but the victory went to Sweden, when France had fewer 10-point scores. Today, with the new rules, France would have won the competition, because they received points from more countries than Sweden. One year before, France was also close to winning with Joëlle Ursull performing Serge Gainsbourg's song "White and Black Blues". The song finished in equal second place with Ireland's entry.  However, in recent years, the French results have been somewhat disappointing. Since 1998, when the televoting was invented, France has almost always been in the bottom-10 countries in the final, coming 18th (2003 and 2008), 19th (1999), 22nd (2006, 2007 and 2012), 23rd (2000, 2005 and 2013), 24th (1998) and 25th (2015). France finished in last place, for the first time in their Eurovision history, in 2014 with only 2 points.  Yet, France have had some good results during the 21st century. In 2001, Canadian singer Natasha St-Pier came 4th for France with her song "Je n'ai que mon âme", being the favourite to win the contest by fans and odds. This good result was carried into the 2002 contest, when Sandrine François came 5th with "Il faut du temps" and received the Marcel Bezençon international press award for the best entry of that year. Finally, the positive experience with Sébastien Tellier in 2008 created considerable interest among the French show business for the contest, which resulted in the fact that Eurovision is seen now in the French media as a great advertising campaign and it has been decided that big names will represent France in the future. With these ambitions, the French superstar Patricia Kaas represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia. Kaas is one of the most successful French-speaking singers in the world and she has sold over 16 million records worldwide. She ended in 8th place. Kaas received the Marcel Bezençon artistic award, which was voted on by previous winners and presented to the best artist. In the 2016 Contest in Stockholm, Sweden, Amir with his song, "J'ai cherché", ended in 6th place and broke a 40-year record by scoring the most points in France's Eurovision history, by scoring 257 points in the final. France did not have the opportunity to compete in Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam because the contest was cancelled due to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Absences.

Since their debut in 1956 France has only missed two contests, in 1974 and 1982. In 1974, after selecting a singer and song to represent them at the contest, France withdrew after the President of France Georges Pompidou died in the week of the contest. If they had participated in the contest, France would have been represented by Dani with the song "La vie à vingt-cinq ans".  In November 1981, TF1 declined to enter the Eurovision Song Contest for 1982, with the head of entertainment, Pierre Bouteiller, saying, "The absence of talent and the mediocrity of the songs were where annoyance set in. Eurovision is a monument to inanity [sometimes translated as "drivel"]." Antenne 2 took over the job due to public reaction of TF1's withdraw, hosting a national final to select their entry as well, from the 1983 contest.

France and the "Big Five".

Since 1999, four particular countries have automatically qualified for the Eurovision final, regardless of their positions on the scoreboard in previous Contests. They earned this special status by being the four biggest financial contributors to the EBU. These countries are the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Spain. Due to their untouchable status in the Contest, these countries became known as the "Big Four". Italy returned to the contest in 2011, thus becoming part of a "Big Five".

Related involvement.

Commentators and spokespersons.

Since their debut in 1956 French television have sent their best television presenters and entertainers including Pierre Tchernia, Léon Zitrone, Robert Beauvais, Olivier Minne, Michel Drucker, Patrick Sabatier and Laurent Boyer. Every year until 1979 Monaco shared the French commentary.

France has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 62 times since its debut at the first contest in 1956. France is one of only seven countries to be present at the first contest, and has been absent from only two contests in its history, missing the 1974 and 1982 contests. Along with Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, France is one of the "Big Five" who are automatically allowed to participate in the final because they are the five biggest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). France has won the contest five times.

La France participe au Concours Eurovision de la chanson, depuis sa première édition, en 1956, et l'a remporté à cinq reprises : en 1958, 1960, 1962, 1969 et 1977.


Playing career.

Born in Ninove, Van der Elst started his professional career at R.W.D. Molenbeek, earning his first call-up for Belgium in 1982. Two years later, he moved to Club Brugge KV and stayed there until he finished his career in 1999, going on to total over 500 overall appearances with the side (466 in the league alone); during four seasons, he often partnered in midfield his namesake Leo – no relation.  Van der Elst won the Golden Shoe twice in his career, an accomplishment for an eminently defensive-minded player. He also appeared in four FIFA World Cups from 1986 to 1998, only scoring once for his country in nearly 90 matches, in a 2–2 friendly draw against Norway on 25 March 1998.

Coaching career.

After retiring at the age of 38, Van der Elst was appointed as manager at K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot. After four relatively successful years he was replaced by Marc Brys, and subsequently joined K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen.  In 2005, Van der Elst returned to 'his' Club Brugge, as an assistant, joining former teammates – both in club and country – Jan Ceulemans, Marc Degryse, Dany Verlinden and René Verheyen. He remained with the team when Verheyen and Ceulemans were fired in 2006, but was eventually shown the door the following year, with head coach Emilio Ferrera.  After a very short spell with FC Brussels, Van der Elst moved to K.V.S.K. United Overpelt-Lommel, both clubs in the second level.

Honours.

Club Brugge

Franky Van der Elst (born 30 April 1961) is a Belgian retired footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, and is a manager, employed as assistant manager at Oostende.

Franky Van der Elst, né le à Ninove, est un joueur de football belge. En mars 2004, il a été choisi par Pelé comme étant l'un des 125 plus grands footballeurs vivants.