Kyoto, written in Japanese as 京 都. In Japanese writing, which uses about 3000 Chinese characters called Kanji[汉字], mostly have similiar with Chinese in meaning but pronounced in Japanese way. For example, 京 [capital] is pronounced kyo, so if you know 东 (eastern, pronounced as 'to'), it's easy to deduce the meaning of [东 京 ]. That's why Japanese people consider their country similiar in culture with China, even though their poitical-military relation is not always friendly. Foreigners who already know Kanji can learn Japanese much more easily compared to someone who knows French want to learn English, or someone who knows Russian want to lean Ukrainian, Bulgarian...
Kyoto, also called 平安 京 (Peaceful Capital/ Heiankyo), is the capital of Japan from eighth to nineteenth century, that is, until 1868 when Emperor Meiji decided to move to Tokyo. Many Japanese people today still think Kyoto is the 'number one monarchs capital of all times', whereas Tokyo is just a city in the east of Japan.
Throughout eleven century as a capital of a country with great, unique culture in the East, Kyoto still retains more than 2000 Buddhist pagodas and Shinto (a traditional religion in Japan) temples, as well as the Royal Palace, the ancient castles, mausoleum...
During World War II, American planned to drop the atomic bomb on Kyoto, but then they feel that they "can't bring themselves to destroy the beauty of this city" (According to the memoirs of some US generals).
Kyoto is planned with the model is Chang'an city [长安] (now Xi'an [西安]) of Tang Dynasty in China. The Royal Palace looks southward, so Okyo (the right part of the capital) is situated in the west, while Sakyo is located in the east. Many streets nowadays as Nakagyo, Shimogyo and Kamigyo remain in its place as in the eighth century. Three sides of Kyoto is surrounded by Higashyama mountains, being dyed red with maple leaves when autumn comes...
清水寺 is the name of a pagoda, written in Kanji by Japanese people and printed on Japanese literature. At the same time, they use Latin characters to record the kanji reading as Kiyomizu to put on computers, smart phones or in newspapers published in foreign languages. Kiyomizu means pure water, holy water...
Kyomizu was built in 778, before Kyoto became the capital of Japan. Within the pagoda ground, there are 15 constructions with different architectural appearance. The main hall is expanded inoto a vast wooden floor, supported by rows of 12 meters tall pillars made by keyaki wood, assembled by tenon without a single nail. The patio floor is made by 410 pieces of solid cypress wood. Standing on the patio, one can get the panoramic view of Kyoto
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