Research On Tourism Attractions And Tourism Activities In Dongjing In Northern Song Dynasty

In Northern Song Dynasty, due to the development of social economy, the avocations and protection of Buddhism from the government, monasteries boomed in great numbers in Dongjing(the capital of Northern Song). Tourism activities flourished as unneglectable social phenomena. The monasteries were embellished with imposing buildings, beautiful sceneries and crowded tourists. The prosperous tourism activities in monasteries embodied the advanced tourism in Dongjing.In Northern Song Dynasty, apart from the considerable political safeguard and the economic support of the government, the monasteries also run some farms, handicraft trades and commercial industries; therefore they made great profit and began to build various tourism attractions. As a place to perform religious rituals, monasteries attracted many pilgrims to come to worship god. Monastery gardens, monastery arts, monastery commerce, monastery collections, monastery graveyard to worship the merits and virtues of ancestors and monastery monstrous sceneries attracted more common people. These monastery tourism attractions became the immediate cause for the development of the tourism industry. Although the sceneries in monasteries had been damaged to some degree, most of them were effectively protected and played an important role in gathering tourists in the long run.In Northern Song Dynasty, tourists could enter monasteries free of charge with no restriction of their social status; hence the economic income of different classes was no longer the barrier for them to take a tour in monasteries. Government officials, students, craftsmen and almost people of all walks of life were allowed to have holidays in Northern Song Dynasty, so the sufficient spare time objectively provided the indispensable factor for tourists to go to monasteries. The tourism activities in monasteries in Dongjing were highlightened by the activities of the royal family and the activities of other social groups. Royal family members came to monasteries to enjoy sightseeing, to celebrate birthday, to worship the deadhead, to hold a banquets with ministers, to inspect the officials, and so on. The activities of other groups can be classified into the following: festival tour, entertaining tour, missionary tour, learning...