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| The city of CHENGDU and its sights |
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Du Fu Caotang or the Thatched Cottage of the Tang dynasty poet Du Fu is something of a misnomer as it is not only remotely like a thatched cottage, Du Fu never even lived here. When the poet came to Chengdu as a minor official from the imperial court of Chang'an in 759, he dwelt in a grass-roofed dwelling outside the west wall- a simple place where he wrote some 200 of his 1400 surviving poems. In an age of great poets, he was considered one of the greatest, his achievement being his orginality, writing about people as well as nature - about poverty, war and human suffering. Two centuries after his death, this temple was built in his memory. Rebuilt and enlarged several times, the temple now includes a main hall with a statue of Du Fu, a museum wing with some marvellous early woodblocks and handwritten versions of his poems and an extensive garden - rather character-less unless the crab apples, azaleas and camelias are in flower to soften a crowded, dingy and formless collection of buildings. Wu Hou Temple dedicated to Zhu Geliang is in the south of the city. This famous strategist of the Three Kingdoms period (AD220-265_) was prime minister of the state of Shu (of which Chengdu was the capital). The temple houses his statue, a tablet from 809 recording his achievements and the tomb of the emperor to whom he was loyal. Lui Bei (the emperor) lies buried here, its said, alongside his two wives. Apart from the historical associations, there is little here of much interest.
Although seperate, both areas are within reach of each other (with transportation). |
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Wen Shu Monastery whose four halls are swathed in incense smoke is more lively. Unlike Wu Hou this monastery is not over embellished. The second hall is cordoned off but one is able to see the floor awash with brightly coloured patchwork prayer cushions. The next hall contains a row of gilt arhats under glass - look for the one whose eyebrows droop on to his chest while the last hall sports a wonderful painting of some creature behind a smiling Buddha. A monk sits in each hall. The temple is full of locals posturing to Buddha and showing their children how to do it. Outside, the atmosphere of the monastery compound is no less busy. Its centrepiece (other than a peaceful garden with water and bamboo) is a noisy tea-house, jam-packed with Chinese clamouring for refreshment. Clearly, Wen Shu is very much a working monastery and worth a visit for just that reason. There is proximity among the last three places mentioned. The rest of Chengdu's sights are rather scattered. The Tomb of Wang Jian lies between the main station and the Cultural Park. Wang was ruler of Shu during the Five Dynasties period (907-60) and this, though not one of Chengdu's most spectacular spots has sculptures, engravings and imperial trinkets that are worth the short detour, should time allow. The Wangjiang Lou (Pavilion for Viewing the River) sits in a small park hugging the river bank just beyond the gates of Sichuan University. A Ming dynasty building, this is said to be the spot where the Tang poetess Xue Tao lived. She used the local well water to wash and dye a special kind of red paper- her own technique and is still available today. There are three southern-style buildings given over to displays of scrollwork and bonsai. Outside are some muted surrounding gardens brushed by the breeze from the river and cut with paths arched with a hundred varieties of bamboo. Check to see whether the Provincial Museum is closed on Mondays. This is quiet and airy and refreshingly free of the gloom that pervades so many of these buildings. Often overlooked by guidebooks, this museum displays finds from Sichuan, conveniently gathered into one place from all the corners of a province of which one could never hope to see in its entirety. The ground floor takes in ancient history with an amusing figure of a Han court jester and a Qing brocade loom, as well as some fine stone rubbings and ceramics - all heavily influenced by the art of Tibet and south-west China. Upstairs, a wealth of photographs and ephemera tell of the revolutionary period and the Long March - extremely good.
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