Chengdu
My first real holiday in China – and was I excited about it! It started off in Chengdu, a city famous for the Sichuan Opera and for being the home of the panda.
Based on advice as to the best way to spend the limited time I had here, I headed straight to the Wuhou Memorial Temple. The temple is a famous shrine to honor and remember the Shu Kingdom during the time of the Three Kingdoms from 220 to 280. It is the most influential museum of the Three Kindoms relics in China.
I started by walking around the beautiful gardens and visiting the tomb of Liu Xiang, an influential warlord in the Warlord Era of China (1916-1928). The period began when Yuan Shikai died in 1916. Yuan Shikai was the de facto dictator of China after the Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China in 1912. His death created a power vacuum that spread across the mainland China, and constant civil war between factions. The era ended when the Kuomintang under Chiang Kai Shek officially united China through the Northern Expedition, although several warlords remained power through the 1930s and 40s.
Sichuan had five warlords between 1927 and 1938 and although none had the power to take on all the others, Liu Xiang was the most influential. Aligning himself with Chiang Kai Shek he became General Commander of the 21st army from 1926 to 1935 and controlled Chongqing and its surrounding areas. The region was rich because of trade with provinces down river. Official publications indicate he served as the chairman of Sichuan province during the period of Republic China in 1912-1949.
From the gardens, I wandered into the main temple area. The temple, or museum, was build in the Western Jin period (215-316) in the honor of Zhuge Liang, a famous military and political strategist who was Prime Minister of the Shu Han State during the Three Kingdoms period. The Shrine highlights the Zhuge Liang Memorial Temple and the Hall of Liu Bei (founder of the Shu Han state). Enshrining both the emperor and his subjects in the same temple is a rarity in China. As Zhuge Liang also held the title of ‘Wuxiang Hou’ or ‘Marquis Wuxiang’, the temple is also called Wuhou Marquis Memorial Temple.
As detailed in my previous post about Wuhan, the Three Kingdoms period was one of the bloodiest times in Chinese history. The period began with the establishment of Cao Wei in 220 and ended with the conquest of the Eastern Wu in 280. The earlier, unofficial period from 184 to 220 was marked by chaotic infighting between warlords in parts of China during the downfall of the Eastern Han dynasty. The middle part of the period, from 220 to 263, saw a more stable arrangement between the three rival states of Cao Wei in the north, Shu Han (Shu Kingdom) in the west and the Eastern Wu in the east. The latter part of the period was marked by the conquest of Shu by Wei in 263, the usurpation of Cao Wei by the Western Jin in 266 and the conquest of Eastern Wu by the Western Jin in 280.
The temple complex begins with the Hanzhaolie Temple, where a pair of stone lion statues from the Ming dynasty stand on either side. From here, I continued onto the Tang Stele, a passage drafted and erected as calligraphy more than 1200 years ago as a sign of respect for Zhuge Liang and to inspire future generations. It’s then onto the Civil and Military Officer Gallery where political and military leaders are remembered through elaborate statues and steles introducing the life and feats of each individual.
The Hall of Liu Bei is next, holding a massive statue of a seated Liu Bei. It’s the largest statue in the complex, at three meters in height and is gilt all over. Liu is wearing a traditional emperor’s crown and holding an imperial gui scepter. A statue of Zhuge Liang sits inside a niche on the wall of the Hall of Zhuge Liang, which is the next structure along the walk. The statue depicts the strategist holding his iconic feather fan, wearing a ridged head dress and clad in a crane garment. It was created in the year 1672.
The final temple of the Wuhou Shrine complex is the Sanyi Temple, built during the early reign of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, destroyed in a fire in 1784, rebuilt in 1787 and renovated in 1842. The structure and plaques inside are all remains from the latter period, during the reign of the Daoguang Emperor of Qing. Inside are statues of Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei modelled after descriptions from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
A trip to Jin Li street was next. It’s a touristy version of the “ancient” streets but it did sell some pretty awesome food such as every section of every animal I’ve ever heard of as food. I tried some duck’s tongue and it was delicious!!
Then a long walk (yes I got lost) to get to the People’s Park where there was a chrysanthemum exhibition. It was dark by then, but still very beautiful. The walk home took me past the bridge overlooking this river and the night scenery of Chengdu. Pretty huh?
The walk home took me past the bridge overlooking this river and the night scenery of Chengdu. Pretty huh?
That night, I took in the Chendgu tourist version of the Sichuan Opera. A little tacky but a good overview I guess of all the different types of Opera. First came guys with watering cans with long, thin spouts who proceeded to pour water into Chinese Tea Cups whilst climbing over each other and not looking at the cups. Then came the puppets, which were so lifelike and about half the size of humans. Then came dancers, musicians and of course the masked performers (see below). These guys changed the colour and/or shape of their mask right in front of you and I have absolutely no idea how.
After that I headed to back to the hotel to prepare for the early morning trip to Lhasa.
