Travels through China-9

We are in Chengdu, an urban conglomeration with a population of around 14 million and one of the largest hubs for Air China. Yet, when compared with Beijing or even Xi’an, Chengdu appears laid-back — It is a city with concrete monstrosities, yet it bears a sense of tranquility with the River Jin lazily meandering its way through the city amidst towering cypress trees.

Off we go to visit the Wuhou Temple or Wuhou shrine. More excited than us is our young guide Iris. The Wuhou Temple is unique in that it serves as a memorial for Liu Bei, the first Emperor of China during the Three Kingdoms period as also for his prime minister Zhuge Liang, who is held in greater esteem.

As we enter through the main gate, our guide excitedly points out to us various Tablets housed in small enclosures, dating back to the Ming and Tang dynasties. Most important is the Tablet of Triple Success or the Tang Tablet in which the writings of Pei Du is seen. This clearly established that the construction of this complex spread over years and dynasties with each one adding something.

As we move further inside, we see the Liu Bei Temple or the memorial dedicated to the Emperor. The Emperor Liu Bei stands tall in yellow.

Also seen is the statue of Liu Zhan, grandson of Liu Bei who is eulogised for committing suicide, preferring death to surrender before his enemies. The story goes that Liu Zhan pleaded with his father Liu Shan ( Liu Bei’s son) to fight to the finish but Liu Shan, a slave to sensual pleasures chose to surrender. It is is said that this is the reason why Liu Shan’s statue which was earlier there in this hall was later removed showing an empty space. One also sees smaller statues of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and their descendants.

We now cross the corridor, which is at a couple of steps lower than the Liu Bei Temple Hall, clearly to show that the Prime Minister was a t a level, lower than the Emperor. We are now at the Temple of Zhuge Liang, Prime Minister, astronomer, military strategist, diplomat and what not. Something like Birbal was to Akbar, Zhuge Liang was to Liu Bei. Tales of Zhuge Liang’s intelligence and quick wit are many. Once it is said, Zhuge Liang’s detractors challenged him to produce 1000 arrows in a single night for their army. It was a foggy night, so what Zhuge Liang did was to sail around 100 boats with scarecrows or straw figures resembling humans standing on them, towards the enemy shore with loud fanfare. The enemy forces, able to make out only shadowy figures in the dark, fired arrows indiscriminately at them. When the boats came back, Zhuge Liang collected all the arrows and produced them before his detractors. On the roof of the temple is a sentence from Zhuge Liang’s “Advice to my son”.

Next is the Sanyi Temple comprising the Prayer Hall in the Temple and the corridor. It is dedicated to the Brotherhood of Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei who took the oath in a Peach Garden and lived by it through their lives. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were the trusted generals of Liu Bei. As we step out into the garden there are stone images of the three friends (rather,brothers) and also a stone denoting the place where the peach tree stood.

Stepping out of the Wuhou shrine, now we are in Jinli Street, another tourist spot. An arch screams Jinli Street( in Mandarin of course) and as we stroll through the winding streets and alleys, we see shops selling lacquer products, embroidered cloth, handicrafts, paintings, dry chillies, and of course any number of eateries– small restaurants as well as open-air. Speciality of these open-air places is that, even as we eat, we can get our ears cleaned by a professional (???) ear-cleaner. yuck! There are road-side puppeteers, small screens put up for movies and we even saw a closed opera house. Interesting, but nothing to go ga-ga about.

If you are in Chengdu to see the giant pandas and have time to spare, do visit the Wuhou Temple and Jinli Street. A visit for these places alone, is not worth it.