Thatched Cottage of Dufu
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Dufu's cottage was the residence of Dufu, the great poet of Tang Dynasty when he took refuge in Chengdu.The original structure had been ruinned and the one existing today is a restoration of the Ming dynasty as a memorial to the poet.
Covering under leafy bamboo and luxuriant vegetation, the 20-hectare Thatched Cottage park has become a commemorative museum in the form of a traditional garden. The area contains several interesting structures, including the grand lobby, the Shrine of Gong Bu (Du's official title) and the Memorial Hall of Du Fu.
Attractions:
Flower Bathing Brook
When it comes to the origin of the name of this brook, there is one interesting story. It's said that a beautiful, kind girl surnamed Ren lived beside the brook in the Tang Dynasty. One day, a monk with disgusting scabies came towards her while the girl was washing clothes in the brook. All people nearby except the girl ran away as they saw the monk . The monk took off his Kasaya, which was stained with pus and blood, and asked the girl to wash it for him. The girl accepted it readily. Surprisingly, a large quantity of lotus appeared on the water as soon as the Kasaya was put into the water, at the same time the monk disappeared. Later, the amazed people called it Flower Bathing Brook.
As a matter of fact, another convincing version about the name is that the residents along the brook used to earn their lives by making paper, and they made ten-colored paper with water from the brook, which looked like a flower, therefore, the brook was known as "Flower Bathing Brook". The brook was rather broad and deep in Tang Dynasty; even large boats could sail through it. One of Du Fu's heptasyllabic quatrains gives a vivid depiction of the scene beside the brook: Two orioles are singing in the willow; a line of egrets are flying high in the sky. Thick snow could be seen from the west window of my cottage, and the boats anchored in the brook before my cottage could go down to Eastern Wu.
Horizontal Inscribed Board over the Gate
A horizontal inscribed board is hanging over the Gate with two words "Thatched Cottage" on it. The words were written by GuoQin prince, the seventeenth son of Kangxi, the emperor of Qing Dynasty and the younger brother of Yongzheng, another emperor of Qing Dynasty.
The Hall of Poetic History
This hall is the central building of the Thatched Cottage. Because Du Fu's poem reflected the history of Tang dynasty from prosperity to decline deeply and realistically, his poems are called "Poetic History", this building was named after it. The statue of Du Fu which was sculpted by famous sculptor, Liu Kaiqu, is placed at the center. On either side of the sculpture is a couplets praised Dufu's great talent in poem.
The Water Platform and the Faggot Gate
Going out of the Hall of Poetic History, visitors will see a river wondering through buildings, over which a stone bridge was built. On the left side of the bridge is a water platform circled by bamboos. The Faggot Gate is just open to the bridge on the other side. Both the Water Platform and Faggot Gate date back to the Tang Dynasty when Du Fu lived there. Du Fu had described them in his poem "Water Platform was newly built for fishing while the Faggot Gate was set open towards the river". The current Water Platform and Faggot Gate are symbolic buildings after the Thatched Cottage was rebuilt and enlarged. These buildings remind visitors of Du Fu and make them imagine the scenes when Du Fu was meeting his friends and fishing.
GongBu Temple
Next to the Faggot Gate is the last yard composed of three buildings in triangle shape. GongBu Temple lies in the middle. The left wing is "Qiashouhang Veranda", the right one is "Water and Bamboo Veranda". These names could remind visitors of a pastoral life Du Fu lived in Chengdu.
GongBu Temple contains three imposing statues of Du Fu, Huang Tingjian and Lu You. The latter two were Song Dynasty poets. Three reasons account for why there are three statues: firstly, all of them had great aspirations; both Huang Tingjian and Lu You were greatest poets who had imitated Du Fu. Secondly, all of them had ever lived in Sichuan; composed many poems about scenery in Sichuan. Even thought they left it, they recalled and mentioned Sichuan in their poems, which won the respect of people. Thirdly, a considerate arrangement was made to add two more statues to the temple in case that one statue seemed lonely, and both Huang Tingjian and Lu You were the best choice. A couplet reads that Du Fu is great poet, yet another two poets (Huang Tingjian and Lu You) in Song Dynasty followed him and became distinguished too.
Tablet Pavilion
To the east of the GongBu Temple stands a Thatched Pavilion; a stone tablet inside reads "ShaoLing Thatched Cottage", which is also written by GuoQin Prince. Shaoling was a place where Du Fu's great grandfather was born and he had lived for a long time too. Therefore, Du Fu called himself "ShaoLing" in some of his poems. Later, people began called him "Du ShaoLing".
Cottage Scenic Area
In 761, a storm destroyed the roof of his thatched cottage, which led to the writing of one of his masterpieces, "the Song of Autumn Winds Destroying My Cottage". In this poem, Du Fu expressed his anxiety for the plight of other poverty-stricken scholars and the desire for shelter for all the poor. This was especially inspirational given that there was such a lack of sympathy and concern elsewhere in society at this time. Therefore, a cottage scenic area was built in order to make visitors have a better understanding of Du Fu's life and the cottage mentioned in that poem. In the scenic area, visitors can see wandering waters, green trees and grass, bamboo fence and faggot gate, all of which could also be found in Du Fu's poems.
About Dufu
Born in Gong County, Henan Province in 712, Du Fu styled Zi Mei, was also known as Shao Ling. He died from illness and poverty in a boat on Xiang River in 770. Du Fu had experienced the rule of three emperors: Xuanzong, Suzong and Daizong, witnessing the change of Tang Dynasty from prosperity to decline. Despite his great political ambition, he had never been put in an important position. He had led a vagrant life and experienced his fill of trials and hardships. Thus, he had a profound understanding of problems and contradictions in the society, thoroughly understood the hardships and misery of grass roots. All of that were revealed in his poems. As a poet Du Fu was so prolific that more than 1400 poems survived, among which most reflected reality and his concerns about the country and its people. Some representative works are about three kinds of officials and three departures, and Song of the War Chariots, Song of Beautiful Ladies, and Journey from Chang’an to Fengxian. nbsp;Du Fu was regarded as the "Father of Poems", not only because of his concern about the country and people, but because his works represented the highest achievements of Chinese Classic Poetry. A full view picture of the Thatched Cottage could be seen in the Lobby.
After Du Fu's departure from Chengdu in 765, the cottage was abandoned and became dilapidated. In Five Dynasties, Wei Zhuang, a poet, was the Prime Minister of Former Shu in Chengdu. He found the original site of the Thatched Cottage and restored the temple to commemorate Du Fu. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Lu Dafang, magistrate of Chengdu, rebuilt the Temple and drew the picture of Du Fu on the wall, which made the temple looked like a commemorative place. From then on, it was renovated and enlarged for several times, and the scale and structure of the present Thatched Cottage got fixed. With a total area of 240 hectares, the present Thatched Cottage is a complex including the Plum Garden and the original Thatched Cottage Temple for people to pay their respect and commemorate Du Fu. The Thatched Cottage is a unique combination of commemorative building and garden landscapes.
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Du Fu was a great poet in Tang Dynasty. Most of his poet reflected the misery life of the common people. View Details