First, pictures from Tuesday, my first day in Chengdu (I'm at a high-end wang3ba1, 15 yuan/hr).
Here is some of the architecture from Wenshu Temple. I love the long lines. To the pictures you must add the smell of incense and a pervasive quietude.
Here I catch an unexpected but welcome visitor to a picture of the sun, pine, and tower. There is a calligraphy institute at the temple as well. Here is an example. That's one thing to be said for a word=character writing sytem: the words themselves can be art. I like layers within layers.
Some views of the garden. Throughout, old people were gathered in the main pavilions, talking about (I imagine) about kids today :p Let me reiterate that growing old in China is NOT the same as in the US. Seventy, eighty, ninety year-old people are out for walks, doing (benign) calisthenics, and generally living like fifty year-olds in the US, if a bit more slowly. There was a TV segment on a 96 year-old man who married a 72 year-old woman (yes, the age difference is a little scandalous ; ) He is a calligraphy teacher, and was walking just fine, toasting and laughing at his wedding. They interviewed the couple separately. It was as if they were teenagers: he was nervous, worried she wouldn't accept him for his penury. After several months of spending time together, he wrote her a love letter, baring his soul. Upon reading it, she said her heart was beating fast. She was embarrassed: here she is 72, and she feels like it's spring and she's seventeen. No matter the body's age, the heart can always be young. 
There was also an amazing library within the Temple, housed within a grand building. Libraries are one of the greatest creations of humankind. The Book of Kells, an incredibly hand-illustrated (of course) New Testatment from about 800 CE, was made in a monastery on a storm-tossed island in the northwest of Scotland. I imagine ancient temples on remote mountains of China, preserving knowledge through the ages. Unfortunately, one of the grandest compendiums of human knowledge, the Yongle Encyclopedia, compiled in ~1400 CE and encoding 2,000 years of Chinese knowledge, has been lost due to revolution and civil war. This was before the Renissance in Europe, when China had been going strong for at least 4000 years. Parts remain, most importantly the table of contents (on display in Beijing, which I will be visiting). There are also TOC's in the UK and Harvard/Cambridge museums.
Here are some pictures from the Sichuan Opera (for tourists). The shadow show completely enchanted me. I was also taken away by the music. There is a short movie of it below.
I'll get to Qingcheng Shan in another post. Gotta run for calligraphy lessons,
Dan
Here is some of the architecture from Wenshu Temple. I love the long lines. To the pictures you must add the smell of incense and a pervasive quietude.
Here I catch an unexpected but welcome visitor to a picture of the sun, pine, and tower. There is a calligraphy institute at the temple as well. Here is an example. That's one thing to be said for a word=character writing sytem: the words themselves can be art. I like layers within layers.
Some views of the garden. Throughout, old people were gathered in the main pavilions, talking about (I imagine) about kids today :p Let me reiterate that growing old in China is NOT the same as in the US. Seventy, eighty, ninety year-old people are out for walks, doing (benign) calisthenics, and generally living like fifty year-olds in the US, if a bit more slowly. There was a TV segment on a 96 year-old man who married a 72 year-old woman (yes, the age difference is a little scandalous ; ) He is a calligraphy teacher, and was walking just fine, toasting and laughing at his wedding. They interviewed the couple separately. It was as if they were teenagers: he was nervous, worried she wouldn't accept him for his penury. After several months of spending time together, he wrote her a love letter, baring his soul. Upon reading it, she said her heart was beating fast. She was embarrassed: here she is 72, and she feels like it's spring and she's seventeen. No matter the body's age, the heart can always be young. 
There was also an amazing library within the Temple, housed within a grand building. Libraries are one of the greatest creations of humankind. The Book of Kells, an incredibly hand-illustrated (of course) New Testatment from about 800 CE, was made in a monastery on a storm-tossed island in the northwest of Scotland. I imagine ancient temples on remote mountains of China, preserving knowledge through the ages. Unfortunately, one of the grandest compendiums of human knowledge, the Yongle Encyclopedia, compiled in ~1400 CE and encoding 2,000 years of Chinese knowledge, has been lost due to revolution and civil war. This was before the Renissance in Europe, when China had been going strong for at least 4000 years. Parts remain, most importantly the table of contents (on display in Beijing, which I will be visiting). There are also TOC's in the UK and Harvard/Cambridge museums.Here are some pictures from the Sichuan Opera (for tourists). The shadow show completely enchanted me. I was also taken away by the music. There is a short movie of it below.
I'll get to Qingcheng Shan in another post. Gotta run for calligraphy lessons,
Dan
Beautiful, just beautiful Dan! What a journey you have had. Thanks for giving us a peek of it! Love, Mom
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