This is a bust of Dufu, the famous Tang Dynasty poet. The two large characters on the base spell out his name in Chinese. Dufu was born in Henan Province in 712, but fled to Chengdu in 759 to avoid the An Lushan rebellion. In this uprising, the capital cities of Luoyang and Xi'an were captured and the emperor was forced to flee to Sichuan Province. Dufu built a thatched cottage by Huanhua Brook and stayed for four years, writing 240 poems in that period of time. His poetry is a window into life during the Tang Dynasty.

This tower is one of the first things we saw as we entered the grounds around the thatched cottage. We climbed to the top on a narrow wooden staircase, and looked out the window to get a view of the whole carefully laid out garden.

Here is the same tower viewed through one of the many moon doors in the garden. This is one of Lee's favorite photos from our trip. This is what most of the moon doors we see look like, with the bottom of the circle cut off for a path to go through. One pavilion here, however, had moon doors that were complete circles, and you had to step over the curb to go through them.

Groupings like this stump and boulder are also common in Chinese gardens. The stone is inscribed with praises for Dufu by famous people. There is a building on the grounds that houses pictures of famous visitors to the thatched cottage, and comments by some of them, including Henry Kissenger. The building in the background is an aviary.

This gate opened into a courtyard filled with colorful flowers, a fountain with logs and ferns, and more pen jing (miniature trees).

We mentioned before that there were alot of moon doors on the grounds, but this is the only double moon door we have ever seen. It was at the interesection of two paths. The path going across cut through the walls lining the other one. Deanna loves moon doors, so she asked to have her picture taken here.

These characters are cao tang - literally meaning "grass hall", but in this case, meaning "thatched cottage". When we saw them, we knew we were getting close to the main attraction. The thing that is so interesting about these particular characters is that they are made, mosaic style, out of pieces of blue and white patterned porcelain.

The first thing you see after going through the gate to the thatched cottage is this tablet with an imperial commendation on it. There are nine dragons around the edge (our friend counted them), signifying that it is from the emperor.

And here is the cottage itself. Although this isn't the original cottage, it is built on the site of the one Dufu lived in. It was first reconstructed and the grounds expanded during the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279). The house is a single row of rooms in a u-shape around a central porch, which faces the courtyard and garden. Deanna liked the furnishings in the writing room. There was a small bench and a low table with writing brush and ink stone on it. It was so simple, yet you could almost imagine Dufu working there.

Copyright 2004, Dr. Lee Williams

Last Modified: 15 July 2004

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