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Jade Water Village sign with
animistic symbols |
So much happened on this day that I had to split it into 2 posts. Following the Lijiang Experience we went to the Jade Water Village or Yushuizhai, about 15kms from Lijiang. This is basically a tourist attraction, the concept of a Naxi man, He Changhong, awhich was completed in 2005 and is built on a Dongba holy place. The spring from which it gets its name originates from melting snows that travels underground for about 2,400 meters before emerging at the Jade Water Village.
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| No Smoking - carved in stone |
The use of stone, and stone carving is common in China, and many signs are made in stone. Jade Water Village was no exception, so the entry sign, with its animistic motifs and the no-smoking sign (among others) were in stone.
I’ve found smoking to be much less prevalent than I expected in China (very few staff or students in college smoke) and it seems only the usual die-hards that smoke anywhere – lifts, restaurants, etc. That also applies to spitting on the ground/floor, which although not too prevalent, is common enough to cause being wary when walking. There definitely is a strong non-smoking awareness here, although it may be different in rural areas and the big cities.
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The magnificent golden
statue dedicated to nature |
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| The golden statue and spring |
The village itself is dominated by a huge golden statue with a human head and torso but lower body of a snake, where the spring emerges. There are many other similar bronze sculptures with animistic themes near the spring and surrounding the temple.
These are meant to portray the Naxi belief in “the god of nature” and the need to live in harmony with the environment and nature. To quote a powerful prayer verbatim from a stone inscription:
Confession
To the ultimate awful spirit of nature:
The nature, who predominated by almighty you, we are brothers!
We had been punished by ignoring the natural rules constituted by you;
We have incurred the mud-rock flow because of destroying the forests, exploiting sand and rock illegally;
We have incurred sand storm because of demolishing the vegetation and grazing to excess;
We have endured the extinction of creatural species because of wanton slaughter;
We have incurred the extinction of the botanic species because of overuse;
We have infected by the plague because we discarded the garbage anywhere;
We have let the water polluted because we discharged foul water at will;
We have let the air polluted because we emitted exhaust gas without restraint;
We poisoned our food because we overused the growth hormone and pesticide;
Please forgive our sins!
We have been punished by what we have done, you have warned us. We therefore devoted to protect and beautify the environment we live, and we will try our best to pay back what we have owed you.
We beg you the forgiveness.
Blessing!
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Temple with animistic statues in the
forground |
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| The animistic statues detailed |
I was particularly impressed by the statues, all designed by Cunfabio from Heqing. There were 10 similar statues, at the spring depicting a seahorse, frog, bear (?) and eagle, and at the foot of the temple, a deer, boar, rhinoceros, elephant, lion and monkey.
Each one was completely different, with its own individual expression, and gesture and torso. The village has many other features focusing on Naxi and Dongba culture including highly detailed murals. A central feature was a series of crystal clear ponds with salmon and trout (I think). For me, it was absolutely one of the highlights of the trip.
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| Village map and advisory sign |
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Entrance to the Tea-Horse
Road Museum |
Village map and advisory sign - "Don t forget to keep civilized behaviour during an outing, and also shopping should be rational"
The rest of the afternoon we spent in another ancient village near Lijiang, possibly a little less frequented by tourists than the village closer to the city. To my surprise, after wandering down a small alley I discovered the Ancient Tea-Horse Road Musem.
The museum was distributed across a large complex of separate buildings, each one featuring an aspect of Naxi life, culture or industry. The two most interesting buildings dealt with leather production, and the history of the Tea-Horse Road.
The Tea-Horse Road was a trade route to the west, formed mainly as a result when the Tang stopped trade to the east because of conflict between them and the Tubo people from the north who had expanded into Naxi territory. There is an informative subtitled 8 part series on the
Tea-Horse Road on the Chinese CCTV website.
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Painted door panel, and a dog
catching the last rays of the
afternoon sun |
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A New 'ancient' building being
constructed |
Also interesting to me, as an ex Heritage Office person, was the way in which new buildings in the old town were being built with the traditional materials and methods of the past.
It reminded me of the practices we’d seen in Europe and Japan, where if a historic building is destroyed, it is rebuilt based on old plans and local knowledge using the same materials and methods where possible.
With timber structures and their susceptibility to fire this is almost necessary. It may not be the prefect solution, but does maintain a visual and physical connection with the past.
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One of the quaint stone
buildings |
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| Discussing the price of safron |
Meanwhile, Frances, Cahrlotte and Rocky were enjoying their last shopping opportunity in Yunnan, buying gifts for friends and interesting articles for themselves.
Frances bought some safron (sold in bulk) and some of the compressed tea, the way it was traditionally packaged for overland transport by horse – not the loose leaves that we are used to.
The tea selection here is pretty amazing – everything from fresh green tips to dark black, and the compressed packages. The store itself was packed with herbs, teas and almost any local dried plant product that you can imagine.
Rocky bought some quite expensive yak meat (preserved with honey and sesame seeds and quite chewy) for her family. Much to her horror, she later left it at the airport in Lijiang on our departure for Hangzhou and return to the east.
