Thatched Cottage of Du Fu (Du Fu CaoTang)
Location: Sichuan Province
Transportation: Bus service
Culture/History Rating: 3.5/5
Scenery Rating: 3/5
Hotels: N/A
Summary: If you are looking forward to finding out more about this great poet and his life, visit this place. Scenery wise it's not that great.
Description:
| The thatched cottage of the famous Tang dynasty poet Du Fu (712-770AD) lies at the side of the Flower Washing Brook in west Chengdu. In 759, due to the poverty and social upheavals in his home province of Gansu, Du Fu moved to the outskirts of Chengdu, where he built the thatched hut on 44 hectares of land and settled down to write. During his stay of nearly 4 years, he composed more than 240 poems many reflecting his enlightened views on the poverty and misery experienced by the people. The original residence disappeared long ago and over the centuries the commemorative shrine to the poet has developed within a pleasant park. Some buildings date back to the Ming and Qing dynasties and include the poetic history hall, the thatched entrance, Gongbuci Temple and the Shaoling Stone Monument. |  |
 | In AD 761, a storm destroyed the roof of the thatched cottage, which led to the writing of one of his masterpieces, "the Song of Autumn Winds Destroying My Cottage". In this poem, he expresses his anxiety for the plight of other poverty-stricken scholars and the desire for shelter for all the poor. Du Fu actually achieved something of a cult status for himself and even today, numerous poets and artists site the great man's work as inspirational. The themes of Du Fu's work are simple, and he talks in length about the social and living conditions of his society . Perhaps the most important thing of all about this great man's work, was that it was compassionate. This was especially inspirational given that there was such a lack of sympathy and concern elsewhere in society at this time. |
| In memory of the great poet, temples and pavilions were added to the site during the Song Dynasty. The exhibits here include a brief account of Dufu's life and some of his original calligraphy and poems. The complex also contains three imposing statues of some of China's greatest poets; Du Fu, Li You and Huang Tingjian (the latter two were Song dynasty poets). Today, this is a pleasant site to visit, with nice buildings dotted about, teahouses and pleasant bamboo gardens to wander and explore. This site is also home to the Chengdu Du Fu society. The main memorial buildings and historic sites here include the Lobby, Poatic History Hall,Wooden Gate ,Shrine of Gongbu (he once served in Court as an offial rank of Gongbu--this is equal to Prime minister to certain department), Shaoling Thatched Pavilion and the Du Fu Museum. |  |