Created 2-Feb-07
Modified 2-Feb-07
Images of the Erwang Temple in Sichuan. This temple, if that is the right denomination, is dedicated to Li Bing 李冰 and his son, two engineers of ancient China who tamed the waters coming down from the Min mountains, channeling them through an intricate system of dams, dykes and waterways downwards into what is now called the Sichuan basin. This same flood control system, about 2300 years old now, is still in use today. It is honored under its original name Dujiangyan 都江堰 as a UNESCO World Heritage site as of 2000 (together with nearby Mount Qingcheng, generally held to be the birth place of Daoism).
What makes the Erwang Temple stand out as a structure is the exuberant, lush style of its architecture; the attention to detail; the quality of masonry and the woodwork; the remaining artefacts (including a stone sculpture of Li Bing attributable to the year 494 AD); and the landscaping of its form, the ingenious way it is placed into the environment according to the old principles of fengshui. The pictures posted here do not do the place justice.
Visited frequently between 1982 and 1987.
All photographs scanned with an Epson 4990 scanner, individually post-processed for color restoration, fading, and (where applicable) sharpness.
Images uploaded February 2, 2007
THoimas H. Hahn, Ithaca, NY
© Thomas H. Hahn Docu-Images
