thus it has come to be known as the City of Ghosts.
Our guide indicated that the temple was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution
by the "very bad" Red Guards (I was surprised by her openness).
It has been restored and opened to tourists in the last decade.
I think Mao would be doubly enraged by this - first of all by the opening of a religious site,
and secondly, by the open practice of capitalistic enterprise at the site (the new religion?).
The temple is most easily reached via
chairlift from the city center.
Here is the view of the rooftops of
Fengdu during the ride up.
The temple is full of gates that must
be passed in a certain way for good luck.
Some must be passed in a single breath,
others in a certain number of steps, etc.
Here we pass through the Gate of
Hell, surrounded by the hellish creatures.
Inside the temple live the various lords
of the netherworld, such as this gentlemen.
I bought a copy of The Sayings of
Mao (a.k.a. The Little Red Book) from a street vendor near the Fengdu
boat dock.
He had both Russian and Chinese versions
- I got the Russian version, since I could at least recognize some words.
The old ideology is passing away, replaced
by the new ideology of the market economy.
The selling of a book of ideology in
order to participate in the market economy is particularly apt.
This portrait of the "Great Helmsman"
is inside the front cover.
He is yet highly regarded in China,
even though he murdered millions of his comrads
(and what kind of comrad is that?).
Some Interesting Mao web sites:
Artifacts
from the Cultural Revolution
The
Sayings of Chairman Mao
Badges
- we don't need no stinking Mao badges (article on the history of Mao badges)
Speaking of political ideology, it is interesting to note that the money of China rarely
portrays dead leaders, as is our custom, but usually portrays the ordinary people,
such as is depicted in this 10 Yuan note:
