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Chengdu retains heavenly title
By Zhou Liming (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-29 08:01
In January 2008, the Chinese edition of National Geographic magazine published a special edition to nominate a "New Tianfu". Tianfu literally means "heaven's abode" and pragmatically honors a land of abundance. Readers were puzzled - isn't the Chengdu Basin already known as Tianfu? No, said the magazine. Actually, there were at least seven Tianfus mentioned in China's historical archives. To reevaluate the qualifications of Tianfu, the magazine assembled more than 100 of the nation's top geographers and nominated 31 places as potential heavenly sites. Readers were not pleased, especially the Sichuanese. They sent in letters and emails of protest: You can't take away what belongs to the people of Chengdu, they wrote. "But wait a minute," said Shan Zhiqiang, editor-in-chief of Chinese National Geographic. "Tianfu is a description that started as a generic term but evolved to a special label." Shan went on to elaborate that the more Tianfus China has the better, and people in Chengdu should not be jealous about possible contenders. "I feel that Chengdu should be the top of all Tianfus," he said. One traditional yardstick for measuring qualifications as a Tianfu is farming. Abundance in crops year after year enrich a locale. But Shan explained that other factors are at play. All seven Tianfus in Chinese history are at least partly surrounded by high mountains, shielding residents from invaders. The Chengdu Basin, of course, is so walled in that a journey into it used to be described as "harder than scaling the sky". Finally, everything boils down to how happy residents are. Shan admits that it is very "subjective", but he employed a survey company to conduct an investigation and compile data. The result from both expert panels and online and cellphone voting was unanimous: The "New Tianfu" is still Chengdu. There are many reasons. Even if Chengdu is far from any ocean, it enjoys maritime climate and is suitable for both farming and easy living. Frost and snow rarely arrive here.
The geologic fault that caused the May 12 8.0-magnitude earthquake in Sichuan lies along the basin's west side, but due to structural differences, impact from quake was surprisingly small in the Chengdu Basin, especially when you consider its proximity. Thunder storms are not frequent, either. Night rains add necessary moisture to the land as well as the poetic "quiet touch of aqua pura". Freedom from natural disasters has made it possible for Chengdu Basin to flourish over the centuries. Zhuge Liang (181-234 AD), prime minister of the Shu Kingdom, was the first to apply Tianfu to Chengdu. However, Tianfu is about more than the standard of living. It's about lifestyle. In Chengdu leisure is pursued aggressively. Scholars found that in 1931 there were 620 teahouses in the downtown area alone. Today in the city's nightclub area, you can still get yourself into a traffic jam at midnight. Leisure gives rise to contentment and culture. Taoism - which seeks a balance between man and nature - may run in the blood of the Sichuanese. Unlike coastal areas where people often lead hectic lives, Chengduers cherish the experience of life rather than its goal. They are not demanding of others, nor of themselves. Even as the economy takes off, they have not abandoned the traditional way of easy life. They still talk business over a cup of tea, and they still treat outside influences with tolerance. Tianfu is where people have confidence in themselves. (China Daily 08/29/2008 page15) |
