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women in traditional Bai dress -
outdoor theater on Shaxi square |
In
the course of our second day in Shaxi, after roaming around the
Friday markets, we wandered leisurely around the little town, visited
the local temple on the town square and (on the same ticket) found
ourselves in a little mueum backstage of the outdoor theater on the
square.
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Xingjiao Temple seen from the stage
of the outdoor theater |
Xingjiao
Temple is relatively recent, built during the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368
CE), is a symbol of the Buddhist culture of the area, while the
theater across the square is related to Confusianism in, I suppose,
the performances staged there.
Xingjiao
Temple is a rather small structure composed of three buildings
separated by two courtyards. I thought it mostly interesting for its
age, not being especially unique in other respects. The main hall,
has five statues of Buddha showing various hand gestures--fairly
common in Buddhist temples I've seen. I found the gardens quiet and relaxing. The ticket included access to the theater across
the square which I was more interested in seeing since it was
something I hadn't seen up close before.
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| courtyard garden Xingjiao Temple |
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| five statues of Buddha |
Backstage,
one simple little artifact caught my attention because of its color
and remarkable state of preservation. It was a bronze sword dated 560
BCE. A wooden panel tells a little of the history of the area. Shaxi
was one of the centers for the production of bronze in Yunnan during
the Shang Dynasty (1300-1000 BCE) through the Warring States Period
(475-221 BCE). Thanks to its location the Shaxi area became important
for salt mining and the land route for the salt trade along the Tea
and Salt Road during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE).
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| 560 BCE era bronze sword |
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| ancestral shrine |
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| kitchen |
We
also visited an old house, still privately owned and occupied, in
various stages of decomposition, but all the more interesting for
that fact. The old gentleman of the house made us feel welcome and
acted as our guide and accepted the modest entrance fee. He was especially proud of an old altar on the
second floor apparently dedicated to the memory of some ancestor.
What impressed me the most, however, were the ancient kitchen with
its few modern accouterments and the harmonious relationship among
what appeared to be four generations of the family.
Since the house was so old and in need of repair, I thought it would be interesting the give my pictures a "vintage" look so I
decided to make some B&W and noir effects with my photographs
when we got back to the Cato Inn and I could work on my computer.
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| old house gate |
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| old house courtyard |
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| old house entrance walk |
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| old house kitchen |
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| old house - bird cages? |
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| old house - view from the second floor altar room |
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