Dali

(Emily)

Today we arrived in Dali at about 6:30 in the morning off the sleeper train from Kunming. Before getting on the train, we had dinner with Mr. Hoover, who is on sabbatical and teaching in Kunming, and his girlfriend Pei Wei, who coordinates exchanges between Chinese and American high schools. They were incredibly helpful in getting our train situation sorted out--Pei Wei was able to get us into two compartments right next to each other--and I think that had they not been there we would still be in the Kunming train station!


After breakfast, Mr. C, Mel and I went with our guide, Yang, to the Three Pagodas. Yang told us that the pagodas were built about a thousand years ago, by the Bai people who have long dominated the area. the pagodas were built over many decades, level by level, by surrounding each vertical addition with an ever-growing mound of earth. After the last level was completed, the pagodas were dug out from the mound, revealing the one-hundred and fifty foot main pagoda and the other two ninety-foot pagodas. To resist the frequent earthquakes, the pagodas and many other structures in Dali were built with rice and egg whites to allow them to better absorb seismic shocks.

Behind the pagodas, there was a meandering complex of temples, ponds, and gardens that slowly climbed the mountainside. Even pictures wouldn’t do it justice; the massive scale and intricate detail of the buildings were overpowering, like a forest of towering trees that are covered with an infinity of brightly flowered vines. It was impossible to hold everything in your perception at once.

The temple complex was made up of a string of major pagodas (these were more house-like, not towers like the Three Pagodas) which were perfectly aligned with each other, with other smaller structures branching off either side of the main path. It was crowded, but there were moments when we found ourselves in silence, tucked away in the corner of a garden. The part of Dali we were in is in a large valley, and we were surrounded by dramatic, swelling mountains dusted with snow, which echoed the high sloping roofs of the pagodas.

The main pagodas held statues of bodhisattvas, which I believe are sort of demi-Buddhas, many of whom were originally mortals who attained nirvana and therefore deity status. The statues towered over us--the tallest were over 50 feet tall--and shone yellow gold in the incensed darkness of the pagodas. Some smiled serenely, while others were fierce warriors armed with swords and wearing bandoleers of human skulls.
The Indian influence was apparent in one statue with sixteen arms, symbolizing the sixteen disasters the deity guarded against, and nine heads, symbolizing the nine poor qualities, such as greed and anger, she reminds us to eschew. One room was filled with the 500 Thieves, larger-than-life golden representations of followers of Buddha who guide mortals. The thieves are ahats, who can help us to nirvana only by sharing their own experiences. Women step over the threshold to the pagoda housing the Thieves with their right foot, and men with their left. By taking the number of steps equivalent to your age, you find out which Thief will watch over you during that year. Mel’s thief was a listener, and mine was a hugger.

Right now we’re on our way to Shaxii village!