by Jim Goodman
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| looking across the Dali Plain to Erhai Lake |
When Yunnan opened its doors
to international tourism some three decades ago, the ancient city of Dali
quickly became one of the most popular destinations. Lying in the middle of a long, north-south plain at around
2000 meters altitude, flanked on the west by the peaks of the Cangshan mountain
range, some of them over 4000 meters high, on the east by sprawling Erhai Lake,
the city enjoyed a superb physical location. Moreover, it was small, more like a town, full of old
buildings, with little traffic and easy to explore on foot.
It was a long haul to get
there until the mid-90s and the construction of a multi-lane highway linking
Kunming with Xiaguan, at the southern end of the plain, with tunnels cutting through
the last mountains. An airport and
railway soon followed. Only a
two-lane road connected the cities in the beginning, clogged with big, heavy
logging trucks and other ponderous vehicles, making the journey at least twelve
hours.
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| western wall and the Three Pagodas |
After finally arriving at this
undeniably atmospheric old city, with the added attraction of the colorfully
dressed Bai minority prevalent in the area, it all seemed worth the
ordeal. Bai houses and pavilions,
though similar to classic Chinese styles, featured specifically Bai
characteristics, like the decorations beneath the roof apes, the dominant use
of stone and elaborately carved compound gates, and thus embellished the
travelers’ impression that they were in a very different part of China.
Actually, Dali was not even
part of China until the 13th century. At their greatest extents, the Qin, Han, Tang and Song
Dynasties did not incorporate the area into the Chinese empire. In fact, from the mid-8th
century to its conquest by Kubilai Khan in 1253, the area was the heartland of
two successive states: Nanzhao
until the beginning of the 10th century and the Kingdom of Dali
afterwards.
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| General Li Mi |
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| Nanzhao king |
The long campaign to unite the
area’s principalities began in the 7th century, led by Xinuluo, the
ruler of what is now Weishan, 50 km south of Xiaguan. His descendant Piluoge finally quashed all his rivals and
founded Nanzhao in 737. Seeing the
strategic defense capabilities of the Dali Plain, he moved his capital here, at
first to Taihe, between Xiaguan and Dali.
It remained the capital until 779, when Dali assumed the role.
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| Nnnzhso-era illustrated manuscript |
The high mountain just east of
Xiaguan prevented attacks from the east.
Sentries posted at the top could easily spot an approaching force. Another post on the mountain
slopes north at Shangguan kept watch on the northern end of the plain. The lake protected the plain from the
east and the Cangshan peaks from the west.
Taihe still exists, though only
remnants of the original city wall are left. Today it’s just an ordinary village of stone houses, but at
the top is the historic Dehua Stele.
King Piluoge erected this near the end of his reign to list the state’s
achievements and to give his side of the story of how and why Nanzhao
vanquished two Chinese invading armies.
The Tang Court considered
Nanzhao its vassal and an ally against Tibet, which was a strong military state
back then and a perennial threat to Sichuan. Nanzhao saw itself as fully independent and its astute kings
played one state off against the other to further its own interests and security. As it grew in size and strength,
Nanzhao aroused Chinese suspicion and the Tang Court launched punitive
expeditions in the mid-8th century, all of which failed miserably.
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| wax sculptures of the Nanzhao Court |
Nanzhao’s army repulsed the
first before it could even approach the Dali Plain. The second expedition crossed the Cangshan Mountains, but
Nanzhao forces simply retreated to Taihe and stayed comfortably ensconced
within its walls while their enemies succumbed to malaria and starvation. The third and biggest attempt, said to
consist of 200,000 troops led by General Li Mi, suffered a horrific defeat at
Dengchuan, just north of Erhai, trapped between the warriors of Nanzhao on one
side and Tibetans on the other.
These became known as the
Tianbao Wars, after the after the name of the Tang reigning era. A mound preserved in one of the back
streets of Xiaguan is supposed to contain the remains of the 200,000 Chinese
killed in the last invasion. The
mound is too small for that, or even for just the heads, so perhaps it just
contains the ashes.
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| the recreated palace at Nanzhao Culture City |
The other vestige of the
Tianbao Wars is the General’s Temple, dedicated to Li Mi, on the side of a hill
in Xiaguan’s southwest suburbs.
Following an unusual custom, pious Bai worshippers make daily offerings to
him here. It’s as if they were
apologizing for wiping out the general’s entire army, propitiating his spirit
to avoid any spiritual revenge on his part.
The victories confirmed
Nanzhao’s independence, even though Tang China still considered it a vassal
state. The kingdom continued to
grow until the late 9th century before, overextended, it began a
rapid decline. Meanwhile, it also
developed culturally and the 8th and 9th centuries
witnessed the construction of several temples and pagodas that are today among
the area’s top attractions.
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| the Snake Bone Pagoda |
These include two
temples—Gantong and Shenyuan—high up on the slopes of the western
mountains. More accessible is the
Chongsheng Temple, just north of the old city, in front of which stand the
iconic Three Pagodas. The tallest
one, with 16 closely spaced tiers, stands in the center nearly 70 meters high. Smaller, ten-story pagodas, in a
different style, rise 43 meters on either side. The complex dates its construction to the early 9th
century. The temple there now is a
late 20th century reconstruction, for the original was completely
destroyed during the Muslim Rebellion in the 19th century.
The Three Pagodas survived
unscathed, as they had during wars in the past. They have also withstood several serious earthquakes. The Lone Pagoda, outside the southwest
corner of the walled city, replicates the style of the central pagoda at
Chongsheng Temple, as does the Snake Bone Pagoda, four km north of central
Xiaguan and today all but hidden behind new roadside apartment blocks.
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| shop houses in the old city |
At just over 30
meters height, the Snake Bone Pagoda is the smallest of the Nanzhao-era
pagodas, but has the most interesting origin myth. Accordingly, in the past a demon snake from the lake was
causing floods all over the plain and the king promised a big reward to anyone
who could kill it. A local hero
answered the call, wrapped his body with knives and jumped into Erhai
Lake.
The demon snake swallowed him
whole. The hero then rolled around
inside the snake’s body, mortally wounding it with the knives until both were
dead. The king ordered the snake’s
body opened, the hero’s removed and his body given a magnificent funeral. Then he ordered the Snake Bone Pagoda
to be built in his honor. Like the
other ancient pagodas, it has also survived wars and earthquakes.
Other Nanzhao relics lie
further afield, like the late 9th century Iron Pillar in Midu County
and the shrines and sculptures of Shibaoshan in Jianchuan County. Dali still reveres its Nanzhao legacy
and in the mkd-90s created the Nanzhao Culture City in the southern
suburbs. The main building is a
recreation of the ancient palace and the compound includes exhibition rooms of
costumed wax figures in scenes of Court rituals, the Tianbao Wars, receiving
envoys, etc.
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| South Gate, 1993, before renovattion |
The Nanzhao Kingdom fell when a usurper massacred the entire
royal family to seize power.
Internecine warfare followed, kings rose and fell and finally in 937
Duan Siping, a Bai lord from Yuanbang village, at the foot of Wutai Mountain,
where a statue of him stands in the Sanling Temple, assembled allies, took
control, founded a new dynasty and gave the state a new name—the Kingdom of
Dali. Shortly afterwards, in 960
China also had a new ruling dynasty—the Song.
But this regime did not make
any trouble for its southwestern neighbor. The Song Dynasty’s main security concern was its northern
frontiers and the menace of mounted nomads. China needed horses for its own forces to deal with this
enemy and the Kingdom of Dali was a prime source. For the Song Court it was better to keep the peace with Dali
so as not to upset the trade in horses.
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| South Gate at night |
Thus the Kingdom of Dali
enjoyed over three centuries of peace.
It did not, like Nanzhao, seek to enlarge itself and was never as big a
state. Areas to the east and south
were relatively autonomous and Dali’s direct administration only applied to
what is now Dali Prefecture. Part
of the consequence was an emphasis on religion. The state patronized temples, renovated old ones and built
new ones. Nine of its 22 kings
retired to become monks.
The kingdom’s peace came to an
end in 1244, when a Mongol army advanced against its northern frontier. Dali’s king dispatched a strong force
that defeated the invaders at Jiuhe, a little north of Jianchuan County. Eight years later a much bigger Mongol
army, personally commanded by Kubilai Khan, swept down from recently conquered
Lijiang and besieged Dali. King
Duan Xingzhi’s troops put up a good fight, temporarily halted the Mongol
advance, but only held out until the beginning of 1253. Dali’s king fled to Kunming, but
pursuing troops captured him.
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| Fuzinglu viewed from South Gate |
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| the Tower of Five Glories |
Contrary to ordinary Mongol
practice upon taking a city, Kubilai Khan forbade plunder and massacre. He brought Duan Xingzhi back to Dali
and installed him as the Mongols’ administrator of the area. He also left a stone inscription of his
achievement on a stele mounted on a slope just west of the old city, which is
still in place. Together with the
Dali troops, he went on to subdue the rest of Yunnan and annexed it to the
Mongol Empire. In 1279, when
Kubilai Khan inaugurated the Yuan Dynasty, Yunnan then became part of
China. The following century the
Ming Dynasty overthrew the Yuan, but Mongol forces remained in Yunnan until
finally driven out in 1382.
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| Qing Dynasty buildings in the old city |
To fully incorporate Yunnan
into China, the Ming Court sponsored large-scale immigration into the province
and stationed garrisons of soldier-farmers, many of them Muslims, all over the
western part. Dali was rebuilt,
with surrounding walls and massive gates at the four cardinal directions. The remnants of this layout became
prime attractions when Dali became a tourist destination. The East and West Gates were only
reconstructed in recent decades, while some remains of the old wall were
extended. The North and South
Gates are still the original buildings, though the stone lions in front of the
South Gate disappeared during renovation in the mid-90a.
Inside the walls, shop-houses
and other buildings went up in the Ming style, dominated by the Tower of Five
Glories on the main north-south street.
The original looked like a rectangular block, taller than it was wide,
with an arched passageway at its base, and a wide, tiled roof with upturned
corners, similar to those on the four city gates.
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| Dali's Catholic Church |
During the Second World War,
city authorities demolished the Tower because it feared Japanese air forces
could use it as a landmark to bomb other targets in the vicinity. When it was rebuilt, it was in a totally
different style, taller, with three tiers, a standard Qing Dynasty
building. In recent decades
smaller pavilions have been added to the area and today it is one of the most
popular spots in the city.
The shop houses on the
southern half of Fuxinglu, the street between the North and South Gates, now
sell marble ware, jewelry, Bai handicrafts and other souvenirs, but those on
the northern side still cater to the local population. A Protestant church on this street as
well as a Catholic church on a lane around the corner from the center of town,
attest to the efforts of Christian missionaries in the early 20th
century. They didn’t win many
converts, but the churches, in the style of local architecture, are still
intact and among the sites tourists visit.
The natural beauty of its
setting alone would suffice to draw travelers to spend time in Dali, even if it
had no relics of its past. But it
does, and these are unique assets.
Dali’s monumental legacy stretches back fourteen centuries, covering
each successive stage of its history.
No other city in Yunnan can make the same claim.
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| watchtower at Shangguan, from where sentries saw the Mongol armies pour into the plain |
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