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The Thatched Cottage of Du Fu in Chengdu was the home of Fu, very famous
poet, lived in the Tang Dynasty more than a thousand years ago. Du Fu was born
in Gongyi City and fled to Chengdu in 759 in order to get away from the An-Shi
Rebellion which had broken out in 758. The Thatched Cottage was built beside the
Flower Bathing Brook in 760 with the help of friends on the western outskirts
of the city. Du Fu stayed in this cottage for four years and during this time
had composed more than 240 poems which are considered to be precious national
treasures.
The cottage was abandoned for a long time and soon became dilapidated after
the departure of Du Fu from Chengdu. A new temple was built on the original
site of the thatched cottage to commemorate this outstanding person in Chinese
literature more than hundred years later during the rule of the Northern Song
Dynasty. The cottage was subsequently renovated and enlarged repeatedly. Two
important reconstructions were carried out in 1500 and 1811 respectively both
of which set the scale and structure of the present thatched cottage. Today,
it is a shrine to Chinese literature and a commemorative museum in the form
of a traditional garden.
The Thatched Cottage of Du Fu covers a total area of 24 hectares and is the
combination of Temple in the east and the Plum Garden in the west. The architecture
of the cottage belongs to the Qing Dynasty with gardens in the unique compound
style of traditional Chinese gardening. The cottage compound has beautiful gardens,
winding streams, and interwoven bridges and pavilions. The area also boasts
of a number of amazing structures. Some of these include Screen Wall, the Gate,
the Lobby, the History in Verse Hall, the Faggot Gate, and the Gong Bu Temple
that divide the cottage area into two parts.
Tablet Pavilion lies to the east of the Gong Bu Temple and is on the original
site of the cottage. It has 5 main and 4 attached rooms with thatched roofs
and is surrounded by bamboo fences, vegetable gardens and herb plots.
The Thatched Cottage of Du Fu in Chengdu is open from 8AM to 6PM and admission
fee of CNY 60 is charged from visitors.
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