Stairway to Heaven: A Journey to the Summit of Mount Emei

3. A Journey of Ten Thousand Miles

45 Chapter 3 A Journey of Ten Thousand Miles [Chengdu] is the junction of all land and water routes, Which converge here from the six directions. It is a place where bountiful luxuriance thrives, The most prosperous and flourishing area of the empire.1 —Zuo Si Brocade City When Fan Chengda arrived in Chengdu in the summer of 1175 to assume his new official post, the city already had a history of about fifteen hundred years. Since its founding around the fourth century bc, Chengdu has served as the cultural, commercial, and transportation center of southwest China. In Han times, the city hosted about half a million residents, and was second in population only to Chang’an.2 Some of the richest families in the empire lived there, and at times during the Han, and later in the Tang, its size and splendor even rivaled the imperial capital. The one product that is perhaps most associated with Chengdu is silk brocade or damask (jin). A government Brocade Officer (Jinguan) was said to have resided in the city to oversee the collection of the choicest damask, which was then forwarded to the capital. Hence, very early on in its history Chengdu acquired the nickname “Brocade Officer City” (Jinguan cheng), which later was shortened to “Brocade City” (Jincheng). Several themes run throughout the historical and literary sources that chronicle the history of the Chengdu. First, and perhaps most important, the area surrounding the city—specifically, the Chengdu Plain and peripheral mountainous areas—is extremely rich in natural resources, especially iron ore, copper, gold, silver, precious stones, cinnabar, salt, timber, fish, wild game, and various plants and trees. Abundant mulberry and lac 46 Stairway to Heaven: A Journey to the Summit of Mount Emei trees provided the necessary raw materials for the city’s famous silk and lacquer industries.3 Chengdu was the heart of Shu’s abundance, and this attracted the attention of its neighbors, especially tribes in the nonChinese border regions to the south and west. In times of peace, trade would flourish between Shu and these areas. In times of “barbarian” strength and unrest, however, tribes eager to exploit its resources sometimes pillaged the city. As described by Zuo Si in his “Shu Capital Rhapsody,” during the Han and Three Kingdoms period (220–265), Chengdu was a city of extravagant palaces, elaborate pavilions, lofty towers, stately homes, and bustling markets. The abundance of natural resources in close proximity to the city stimulated and supported business enterprises and industries. Tremendous profits were made, especially in the salt and iron trade, by both private entrepreneurs and the Han government. Iron and steel was used to craft high-demand products such as swords, knives, farm implements , and cooking utensils. Since the Sichuan Basin is one of the few inland areas in China where salt deposits are plentiful, the production and trade of salt also flourished. Moreover, the brine pits of Shu yielded an abundance of natural gas, which is still being tapped today. By Han times, then, Chengdu was already a bustling commercial and manufacturing hub. Many of its entrepreneurs, trading mainly with non-Chinese neighbors to the west, made fortunes by swapping tea, cloth, and handicrafts in exchange for horses and slaves. Chengdu’s geographic location on the western frontier of China meant that it could enjoy steady contacts with Central Asia, India, southeast China, and Vietnam via overland trails and river routes.4 As early as the Warring States and Han periods, trade plied along the Great River and its tributaries was vigorous and sustained. In the second century bc, the Han envoy to the Western Regions, Zhang Qian (fl. ca 125 bc), reported seeing “Shu cloth” (Shubu) in Bactria (Daxia; roughly, the northern part of modern Afghanistan).5 Despite the general physical isolation of Sichuan from the rest of China, Chengdu was still close enough to Chang’an and Luoyang to have limited commercial contact with those cities during periods of peace. But these contacts were limited, and so Shu remained essentially isolated. The long period from the fall of the Han in 221 to the reunification of the empire by the Sui in 589—the so-called Period of Disunion—was a time of chaos, suffering, and great instability throughout most of China. After the disintegration of the Han, the empire quickly divided into what is known as the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo) period. One of these kingdoms, called Shu, was based in Chengdu. Its...