Exploring the Ancient Maritime Silk Road in Today’s Quanzhou

Abstract

Ashab Mosque (清净寺, Qingjing, “pure and clean” in Chinese) is the perfect place to start your downtown tour because it is a convenient walk from the mosque to half a dozen other key sites. Ashab is not only one of China’s 10 most famous temples but also, according to some experts, one of Islam’s top 10 holy places, as well as China’s oldest mosque.

Ashab Mosque (清净寺, Qingjing, “pure and clean” in Chinese) is the perfect place to start your downtown tour because it is a convenient walk from the mosque to half a dozen other key sites. Ashab is not only one of China’s 10 most famous temples but also, according to some experts, one of Islam’s top 10 holy places, as well as China’s oldest mosque.

And its surroundings are the starkest testimony to Quanzhou’s rapid change. When I first visited Ashab in 1989, it stood head and shoulder above the dilapidated shacks that surrounded it, and the road was more like a back alley. Today, Tumen Street is wide and the newly rebuilt buildings are a beautiful marriage of modern and old, with the richly carved brick and granite motifs characteristic of Minnan (south Fujian) as well as the arched windows and doors of Islamic architecture. And while Muslims for centuries worshipped in the roofless Ashab Mosque (the dome fell after an earthquake in 1607), today they have a beautiful new mosque right beside Ashab that was financed in large part by overseas Muslims who are entranced by Zaytun’s rich history and tales of Mohammed’s disciples moving to the city over 1,300 years ago.

At one point ancient Zaytun had at least seven mosques, like the Qingjing Mosque at the South Gate (built by a Muslim from Shiraf, on the Persian Gulf), but Ashab is the only mosque still standing (Fig. 4.1).

Fig. 4.1

Ashab Mosque, 1990

The 2,500-square-meter Ashab Mosque, also called “Kylin”, for Chinese unicorn, or “Shenyou” (Holy Friend) Mosque, was built in 1009, (year 400 of the Muslim calendar), and is China’s oldest surviving stone mosque. This beautiful imitation of a Damascus Mosque was built of blue and white granite, and has a Fengtian Altar, Mingshan Chamber, and Prayer Hall. The mosque was renovated in 1310 (Yuan Dynasty) by Ihamed B. Muhammed Gudeish, from Iran.

The dome above the Fengtian Altar collapsed during a 1607 earthquake, but the magnificent 11.4-meter-high vaulted entrance and four walls remain.

Ashab Mosque’s portal has four large pointed arches that create three compartments. The second compartment has 99 small pointed arches, which symbolize Allah’s 99 appellations of excellence. Above the portal is a square tower with battlements (great spot for taking photos if you can get them to unlock it for you).

An Arabic inscription engraved in the stone lintel of the archway reads:

God is witness that there is no God but He, and the angels and all those possessing knowledge stand up for justice. There is no God but He, the mighty and the wise. Verily, in God’s sight the true religion is Islam.

To the west of the portal is the former 600-square-meter worship hall, once covered by a large Islamic dome. A 15th century Chinese record describes the worship hall:

The halls on the west stand in rows supremely. Their design is different from that of other earthly monasteries, yet swelling and floating, as if emulating a heavenly pavilion.

A minaret once towered between the portal and worship hall, but it collapsed, and was replaced with a wooden tower. And then a typhoon blew the tower down in 1687—80 years after an earthquake knocked down the dome. In the northwest corner of the mosque are the Ming-shan Hall, Ablution Pavilion and Sermon Hall.

Eternal Well The 1,000-year-old well is said to never run dry, and to always have clean, pure water. It did have a plant growing in its dark depths, but I’m sure it was a clean, pure plant.

A Buddhist nun demanded to know why Ashab Mosque had a stone incense burner, since Muslim worship doesn’t use incense. Worse yet, the burner has a lotus leaf motif, suggesting Buddhist influence—and I found a duplicated incense burner in a mosque in Fuzhou as well. When I suggested the lotus brought to mind Buddhist influence, an incensed Muslim said: “Buddhists have no monopoly on the lotus! All religions use them.” But another Muslim confided that incense burners were adopted because Chinese converts felt Islam wasn’t a bona fide religion without incense. (And, of course, Muslims also had strong vested interests in the incense trade).

Two steles in the mosque’s eastern grounds record the Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty renovations, and on the north wall is engraved a 1407 imperial edict protecting Islam.

During the state-funded reconstruction of Ashab Mosque in 1983, workers found several tombs, including that of the son of the Persian prime minister whose father was killed in 1312. Other tombstones belonged to Muslims from Tabriz, a Khan (elite muslim) from Khorazm, and a woman from Nabrus in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Restoration Today, Quanzhou Muslims are able to worship in a new mosque beside the old one. In addition, the city has a large Islamic Cultural Heritage Center adjoining the maritime museum (Fig. 4.2).

Fig. 4.2

New Quanzhou Mosque

Quanzhou’s comprehensive development plan insures cultural and historic integrity of new architecture by requiring new construction in “Muslim” areas to retain at least a stylized Islamic flavor. The shopping area across the street from Ashab has an Islamic gate, and even the signboard behind the mosque has a Middle Eastern flavor!

Guandi Temple (关帝庙) Just east of Ashab Mosque is the ancient temple dedicated to heroic generals Guan Yu and Yue Fei. Guandi Temple seems to sprawl forever, incense smoke wafting through the dark recesses hosting a myriad of idols for 24 other famous generals, as well as enlisted heroes. Cultural relics include Zhu Xi’s inscription, “Righteousness” and Zhang Ruitu’s, “Heaven and Earth Imbue the Valiant Spirit”. (For a contemporary insight on how such worship begins, visit Hui’an’s “PLA Temple” in the walled city of Chongwu).

Houcheng Tourist Culture Street (泉州后城旅游文化街) Quanzhou’s official tourist shopping area, Houcheng Street intersects Tumen Street just east of the mosque and temple, and offers a variety of tourist services and products. Between Ashab Mosque and the temple is a winding Tourist Shopping Center with vendors offering everything from replica antique coins and copper bowls to jade jewelry, gramophones, and 1960s-era Chairman Mao alarm clocks and watches (which are increasingly popular, so don’t expect to land a real Mao clock for only a few “mao”). After emptying your pockets, walk west a block to the Confucian Hall.

Historic Zhongshan Road (中山路) From the Puppet Shop, head west and turn north on the ancient Zhongshan Road, with its endless shops and the leafy canopy of trees that make a stroll pleasant on the sultriest days. Notice the Islamic architecture.

I particularly like the building with Islamic windows above and a “Fun” clothing store with “Life in U.S.” motto below. The city is almost as cosmopolitan as ancient Zaytun.

Hidden Treasures Head down almost any narrow side street and you’ll come upon hidden treasures like the home of the Qing Dynasty Minister of Defense, Huang Zonghan (黄宗汉, 1803–1864) who succeeded the famous Opium-era Commissioner, Lin Zexu.

Home of Huang Zonghan (at Sufficient Benevolence Lane, 镇抚巷黄宗汉故居). According to Qu Weiwei, a tourism student at Overseas Chinese University, Huang Zonghan was born in Quanzhou, and was governor of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces (两广总督) from 1856–1861. Huang fought so “bravely” against the Taiping rebels that Emperor Xianfeng (咸丰) personally inscribed a stele with the words, “Loyal, Diligent, Honest” (忠勤正直). It was a great honor. Unfortunately, the emperor stole the stele back when his hero became embroiled in a political scandal, and the stele is probably gravel by now.

Overseas Chinese University Professor Cheng Lichu (程立初), Huang Zonghan’s descendant, gave us a tour. He pointed out the granite stele engraved, right to left, with “Da Si Ma” (大司马) and said: “Written by the emperor himself! Only the emperors could write that well.”

One Million-Yuan Restoration Professor Cheng said the restoration, which received no government funding, cost his family 1 million yuan. I could not imagine how they could spend that much renovating an old house until he showed me the intricately carved woodwork, and the granite columns in the courtyard. “The originals were wood,” he said. “But trees don’t come that big nowadays.”

Professor Cheng claimed he could easily earn 1 million yuan back if he needed it. (If he doesn’t need it, Quanzhou Overseas Chinese University must pay a lot more than we get at XMU). He claimed that he was offered 10,000 yuan for just one potted tree—and refused. Maybe he’s saving it for when he’s really up a tree?

Professor Cheng also said he could get 1 million yuan just by selling the painting of a matriarch that hangs above the family ancestral shelf. It didn’t look that hot to me, but I can’t tell a black velvet Elvis from a Van Gogh. According to the professor, this dour dowager was painted by none other than renowned Chinese artist Xu Beihong (徐悲鸿).

Xu Beihong (1895–1953), most famous for his horse paintings, studied in France and adapted his techniques to Chinese painting. He survived his early years in part by painting portraits of wealthy clients, so the painting in Huang Zonghan’s house may indeed be a genuine Xu Beihong piece.

Many Mansions As Professor Cheng showed us some more of Huang Zonghan’s 14 mansions (lots of wives, probably), we came upon several ladies having tea in a tight lane between two beautiful brick buildings. A great photo op, you can enter that picturesque lane at No. 22 Yuxi Lane (Jade Rhinoceros Lane, 玉犀巷), which is north of and parallel to Furen Xiang). We exited the north end, and then entered the next doorway on the left to find a delightful courtyard that was refreshingly cool, in spite of the oppressive heat. “Beats air conditioning!” the professor said.

A man was scooping leaves from a spring fed carp pond with a net on a long bamboo pole. The carp looked old enough (and complacent enough) to have lived there since the days of Huang Zonghen himself. Toward the back of the courtyard was a massive jumble of outlandish Taihu Lake (太湖) stones from Jiangsu Province. Professor Cheng said: “Taihu Stones of Jiangsu Province’s Taihu Lake are prized by miniature landscape artists throughout China. These are sold by the pound now. Imagine what this is worth!”.

Given the price he is asking for his paintings and trees, I did not want to ask.

Taihu Stone Story

By Miss Qu Weiwei (曲微微).

Taihu Lake’s Taihu Stones, also called Dongting Stones, come in two kinds: those from water and those from land. Water stones are of course better because the water has carved it into more elegant shapes. While Taihu Stone is usually white, black and green stones have also been found.

Taihu Stones became popular in the Tang Dynasty, and from the Song Dynasty have been widely used in rich people’s gardens. Even the emperor asked that Taihu Stones be shipped to his palace.

The famous novel Shui Hu Zhuan (Outlaws of the Marsh) mentions Taihu Stones in some chapters. Today, the most valuable Taihu Stone is in Shanghai’s Yuyuan Garden. It is named Yu Linglong (exquisite jade, 玉玲珑).

Chinese think Taihu Stones are beautiful precisely because they are so crinkled, thin, holey—downright ugly. This reflects the Taoist philosophy in which when something reaches the peak it crosses over. So Taihu Stones are so ugly they are beautiful.

I laughed at that. Maybe there is hope for me yet!

National Treasure Professor Cheng pointed out a glistening cave stone and exclaimed, “This is a priceless national-level treasure! Look closely and you can see that the natural design resembles snow on winter plums—like a Chinese abstract painting.”

I saw neither snow nor plums, but I did appreciate the stone’s natural beauty. I’ve collected minerals and stones since I was six, and our XMU apartment is crammed with over 500 pounds of specimens. But it didn’t appear that local residents were so enamored of the stone. They were using it as a mop rack. When I aimed my camera, Miss Qu Weiwei started to remove the mops, but the professor said: “Leave them there so people can see how we care for such treasures!”.

Getting to Huang Zonghan’s Home: It is only an 11-min walk from the Copper Buddha Temple (Tongfo Si, 铜佛寺), on Zhenfu Lane (Zhenfu Xiang, 镇抚巷), between Zhongshan Road and Nanjun Xiang (南俊巷)—just north of Fengze Street (丰泽街).

Zhongshan Shopping Quanzhou is shopper’s heaven, with wall-to-wall shops—and name brands at that! Stores that don’t hawk name brands make up for it with grandiloquent names—like the sports shop called “Standard Physical Culture Stores”.

I don’t care for sifting through cotton slippers or tea towels, but I do enjoy meeting people in Chinese shops. They’re friendly, and invariably invite you in for tea before getting down to business. And bargaining can be a real eye-opener…

FormalPara One Size Fits All!

My wife Susan Marie rummaged through a pile of sweaters in a night market stall. She finally found one she liked, but it was too small. “Bu yao jin!” (不要紧! No problem!) the lady said. “It stretches when you wear it!”

“It won’t stretch that much,” Sue said. She eventually found another sweater she liked, but it was far too large.

“Bu yao jin!” the same lady said. “It shrinks when you wash it!”

Fortunately, even the diehard “one size fits all” types are good-natured about it, and will laugh as they hit you with, “I’m losing money, but hey! We’re friends!”—even though you met only 10 min earlier. Or they toss out a line common in many countries, “I’ll sell to you at a loss because it is bad luck if the 1st customer of the day doesn’t buy something” (even though it is already 3 p.m.).

The one that really gets to me is: “Chinese New Year is coming up so I’m selling everything at a loss or I won’t make enough to return home to my family.” How do I know what’s a “line” and what isn’t? One yuan means much more to them than me, but I dicker anyway, on pure principle. And kindly shopkeepers have often laughed and sold their wares for less than I asked—or given me something in addition for free!

So yes, bargaining can be fun.

Quannan Protestant Church (Zhongshan Road) Zaytun’s Nestorian Christianity and Franciscan Catholic cathedrals and monasteries vanished, and while Islam did keep a toehold, many Hui’s sole claim to orthodoxy is their refusal to eat pork. But churches have reentered the scene over the past 140 years, and Quanzhou now has Catholic churches and over 170 Protestant Churches.

Pastor Su Weiyuan of the South Street Church (泉南堂苏伟垣牧师), on historic Zhongshan Road), kindly gave me an outline of the history of Protestantism in Quanzhou, and also allowed me to use information and photos from Unforgettable Journey—Fifty Years for Fujian Christian Churches on the Three-Self¹ for which Pastor Su was Editor-in-Chief.

The First Opium War opened five treaty ports, including Amoy and Fuzhou, but Quanzhou remained off limits to foreigners. So in 1856, Rev. Carstairs Douglas, a Scottish minister in the English Presbyterian Mission who had arrived in Amoy in July 1955, sailed in secret to southern Quanzhou’s Anhai Town (Fig. 4.3).

Fig. 4.3

South Church, Quanzhou

In 1863, he moved on to Quanzhou, and in 1866, they opened the first Protestant church right across from Kaiyuan Temple, where they preached right in the temple gates. Infuriated scholars burned the church down, whereupon the Christians took a gamble on a gambling den’s location a few blocks away on Zhongshan Road.

General Shi Lang, the Chinese hero (see Chap. 10), had a house and rockery on the church’s new site, but it had fallen to ruins and become a gambling den. The Christians bought General Shi Lang’s land and set up shop again, but once again the scholars burned the church down. And here is where being a foreigner during the Opium Era came in handy. Complaints were registered with the British forces in nearby Amoy, and in 1877, the compensation extracted from the perpetrators was used to help build a new church of brick and timber, as well as a parsonage for the foreign pastor (the first Chinese pastor was Chen Xuanling(陈宣令), from Zhangzhou, Fujian in 1886).

Quannan Church was renovated in the 1890s, and rebuilt in 1927, but by the 1990s it had deteriorated so badly that it was razed to the ground in 2002. A US$1.5 million church seating 3,000 was finished in December 2003.

Minnan Dialect and Missions Our vertical province has more dialects than any place else in China. In some places, villagers cannot understand neighbors only three km away! Yet ironically, instead of hindering Christian work this actually worked out to their advantage. Before missionaries could get into China, they worked in other Southeast Asian countries, most of which had large populations of overseas Chinese.

Most overseas Chinese, of course, were from southern Fujian, and so the missionaries learned Minnan dialect. Once China opened up, foreign missionaries converged upon southern Fujian because they already knew the language. Faced with widespread illiteracy, they developed Romanization schemes and Minnan language dictionaries and references. Rev. Carstairs Douglas’ Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy, published in 1873, remains a standard reference work even today. Unfortunately, he died only four years later of cholera at the age of 46 (having spent 22 of his years in China).^2,3 But these early foreigners’ legacy in education continues at places like Peiyuan High School.

Dr. Sun Yat-sen and the Dentist This Zhongshan Road Dental Clinic (鲤中卫生院, 二楼), south of the Clock Tower, proves that in ancient Zaytun, virtually every comer has something of interest if you know what to look for.

The modem second floor clinic of Dr. Sheng Mingjie (盛明捷) has a plaque inscribed by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. It was written for his grandfather, Sheng Jiuchang (盛九昌). Elder Mr. Sheng, also a dentist, was one of Dr. Sun’s soldiers-in-arms. Dr. Sun’s inscription reads, right to left: “Weisheng Zhi Yi Dao” (卫生之一道). I think it roughly means that the mouth is an important part of sanitation. A copy of the inscription is on the outside of the building, near the roof (The original, by the way, is in a Beijing museum).

Kaiyuan Temple

...there were three thousand monks and eleven thousand idols...All the dishes which they offer to be eaten are piping hot so that the smoke riseth up in the face of the idols... But all else they keep for themselves and gobble up. And after such fashion as this they reckon that they feed their gods well.

Friar Odoric⁴

Take a left at the Zhongshan Road, near the Clock Tower, and you’ll come to Kaiyuan Temple (circa 686), one of China’s most important temples and, at 78,000 square meters, Fujian’s largest religious center. Kaiyuan’s inexpensive entry ticket gains you access to half a dozen other famous sites, including a tree that’s a blooming miracle.

Miraculous Mulberry-Lotus Tree According to legend, Mr. Huang Shougong, owner of a mulberry field, dreamed that a Buddhist monk asked him to donate land for a temple. Mr. Huang threw out a fleece. “I’ll donate the land if this mulberry tree blossoms with white lotus flowers.”

Three days later, white lotus flowers bloomed on the mulberry tree, and admitting it was a blooming miracle, Mr. Huang ceded the land. (Though given Quanzhou folk’s prowess at making silk flowers, I wonder if Mr. Huang thought to make sure the lotus blossoms were real?).

Key Kaiyuan Sites Kaiyuan’s main areas include Purple Clouds Screen, Hall of Heavenly Devarajas, Great Buddhist Hall, Sweet Dew Altar of Precepts, and Depository of Buddhist Texts (which has over 3,700 volumes of rare Buddhist scriptures and relics). Other sites include Sanders Shade Temple, Mini-Kaiyuan Temple, Hall of Beneficence, Triumph Temple, Land and Water Temple, and the five-level, octagonal Ganlujie Altar, where Buddhists underwent rites to become monks and nuns. Ganlujie Altar is the largest and best-preserved altar of its kind in China, with the Supreme Buddha Losana sitting on a lotus platform of 1,000 lotus leaves, each having a six-centimeter engraved Buddha (Fig. 4.4).

Fig. 4.4

Kaiyuan Temple “Angels”

Barbarian−Befuddling Dates, Mus, Li Way, and Other Taels

An English brochure claimed Kaiyuan Temple was built in the 2nd year of Chuigong in the Tang Dynasty. This is the Chinese singularly barbarian-befuddling way of saying “686 A.D.” Why they persist in such dating I’m not sure, since even many Chinese can’t remember the years of different dynasties, much less the reigns within them.

I don’t give a fig for Chinese dates, but weights and measures are worse. For example, Xiamen’s Huli Hill cannon cost 60,000 “liang”, or taels (1 tael = 38 grams) of silver, and Quanzhou’s Luoyang Bridge, built in 1059, cost 1.4 million taels or “liang” of silver. But what did silver cost in the 1800s, or in 1059?

If the XMU’s MBA Center starts paying me in “liangs”, I’m quitting.

Another pet peeve is the “mu”, which is not cow talk but a unit of land measure. The Chinese dictionary said: “100 ‘mu’ = 1 “qing”, currently called “shimu”. 1 “shimu” = 60 square “zhang”, or 666.7 square meters.”

I don’t want to have a cow over “mus”, but sometimes they’re enough to make me bleat. As for lengths and distances… An English brochure boasts Anping Bridge is 8,110 “chi” long and 16 “chi” wide—but what’s a “chi”? And a Quanzhou sign says: “Shaolin Temple, 600 meters.” but I measured it and it is 1.1 km. Granted, the road winds a lot, and the Kungfu kicking monks probably fly direct, but I’m not the first to go the extra mile when tackling Chinese distances. In 1912, Rev. Philip Pitcher wrote in In and About Amoy:

These distances may not be accepted as entirely accurate. They are only approximate. When one comes to calculating distances in this part of China he meets with difficulties at once, chief among them being the difference in the length of the ‘li’ (about one-third of a mile) in different parts of this district. There are long ‘li’ and short ‘li’; there are mandarin ‘li’ and the common ordinary country ‘li’. The difference between these two is considerable, a mandarin ‘li’ being one-fourth shorter.

A Chinese boasted that Anping Bridge is five “li” long. Did he mean long “li”, short “li”, mandarin “li” or country “li”? I guess I’ll just have to give him a little “li” way.

The Buddhist Scripture Library boasts over 3,700 volumes of rare Buddhist scriptures and relics. Two carved stone poles bear carvings of Shiva the Destroyer, a member of the Hindu trinity (which includes Brahma and Vishnu). The poles were transported to Quanzhou from a collapsed Indian temple. But no one seems to mind the mixed motifs. In fact, Chinese temples often have Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist idols and rites in the same temple, as if the more the merrier (or perhaps they are just covering all of their bases).

Lugang Iron Bell was cast in 1837 and presented to Kaiyuan Temple by 46 companies of Lugang, Taiwan. Supposedly, the bell is so loud it can be heard all the way to Luoyang Bridge on the coast.

Purple Haze and Buddhist Angels Purple clouds surrounded Kaiyuan’s 1,387-square-meter main hall while under construction, so it was dubbed Purple Cloud Hall. The great hall had 100 granite pillars, so also called 100-Pillar-Hall. But the hall’s most unique feature is its 24 flying bat-winged angels (apsaras)—one for each division of the traditional Chinese solar year.

Bats symbolize evil and death for Westerners, but Chinese think they are lucky because “bat” (“fu”, 蚨) and “fortune” (fu, 福) are homonyms. The batty angels (or “wonderful music birds”) protrude from pillar brackets and help support the uniquely complicated beam structure. Their outstretched arms bear fruit, scholars’ “four treasures” (writing brush, ink slab, ink stick and paper), and traditional Chinese musical instruments.

Kaiyuan’s angels can’t be photographed without written permission from the provincial Religious Affairs Bureau, so I applied and waited to see what would develop. I just got negatives. But Quanzhou does have other angels—at the musical fountain across from the Quanzhou long-distance bus station.

Hindu Influence The Hindu relics scattered throughout the Kaiyuan Temple are reminders of Zaytun’s extensive early contacts with India—largely because of commerce with Tamil merchants. The unusual Indian sphinx in the temple’s base was added early on, but the columns with Indian carvings behind Kaiyuan’s main hall were scavenged from an Indian temple about four centuries ago when the father of Koxinga (see Chap. 10) helped rebuild the temple. The Twin Pagodas also show Indian influence, in part because an Indian monk supervised one of the renovations.

East and West Pagodas The East and West Pagodas flanking Kaiyuan Temple are the best preserved stone pagodas in China. They were first built of wood and stone, then brick, and later stone. Modeled after the great wooden pavilions of the Central Plains, they have withstood 1,000 years of earthquakes and tourists, thanks to their Song Dynasty reconstruction, which took 22 years (Fig. 4.5).

Fig. 4.5

Twin Pagodas, Kaiyuan Temple

The East Pagoda (Zhenguo—“nation-protecting”), a brochure says, was built of wood in 670. (I considered writing “1st Year of Xianheng in the Tang Dynasty”—just to see if my Chinese readers could figure it out). It was later rebuilt as a 48.24-meter-high stone pagoda.

The West Pagoda (Renshou—“merit and longevity”) was built in 916. Both of the five-story octagonal structures are carved top to bottom with vivid relief sculptures, and warriors are carved into the niches of each story. Legend has it that when the East Pagoda had been built up to the fourth level, Abbot Faquan died, and the remaining construction was supervised by Tianxi, a monk from India who had come to Quanzhou to preach Buddhist scriptures. This resulted in an unusual marriage of Chinese and Indian motifs, and a bit of monkey business as well.

Bearded Beauty The West Pagoda has two highly unusual carvings. One is of the Monkey King, and the other is of a mustached Goddess of Mercy. Maybe she was related to Guanyin, goddess of mercy and compassion? Guanyin was originally a man, but Chinese woman needed a female to pray to, and male gods were not seen as compassionate or merciful; just look at their expressions—hence the sex change. In west China’s Sichuan I saw a fully-bearded Guanyin goddess in a 1,000-year-old temple.

Monkey Business Some folks go ape over the West Pagoda’s Monkey King carvings, claiming they are the origin of the Monkey King story since they predate, by hundreds of years, the 16th century epic Journey to the West, which popularized the simian saint. In all likelihood, this monkey business began with the monkey-god Hanuman in the Indian epic, Ramayana. After all, an Indian monk oversaw the pagodas’ renovations.

Song Dynasty Ship To the right of Kaiyuan, past the Buddhist Museum, is the display for the Song Dynasty (960–1279) ship unearthed in Houzhu Harbor in 1974. The 24.2 m by 9.15 m ship had 13 separate watertight compartments, which made the ship virtually unsinkable—at least until it sunk. A typhoon snapped off the mast and the ship went down 100 m offshore, fully laden with Southeast Asian products, as well as 2,350 kg of incense wood—which no doubt incensed the Muslim owners to no end.

Westerners didn’t use watertight compartments until the 19th century. This innovative technique was used on the unsinkable Titanic, which of course promptly sunk. “Oh, Jack!” For more about the Muslim incense trade, and to actually meet a descendant of the incensed Muslims who owned the unsinkable Song Dynasty sunken ship, please turn to Chap. 13.

Overseas Chinese History Museum (华侨历史博物馆) Given that most overseas Chinese hail from southern Fujian (especially Quanzhou), it is no surprise the city has an extensive museum chronicling their history and their contributions to the motherland. The upper floor has an extensive photo display of overseas Chinese’ contributions to virtually every area of Quanzhou.

The Southern Shaolin Temple, for example, was rebuilt with the aid of 1 million yuan from a Filipino Chinese and a Singaporean martial arts organization, and a Singaporean Chinese, Mr. Lin, gave 500,000 yuan to build the Buddhist Museum at Kaiyuan Temple. Overseas Chinese endless contributions have gone toward new schools, universities (like Yang En, New China’s first private university), hospitals (Li Guoxing gave 3 million yuan for the emergency center), temples, churches, and perhaps most importantly in my eyes, roads.

Fish or Hook? “Better to give a man a hook and line than a fish”, goes the saying, and the best hooks nowadays are new roads. A young friend of mine from Anxi lived a hard life of heavy labor in Xiamen for a decade, but saved enough money that he was able to plant fruit trees back home. The fruit would not have been worth harvesting a decade ago when poor mountain roads meant markets were four times as far. A couple of years ago my friend said: “I’m going back home, Professor. Now I can make more money there than in Xiamen!”.

Pigs ‘n Poison The Overseas Chinese Museum also sheds light on a very dark subject—the notorious “Piggy Trade” (trafficking in coolies, which comes from the Chinese kuli for “bitter labor”, 苦力). Exhibits explain how we dastardly foreigners kidnapped Chinese and forced them to labor in inhuman conditions abroad. And, unfortunately, it is all too true. But…having said that, I think the museum should also note that the kidnapping itself was carried out by corrupt Chinese officials, who in turn sold them to dastardly foreigners. In the wax figure exhibit (below), the boss beating the coolie was Chinese, not a foreigner. Granted, foreigners paid him—but that’s my point.

Without the connivance of corrupt officials, the opium and coolie trades could never have survived—hence the article I wrote in People’s Daily a few years ago pointing out that the biggest threat to China’s sovereignty has always been not direct foreign aggression but the domestic corruption that allowed us wily barbarians to get a foothold and then a stranglehold.

Hopefully, “Laowai” and “Laonei” alike will learn some lessons from the Poison ‘n Piggy trades.

Other Miscellaneous City Sites

Tianhou Temple (天后宫) Both Chinese and foreign government officials and merchants used to seek smooth sailing by offering sacrifices to the Sea Goddess in Tianfei Temple (circa 1196). Tianhou’s nationally protected History Museum for Fujian-Taiwan Relations has a large collection of cultural relics, including the purported “Star of David” lying in the courtyard by a pile of assorted relics. Experts have fairly agreed, however, that this is not a Jewish relic. Many ancient cultures used variations of what we call the “Star of David”.

FormalPara Two Mazu Tales

Admiral Zheng Hé and the “Queen of Heaven” According to legend, when the Muslim admiral Zheng Hé encountered a violent storm at sea, he calmed his passengers by telling them the story of Goddess Mazu. The storm abated, and upon his return to China he asked the emperor to honor Goddess Mazu with a royal title, whereupon the emperor declared her the “Queen of Heaven”, and built a temple for her.

General Shi Lang and Goddess Mazu When the Qing Dynasty General Shi Lang (in Chap. 10) sailed to Taiwan to oust Koxinga’s descendants, he took a Mazu idol, which he left behind after his victory. When he reported to the emperor how the Goddess Mazu had helped him gain victory, the emperor gave her the title “Imperial Concubine”, and ordered Shi to expand her temple on Meizhou Island. As for the idol left behind in Taiwan, over the centuries the smoke from countless worshippers’ incense has turned Goddess Mazu’s face black, so they’ve nicknamed her “Black-faced Mazu” (easier nicknaming her than keeping her face clean, I suppose).

The Quanzhou Museum for Ancient Architecture (泉州南建筑博物馆)

If it were not 2022, but 2006 or earlier, you could still find this museum conveniently located downtown on the corner of Huxin Street and Wenling Street, built on the site of the Hong Clan Ancestral Hall. Once in the area, you might stop at the Huxin Hotel for some of award-winning Chef Zhong’s mouthwatering Quanzhou cuisine (check out in Chap. 14). However, since it moved to the city museum at the end of 2007, now you can only find it in Quanzhou Museum.

Chengtian Temple (承天寺), on Nanjunxiang Lane (南俊巷), is one of Quanzhou’s three greatest Buddhist temples (the other two being Kaiyuan and Chongfu). It was first built in the Tang Dynasty, and renovated in the 30th year of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1691). The brochure says it used to have “10 wonderful views” but was renovated and returned to its original condition (which means, I suppose, that the original did not have the 10 wonderful views?).

Chongfu Temple (崇福寺) This recently renovated temple on Chongfu Road (崇福路) is a provincial-level protected cultural relic, and where Shaolin Kungfu was taught after Quanzhou’s Shaolin Temple was destroyed. Be sure and visit the reconstructed Southern Shaolin Temple on the hill behind the Sports Stadium.

Zaytun Street Life

Many come hither from Upper India to have their bodies painted with the needle in the way we have elsewhere described, there being many adepts at this craft in the city (Zaytun).

—Marco Polo

It is no wonder that medieval travelers claimed Zaytun was intoxicating. If you wanted it, Quanzhou had it—everything from silken tapestries to tattoos. While Quanzhou is tamer nowadays, there’s still enough to keep you busy—especially at night, when bright lights are strung through the trees, and across buildings and pagodas.

Night markets are a shopper’s paradise (and her husband’s nightmare), offering everything imaginable and a few things that aren’t. And street vendors’ endlessly diverse offerings of snacks are guaranteed to please your stomach as well as your wallet.

Wagner’s music is better than it sounds.

Edgar Wilson Nye, quoted in Mark Twain’s Autobiography.

Streetside Opera Each evening, rain or shine, local artists perform music or drama on stages set up by intersections. Others sketch charcoal caricatures, or transform names into beautiful works of calligraphy. And there is always a fellow who weaves amazingly realistic flowers and insects from leaves, and sells them for a pittance to locals and tourists alike. The streets are one unending delightful performance. And if in spite of all this revelry you find yourself down in the dumps—try visiting the dumps … (Fig. 4.6).

Fig. 4.6

Streetside Southern Opera

Down in the Dumps?

No, I’m not really suggesting you visit the city dump or sightsee the sewage treatment center, but they are in fact remarkable, and part of the reason is that Quanzhou has been able to balance mushrooming economic growth with preservation of its historical, cultural and natural heritage. And in an age when environmental problems loom large over us (especially in China, with 1.413 billion consumers/disposers), it is encouraging to see cities like Quanzhou that make preservation of their environment a priority.

Quanzhou, amazingly, treats 95.29% of its daily sewage, which is much better than 0% a decade ago. Water from the 133 million-yuan state-of-the-art Baozhou Sewage Treatment Plant, which was built in 2017, is pure enough that it can be used for irrigation or to raise fish!

Quanzhou has one of China’s most advanced volume-reduced, harmless sanitary landfills. It easily meets present needs, and a new plant has been built for growing demands. The plant not only uses the most cutting-edge imported technology and practices but also employs some good old Chinese ingenuity—like lining the dumping grounds with inert waste from the shoe industry. This gets rid of the waste, and also forms an additional protection against percolating liquids. (Fascinating, eh? Or maybe not—but it is these kinds of practices behind-the-scenes that make the Quanzhou that tourists see such a beautiful, clean and healthy place to visit). And it is getting better.

Phase Two will improve recycling, and allow conversion of some waste into fertilizer. This, combined with extensive campaigns to encourage citizens to reduce, reuse and recycle, and to presort garbage, are all part of Quanzhou’s holistic planning, and a good reason why the City of Light may still be around when less enlightened cities have gone the way of the dodo bird.

FormalPara Notes

• 1. Unforgettable Journey—Fifty Years for Fujian Christian Churches on the Three-Self, published by The Three Self-Patriotic Movement Committee of Christian Churches in Fujian and the Fujian Christian Council.

• 2. Pitcher, Rev. Philip Wilson, (1912) “In and About Amoy”, Methodist Publishing House in China, Shanghai and Foochow, 1912, p. 283.

• 3. Rev. Carstairs Douglas, who did more for Westerner’s understanding of the Minnan dialect than perhaps any other man, was in excellent health one day and dead of virulent cholera the next. Talmadge wrote of Douglas:

  By overwork he had worn himself out, and made himself an old man while he was yet comparatively young in years. He came to China quite young and at the time of his death was only about forty-six years of age, and yet men who had recently become acquainted with him thought him over sixty… he did more work during the twenty-two years of his missionary life than the most of men accomplish in twice that time…

  Recently, especially during the last year, it was manifest, at least to others, that his physical strength was fast giving way. Yet he could not be prevailed upon to leave his field for a season for temporary rest, or even to lessen the amount of his work.

  I never knew a more incessant worker. He was a man of most extensive general information. I think I have never met with his equal in this respect. He was acquainted with several modern European languages and was a thorough student of the original languages of Holy Scripture, as witness to the fact of his study of the Hebrew Bible, even after his last sickness had commenced. As regards the Chinese language, he was already taking his place among the first sinologues of the land.

• 4. Yule, Sir Henry (1866), “Cathay and the Way Thither Being a Collection of Medieval Notices of China,” Hakluyt Society.