Hanging in Liyang, Part 2

To modify a classic saying, "When in China, do as the Chinese." In overnight bus trips to both Liyang and and Yixing recently, rain became an obstacle. And, I'm sorry. I'm not going to pay for a bus or train ticket AND a hotel room to just sit in said hotel room and complain about how the sun is not shining. So, no matter what, I will go out and look at stuff no matter the weather. The funny thing is this: Chinese people in this region do the same. Rain? Who cares! Lets go for a walk in the park. That's what umbrellas are made for! So, yeah. I totally got out and walked around in spite of the weather. My one of the first things I did was start following the canals in Liyang. 

There is a method to this madness. Canals in this part of China are thousands of years old. They tend to be the one historic thing that cannot be bulldozed and rebuilt to mimic antquity. Liyang is no different than other southern Jiangsu cities that there are canals here. It just doesn't have as many as the larger cities, which is common sense if you think about it. 

Eventually, I ended up finding a local legend. This is the stuff I live for while traveling. I wasn't able to find much in English about this, but the above station is of something called "The Gauze Washing Virgin." I know this from the meager information the bilingual signage has in English. More than two thousand years ago -- before China was united into one empire -- there were several kingdoms constantly at war with each other. 

Chu was one of these kingdoms. and it was large and encompassed a swath of land that included present day Henan, Jiangsu, Anhui, and a lot more. Wu Zixu was a high ranking official. Due to political intrigues, he had to flee Chu. He was framed, basically. So, he escaped to the Wu Kingdom. This is basically present day Suzhou, Wuxi, and Changzhou. During his travels, he suffered from a lack of food and other bits of duress. 

The local legend goes like this. Wu Zixu stumbles into Liyang. A local girl saves him, nurses him to health, and feeds him. However, she knows who he is. She knows that merely possessing this information puts him at risk. So, what does she do? Grab a huge rock, fling herself into a river, and commit suicide so that his secret is kept secret. Jeez, Chinese legends can be so brutal, sometimes. 

So, the above statue is in Liyang to memorialize this rather grim story. It sits in Phoenix Park, which is a small, slender island among Liyang's downtown network of aged canals. From here, he went on wandering in the rain. But, this tale gave me a lot to think about. 

Hanging in Liyang, Part 1