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Remains of that Day

The story of one temple through one person in China’s quake hit Sichuan

By Nick Kozak

The May 12^th earthquake in Sichuan, China caused damage on an enormous scale; more than seventy thousand people died and an additional eighteen thousand are still considered missing. Over five million people lost their homes in the disaster.

In a rural area, in a village called Wudu, very close to the town of Hangwan and half an hour away from Mianzhu, there is a famous temple. Ji Xiang Temple was all but destroyed; most of the buildings that surround it, belonging to the temple are now piles of rubble.

At Ji Xiang I met Zhong Ping, a 73 year-old Buddhist nun who has lived at the temple for twenty years. She, like many of the older people who lived on the site, remain there today, now living in tents. Having adapted to their new situation in the first few months following the quake, they try to do whatever they can to recuperate their losses.

Zhong Ping told me that the earthquake lasted about 3 minutes. Since then there have been periodic aftershocks that have kept people on constant guard. Zhong Ping says that the earthquake was very frightening; she was working in the fields when it happened and said that the ground and walls waved like the sea.

Prior to the earthquake over one hundred and fifty people lived at the temple, connected to the building in one way or another. Many of these included individuals from younger generations, poor people who had found refuge there at different times. Since the earthquake almost all of these younger people have moved away because of the dire conditions here; namely lack of basic necessities, especially shelter. The older people along with a few able bodied, but some mentally or physically disabled younger individuals, have stayed with the daunting task of recovering and rebuilding. Less than half the original number is present today.

The nuns and monks, many aged over sixty must first clear rubble meanwhile pulling out many objects that are salvageable and wash and preserve them before anything new can be built. On any particular day small groups of people can be seen pulling bricks out of the rubble and breaking the cement off of them or clearing and segregating wood. Others can be seen pulling blankets or icons out and then cleaning or hanging them to dry. All of these tasks out in very hot summer weather.

The Shifu, or Master of the temple says that there are already plans in place to rebuild the temple and adjacent buildings in three years. He proudly speaks of the history of the site and says that there has been a temple here for over one thousand five hundred years. Zhong Ping and others say that there is no financial support given to the temple and there probably will not be any, aside from the materials and beds for temporary housing. One asks, how can they rebuild with a few dozen people in their physical condition?

That question remains to be answered but what is apparent is the determination that these people have. The temple’s residents have lost everything. They are lucky though says Zhong Ping, because only eight people died that day, most of the residents were out somewhere away from the temple at a meeting because it was Buddha’s birthday, she says. She took me to the site of the burials of the eight elderly one day. She had trouble finding the site and it became clear in my mind that the people at the temple, including Zhong Ping, who says she got along well with the deceased, had left the past behind a while ago and were focused on getting back to work, regardless of the current circumstances.

Although the task facing the residents of Ji Xiang Temple is daunting, the determination is there. A lot of the determination probably comes from their faith. What I noticed was that one of the priorities in recuperating activities on the site was retrieving, cleaning and protecting the religious icons. There were several spots with Buddha’s sitting amongst the rubble, obviously plucked out with umbrellas over them protecting them against the elements.

It is no secret though that the temple could really use a lot of help and that the people working there everyday have their physical limitations. It is also difficult to conceive that this group of people could actually clear all of the rubble and rebuild anew on their own. At a certain point they will have to bring in outside help, provided there will be resources for such a move of course. Apart from their age, their low numbers and the size of the task there are life necessities that must be met such as gathering food, cooking, washing and so on. The conditions in the tents are very damp and in the rainy season it is difficult to keep the water out. There is temporary housing set up, now will they all make the move? Is there enough space for everyone?

I suspect though that these questions are irrelevant to these people they must feel that they have no other choice but to rebuild, with help or no help. They like the thousands upon thousands of people affected by the earthquake in Sichuan may spend years rebuilding, recuperating their homes. They seem ready to do it step by step however long it takes. Zhong Ping says that her family is concerned and wants her to go live with them in another town an hour away, she decides to stay at the temple. The people of Wudu, like those of many areas in Sichuan, have been invited to live in temporary housing kilometres away from the site of their homes but many have decided to stay at their homes. The residents of the temple may be lucky and have their temporary housing units on site, yet they have in common with thousands of others in that despite how poor their situation may be, they have decided to remain at home to rebuild after the day the ground shook.

Diary

Write a daily account of the days you work on this project. This should cover your thoughts, success’, failures as well as a factual account of what you did on a day by day basis. You may wish to include a diary of the days spent travelling and acclimatising to the area you shot in however the only requirement is that you include a diary of the 10 (or more) days spent shooting/editing the project.

Day 1 July 26^th, 2008

I arrived in Mianzhu and was met by the group who is involved in the school that I’ll be working with. I came to this area, town or village of Wudu and explored most of the day although I did take some photographs which I think will come in handy as establishing shots. Not sure yet.

Most importantly, I think I know what my project is going to be focused on. Just 5 minutes from where I am staying, the camp, there is a very good story. It is a temple, one with a rich history and many people involved with a lot going on. The temple and surrounding buildings on its site were heavily damaged or completely destroyed in the earthquake.

Day 2 – July 27^th, 2008

I have met and talked to some of the people there, including the Master, the Shifu. Thanks to the volunteers here I have translators. Wonderful.

I am not sure that I only want to focus on this temple in my project, but I know that I will commit a lot of time to it. I do want to give justice to everything that happened here and I need to do that by finding the right ‘average’ person affected by the earthquake though the story of the temple is a rich one and I will pursue it in the coming days. Unfortunately it is raining at the moment.

There are some other stories to pursue. I hope that something will come out of our first English class tomorrow. I may want to follow the story of one of the children. I have also been told about some personal stories from the volunteers like the cousin who was 1 of 3 to survive of 36 in a classroom in Dongqi middle school or the friend who has yet to be found. I was also told about Zhundao huanghuang where more than 100 children died, only 2 or 3 kids in each classroom of the kindergarten survived.

I shot in the afternoon today after the rained stopped. I met a woman who has lived in the surroundings of the temple for many years. She told me that the younger people all left after the earthquake. These people were being supported by the temple. I can see that there were many, many places to live in the surroundings and now they are all rubble.

The woman is an interesting character. I followed her as she washed some things salvaged from the rubble. She also spends a lot of time clearing wood from the rubble and moving it to a pile.

July 28^th, 2008 - Day 3

I have decided that the older woman will be the main character in my telling of the story of the temple. I have chosen her because she seems fairly open and able to speak to us about the temple and the earthquake. I hope I can follow her on her daily routines and I hope she can tell me all about the temple today, since the earthquake and everything that has been going on. I do need a lot more material on her. I hope she can take us to the burial site of the 8 people who died during the earthquake.

I was told that they were lucky that many more did not died because they happened to be away from the temple at the time.

I have been fairly successful in shooting the woman over the last few days but of course I have had ample opportunity to photograph the rubble, which is interesting and needs to be shot in order to have some setting for the story but I still need a lot more material from the woman herself.

I have decided that I cannot tell the story of the temple in its entirety without showing the other people. These others will be the side characters, but she will be the main character and will tell the story of the temple but I will show the side characters in what they do there.

It’s going alright but I need more material of course and I am still intent on doing at least one more story to have at least two from the earthquake to do the subject of the quake some justice.

I did go up the hill with Leon today and we came across some people living in tents. We sat and talked for a while. I learned that 3 men there lost their children in the disaster, they were in one of the collapsed schools. Very, very sad. I may pursue the story.

July 29^th, 2008 - Day 4

Today I covered two important parts of the story. We interviewed the old lady (make a note to learn her name finally) and we followed her to where the 8 dead from the earthquake were buried. Very important stuff and may be my most powerful.

What I think I need to do tomorrow is:

1. Get video of the old lady working with the wood.
2. Get better shots of the main temple
3. Get sounds of the wood being thrown
4. Get more tent shots including the tent by the washing area

I think by then I can call it a wrap. I am still intent on doing one more story for this project. I don’t know how effective it will be with two stories vs three but I think realistically I can just do two. I hope to cover the story of loss of a child.

I need to make sure to write down notes of all the information that we have learned over the last few days.

July 30^th, 2008 – Day 5

Today I got pretty darn close to the end but everytime I think I’m there I realize something that I’m missing. I think that I’ve really gotten quite attached to the place and the story. I am really interested and I’ve connected with some of the people. If I were to do this particular story for another 5 days which I doubt I will do then I think my photos would be even stronger, I do think they are quite alright and I think I’ve covered a lot.

There are a few more things I need;

1. A video of Zong Ping (I have finally learned her name) working with the wood.
2. Sound of her working with the wood.
3. The disabled man’s tent inside.

July 31^st, 2008 - Day 6

Today I spent little time at the temple. I got a few more pictures there but did not get any of the material I was planning to get. I did get some good ones of Zhong Ping near her tent and on the path out of the temple.

What I did do today, which may or may not be part of the project, but overall will not be part of the project is I photographed many subjects in rural areas. We started by going up a mountain and visiting among others an 83 year-old blind woman and an 83 year-old mute woman who does not actually know that her son died in the earthquake (got my best material from that visit).

After the mountain we went down to a few farming communities. One of the most memorable people we met was a 93 year-old blind man. Wang, the woman whom I joined this afternoon sat and talked to him for a long time.

I may return to this area for this project and photograph one of these stories. I am interested in a woman who lost both her husband and her daughter near the village where Wang is staying.

August 1^st, 2008 – Day 7

I am pretty sure that today was my final day for shooting at Ji Xiang Temple, at least this time around. I am pretty happy with the material that I have. The pictures are fairly strong and in large numbers. I believe that my sound is good but I have yet to go through all of it. I was lucky that the final day in the area was the 1^st of August a special day when many people came to visit the temple and to worship. There were interesting pictures to be taken that were not to be had earlier. These were of people performing their prayers in front of statues of Buddha throughout the ruins.

Today I also met a woman who lost both her husband and son in the earthquake when the factory in which they worked, Dongqi was destroyed. I started shooting photos of her, her mother and Ms Wang, the volunteer who is essentially my fixer for this story. I will be going back for 4 days starting Monday to follow her story.

August 4^th - Day 8

I shot in Wudu again today after much needed break over the weekend. The earthquake zone was getting to me a bit. I didn’t exactly shoot for the project today but oh well. I did get project related photographs seeing as they are about the earthquake. That’s it, I’ll have to do something tomorrow.

August 5^th , 2008 – Day 9

Today I finally got back to the woman who lost both her Husband and her son. It turns out she lost her son in the factory and her husband in a government building in the old part of Hangwan. It turns out that Hangwan is very close to Wudu, just a few kilometres away. It did take a lot of the day, apart from dealing with the rain, I was not really in control of when we would go. I had to wait for the others, who were both my fixers and would get me to the place. Although, in the future, I should just go!

August 6^th , 2008 – Day 10

Today I photographed a bit more of Miss Wang at her home but also on a trip to Minzhu where she was buying things in preparation for the ceremony on Thursday.

August 7^th ,2008 – Day 11

Apart from the ceremony at the home of Miss Wang and the grave of her husband and son I also went back to the temple momentarily and got a few more pictures and said a final goodbye to Zhong Ping.

The ceremony seemed like several ceremonies. After getting back from a very early trip to Mianzhu where Miss Wang bought fresh meat for the food that would be prepared for the guests that day I had a coffee and returned to her home where there were several performances/activities, traditional rites I guess for the dead. It was quite interesting, maybe amusing at times.

August 8^th , 2008 – Day 12

Today I shot very very briefly at the home of a daughter of Zhong Ping’s in Gong xing, the town where my friend Leon’s family lives and where I stayed for a night. I have no idea if I will use the few pictures or sound that I recorded but I thought I should grab them since I had the opportunity.

I threw together a quick gallery of shots on the web just to show what I shot there in Wudu at the temple. They are in no particular order really. Have a look though, here.

I haven’t made a blog post in ages. I was extremely busy over the last month. My return to Sichuan for this project was a success but after some deliberation I finally decided not to go back to Yingxiu. The main reason for that was the large number of people who had gone through the town,t he large amount of coverage that it had already received. I was also worried that there was not much in the way of what I was looking for there.

I got to Chengdu and almost immediately got in touch with a temporary school in a place called Wudu not far from Mianzhu, a town about 2 hours north of Chengdu. I got up there a couple of days later and to my surprise there was what seemed like the perfect story. A 5 minute walk from where the school was based there was a large area with a partially destroyed temple called Ji Xiang and many of its destroyed residential and other buildings.

I decided to tell the story of the temple, from the eartquake to now. I decided to try and do it through one perseon, that person was 73 year-old Zhong Ping.

The rest is in the multimedia piece.

A story by Nick Mackie of the BBC about the Qiang People in the mountains of Sichuan. Read about their plight here.

If anyone has any useful information/contacts in Sichuan so that my project can be successful please do leave a comment or send e-mail through the contact section of my website here.

The military has started to withdraw from the earthquake zone. Read here.

A very interesting article about a family from Sichuan that moved to Beijing and opened a restaurant. See here.

Well, some infofrom other sources:

Prisoners get reduced sentences in Sichuan after quake work: link

Various stories about the reconstruction phase: link

CCTV about quake: link