Chengdu News

Mr Yao Yuan showing the symbol of the Land of Abundance Square

Last morning, the creative director, overall in-charge of the Land of Abundance Square ground view design, famous and contemporary artist, planner and director, Mr Yao Yuan, revealed the Land of Abundance Square's symbol of tourism. The symbol will be put up at the fences in the Square as well as the entrance of the metro station, to be used as a symbolic and easy-to-notice mark for tourists.

The symbol adopts a streamlined shape, which looks like a phoenix flying in the sky. Mr Yao Yuan added that this symbol also looks like the Chinese character of Chuan (which means "Sichuan Province"). It also looks like the Chinese character of Shui (which means "water"), which represents Chengdu is the capital of the abundance of poultries and other farmed animals. In addition, it also looks like the character of Shang (which means "up"), symbolising Chengdu as the capital of the highest standards. The shape of the symbol is half of the Tai Chi (Taiji) symbol. The whole symbol manifested the harmonious scenery of the Land of Abundance Square.

Mr Yao also revealed the scheme for the scenery on the ground. This include areas such as the theme, elements, colours, style and design.


The Land of Abundance Square under renovation.
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Questions and Answers (Q & A) Session

Theme: Land of Abundance, The Capital of Morality
Q: How was the theme of the Square confirmed?

A: If a city has no theme, it is just like the city has no spirit. Beijing is the capital city of China, thus her theme is simply "capital". So what should Chengdu's theme be? Well, it should be no other than "Land of Abundance, The Capital of Morality". The Land of Abundance is well-known, but how to comprehend the meaning of "the capital of morality"?

First of all, when we talk about history, Chengdu is a capital city since ancient times, with a rich history of more than 5000 years. Since she was founded more than 3000 years ago, the site of the city has never changed. For over 2000 years, her name was not changed, either. The city was named "Chengdu" even up to today. Chengdu is also the only city in China whose name was not changed over the years.

When we talk about geography, Chengdu is not only a metropolis at the upper section of the Yangtze River, but the Sichuan Plain is also the place of origin of the Yangtze River Civilizations. As for the character of cities, Chengdu is also a city of moral values. Chengdu is an inclusive, creative and harmonious society. As early as about 3000 years ago, the ancient residents of the Shu Kingdom have already started to find out the mystery behind the harmonious relationship between human beings and water. As a result, they became prosperous and gained much benefits from water.

Thus, we are able to conclude that the theme for the Square is "Land of Abundance, The Capital of Morality".
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Element: The Harmonious Taiji Manifests the Unique Chengdu Culture

Q: There are elements such as the Sunbird, Taiji Fish's Eyes, Harmonious Taiji Pattern and Cloud-shaped Waterfall on the Land of Abundance Square. Why have you chosen these elements?

A: Firstly, at the centre of the Square is the Sunbird. As for why have I chosen this pattern, it is because the Sunbird is the most classic and excellent representation of the Chinese culture. It is also the symbol of Chengdu's ancient Shu culture. Not only was it nicely-designed, but also adopts a deep meaning behind it. The worshipping of the Sun and the Phoenix by the ancient ancestors of Shu Kingdom is shown by the Sunbird. Moreover, in the Sunbird pattern, the flames from the Sun and the flying phoenix are in opposite directions, representing the Yin and Yang extremes are working differently, but harmoniously. Since this was taken into consideration, the Harmonious Taiji became the second element of the design scheme.


The Sunbird: China's Cultural Heritage

The third element of the scenery on the ground is the Double Dragon Fountain. Why is dragon present? This is so as the site of the Square used to be known as the Jumping Dragon Pool in the ancient dynasty of Sui and Moke Pool in the Tang dynasty. As the Square already had affinity with dragons 1000 years ago, and also due to the fact that the dragon is the top symbol of the Chinese race, the dragon was designed. In the future, there will be two ascending dragons on the Square.

As for the Cloud-shaped Waterfall, a large piece of land will be occupied, going down layer by layer, along the decending shape of the Square, just like the waterfalls in popular tourist destinations such as Jiuzhai Valley and Yellow Dragon in Sichuan Province. In addition, there will be large poster walls showing some famous poems praising the beauty of Chengdu, written by the famous ancient poets, such as Li Bai and Du Fu.
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Colour: Green Moral Life with Simplicity

Q: How was the choice of colour being made?

A: The Land of Abundance Square adpots green colour as the majority and with a little bit of golden colour. We have taken into consideration that the whole Square will be a square full of liveliness, so we have chosen green as the majority colour, the colour of life. At the same time, this is also the colour of the Greenish Bronze relics. Thus, we have finalized the basic colour of the Square as green, and gold was chosen due to some historical reasons. These two colours manifested the ancient Shu culture and civilization, the premier living environment and our pursue for a harmonious society.
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Style: Showcasing China's Magnificent Ancient Shu Civilization

Q: How was the style of the Land of the Abundance Square oriented?

A: It is of utmost importance to orient the style of the Square. I think that anything that belongs to China should have China's own characteristics and style. I believe that it is necessary to welcome tourists from all parts of the world with open arms. As such, the Square will have to bring them the exciting and rich Chinese culture, and the ancient culture of Shu. This allows them to experience for themselves how great the Chinese race is. It is only through this when they can truly understand why China could rise. Not only is it due to the hardworking Chinese people, but it is also greatly depended on the rich history of China. Therefore, the magnificent China should be the most important style of the Square.

Besides, the Land of Abundance Square will also include ancient Shu and other ethnic characteristics. This can be easily seen from from any part of the square. For example, on the 12 cultural poles at the Square, many elements from the Jinsha and Sanxingdui Relics were displayed.

Black and white photos are adapted from Chengdu Commercial Daily. The Sunbird 3D image is adapted from Hu Hu, a user from Just Chengtu Forum. Original report in Mandarin adapted from Chengdu Commercial Daily and translated by Yours Truly, Samuel.