|
Baidi City (White Emperor City)
Baidi City Located at the entrance of the Qutang Gorge
on the north bank of the river, it's known as White Emperor City
clings to grandeur hills and cliffs. It is actually is a mini city
scattered with temples and gates on top of Baidi Hill.
 The Baidi City was said to be built by Gongsun Shu, an
official turned soldier, as the site of his headquarters during the
end of the Western Han Dynasty. The legend goes that in 25 A.D. Gong
Sunshu saw white vapor in the shape of a dragon rising from a nearby
well, and taking this as an auspicious omen, he declared himself the
'White Emperor' and renamed the town 'White Emperor City' and the hill
Baidi Hill. Later in 36A.D. he raised a war with Liuxiu (Emperor
Guangwu of the Easten Han Dynasty), then a member of the Han imperial
family, in order to annex each other. In this turbulent period, the
city was entirely survived from warfare. The grateful local people
then built a temple to commemorate him. During the Ming Dynasty, the
statue of Gongsun Shu was replaced by a new one for Liubei and later
with another three for Guanyu, Zhang Fei and Zhuge Liang respectively.
Another story of the city is about the Three Kingdoms.
During the Three Kingdoms Period, Liu Bei, the king of Shu, retreated
from a disastrous war against general Lu Xun of Wu Kingdom, and died
here in distress. On his deathbed, Liu entrusted state affairs and his
son, Liu Chan, to Prime Minister Zhuge Liang (a famous idea man in
China's history). The front hall contains large modern statues which
depict the scene in the story. To the left is the handsome, winged
Observing Stars Pavilion (Guanxing Ting) where Zhuge Liang observed
the stars and made accurate weather forecasts which helped him plan
his victorious battles. With upturned eaves and polished beams, the
temple has 12 pillars on the ground floor and 6 on the upper floor.
Baidi city is also known as City of Poems. In ancient
times, attracted by its fame, many scholars and poets visited here and
left lots of literal relics. In the city, there are over 70 poems,
carvings, and cultural relics of the Sui, Yuan, Ming and Qing
dynasties, in which two steles from Sui, Qing Emperor Kangxi,
Bamboo-Leaf Stele and Phoenix Stele are the most outstanding.
|
|
|
