Baidicheng or Baidi Fortress (lit. White Emperor City) is an ancient fortress and

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

complex on a hill on the northern shore of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, 8 km east of the present day Fengjie County seat in

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

municipality.

Overview

The name ''Baidicheng'' literally means White Emperor City. It has been said that the area was once surrounded with a white mist, giving it a look which was rather mysterious, yet serene—much as what an emperor should be like. It has also been said that someone saw a white dragon, the symbol of the Emperor appear there, that the warlord Gongsun Shu thought this was a fortuitous sign, and so declared himself Emperor of

Chengjia Chengjia (; 25–36 AD), also called the Cheng dynasty or Great Cheng, was a self-proclaimed empire established by Gongsun Shu in 25 AD after the collapse of the Xin dynasty of Chinese history, rivalling the Eastern Han dynasty founded by ...

. Thus Gongsun was said to have founded the city, and so called himself "the White Emperor". The temple complex is now on an island, due to raised water levels following the construction of the

Three Gorges Dam The Three Gorges Dam (), officially known as Yangtze River Three Gorges Water Conservancy Project () is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River near Sandouping in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downs ...

. Many older structures were submerged, and new buildings have been built higher up. The temple complex island is linked to the north bank of the Yangtze, by a bridge. The island continues to be a tourist attraction, with many cruise ships halting for tours at Fengjie. Baidi is also known as the "City of Poems", because so many poets such as

Li Bai Li Bai (, 701–762), Literary and colloquial readings, also pronounced Li Bo, courtesy name Taibai (), was a Chinese poet acclaimed as one of the greatest and most important poets of the Tang dynasty and in Chinese history as a whole. He and hi ...

wrote about it (see: " Departing from Baidi in the Morning"). Another famous and talented poet,

Du Fu Du Fu (; 712–770) was a Chinese poet and politician during the Tang dynasty. Together with his elder contemporary and friend Li Bai, Du is often considered one of the greatest Chinese poets of his time. His greatest ambition was to serve ...

, resided in Baidi for 2 or 3 years.

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a China, Chinese warlord in the late Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty who later became the founding Emperor of China, emperor of Shu Han, one of the Three Kingdoms of ...

, the first emperor of the

Shu Han Han (; 221–263), known in historiography as Shu Han ( ) or Ji Han ( "Junior Han"), or often shortened to Shu ( zh, t=蜀, p=Shǔ; Sichuanese Pinyin: ''Su'' < Middle Chinese: *''źjowk'' < Eastern Han Chinese: *''dźok''), was a Dynasties in ...

during the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

era, is said to have died in Baidi, although, according to

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' is a Chinese official history written by Chen Shou in the late 3rd century CE, covering the end of the Han dynasty (220 CE) and the subsequent Three Kingdoms period (220–280 CE). It is regard ...

, Liu Bei died at his palace of Yong'angong. The site of Yong'angong was located in what is now inside of the Normal School of Fengjie County, a few miles away from the current Baidicheng. Thus, as in other cases, the location of an ancient place is not necessarily the same as the location of a modern town with the same name. In 2006, the Chinese government established Baidi Fortress as a national heritage site.

Gallery

File:Baidicheng 2014.jpg, Temple of the White Emperor. File:Baidi Mao.jpg, A bronze plaque of Li Bai poem,

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

calligraphy. File:白帝城岛.JPG, View of Baidicheng from cruise ship.

References

External links

* Religious buildings and structures in Chongqing Temples in China River islands of China Yangtze River Landforms of Chongqing Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Chongqing Traditional Chinese architecture Military history of Chongqing Fengjie County {{Chongqing-geo-stub

Overview

Gallery

See also

References

External links