Yuan Jiang-At Mount Li Escaping the Heat

Mount Li () is a mountain located in the northeast of

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

Shaanxi Province Shaanxi is a province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to the west. Shaanxi ...

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 ...

. The mountain is part of the Qinling mountain range and rises to a height of 1302 metres (4271 ft) above sea level. It is one of the eight scenic spots of the

Guanzhong Plain Guanzhong (, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanised as Kwanchung) region, also known as the Guanzhong Basin, Wei River Basin, or uncommonly as the Shaanzhong region, is a historical region of China corresponding to the crescentic graben str ...

and popularly said to "shine like a beacon in the evening sunlight".

Ancient era

Some ancient tales say that the literal Chinese name "Black Steed Mountain" stems from its resemblance to a horse whilst others that the name arose during the Shang and Zhou dynasties because the "Black Steed Tribe", lived in this area. Another legend cites the mountain as the place from where the Mount Li goddess Lishan Laomu and

Nüwa Nüwa, also read Nügua, is a mother goddess, culture hero, and/or member of the Three Sovereigns of Chinese mythology. She is a goddess in Chinese folk religion, Chinese Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. She is credited with creating humani ...

, creator of mankind, repaired the wall of heaven. The two goddesses have long been worshipped on the same mountain. In 771 BCE,

King You of Zhou King You of Zhou (795–771 BC), personal name Ji Gongsheng, was a king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty and the last from the Western Zhou dynasty. He reigned from 781 to 771 BC. History In 780 BC, a major earthquake struck Guanzhong. A soothsayer n ...

was slain at its foothills alongside his loyal vassal Duke Huan of Zheng. This marked the collapse of the mighty Western Zhou dynasty and began a very long age of endless conflict that devastated the Central Plains. At the foot of the mountain is the necropolis of the first Emperor

Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang (, ; February 25912 July 210 BC), born Ying Zheng () or Zhao Zheng (), was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of China. He is widely regarded as the first ever supreme leader of a unitary state, unitary d ...

, comprising his mausoleum and the

Terracotta Army The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE with the purpose of protecting him in his aft ...

. Geographer Li Daoyuan of

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an Dynasties of China, impe ...

, recorded in '' Shui Jing Zhu'' that Mount Li was a favoured location due to its auspicious geology: "famed for its jade mines, its northern side was rich in gold, and its southern side rich in beautiful jade; the first emperor, covetous of its fine reputation, therefore chose to be buried there".Shui Jing Zhu Chapter 19
《水經注•渭水》Original text: 秦始皇大興厚葬，營建塚壙於驪戎之山，一名藍田，其陰多金，其陽多美玉，始皇貪其美名，因而葬焉。 Huaqing Pool, a

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

royal hot spring complex or geyser resort, stands at the foot of Mount Li.

Republic of China era

On December 12, 1936, ''de facto''

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

(KMT) leader Chiang Kai-shek arrived in Shaanxi Province and stayed at Huaqingchi. His ostensible mission was to eradicate the local

Communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

and warlords, but instead he was kidnapped whilst hiding in a crevice on Li Mountain in what became known as the

Xi'an Incident The Xi'an Incident was a Chinese political crisis that lasted from 12 to 26 December 1936. Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Nationalist government of China, was arrested in Xi'an by soldiers of the Northeastern Army under the command of Ge ...

. After the incident, the KMT government built the simple "Minzu Fuxing Pavilion" () at the foot of the crevice in commemoration. The building was reconstructed using steel and concrete in 1946 with the relevant funds subscribed by students of the Whampoa Military Academy in

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

. It was renamed the "Zhengqi Pavilion" () with inscriptions in the building eulogizing Chiang authored by senior KMT officers.

People's Republic of China era

After the 1949 Communist victory, the pavilion was for a time called the "Seizing Chiang Pavilion" (), finally adopting its current name of "Bingjian Pavilion" (兵谏亭; ) in 1986. Both terms refer to the

. Today, Li Mountain National Forest Park is a national level protected site and an AAAA rated tourist attraction classified as a cultural, and historic monument.

References

''This article is based on a translation o
骊山
in Chinese Wikipedia'' ''; Information copied from English Wikipedia about the death of Youwang, in

Battle of Mount Li The Battle of Mount Li ''( Li Shan)'' was a decisive clash that occurred in Ancient China in 771 BC near the twin cities of Haojing and Fengjing, often referred to together as Fenghao. The battle was fought between the dynastic army of King Yo ...

'' {{authority control Lishan National parks of China History of Shaanxi Tourist attractions in Shaanxi AAAA-rated tourist attractions