Baidi Town architecture
Baidi is a famous small town located near the mouth of Qutang Gorge in Fengjie County, Chongqing Municipality. In the county, boats sailing on the upper reaches of Yangtze River go downstream smoothly. There are ancient Chinese style houses among the dense, green forest, which is on the high hill located on the northern bank of the river. This is Baidi Town in the Three Gorges area.
The east of the town faces the Kuimen Gate (夔门), the west the Eight Battle Formation Diagram and Baidi Town is like a peninsular in Yangtze River. It had also been a place of strategically importance. A legend goes that Gongsun Shu established this small town in late Han Dynasty for storing grains. He wanted to be a king for a long time, so he ordered his servants distributed such an information that there was always white gas emitted from a downtown well, which looked like a white flying dragon (in general, in ancient China the appearance of dragon was an auspicious prediction). Thereafter Gongsun Shu became the King in 25 AD and called himself Baidi (”bai” = white and “di” = emperor) Emperor, so this town was named after him. In 37AD, Liu Xiu, the Founding Emperor of the East Han Dynasty attacked Shu State and Gongsun Shu failed and died. When Gongsun reigned as an emperor, he developed agricultural and water conservancy works, which were benefit to his people. Later, the local established a temple to commemorate him, and this was Baidi Temple.
The Baidi Temple
In 222 AD, Liu Bei failed in the battle against Eastern Wu State in Three-Kingdom period. Since then, Liu Bei was ill until his death. He made up his will and requested his Prime Minister Zhuge Liang to bring up his son. Therefore, Baidi Temple honored Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang with their golden-gilt statues. However, it is quite strange to see without the Baidi emperor, because his statue has been removed during the Ming Dynasty.
The temple also displays cultural relics discovered from the Hanging Coffins in Qutang Gorge, 73 stone tablets of ancient calligraphy and about 1,000 pieces of heritage from different dynasties.
After the completion of the Three Gorges Dam Project, Baidi Town will become an island in Yangtze River due to the increasing level of water. The island will be looked like a heavenly fairyland.
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