The Qutang Gorge () is the shortest of
China's
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
Three Gorges
The Three Gorges () are three adjacent gorges along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, in the hinterland of the People's Republic of China. With a subtropical monsoon climate, they are known for their scenery. The "Three Gorges Scenic A ...
. Immediately downstream of the ancient village
Baidicheng
Baidicheng or Baidi Fortress is an ancient fortress and temple complex on a hill on the northern shore of the Yangtze River in China, 8 km east of the present day Fengjie County seat in Chongqing municipality.
Overview
The name ''Baidicheng ...
(白帝城) the
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...
passes between the
Chijia Mountain (赤甲山) on the north and the
Baiyan Mountain (白鹽山) on the south. The point where the river passes between these mountains is called the Kuimen Gate (夔門) and it is the entrance to the Qutang Gorge - the first of the three Yangtze gorges. The Qutang Gorge is only long, but it is also the narrowest of the Three Gorges. The widest point measures only 150 metres (500 ft) wide. The mountains on either side reach as high as 1,200 metres (4,000 ft). This combination of narrow
canyon
A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...
s among high mountains with several switchbacks in only 8 kilometres creates spectacular vistas, and the Qutang Gorge is often considered the most beautiful of all the Three Gorges.
The gorge is part of
Fengjie County
Fengjie County () is a county of Chongqing Municipality, China. It is on the Yangtze River; located within a couple hundreds kilometers upstream from the Three Gorges Dam, it is within the dam's affected area.
The county's most famous geograp ...
of the
Chongqing
Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...
Municipality.
Sites
Baidicheng
![Bai di cheng](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Bai_di_cheng.jpg)
Baidicheng was an ancient city on the northern shore of the Yangtze River. Baidicheng was also where
Liu Bei
Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the H ...
, first emperor of the Kingdom of Shu during the Three Kingdoms era, died. There is a Liu Bei Memorial Temple and a
Zhuge Liang
Zhuge Liang ( zh, t=諸葛亮 / 诸葛亮) (181 – September 234), courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman and military strategist. He was chancellor and later regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. He is r ...
Memorial Temple in Baidicheng. Baidicheng is a major tourist attraction of a Yangtse cruise.
Chalk Wall
![The Qutang Gorge along the Yangtze river](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/The_Qutang_Gorge_along_the_Yangtze_river.JPG)
The Chalk Wall (粉筆牆) is a white cliff face on the southern bank of the
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...
at the entrance to the Qutang Gorge (Kuimen Gate). The Chalk Wall has numerous
characters
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
carved into the rock, many of which were done by famous Chinese
calligraphers
Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...
. Nearly 1,000 characters in all are carved into the rock wall, with the oldest dating to the
Song Dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
(960-1279). The wall has characters carved in many different styles of calligraphy and in various sizes. The largest characters are approximately 1.7 metres (6 ft) wide.
The Meng Liang Stairway
On the south side of the river (Baiyan Mountain) a series of rectangular holes is carven into the cliff face. The holes are almost exactly 1 metre apart and 1 metre deep. The holes zig-zag up part of the cliff face in a Z-shape. These holes are known as the Meng Liang Stairway (孟良梯).
Legend has it that the holes were built by a Song Dynasty soldier named
Meng Liang (孟良). Meng Liang served for a general named
Yang Jiye
Yang Ye (楊業) or Yang Jiye (楊繼業)According to he changed his name directly from Liu Jiye to Yang Ye in 979, changing both the surname and the given name. If this is to be believed, the name Yang Jiye is technically incorrect, but shows ...
who was buried at the top of the cliff. Meng Liang wanted to find the remains of General Yang and give him a proper burial back in his home town. During the night Meng Liang constructed the stairway. A monk at the top of the mountain saw him coming and crowed like a rooster. Meng Liang, thinking the morning had arrived, quickly abandoned his plan to avoid being caught.
Holes such as these are used as a walk-way several places in the Three Gorges region. Poles were inserted into the holes and then either a walkway could be constructed or a person could walk from pole to pole. Historians do not know why these particular holes were constructed, nor do they know why they only reach part of the way up the cliff face. Remains of city walls have been located at the top of the cliff, and some historians have theorized that the pathway might have been intended to enable a person to access the city from the river.
Another set of similar holes can be found near
Wushan in the Little Three Gorges (小三峽) of the
Daning River (大寧河). The local tourism agency in Wushan has placed poles in some of these holes so that tourists can see how they were used in ancient times.
Hanging Monk Rock
On the cliff face near Meng Liang's Staircase there is a rock shaped like an upside down person. This is the Hanging Monk Rock (倒吊和尚). According to legend, when Meng Liang discovered that the monk had feigned a
rooster
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...
call, and frightened him off the mountain, he was so angry that he found the monk and hung him upside down from the cliff face.
Drinking Phoenix Spring
Along the cliff face near the Chalk Wall and Meng Liang's Stairway there are a number of
cave
A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...
s. Dripping water from natural springs within the caves have created many
stalactite
A stalactite (, ; from the Greek 'stalaktos' ('dripping') via
''stalassein'' ('to drip') is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble an ...
s. One particular stalactite is approximately 10 metres (33 ft) high, and it is shaped like a
Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
displaying its tail feathers. Moss and bamboo growing next to the formation look like feathers on a bird. Water still drips from the head of the stalactite bird, and hence the Chinese have dubbed it the Drinking Phoenix Spring (鳳凰泉). The formation is extremely difficult to see from the river, but there is a pathway that allows direct access to the caves.
The Ancient Pathway (古棧道)
These narrow footpaths were built starting in Western
Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
(206 BC – 220 AD) and continued to be maintained and improved until the middle of the 20th century. The original purpose was to provide a footpath for human haulers to pull boats upstream. Thus they were always alongside cliffs next to the river. Since the earliest days, boats going downstream used oars just to get steerage way. Going upstream, human powered oars were no match to the rapid current. Thus gangs of humans, harnessed to a tow rope, hauled the boats upstream. These haulers needed a path along the steep cliffs to walk on. Thus the Ancient Pathways were built. Even today haulers can be seen as in 天山網.
Over the years, these paths were expanded and improved. In addition to paths for haulers, paths were built for hauling goods up mountains. These higher paths would survive the flooding after the
Three Gorges Dam
The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downstream of the Three Gorges. The Three Gorges Dam has been the world ...
is complete.
Hanging Coffins (懸棺)
Hanging coffins are a method of ceremonially placing the corpses of the deceased upon cliff sides, an ancient
funeral
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
custom of some
minority groups
The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...
, especially the
Bo people of southern China. Coffins of various significant shapes were often carved out of a whole piece of wood. Hanging coffins either rest upon beams projecting outward from the cliff's vertical faces such as mountains, are placed in caves in the face of cliffs, or sit on natural rock projections on mountain faces.
The Rhinoceros Gazing at the Moon (犀牛望月峰)
A rock formation that resembles a
rhinoceros
A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...
with head raised.
Daxi Village
The Daxi settlement was the first discovered site of the
Daxi culture
The Daxi culture (5000–3300 BC) was a Neolithic culture centered in the Three Gorges region around the middle Yangtze, China. The culture ranged from western Hubei to eastern Sichuan and the Pearl River Delta. The site at Daxi, located in the Qut ...
.
Impact of the Three Gorges Dam
Although the Qutang Gorge is the furthest upstream of all the affected gorges, the impact of the
Three Gorges Dam
The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downstream of the Three Gorges. The Three Gorges Dam has been the world ...
on the Qutang Gorge has been especially large. Many of the historically significant sites in the Qutang Gorge are located closer to the water level. Even prior to the dam construction the water level would come close to many sites during the rainy season. The water has now covered many of the important sites in the Gorge including the Ancient Pathway, Meng Liang's Staircase, the Chalk Wall, and the cave within the Bellows Gorge.
References
External links
*
{{coord, 31, 02, 35, N, 109, 33, 42, E, display=title, region:CN_type:landmark_source:dewiki
Canyons and gorges of China
Landforms of Chongqing
Tourist attractions in Chongqing
Yangtze River
de:Drei Schluchten#Qutang-Schlucht