Quyuan Memorial Temple

Quyuan Memorial Temple - History

Quyuan Memorial Temple is located at Xiangjiaping, where is 1.5 kilometers away from Zigui County. It was built for memorizing Qu Yuan. Qu Yuan was a great poet of Chu in Warring States Period. It is said that after he died in Miluo River, first a golden divine fish ate his corpse, and then swam to the estuary of Xiang River and poured out him. The estuary of Xiang River is close to Qu Yuan's former residence, so his elder sister buried his brother's corpse there, and then lived there, form which Zigui came. Quyuan Memorial Temple started to build in the fifteenth year of Yuanhe Period in Tang Dynasty. It was called Qing Liegong Ancestral Hall in Northern Song Dynasty. It experienced several reparations in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Quyuan Memorial Temple was removed to the present place for the Gezhou Dam Water Control Project in 1978. It was rebuilt as its former appearance.

Quyuan Memorial Temple – Internal Structure

Quyuan Memorial Temple includes propylaea, main hall, the left and right side halls and other buildings. The propylaeum is four-pillar and three-building memorial archway, with a height of fourteen meters, with four words "Qing Liegong Ancestral Hall" in the middle tablet and "loyal and leaving a good name" on the two sides. The main hall is made up of concrete structures, having Ming and Qing's style with green tiles and upturned eaves. It dominates in Chongtai, which shows magnificent and majestic. The Quyuan tomb behind the main hall contained the personal effects of the deceased without body, made by other people. Now the gate tower and shi fang in front of the tomb is the original thing from Daoguang times, Qing Dynasty. There is beautiful scenery around Quyuan Memorial Temple against mountains and facing the river. If you look out to the south form there, you can see many mountains in the south bank of the river. Every Dragon Boat Festival people will hold dragon boat races. At that time, the color boats fly on the river, very hilarious.

Quyuan Memorial Temple - Relocation

Quyuan Memorial Temple was repaired twice in 1963 and 1965. Later, the water level was raised for the Gezhou Dam Water Control Project; it was moved to the present place in July 1976. It covers an area of twenty Mu. The propylaea keeps the existing appearance of Quyuan Memorial Temple, which enlarges the scale, with a 17-meter high memorial archway, and side rooms extending by 7 meters in both left and right. There are glazed tile on the propylaea, the first corner Ao Fish, second crooked dragon, third grass dragon. In the middle roof, there is Aquarius. In the front of the propylaea, there is Tianming Hall in the middle, two dragons entwining a pillar in the left and right side. On the Horizontal tablet there is loyal and leaving a good name autographed by Wang Shuren, from Xiangyang. On the door there is "guang zhen ri yue" (its flame surpasses that of the sun and moon.).The total building has magnificent vigor and raises straight up in the orange tree forest. The first floor is decorated by flying phoenixes, and below Tian Mingtang there is "song he yan nian" (means lucky). On the both sides, there is the picture of Kylin pouring out Yu Book. And the laces are crooked grass, Han decorative pattern, and Hui decorative pattern, and so on. The total colored drawing contains red, yellow, green and blue, which form brightening each other. The side rooms in the east and west are hard peaks, rolling dragon spain, decorated by dragon and phoenix. In the rooms, the travelers can write poems and draw pictures, appreciating and resting. In Quyuan Memorial Temple, there is a bronze statue of Qu Yuan, stone statue of Qu Yuan, stele and tomb of Qu Yuan and also monument of Qu Yuan. There is heritage exhibiting from Zigui and Qu Yuan's life story exhibiting in the upper and lower exhibiting hall.

Zigui - Qu Yuan's hometown is also a very famous tourism site. It could be regarded as the subsidiary scenic spot of Quyuan Memorial Temple.