White Emperor City
White Emperor City is located at the top of the White Emperor Mountain, which is in the north of Qutang Gorge. The pavilions with cornices, red walls and green tiles hide among the luxuriant green forests. There is an eternal poetry wrote by Li Bai - a famous poet in Tang Dynasty: We set sail at dawn from White Emperor City under a rosy sky, One thousand miles trip down to Jiangling and back the same day. The noisy chatter of apes from the shores followed us all the way. Lightly, our boat skipped past ten thousand green mountains high. This poetry made White Emperor Town well known in the world. And it has become a famous scenic spot of Three Gorges.
White Emperor City - Origin of Its Name
Gongsun Shu occupied Sichuan and established his own regime at the end of Western Han Dynasty according to the historical record. He constructed a city on the mountain, and found there was white dragon shaped gas liberated from a well in the city. Then he called himself White Emperor and named the place White Emperor City. After Gongsun Shu passed away, the local people built a temple named White Emperor Temple and manufactured a statue of Gongsun Shu in the temple.
White Emperor City - Famous Historical Event
There are constructions of Ming and Qing Dynasties in the temple, such as Mingliang Hall, Wuhou Temple and Stars-appreciating Pavilion. The big painted sculptures – Liu Bei Tuogu (the story is about Liu Bei entrusted his son to his prime minister Zhuge Liang) in the main hall of the White Emperor Temple is soul-stirring. White Emperor City is the place where the story happened. Liu Bei leaded 0.2 million troops headed to east to avenge Guan Yu and was defeated by the General Lu Xun's fire attack of Wu. They retreated back to Wushan Jianping. Liu Bei was broken down from constant overwork. He asked his Prime Minister Zhuge Liang to his bed and left his son to him. And this story was known as Liu Bei Tuogu in history. In White Emperor City you would found you were experiencing the history.
White Emperor City - Changes Brought by Three Gorges Dam
The 139-meter water level of the impoundment of Three Gorges Dam did little influence on White Emperor City. Now it faces water in three directions and against the mountain in one direction. It has been the place where historical events had happened 2,000 years ago, and now it has become a beautiful peninsula. With the second impoundment of the Three Gorges Dam in 2006, it has become a fairy island like Penglai.
