Source: CCTV.com

01-26-2007 17:40

Jingzhou of Hubei Province, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, is an ancient city famous as a battleground in ancient times and during the Three Kingdoms period from 220-265AD.

The Three Kingdom period, following the Han Dynasty’s collapse, was characterized by a period of disunity and civil war. The rulers of the Wei, Shu, and Wu kingdoms all strove to expand and reunite the empire, and thus were constantly at war. This tumultuous period was memorable in Chinese history, and its fame was amplified by the popularity of the Chinese literary classic, Romance of Three Kingdoms.

The Romance of Three Kingdoms is one of the 4 great classics, also including Journey to the West, A Dream of Red Mansions, and Outlaws to the Marsh. The Romance of Three Kingdoms has been around for 600 years. It’s deeply embedded in Chinese history and culture. Common people often make reference to the tales of struggle and human nature.

The city of Jingzhou has a history of thousands of years and its ancient city wall is one of the most complete in southern China. The ancient city is divided into three parts from outside to inside, layer by layer. The outermost layer is the water City, then brick City, and finally Earth City.

There is a water ditch surrounding the city as a first line of defense. Then, there are two brick city gates, and the earthen space between was used to trap the enemy inside. The earliest Jingzhou city was constructed in the Zhou Dynasty, over 3000 years ago。 It is said that the ancient city wall was built by Guan Gong some 1,700 years ago and that the present wall was fixed in 1644 during the Ming and Qing Dynasty.

This is one of China’s only city wall that stands on its original dirt and earth base, with the longest history among all the city walls in China’s ancient cities.

The Guangong Memorial Temple was built to commemorate this hero. Some of his life stories have been turned into semi-fictional ones and his moral characteristics have been exaggerated.

He has been deified as the God of War and Martial Arts as early as the Sui Dynasty. Also according to folklore, Guan Gong weapon was a guandao, a giant blade said to weigh 41 kilograms. .

Guan Gong is traditionally portrayed as a red-faced warrior with a long beard. The idea of his red face was probably borrowed from opera representation, where red faces depict loyalty and righteousness.

It is believed Guan Gong constructed the ancient city. He was a military general under the Liu Bei of the Shu Kingdom during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. He played a significant role in the civil war that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty and is seen as a hero. He is often seen with his horse and large blade at hand.

He is still being worshipped by Chinese people today, especially in Hong Kong.

Guangong is strongly attached to the ancient city of Jingzhou and he constructed it mainly of bricks and stones at the bottom. The gaps between the bricks were held together with a sticky rice substance, serving the same function as cement. The sturdy construction seals his love for this city and the historical importance he played.

Old city walls are unique in that they have a curvy shape. The walls were built along the winding river course and take that formation.

The Romance of Three Kingdom is the novel that portrays the struggles of three families. The Liu family in the Shu kingdom led by Liu Bei, the Sun family in Wu le by Sun Quan, and the Cao family in Wei led by Cao Cao. Although these characters did exist, the novel is 1/3 historical, and 2/3 legend.

After taking Jingzhou, Liu Bei could access central China. If Sun conquered Jingzhou, he could take advantage of the Yangtze River as a natural barrier. If Cao Cao were to take Jingzhou, he could attack Sun’s territory in the Southeast. So, each side sought after this territory.

The ancient city wall is not large, but is complete and intricate. A unique element is that the tortuous city wall gates do not face each other. Instead, the path between the two entrances is curved. The inner side of the wall is not composed of brick, but rather a dirt slope and fits with the natural environment.

The ancient city walls are perhaps the oldest and longest standing in the country. And you’ll see that besides the typical brick and stone ones, you have something unique like this one right here…glutinous rice.

Eat up the walls…

This is the famous Zhugeliang borrows arrows story. Zhugliang was the prime minister and brain behind the Shu Kingdom’s strategies. In this story, the Shu and Wu kingdoms joined together to fight against the Wei Kingdom. The commander of the Wu Kingdom, ordered Zhu Ge Liang, to produce 100,000 arrows within a few days so they could attack the Wei.

Zhugeliang sent 20 ships with scarecrows to the surface of the river on a misty night. When Zhuge's fleet got close to the Wei camp, Zhuge Liang ordered his soldiers to shout and beat drums to fake an attack. Cao gathered 10,000 bowmen and ordered them to shoot arrows at the source of the shouting and drum beating. The scarecrows were quickly shot full of arrows and when the ships returned to camp, they collected more than 100,000 arrows.

Many of the battles were fought strategically.

It’s no wonder the kings of the three kingdom area all wanted to conquer this area.

Conservation area…david’s deer.

With its abundant vegetation, verdant landscapes and crystal clear waters, Jingzhou is endowed with natural beauty, making it well known as the home of rare species.

In this area, Cao Cao formerly had the strongest kingdom. Notorious for his cruelty, he is known to have said, “I would rather wrong all the people under heaven than to have them wrong me!" after he realized he had murdered an elderly couple whom had previously saved his life. However, even Cao Cao’s is met with defeat.

In the south, the Yangzi River provided the great military highway that both facilitated and channelled military operations. For Cao Cao, who was from the North, led troops successfully on ground, but was unfamiliar with the water battles.

The Shu and Wu saw this disadvantage, and in the famous battle at Red Cliffs, the took advantage of the Wei’s weakness…the water. At the famous battle of Red Cliffs, the Wu tricked the Wei to chain their warships together, claiming that doing so would prevent the troops from getting seasick. The Wei fell for the ruse, and their opponents later set the Wei’s ships ablaze. There was nothing they could do, since their ships were chained one to the next.

This excruciating defeat for the Wei led to the real division of the Three Kingdoms, each with strongholds around China.

I’m sure that Cao Cao’s troops wished they were fish in the water, instead of…well, you can guess. Speaking of fish….

Jingzhou is home to the finless porpoise, a rare species. Today, they can only be found around the old path of the Yangtze River. We saw several, but not the one we were looking for. It is believed by some that this unique one as precious as a panda. Some think it has disappeared. If you happen to see this fellow, call me and let me know.

Yangtze River is one of the mother rivers of Chinese civilization. And Jingzhou, along the River, was the capital and cradle of the Chu Kingdom. Although not a dynasty, the Chu was one of the most important warring states contending for imperial China, and one of the most important shapers of the state system that dominated China. Therefore, understanding the Chu culture is almost synonymous to understanding one of the origins of the Chinese culture.

Much of what we see today are just remnants of the past. From afar, from sunrise to sunset, much has changed in appearance. However, the feeling one gets is the exactly the same.

In Chinese mythology, the phoenix is an immortal bird who brings auspiciousness and world harmony, particularly upon the ascent to the throne of a new ruler. In Chinese, the phoenix is called the fenghuang and considered to be the female counterpart of the male dragon.

Fenghuang, the Chinese phoenix, has no connection with the phoenix of the Western world. The images of the phoenix have appeared in China for over 7,000 years, often in jade and originally on good-luck totems.

In the Jingzhou Museum, we can find remains of the phoenix collected from the past.

The history museum boasts a collection of over 100,000 relics concerning the 6000-year Chu Culture. The archaeologists in Jinzhou Museum mainly unearth, research and display the ancient cultural relics in Yangtze River area.

See this person standing on the phoenix? This is a man with a pheonix’s tail, and bird’s beak, standing on a phoenix. This captures the essence of the Chu people’s mysterious religion and spiritual beliefs. Their worship of the phoenix and desire to become one with the holy animal. All around, there are signs of this animal, statues to fight off evil spirits in coffins, embroidery ..

Arts and crafts are perhaps the best way for us to tell about the past. Thousands of years ago, the phoenix played an important role in people’s lives.

Originally, feng huang used to be two animals, the feng is male and huang the female, but later it became to be associated just with female. With the rise of the male dragon, the Chinese took the phoenix as the female to serve as the counterpart. For instance, the emperors will wear clothing embroidered with dragons while the empress will adorn themselves with phoenixes to represent royalty or class.

Today, opera singers still wear phoenix headdresses and robes embroidered with this icon.

The dragon is an auspicious animal in China, it brings rain, harvest

Together, the ultimate balance is between dragon and phoenix, like yin and yang.

The Wanshou Pagoda started to be built in 1548 and is composed of brick. Buddha scriptures images decorate the outside of each floor.

Most unique are the first two stories seem to be dug into the ground, as a result of the yearly rise of the riverbed.

In the end of the Three Kingdoms, the Cao Cao’s Wei came out victorious, but his victory was short-lived. The Three Kingdom Period was more than just War. More important, are the governing policies, philosphers, heroes, and scholars that the period brought us. It was all this that enriched Chinese culture and made China what it is today.

 

Editor:Du Xiaodan