Hometown of Qu Yuan

Birthplace of Qu Yuan

The old county seat of Zigui of Hubei province is on the northern bank of the Yangtze River between the Wuxia Gorge and the Xiling Gorge, 566 kilometers from the central part of Chongqing.

This is the birthplace of Qu Yuan and hometown of Qu Yuan, a famous patriotic poet of the state Chu. According to legend, after the poet committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River, his body was carried by the fish god back to his birthplace ti be buried at Jiangwan, his hometown. So the town is still called Quyuantuo today.

Qu Yuan Temple

The local people set up a temple in his honor. The present memorial temple has a pailou archway in front of it, and the pailou is 20 meters high. The name of the temple was written by Guo Moruo, a noted scholar of the contemporary time.

At the center of the horizontal inscribe board is written four characters meaning "Brighter than the sun and the moon", and at each end of the board are characters meaning "Loyalty" and "Leaving a good name". In the yard at the center of the memorial temple a bronze statue of Qu Yuan of 3.92 meters tall on a base of 2.5 meters high.

Ninety stone tablets form the east and the west Forest of Stone Tablets, covering an area of 270 square meters. On these tablets are inscribed poems by Qu Yuan, poems praising him by later poets, and notes on construction or reconstruction of the temple in different dynasties. At the back of the temple is a memorial hall covering an area of 640 square meters. Standing in the entrance hall is a 1.03 meter stone statue of Qu Yuan built in 1537 with money donated by the local people. Displayed on the upper floor are cultural relics kunearthed in Zigui, and on the first floor are displayed notes, poems, works and paintings about Qu Yuan and his poems. Behind the memorial hall is Qu Yuan's tomb.

Home Place of Qu Yuan

It is said that in Qu Yuan's home place Lepingli, there are still sites and relics connected with the poet who lived more than 2,000 years ago.

In the county seat of Zigui there are two stone tablets of the Qing Dynasty, one inscribed with the words in Chinese "Home place of Qu Yuan, a daifu official of the state Chu", and the other tablet has the words in Chinese "Home place of Wang Zhaojun, a lady official in the court of the Han Dynasty". But Wang Zhaojun was born in Baoping Village, Xingshan County, which is a neighboring county of Zigui. In her hometown there are quite a number of historical sites and relics concerning the ancient beauty, such as the temple, the well, the courtyard and the Xiangxi (Fragrant Stream). In fact, the mouth of the Xiangxi Stream, the starting point of the Xiling Gorge, is only eight kilimeters from the county town of Zigui.