Cultural Relics in Yuzhong District

Yuzhong District is known as the "mother town" of Chongqing Municipality. Hailed as the ancient capital of Bayu and the famous battlefield of World War II, Yuzhong had maintained its historical integrity since 316 B.C. when Zhang Yi built Jiangzhou on the Yuzhong Peninsula in the State of Qin during the Warring States Period, followed by the change of Gongzhou to Chongqing Prefecture by Emperor Guangzong of Song Dynasty in 1189, until 1997 when Chongqing was directly administered by the Central Government. Great changes have taken place over the years. The streets and alleys of Yuzhong, however, are witnesses to the distant past. They highlight Yuzhong's unique humanistic spirit and serve as a gateway for the international community to better understand the Bayu culture's distinctive philosophy, wisdom, spirit, and charm. Please follow me into the streets and alleys of Yuzhong to explore the hidden treasures of the Bayu Culture.

Ba Manzi, an ancient hero of Chongqing

According to Records of Ba, Chronicles of Huayang, during the Warring States Period, General Ba Manzi, in consideration of the civil strife in the State of Ba and its inability to calm it down, asked the State of Chu for aid, hoping that Chu would send troops to help quell the civil strife and promising to give away three cities as a reward after success. Thanks to the help from Chu's army, the civil strife in Ba was put to an end. When Chu asked for the cities, General Ba Manzi, on the one hand, couldn't bear to lose his country, but on the other hand, he couldn't go back on his word, so he committed suicide with his sword and cut off his head to express his gratitude to Chu. Knowing this, the King of Chu held a proper burial for the head of General Ba Manzi, while the State of Ba held a proper burial for his body.

The Ba Manzi's Tomb is located at Lianhuachi, Qixinggang, Yuzhong District. It is commonly known as the General's Tomb, which was intended to memorialize General Ba Manzi, who sacrificed himself in Chu to defend the State of Ba from losses during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.

Ancient City Wall of Chongqing

Yuzhong, the capital of Chongqing, was once guarded by seventeen city gates. As time passes, some of the gates vanish, while others survive. This allows us to discover the stories of the city.

Dongshuimen Section of the City Gate and Wall

The Dongshuimen section of the city gate and wall, located next to the Huguang Guild Hall in Yuzhong District, connected to Changbin Road, comprises the city gate and city wall as one of the nine open portals of Chongqing. The Dongshuimen Gate was built in the early years of Emperor Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty and underwent several repairs in the Qing Dynasty, Republic of China, and contemporary periods.

Strategically located next to the Yangtze River, the Dongshuimen Gate is a major transit gateway for people to access the city of Chongqing in the old days. Thanks to its large population of boatmen, trackers, and roustabouts engaged in water transport and related industries in the place where merchants gathered, and trade flourished for hundreds of years, it is considered by folklorists as one of the birthplaces of Chongqing hotpot.

Tongyuanmen Section of the City Gate and Wall

Tongyuanmen section of the gate and wall, located at the intersection of Zhongshan 1st Road, Heping Road, and Jintang Street in Qixinggang Sub-district, Yuzhong District, was the western gate of Chongqing's capital city during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Among the nine open portals in Chongqing, the Tongyuanmen Gate is the only gate that does not rest on the river but connects to the inland. In ancient times, Tongyuanmen Gate was the departure place of the eastern avenue of the ancient Chengdu-Chongqing Passage, hence the name Tongyuan(men).

Despite the changes in Tongyuanmen Gate over the years, the city wall remains intact and is open to the public as the Park of the Tongyuanmen City Wall, where visitors can reminisce about the past and explore its charm.

Walking along the city's ancient walls, visitors will find that the beacon fires have already gone, except for the thick shade of the Ficus virens, which remain a shelter for visitors during summer days. The surrounding traffic will never spoil the comfort of this site.

Taipingmen-Renhemen Section of the City Wall

The Taipingmen-Renhemen section of the city wall, located at the intersection of Baixiang Street, Jiefang East Road, and Changbin Road in Yuzhong District, is an integral part of the ancient city wall of Chongqing. It consists of two gates, Taipingmen Gate and Renhemen Gate, and the connected walls, with a residual length of about 545 meters.

It was discovered that the Barbican (a fortified gateway) was well preserved at the site; 33 remains, such as the Taipingmen Gate's main gate, walls, accessory roads, and ditches, were uncovered, and it was confirmed that the gate was built in the Ming Dynasty with its walls repaired several times in the Southern Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties. More than 300 specimens of artifacts were unearthed, spanning the periods from Han to the Six Dynasties, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing, featuring geometric ceramic bricks, "Taiping" inscribed bricks, eave tiles, plate tiles, celadon bowls, black-glazed porcelain bowls, black-glazed porcelain cups, blue-and-white porcelain bowls, blue-and-white porcelain cups, and other items.

The city wall site is the key part of Chongqing's ancient city wall, with the open-type Taipingmen Gate and closed-type Renhemen Gate being the two different types of gates among the seventeen gates of the ancient city of Chongqing.

Site of Laogulou Government Office

The Site of the Laogulou Government Office, located in the second lane of Baxian Yamen (government office in feudal China), Jiefang East Road, Yuzhong District, is backed by mountains and faces the river, sitting under Jinbi Mountain (now People's Park).

The site is a government office area in Chongqing since the Song Dynasty, with a coverage of over 80,000 square meters. Built under the historical background of the Song-Mongolian (Yuan) War, it was the military and political epicenter of the Sichuan-Chongqing region in the Southern Song Dynasty - the seat of the Sichuan Military Commission and Chongqing Prefecture. The famous Sichuan-Chongqing mountain city defense system was prepared and operated here, which, to some extent, shaped the course of the world civilization.

The site was discovered during the renovation of the old city. Thanks to three years of archaeological excavation, 261 remains of various types from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties and the Republic of China were uncovered, and more than 12,000 relics were excavated, making it one of the top ten new archaeological discoveries in the country in 2012. As the top-rated and largest government office building remains found in Chongqing, the Site of Laogulou Government Office has been witness to the evolution of Chongqing for nearly a millennium since it was named, which is in harmony with the traditional Chinese government office building system and carries distinctive regional Bayu characteristics. It is, therefore, of great significance for enriching urban archaeological data beyond the capital cities of China during the Song and Yuan dynasties and is of high socio-cultural value. The site is currently under construction as a national archaeological site park. 

Luohan Temple 

Luohan Temple, located at 7 Luohan Temple Street, Xiaoshizi, Minzu Road, Yuzhong District, was built during the Zhiping Period of the Northern Song Dynasty and features bas-reliefs on precipices built on the ancient Buddhist cliff during the Song Dynasty. The bas-reliefs on precipices, which are arranged on the east and west walls of the ancient Buddhist rock passageway within the Dashanmen Gate of Luohan Temple, include mostly high relief carvings of Buddhist monks, bodhisattvas, disciples, and benefactors.

Monk Gu Yue built Luohan Temple during the Zhiping Period of the Northern Song Dynasty and was initially named Zhiping Temple. After generations of maintenance and expansion, the temple peaked in the Ming Dynasty when monk Zi Kui was in charge. In the tenth year of Qianlong (1745 AD), the temple was remodeled into a shrine of the Dragon God because of the collapse of its front hall, hence the common name "Dragon King Temple." In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, monk Long Fa supervised the construction of 500 statues of Arhat, hence the name of Luohan Temple.

Nowadays, Luohan Temple seems to be a green lotus amid the bustling city. The secluded and ancient Zen temple embodies a transcendent mentality, where every eave and tile symbolizes the spirit of Zen.

Buddhist Texts Library for Donghua Taoist Temple

Buddhist Texts Library for Donghua Taoist Temple, located at 64 Kaixuan Road, Yuzhong District, was reconstructed in the Ming Dynasty and is a post-and-beam construction with multiple eaves and hip-and-gable roofs. The upper eaves of the building feature 18 bucket arches, while the lower eaves feature 22 bucket arches. The temple's roof is covered with yellow glazed tiles, while the main ridge and vertical ridge are covered with green glazed tiles and are decorated with roof figures.

According to the Chronicles of Baxian published during the Republic of China, the Donghua Taoist Temple was built in the Yuan Dynasty and was refurbished in the seventh year of Emperor Tianshun of the Ming Dynasty (1463) and the eleventh year of Emperor Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty (1516).

According to a quotation of the Records of Places of Interest in Sichuan from Old Local Chronicles, "There is Donghua Taoist Temple in the city, behind which there are 18 caves of Donghua Taoist Temple connected. It is believed that Donghua the Immortal became immortal here." At that time, the Donghua Taoist Temple had three halls (the lower hall, the main hall, and the upper hall), with nine halls inside, a Buddhist texts library, chambers and gardens, etc. Following a fire in 1926, the temple buildings and chambers were only one-third of their original size. In 1939, the temple was bombed by Japanese planes and was mostly dilapidated. At present, the well-preserved Buddhist Texts Library has been open to the public after being repaired.

Fotuguan Stone Carving

The Fotuguan Stone Carving features abundant inscriptions from various ages, located on the south cliff of the Fotuguan Park at Changjiang First Road in Yuzhong District. There are two types of inscriptions, including eulogistic and epigrammatic ones. There was a statue in the Song Dynasty, but it does not exist now.

The name of Fotuguan was given as late as the Southern Song Dynasty. Futuguan was a must-go access to the capital of Chongqing as the Er Sai Biao, Chronicles of Baxian, states, "Yucheng (Yuzhong) is surrounded by rivers on three sides. To reach Yucheng by land, Fotuguan is the only route where the cliff is steep. With two belt-like rivers running through it, Yuzhong District is strategically important. If Fotuguan is well guarded, the whole city will be safe and sound."

Historically, Fotuguan was one of the most war-torn places in Chongqing. 

Fotuguan is close to the two rivers and has a high and precipitous potential. In spring and autumn, the water vapor steams up, and at night, the rain and fog are so thick that it looks like a floating island on the river, producing one of the twelve scenes of the ancient Bayu --- Night Rain in Fotuguan. This is the place where the poet Li Shangyin of the Tang Dynasty created the poem A Note on a Rainy Night to a Friend in the North.

Today, Fotuguan has been built as a park with a rail transit stop. The lush hill enables visitors to walk around it. Standing on the hill, one can see the two belt-like rivers, the bridges lying in rows, and the picturesque north and south river banks.

Chongqing Huguang Guild Hall

Chongqing Huguang Guild Hall is a historical witness of Chongqing as a prosperous commercial port in the Qing Dynasty and an immeasurable landmark of Chongqing in terms of immigrant culture, commercial culture, and architectural culture from the early Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China.

During the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Sichuan was war-torn, drastically decreasing its population. According to the census, in the 24th year of Emperor Kangxi Period, only 90,000 residents lived in Sichuan after massive warfare.

In order to restore the vitality of Sichuan, the Qing government encouraged immigrants from other provinces to settle in Sichuan, bringing an influx of people from Hunan, Hubei, and Guangdong to settle in Sichuan. Thanks to the wave of immigration to Sichuan, Chongqing regained its prosperity, and in order to cherish nostalgia and pursue common development, immigrants from various provinces set up guild halls in the city one after another. Among them, the most magnificent building that has been preserved to this day is the Huguang Guild Hall complex.

Chongqing Huguang Guild Hall complex, the historical product of the migration wave, was built during the Qing Dynasty's Emperor Kangxi Period and expanded during the Jiaqing, Daoguang, and Guangxu periods. With a history of nearly 300 years, it is the largest ancient guild hall complex in the country's downtown areas.

Most of the buildings of Chongqing Huguang Guild Hall are Siheyuan structures (Chinese quadrangles) from the Ming and Qing dynasties, featuring different roof designs, such as overhanging gable roofs, round ridge roofs, and hip-and-gable roofs. They embody the typical architectural styles of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangnan and reflect Chongqing's traditional architectural features.

The Guild Hall receives countless tourists from home and abroad every year and has become an icon of Chongqing. As the largest ancient guild hall complex in China, it is magnificent and exquisite, which evolves strong nostalgia and aspirations for a better life and enjoys great acclaim both at home and abroad. At the same time, it embodies the reverence and pride of the ancestral people of Bashu for Chinese culture, carries forward the Chongqing spirit of resilience, inclusiveness, openness, bravery, and innovation, and serves as the cultural venue of the Chongqing people.

Nowadays, Chongqing Huguang Guild Hall is dedicated to establishing itself as the urban lecture hall where the most characteristic aspects of traditional Chinese culture and urban history and culture are educated and practiced. As a fine stage where splendid history and modern culture mingle, the ancient Guild Hall continues to play a role in the cultural life of citizens and unleash its charm.

Qipaifang Stele

The Qipaifang Stele, located at the petty street garden on Circulation Road, Daping Sub-district in Yuzhong District, was erected between the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.

Mostly built during the Qianlong, Daoguang, and Guangxu periods of the Qing Dynasty, the Qipaifang Stele was constructed upon the emperors' decrees to honor the feudal society's successful and famous officials, loyal and filial soldiers, virtuous and heroic women, etc., in an attempt to raise moral virtues and educate the people.

There are still 19 stone steles, most of which were built in the Qing Dynasty in honor of those who pursued benevolent rule, who were virtuous and heroic women, men with noble merits and virtues, and those who passed away, all of which are incised in shade. 

In 2022, Yuzhong District again refurbished the Qipaifang Stele and added a shelter to optimize the peripheral environment further. Nowadays, it has grown into an elegant humanistic landscape in the Daping Area, which coexists harmoniously with the trendy surroundings of the city, relating the historical stories of the ancient Chengdu-Chongqing Post Road and reflecting the humanistic charm of the capital city of Chongqing.

（Source: Yuzhong District)