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Yong'an Palace
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the story of Liu Bei, the lord of Shu Kingdom, entrusting his only son (the successor king) to the care of Zhuge Liang, the chief-staff of Shu Kingdom, first appeared in the "Annals of the Three Kingdoms" by Chen Shou of the Western Jin Dynasty. After the story was dramatized by Luo Guanzhong in his Tales of the Tree Kingdoms in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), it became known to every household in China.
As Liu Bei was planning to avenge his sworn brother General Guan Yu, who was killed in Jingszhou, more bad news came that General Zhang Fei, another sworn brother of Liu Bei's, was murdered by his subordinates as he was starting an expedition against the Kingdom of Wu, one of the Three Kingdoms. Overcome with grief, Liu Bei took his army down the Yangtze River, leading the expedition himself. His entire camp of seven hundred li (1 li = 500 meters), however, was burned down by the Wu general Lu Xun in the battle at Yiling - today's Yichang City, where the Three Gorges Dam is being built. Liu Bei had to withdraw to Baidi (White Emperor) City with only about a hundred of his men. He was broken down completely by frustration and repeated defeats. He knew that he was going to die very soon. He immediately summoned Zhuge Liang to Baidi City from Chengdu and entrusted his only son to him. He told Zhuge Liang that if his son was good, Zhuge Liang was to help him succeed to the throne. If he did not have the necessary qualities to be a king, Zhuge must make himself the king of Shu in Chengdu. Zhuge Liang was moved to tears. He said, "How does your humble subject dare not to assist him with every effort and not to be utterly loyal to him until the day your humble subject dies!"
After Liu Bei's death, Zhuge Liang wholeheartedly supported the young king until the day he died. Unfortunately, Liu Bei's son was one of the weakest and stupid Kings in Chinese history and finally lost the Kingdom to Cao Cao, the warlord and actual king of Eastern Han. This anecdote demonstrating trust and loyalty was a great contrast to the relationship of suspicion and distrust between kings and their subjects in feudal society. The story has always been considered praiseworthy. This is why when people come to Fengjie, they invariably recall Yong'an Palace where the story took place.
More than 1,700 years have passed since Liu Bei entrusted his son to Zhuge Liang. There have been different opinions as to the whereabouts of Yong'an Palace, and whether Zhuge Liang did the right thing. Some think that Yong'an Palace was in Baidi City because Yufu County of the Three Kingdom's time was there.
However, there are now people who think that Yong'an Palace was not in Baidi city, but in Fengjie. They think an ancient site inside the Teachers School in the town of Fengji was where Yong'an Palace once was. Only a terrace, some broken walls and a few tall ancient trees now stand for visitors to recall the ancient days. The Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu mentioned Yong'an Palace in one of his poems. But ever in his days Yong'an Palace was nowhere to be found. "Edou" the name of Liu Bei's son, has been the synonym of "stupidity" in Chinese language. For western cruiser, This Webmaster thinks it is not important where it was.
Chinese people like the stories of Three Kingdoms because it was the "freest" period in Chinese history. Just like those economic giants and small companies in today's United States, many small kingdoms and many talented people, fought each other, full of stories of alliance and split, wisdom and stupidity, war and peace, loyalty and betray, victory and defeat, strategy and tricks. There is a Chinese saying: "Do not read the Tales of Three Kingdoms when you become old". Read the book when you are still young. |
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