Fengjie is a county with a dense history. Since the Xia Dynasty (21st - 16th BC), people have been living in this place. The county was named during the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) in honor of Zhuge Liang who answered the call to take care of the son of Emperor Liu Bei during the Three Kingdoms Period (220 - 280).
Located in the hinterland of Three Gorges Reservoir Area, Fengjie County is the east gate of Chongqing, adjacent to Hubei in the south and Yunyang County in the west. Its natural beauty drew a great number of notable poets, who subsequently eulogized the area in their poems.
The area is home to the magnificent Kui Gate, which is the gate to the Qutang Gorge. Baidi City (White Emperor City) or Baidi Temple is the most attractive temple in Fengjie. One can also view historic relics such as the Tuogu Tang (Entrusting Son's Hall) and Observing Stars Pavilion (Guanxing Ting) while cruising along the Yangtze River. The Eight Elements Battle Formation (Ba Zhen Tu) is a spot favored by the lovers in the classical Chinese novel Romance of Three Kingdoms. Xige Thatched House where Du Fu (a renowned poem of Tang Dynasty) lived for two years is also situated in this area.
Fengjie County was submerged by rising water caused by the Three Gorges Dam Project. A new area has been built in Fengjie, with a length of 15 miles stretching from Baidi City in the east to Sanma Mountain in the west. The county is now developing quickly and people live comfortably in the new territory.
Located at the entrance of the Qutang Gorge on the north bank of the river, 8 kilometers (5 miles) from Fengjie county seat, Baidi city, also known as White Emperor City, clings to grandeur hills and cliffs. It is actually a mini-city scattered with temples and gates on top of Baidi Hill. Baidi City was built by Gongsun Shu, an official turned soldier, as the site of his headquarters during the end of the Western Han Dynasty. The legend goes that in 25 A.D. Gongsun Shu saw white vapor in the shape of a dragon rising from a nearby well, and taking this as an auspicious omen, he declared himself the 'White Emperor' and renamed the town 'White Emperor City' and the hill White Emperor Hill. Later in 36 A.D. he started a war with Liuxiu (Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty), then a member of the Han imperial family, in order to annex his territory. During this turbulent period, the city was entirely spared from warfare. The grateful local people built a temple to commemorate him. During the Ming Dynasty, the statue of Gongsun Shu was replaced by a new one for Liu Bei and later with another three for Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Zhuge Liang respectively.
This is a story about the Three Kingdoms (220 A.D.). During the Three Kingdoms Period, Liu Bei, the king of Shu, retreated from a disastrous war against general Lu Xun of the Wu Kingdom, and died here in distress. On his deathbed, Liu entrusted state affairs and his son, Liu Chan, to Prime Minister Zhuge Liang (a famous strategist in Chinese history). The front hall contains large modern statues, which depict a scene in the story. To the left is the handsome, winged Observing Stars Pavilion (Guanxing Ting) where Zhuge Liang observed the stars and made accurate weather forecasts, which helped him plan his victorious battles. With upturned eaves and polished beams, the temple has 12 pillars on the ground floor and 6 on the upper floor.
