Zigui-the Hometown of Quyuan and Wang Zhaojun

During the Spring and Autumn Period (770-475B.C.), Zigui was the government seat of the State of Chu. It developed a unique culture, which nurtured a number of prominent scholars such as Qu Yuan, the greatest patriot-poet in Chinese history. Qu Yuan's collections of poetic verses and sons Lisao (on encountering Sorrow) and Jiuge (Nine Songs) have been regarded as landmarks in the history of Chinese literature after the Book of Songs. During the rule of King Huai of Chu, he held the important post of “Left Councilor” and enjoyed the trust and favor of the king. However, he was defamed by rival courtiers and soon banished to the Dongting Lake area, where he wandered about writing poetry. After the troops of the State of Qin took Ying, the capital of Chu, QU Yuang drowned himself in the Miluo River, a tributary of the Changjiang in Hunan Province. In his memory, the people of the Chu set aside the fifth day of the fifth lunar month on which he died as a festival. As time passed, observation of the festival gradually spread throughout the country. The Chinese honor him on that day by eating zongzi(a glutinous-rice treat) and holding Dragon boat races. Qu Yuan was born in Zigui, where there now stands a memorial gateway bearing the words:” Birthplace of Qu Yuan.”

Outside the city are a temple and a memorial hall dedicated to the poet. Wang Zhaojun was a great beauty who lived more than 2,000 years ago during the Western Han Dynasty. She was born in a small village on the bank of the Xiangxi River in Xingshan County, Hubei Province. Because the Xingshan area came within the jurisdiction of Zigui during the Western Han, she has since been considered a native of Zigui. There is also a gateway built in her honor in Zigui, bearing the words:”Native town of Zhaojun.” Also known as Wang Qiang, Wang Zhaojun was made an imperial concubine during the rule of the Western Han Dynasty Emperor Yuan Di. To cement relations with the Huns, the Emperor married her to Huhanye, a chieftain of the Huns, following which the border areas were free of war for almost half a century. Wang Zhaojun brought with her knowledge of the sophisticated culture of the Central Plains, which was of great benefit to the Huns. Her tomb, located on the outskirts of Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia, is known as the Green Tomb. The local people express their fond memories of the great woman by saying that her tomb remains green while the grassland around it begins turning yellow at the approach of winter.