Dangyang 当阳市

Setting and landscape

The land is high in the north-west and low in the south-east, and most of it lies below 300 metres. The highest point is Nanbao (南包), 1,087 metres, on the border with Yuan'an County (远安县), and the lowest, 44 metres, is around Huangjiachang (黄家场) in Lianghe town (两河镇).

History

Dangyang County was first set up in 278 BC, when Bai Qi (白起) attacked Chu and set up Nan Commandery (南郡) at the Chu capital Ying (郢); it was re-established in 148 BC under Emperor Jing of Han and became a city on 22 October 1988. Lülin Mountain (绿林山) was the base of the Lülin uprising at the end of the Western Han. Changbanpo (长坂坡), east of the city, is the battlefield of the battle of Changban, and Maicheng (麦城) in Lianghe town, more than 20 kilometres from the city, is where Guan Yu fell back after losing Jingzhou (荆州).

What to see

Guanling (关陵), five li west of the old town, is the tomb of Guan Yu's body: Sun Quan (孙权) sent the head to Cao Cao (曹操) and buried the body with the rites of a feudal lord. First called the Great King's Mound (大王冢), it was enlarged and renamed in the Ming. A line of halls leads to a round mound 7 metres high with a Ming stele reading "Tomb of the Marquis of Hanshou" (汉寿亭侯墓). It became a national key cultural relics protection site in 2006, and the Guanling temple fair (关陵庙会), held regularly to honour Guan Yu, entered the national intangible heritage list in 2011.

Yuquan Temple stands on Yuquan Mountain (玉泉山), where in 528 Emperor Wu of Liang ordered the Fuchuanshan Temple (覆船山寺) built. In 593 Zhiyi, regarded as the real founder of the Tiantai school, built a temple here, lectured on the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra (法华玄义) and named it Yuquan after the clear Pearl Spring (珍珠泉) below the hill; from 678 Shenxiu, the sixth patriarch of the Northern school of Chan, taught here. Beside the temple stands the Yuquan Iron Pagoda (玉泉铁塔), cast in iron in the Northern Song. Temple and pagoda have been a national key cultural relics protection site since 1982.

Getting oriented

The Shanghai–Chengdu and Hohhot–Beihai expressways meet at Dangyang, and the Jiaozuo–Liuzhou railway runs north–south through it, with a station on the outskirts of the city.

Highlights

• Guanling 关陵: Tomb of Guan Yu's body, begun in the late Eastern Han; national key cultural relics protection site since 2006.
• Yuquan Temple and Iron Pagoda 玉泉寺: Where Zhiyi lectured in 593 and Shenxiu taught Chan; Northern Song cast-iron pagoda; national protection site since 1982.
• Changbanpo 长坂坡: Battlefield of the Three Kingdoms battle of Changban, east of the city.
• Guanling temple fair 关陵庙会: Regular festival honouring Guan Yu; national intangible heritage since 2011.