Beigushan Hill and Ganlusi Temple are well known by Chinese nationalities, and are described in the novel, The Three Kingdoms, which depicted the historical period of the Three Kingdoms. During this period, Liu Bei, the King of the Shu State, allied with one of his rivals, the King of the Wu State, by marrying his sister in a small palace (Ganlusi Temple) on this hill and completed their coalition to fight with the King of the Wei State. The marriage ceremony took place in Ganlusi Temple, which was actually not a Buddhist temple but a small presidential palace at that time.
Lying on the southern shore of the Yantze River, the Beigushan Hill (Beigu Hill) is one of the three famous hills in Zhenjiang and the other two are Jiao Hill and Jin Hill. It is 53 meters above sea level and has three peaks, going from the front, middle and rear sides of the hill. Ganlusi Temple is on the Rear Peak, the highest one.
In history, many celebrities, socialites and even kings and emperors came to the hill to commemorate these historic figures and places, and they left enormous amount of historic relics, including calligraphies, poems, scriptures and architectures. |
