Lushui and the Red Cliff

Overview

About

The Lushui scenic area in Chibi (formerly Puqi), Hubei, comprises the Red Cliff battlefield and Lushui Lake.

The battlefield on the south bank of the Yangtze, across from Honghu, is where the famous Battle of Red Cliffs of the Three Kingdoms was fought. The two characters “Red Cliff” carved on a rock by the river are said to be in the hand of Zhou Yu. There are also the Yijiang and Wangjiang pavilions and a gallery of steles.

The place described in Su Dongpo’s two “Rhapsodies on the Red Cliff” is at Huangzhou, more than 100 km downstream, called the Literary Red Cliff or Dongpo’s Red Cliff; the true battlefield at Lushui is therefore called the Military Red Cliff.

Lushui Lake, formerly the Lushui reservoir, lies south of the city with more than 800 islands and the 681 m Xuefeng Mountain on its south shore; other sights are the Zhaotian Candle, the Sword-Testing Stone, Mulan Temple and Jingquan Cave.

It is in the fourth batch of national parks of China (national scenic areas) named by the State Council in 2002.

Travel tips

Getting there: Chibi is on the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed line; Chibi North is roughly half an hour to an hour from Wuhan and is also fairly close to Yueyang. From the station go into town, then on to the battlefield and Lushui Lake.

Red Cliff battlefield: on the south bank of the Yangtze, with the characters Chibi carved on the river cliff, plus the Yijiang and Wangjiang pavilions and a gallery of stelae; the sights are close together and can be walked.

Lushui Lake: south of town, with many islands and mainly visited by boat; the lake is large and the sights are spread out.

Civil and military Red Cliff: the place where Su Shi wrote his Red Cliff odes is at Huangzhou and is called the Civil Red Cliff; the one at Chibi is the Military Red Cliff, site of the Three Kingdoms battle.

Time: half a day for the battlefield and half for the lake, so one day in all.

Season: spring and autumn are best; summer is hot, though the lake is cooler; winter river winds are cold.

Where to stay: Chibi city is the most convenient, or stay in Wuhan and return the same day.

Nearby: Wuhan's East Lake lies to the north, Jiugong Mountain to the southeast and Yueyang's Dongting Lake to the south.

“First Rhapsody on the Red Cliff” by Su Shi

Su Shi tells of boating under the Red Cliff with friends on an autumn night. A guest’s mournful flute and thoughts of Cao Cao’s great fleet, long vanished, lead to grief at the shortness of life; Su answers that, seen from what does not change, men and things alike are without end, and that the breeze on the river and the moon over the hills are there for all to enjoy.

“Second Rhapsody on the Red Cliff”

The sequel, set three months later, tells of a second outing with wine and fish, a lonely climb up the cliff in the winter night, a crane that flies past the boat, and a dream of a Taoist who seems to have been that crane.

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