Qu Yuan Ancestral Hall (qūyuáncí 屈原祠), also called Qingliegong Ancestral Hall (qīngliègōngcí 清烈公祠), located 1.5 kilometers to Zigui County (zǐguīxiàn 秭归县) at the north bank of Yangtze River, was built in Tang Yuanhe (tángyuánhé 唐元和) 15th year to commemorate Qu Yuan (qūyuán 屈原), and repeatedly repaired because of its destruction in Song (song 宋), Yuan (yuán 元), Ming (míng 明) and Qing (qīng 清) Dynasties. Later it was changed to "Qingliegong Ancestral Hall". In 1976 when Gezhou Dam (gězhōbàs 葛洲坝) was built, it was moved to Xiangjiaping (xiàngjiāpíng 向家坪) and was rebuilt according to its original condition. The present Qu Yuan Ancestral Hall was built in 1982, covers the area of more than 14000 square meters, four times larger than the previous one. The whole building is with style of unique ancient buildings in the area of the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

Background of Qu Yuan
Qu Yuan, who named Ping (ping 平) and styled himself Yuan (yuán 原), was Chu (chǔ 楚) person of Warring States (zhànguó 战国). He was the earliest famous poet in our country, who had served as a chancellor to King Huai (huái 淮), and been appointed as Zuotu (zuǒtú 左徒) and Sanlv Dafu (sānlǚdàfū 三闾大夫), The king had complete trust in him until discord developed among the clans and Qu was falsely slandered. Banished from the capital,he wandered about in Hubei Province, deeply sad and bitter. His poetry and essays reveal his romanticism, loyalty and patriotism. Qu had vigorously advocated that the State of Chu stand firm against attack by the Qin (qín 秦) state, but his advice had gone unheeded, and in May of the year 278 BC, he drowned himself in Miluo River (mìluójiāng 汨罗江) at the age of 62. It was said that after Qu Yuan's death, there was a god fish carrying his corpse to his native place Zigui and he was buried in a place 5 kilometers from the east city.

Qu Yuan Ancestral Hall includes entrance, main hall as well as left and right side hall, etc. The entrance has the work place with a style of four columns and three buildings, with four characters "Qing Lie Gong Ci" (清烈公祠) written in the middle and "Gu Zhong"(gūzhōng 孤忠) and "Liu Fang"(liúfāng 流芳) on two sides. The main hall is constructed with steel disc concrete structure and has the style of Ming and Qing Dynasties, with green tiles and upturned eaves, which stands tall and erect on the Chongtai, very grand and magnificent.

Qu Yuan Grave behind the main hall is the tomb built by the people. The extant watchtower of the gate and stone memorial archway are all the originals of Daoguang (dàoguāng 道光) years in Qing Dynasty (1616-1911) (qīngcháo 清朝).

The most attracted place in Qu Yuan Ancestral Hall is the bronze statue of Qu Yuan, which stands at the center of the hall. It embodies Qu Yuan’s patriotism of concerning about the destiny of his country and the people, and his perseverance.

There is a memorial museum near the bronze statue, with white walls and glazed tile. It covers the area of 640 square kilometers. It has two stories. On the first floor, there exhibits the picture of Qu Yuan and his paintings, poems, calligraphy, and the stone statue of Qu Yuan that was engraved with the money donated by the people in Guizhou (归州) during Ming Dynasty. And on the second floor, there are various precious cultural relics that was found in Zigui County.

In the corridor at the east and west side of the bronze statue, there are many monuments that are engraved with the poems which were written by Qu Yuan and the ancient poets and calligraphists that sing to praise Qu Yuan.

Qu Yuan Ancestral Hall
Location: Zigui County, Yichang City, Hubei Province
Tickets: RMB 15
Opening time: 8：30 a.m. -6：00 p.m.
Tel: 0717-2885445

Tips:
You can set off from the well-known Three Gorges Dam area by boat and trace the river on, then pass through the grand precipitous Yangtze River Xiling Gorge. Or you can take a bus  at the Yichang Passenger Station to Zigui and then change the bus to Xiangjiaping (xiàngjiāpíng 向家坪) in Zigui.