The Hanging Coffins on the Cliffs in the Three Gorges

The Three Gorges along the Yangtze River are a historical gallery of this part of China. There are countless suspended artifacts and occult phenomena on the cliffs facing the water. One of them is the unsolved mystery of the cliff coffin custom, which displays profound cultural and historical meaning and the unique entombment custom of ancient nationalities in the Three Gorges.

In the steep cliffs, above the turbulent flows, are lots of caves dating from the age of troglodytism. Ancient human relics conceal secret entrances to the caves. An old poem says: “Countless famous mountains are in Yiling, countless famous caves are in these mountains.” Among these caves “Golden Cave” is very famous and mysterious.

In 1958, Yang Wenping, a farmer of White Dragon Village on Mount Baiyan, adventurously entered  a cave using a coarse rope and claw hook and retrieved a bronze willowherb-shaped sword of the ancient tribe of Ba (Ba and Shu were the old names for the two parts of Sichuan province: Ba was in the east; Shu was in the west. In modern times, “Bashu Culture” is used to describe the culture of Sichuan). In 1996, an expedition made up of members from China, England and Eire entered the Golden Cave. They only found bones of the dead, scattered wood flour and obscure characters and pictures there. Who left these? When did they leave these? Lots of questions are still mysteries. Among all of these mysteries, the cliff coffins in the caves are the most famous.

There is an old saying: “There are countless treasures in the cliff coffins in the Three Gorges, which can not be obtained, even by risking your life”. Are there treasures in the coffins? How did people place the coffins on the cliffs? Today, some of the secrets have been unveiled! According to on-the-spot investigations, the cliff coffins were placed in two ways: being put in natural caves or artificial alcoves dozens of meters above the ground. In 1979, Professor Lin Xiang, from the History Department of Sichuan University, took a cliff coffin down from Jingzhuba Cliff on the upper Da’ning River. According to analysis, the wooden hanging coffin had a 2000-year history, and no decomposition. The coffin was 2.1 meters (7 feet) long, made up of smooth, rainproof and rot-resistant Nan mu wood (very expensive wood). The ancient people split the wood into two parts and hollowed them. The connection of the coffin bottom and the coffin cover is a crescent shape with a snap fastening and no hinges. The gradient of the cave was 20°. The location of the coffin was a “place where no man goes”, with little sunshine (2 hours per day), making it airy, rainproof and dry, and that is why the coffin has been completed preserved . There were two skeletons in the coffin: one was a boy’s of age 13 or 14, the other was a girl’s. An imprint of a blunt tool was shown at the back of the girl’s head, which meant the girl was buried with the dead—the rich boy. Other entombment objects were a cupreous belt hook, cupreous bangles and the like. (Now, these objects are exhibited in the cultural relics exhibition center in the town of Wushan, at the beginning of Wu Gorge, about 140 km (87 mi) upriver from Yichang.)

In the year 1971, a bow-backed person, a lame man and a monk ventured into Qutang Gorge (one of the Three Gorges) and got down a coffin from a cliff. There was not any gold or silver in it, only some bronzeware and pottery of the ancient imperial Ba tribe were found. During “China’s ten-year cultural catastrophe” (1966-76), people destroyed a cliff coffin, besides skeletons. Only tea leaves and books were left. After that, some medicines and other artifacts were found in other coffins.

During the 1950s and 1960s, in the coffins at Daxi in the county of Wushan, on the southern bank of the Yangtze at the entrance to Qutang Gorge, people found skeletons with zaxes, or stone hoes, under their heads, or wearing jade rings, earbobs, mussel rings and lots of other trinkets. What was more interesting was, from the mortuary objects, the vocation of the people these skeletons belonged to could be known. For example, it was not difficult to tell that the skeleton with fishes under its head, in its hand and beside it was a fisherman. Other mortuary objects were fishing nets, fishhooks and so on. Ancient people believed that there was another world of dead men, where they could continue their vocations, so they were buried with their career related tools.

How did people place the coffins on the cliffs? According to the textual research, there are three probable methods:

The first is, after someone died the descendents would chisel caves out of the cliffs for placing the coffins. The coffins were then let down by rope from the top of the mountains. The higher the coffins were put, the more filial the descendents were.

The second way is, people cut tunnels and caves in the cliffs and then destroyed the tunnels to avoid robbing of the graves.

The third suggestion is, the coffins were lifted using block and tackle. Of course, the lifting equipment was removed after use.

I. Recorded History

The earliest record of cliff coffins in the Three Gorges was found in ancient books and folk legends. According to the scholars, the words “Cliff Coffin” came from the book “The Royalty Peaceful Encyclopedia”, dating form the Eastern Jin Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589), when people considered the cliff coffins as “homes”.

Since the Tang Dynasty (618-907), people gradually found that they were coffins. In the book “Backup Information and Knowledge”, the author Shao Bowen of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) described that “There are coffins in caves which were put at a height where even birds and monkeys have not touched. The coffins are of different sizes, called ‘tombs of celestial beings’ by local people.” There were also related records in some poems and historical materials, which recorded the process of thought about the cliff coffins.

Lots of the scenic spots’ names are related to the cliff coffins, like “Bellows Gorge”, “Dragon Boat Pier” and “Box Rock”. The shapes of the local coffins, people likened to bellows, boats, boxes and so on.

According to historical records, the earliest coffin had a 1500-year history. Because of the low technology level in ancient times, people considered the mystery of the coffins for a long time. During that time, lots of folk legends came about.

In the year 1948, the famous ethnologist Rui Yifu initially coined the words “Cliff Coffin Burying Custom”. After that, the words were accepted and used more and more by scholars. Mr. Chen Mingfang, who continued to research cave burying, later defined the Cliff Coffin Burying Custom: “ ‘Cliff Coffin Burying’ is a burying custom of placing coffins with skeletons and mortuary objects on cliffs facing the waters.”

II. Distribution

Most of the cliff coffins are distributed in the south of China, in the provinces of Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Hubei, Hu’an, Sichuan, Chongqing, Yun’nan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Taiwan. The Three Gorges area is a unique zone for cliff coffins, with the most precious cultural significance. The course of the Yangtze River is the center of distribution for the coffins. The main river, together with its tributaries, make up the distribution network. Their cultural connotations and ethnic characteristics have obvious connections and universalities with other cliff coffins of South China. 

1. Cliff Coffins on the Yangtze River in the Three Gorges

The length of the Three Gorges is 192 km, from the the beginning of Qutang Gorge to the end of Xiling Gorge, where more than 10 cliff coffins have been found, for example:

(1) The Coffin at Tactics Book Gorge

There are some records in historical books and local recordings, without details of the mortuary objects.

(2) The Coffin of Fenbi Cave

The cave is located on the southern bank of Kuimen, which is famous for its stone sculptures, 50 meters above the water surface.

(3) The Coffin of Golden Cave

Golden Cave is a natural cave on a cliff. In 1958, a farmer got a bronze sword from this cave. In 1966 an expedition found some skeletons in this cave.

(4) The Coffin of the Groove

The Groove is a cave located on a cliff on the southern bank of Qutang Gorge, 70 meters above the water surface. There is a coffin in it, with piles of timber and square holes on the side of it.

(5) The Bellows Coffin

There is a coffin in Bellows Gorge, which joins the Yangtze at the northern bank of Qutang Gorge, 100 meters from the top of the cliff and 70 meters above the water surface. There are three big Chinese characters “Feng Xiang Xia” ('Bellows Gorge') at the vertical rock crack. In the year 1971, three farmers climbed into the cave to hunt for treasure, and found 12 coffins on timber columns. They destroyed 8 of them, and stole a bronze sword, a cupreous ax, some pearl trinkets and an exquisite cupreous male shoe with carved patterns.

(6) The Armor Cave Coffin

According to the ancient book “General Introduction to Kuizhou” this cave was the place where the famous female general Mu Guiying of the Song Dynasty hid her armor. It is just a folk legend. Armor Cave is located 100 meters above the water surface. Professor Tong Enzheng wrote an article recording the cultural relics in the cave. In the year 1958, an old man climbed into the cave and found three coffins. The cultural relics he retrieved have been preserved in the cultural relics exhibition center in the city of Baidicheng.

(7) Iron Coffin Gorge  

Iron Coffin Gorge is located in Nanmuyuan on the southern bank of Xiling Gorge. Iron Coffin Gorge is 500 meters long, with a group of natural caves located there, dozens of meters above the water surface. Since many years have past, all the coffins here look as black as iron. Hence the name “Iron Coffin Gorge”.

(8) The Coffin of Tactics Book and Sword GorgeThis gorge is located north of Zigui Town in Xiling Gorge. After navigating Xiangxi River by boat, there is an outstanding stone standing on the cliff, like a sword. There is a natural cave further downstream, 200 meters above the water surface. Some paper-like artifacts were found several years ago. As the story goes, it was a book of tactics left by the famous militarist Zhu Geliang in the dynasty of the Three Kingdoms (220­-280). In the year 1955, while searching for herbal medicine getting, several old men climbed into the cave and found two coffins and the “book of tactics”.

2. Coffins along the tributaries of the Yangtze flowing into the Three Gorges

On both sides of branch rivers, which flow into the Yangtze River in the Three Gorges, there are also cliff coffins half way up the cliffs:

(1) The Caotanghe Cliff Coffin in Fengjie

The Sanjiayan cliff coffin was the main treasure in the cave. Now there are only wooden remains.

(2) The Staggered Gorge at Wu Mountain

There are two cliff coffin groups: Guanmuxian and Tianzimiao. More than 10 coffins were found in the two cliff coffin groups in total. 4 of them have been preserved.

(3) The Cliff Coffin Group on Wu Mountain beside Daning River

There are five coffin locations: Longmen Gorge (Iron Coffin Gorge as mentioned before), Bawu Gorge, Flying Cloud Cave in Dicui Gorge and the Water Entrance of Dachang. Most of them are natural caves, with 1 or 2 coffins in each. The height range of the coffin locations is from 40 meters to 200 meters above the water surface. They form an extremely unique landscape in the  Lesser Three Gorges.

3. The Cliff Coffin Groups in the Town of Wuxi on Da’ning River

There are more than ten coffin groups, located at Decomposing Boats Bay, Moon Cave, Cat Rock, Coffin Rock, Yellow Rock Cave, Square Cave, Southern Gate Bay, Phoenix Mountain, the Nine Floors, etc. This is a notable area for cliff coffins. 30 meters north of the town of Wuxi, at the confluence of Daning River and Dongxi River, is the Jingzhuba Cliff coffin group, containing 25 coffins. In the year 1979, some students and teachers from the Archaeology Department of Sichuan University climbed the cliff for investigations. They opened coffin No. 18 and found two skeletons (a boy and a girl) and three items of bronzeware in it.

(1) The Cliff Coffin Group in the Town of Wuxi beside Dragon Boat River

Since there is a cliff coffin resembling a wooden boat, the river was named Dragon Boat River. More than 10 coffins are there, but most of them have been destroyed. Cliff coffins were also found above Luoping River, 5 km from Dragon Boat River.

(2) The Coffin Group Beside Jiuwan Stream in the Town of ZiguiJiuwan Stream is south of Xiling Gorge. As the story goes, the famous poet Quyuan planted irises and orchids called “Jiuwan” here, hence the name Jiuwan Stream. There is a natural transverse crack between the reddish-brown cliffs, 50 meters above the water surface. Seven coffins were put in the crack, all of which have been destroyed by tomb raiders.

(3) The Cliff Coffin Group Along the branches of Qinggan River in the Town of Zigui

On a cliff, which is 120 meters long and 100 meters high,  in Moping Village on the southern bank of Xiling Gorge, there are 131 coffins in the caves and rock cracks. A bundle of rope can also be seen through a telescope. This is the largest cliff coffin group founded to date, which has great value for research. Although the caves have not been climbed into, some scholars consider that the bundle of rope in the cave could probably give us the answer to how the coffins were placed.

(4) The Cliff Coffin Group Along Huangbai River in the Yiling Area

This coffin group is on the cliffs on both sides of Huangbai River, which is 20 km from Xiling Gorge. There is a natural cave called Coffin Rock 100 meters above the water surface, with 30 coffins in it. In the center of the cave there is a bigger coffin, which is 2 meters long and 1 meter high. The coffin was made from a single piece of whole hardwood. In its history, this coffin group was destroyed by tomb raiders again and again. In the period 1958 to 1979, tomb raiders destroyed 20 coffins in total.

There is another cave facing Coffin Rock called Dragon Lord Cave, containing 6 coffins.

From the geographic distribution of the cliff coffins, there is an obvious conclusion: there are more cliff coffins along the branch rivers of the Yangtze River than the main river. This is related to the distribution of ancient nationalities and tribes, reflecting where they lived. The Three Gorges has less flat ground for residence and farming, while the branch rivers have more flat ground with fertile soil. Access was also more convenient, so most of the ancient villages were distributed in the branch river areas. Discovering the geographic distribution of ancient tribes will aid research into the cliff coffin’s ethnic origin and cultural significance.

III. Local Characteristics of Cliff Coffin Burying Customs in the Three Gorges

Compared with cliff coffins in the south of China, the cliff coffins in the Three Gorges have some similar characteristics and also some unique features.

1. Most of the cliff coffins were put in natural caves. Since the geology is limestone, erosion has produced karst landforms. Sheer peaks, strange rock formations, solution cavities and caves are all present there. Most of the coffins are located in natural caves, not in artificial ones, reflecting the primitive simplicity of the Neolithic Period.

2. Most of the coffins are made of single pieces of wood. Since there were abundant timber resources, people could use local materials conveniently. The simple and coarse style reflects the low skill level in ancient times.

3. Methods of placing the coffins were undoubtedly adjusted to suit local conditions.

How the coffins were put in the cliffs has been a brainteaser to scholars for years. There are lots of theories, like the cumuli theory, the scaling ladder theory, the landform change theory, the plank road theory and the block and tackle theory.

According to the information we have now, scholar Liu Buxiu considers that the rope theory is probably right. The bundle of rope in Coffin Cave in the county of Zigui is evidence for the rope theory. Another evidence is, ropes are still the villagers’ main tools for collecting herbal medicine and wood and road building.

Some other scholars support the theory of plank roads being built along the cliffs. They consider the Ladder of Mengliang as evidence (there are 65 sections left).

But even using a plank road, rope was also needed for support. So rope is the key factor to revealing the secret.

IV. Ethnic Origin of the Cliff Coffins

The ethnic origins of the cliff coffins have a common ancestry. From the dynasties of Shang (1600-1046 BC) and Zhou (1045-256 BC), various nationalities settled in the Three Gorges area. In the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), the main nationalities there were Ba and Chu. According to oracle bone inscriptions, Ba Fang was a powerful kingdom. The book “Maps of Chinese History” described the location of the Ba Fang: the Ba Fang kingdom was located between Han River and Ba River, south of the kingdom Chu and Deng. According to  investigations, the Ba nationality was one of the eight tribes which participated in the alliance against the Shang Kingdom. In the book “Annotations of Shuijingzhu” (Shuijingzhu was an important historical geography book ), the author Yang Shoujing considers “Ba” the generic term for the nationalities of Peng, Zongbei, Bandunmanyi, Yuegourenyi, Langzhongyi and Baihuyi. An ancient book, “Annotations of Ba”, said “their territory extended to the stomach of the fish”. The “stomach of the fish” stood for the area of the Three Gorges in Chongqing. Some Ba type willow-leaf-shaped swords were found in the Three Gorges, tallying with the recordeded time and location of the Ba nationality. So the makers of the cliff coffins were the people of Ba nationality.

V. Cultural Signification of the Cliff Coffins of the Three Gorges

Since the initial discovery of the mysterious cliff coffins in China 1000 years ago, lots of researchers have been exploring their mystery. Of course, the unique burial custom was the outcome of the special ideology and religions and the unique historical conditions. According to research, this burial custom was a reflection of some ethic religions, which had a common ancestry with the age of troglodytism and Neolithic Period. As to the details of the forming of the custom, there are lots of different ideas and guesses. Here are the main theories:

(1) Ancestor Worship 

This theory is that people put the skeletons of their parents and ancestors on a high cliff facing the water to let their descendents look up to them with reverence, and then the ancestors would bless their descendents' lives and make them thriving and prosperous. 

(2) Divine Intervention    

People in ancient time called their bodies “forms”. They believed spirits attached to the “forms”. Some scholars think that the coffins are like boats, carrying the spirits attached to the forms to paradise. In the old poetry anthology “Chuci”, the sentence “transferring the spirits of the dead” reflected the spirit theory and ancient ethic customs in the Three Gorges.

(3) Protection by Deities

Ancient people believed that the high mountains and cliffs were the nearest places to the paradise. So they called the caves “deities’ homes”. People buried the ancestors on the cliffs to protect them from evil.

(4) Returning Home

People then thought that human beings came from the water, mountains and caves, so they needed to return there. During the age of troglodytism, humans hunted in the forests and fished in the water, so they had a special connection with nature. Placing their ancestors’ coffins on cliffs above the water could be seen as sending them back to nature. There was a sentence in the famous poem “Flower Burying”: “the inner being came from cleanness and would return to the cleanness”, which is an example of the returning to nature theory.

The four theories above are persuasive and popular among the scholars. Besides, there are also some other theories called “the Protection of Corpses Theory” and “the Smallpox Contagion Controlling”, which are less impressive theories, and not very persuasive.

In summary, the cliff coffins have unique cultural value and give an insight into early customs and  religions in the Three Gorges.

Qutang Gorge

The Qutang Gorge (Chinese: 瞿塘峽; pinyin: Qūtáng Xiá) is the shortest and most spectacular of China's Three Gorges.

Immediately downstream of the ancient village Baidicheng (白帝城) the Yangtze River passes between the Chijia Mountain (赤甲山) on the north and the Baiyan Mountain (白鹽山) on the south. The point where the river passes between these mountains is called the Kuimen Gate (夔門) and it is the entrance to the Qutang Gorge - the first of the three Yangtze gorges. The Qutang Gorge is only 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) long, but it is also the narrowest of the Three Gorges. The widest point measures only 150 metres (500 ft) wide. The mountains on either side reach as high as 1,200 metres (4,000 ft). This combination of narrow canyons among high mountains with several switchbacks in only 8 kilometres creates spectacular vistas, and the Qutang Gorge is often considered the most beautiful of all the Three Gorges.

The Qutang Gorge is located 31.033826 °N, 109.540160 °E. Administratively, it is part of Fengjie County of the Chongqing Municipality.

SITES

Baidicheng

Baidicheng was an ancient city on the northern shore of the Yangtze River. Baidicheng was also where Liu Bei, first emperor of the Kingdom of Shu during the Three Kingdoms era, died. There is a Liu Bei Memorial Temple and a Zhuge Liang Memorial Temple in Baidicheng. Baidicheng is a major tourist attraction of a Yangtse cruise.

Chalk Wall

The Qutang Gorge along the Yangtze River.

The Chalk Wall (粉筆牆) is a white cliff face on the southern bank of the Yangtze River at the entrance to the Qutang Gorge (Kuimen Gate). The Chalk Wall can be easily recognized by the numerous characters carved into the rock, many of which were done by famous Chinese calligraphers. Nearly 1,000 characters in all are carved into the rock wall, with the oldest dating to the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The wall has characters carved in many different styles of calligraphy and in various sizes. The largest characters are approximately 1.7 metres (6 ft) wide.

The Meng Liang Stairway

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On the south side the river (Baiyan Mountain) there are a series of rectangular shaped holes carved into the cliff face.[citation needed] The holes are almost exactly 1 metre apart and 1 metre deep. The holes zig-zag up part of the cliff face in a Z-shape. These holes are known as the Meng Liang Stairway (孟良梯).

Legend has it that the holes were built by a Song Dynasty soldier named Meng Liang (孟良). Meng Liang served for a general named Yang Jiye who was buried at the top of the cliff. Meng Liang wanted to find the remains of General Yang and give him a proper burial back in his home town.[citation needed] During the night Meng Liang constructed the stairway. A monk at the top of the mountain saw him coming and crowed like a rooster. Meng Liang, thinking the morning had arrived, quickly abandoned his plan to avoid being caught.

Holes such as these are used as a walk-way several places in the Three Gorges region. Poles were inserted into the holes and then either a walkway could be constructed or a person could walk from pole to pole. Historians do not know why these particular holes were constructed, nor do they know why they only reach part of the way up the cliff face. Remains of city walls have been located at the top of the cliff, and some historians have theorized that the pathway might have been intended to enable a person to access the city from the river.

Another famous set of similar holes can be found near Wushan in the Little Three Gorges (小三峽) of the Daning River (大寧河). The local tourism agency in Wushan has placed poles in some of these holes so that tourists can see how they were used in ancient times.

Hanging Monk Rock

On the cliff face near Meng Liang's Staircase there is a rock shaped like an upside down person. This is the Hanging Monk Rock (倒吊和尚). According to legend, when Meng Liang discovered that the monk had feigned a rooster call, and frightened him off the mountain, he was so angry that he found the monk and hung him upside down from the cliff face.

Drinking Phoenix Spring

Along the cliff face near the Chalk Wall and Meng Liang's Stairway there are a number of caves. Dripping water from natural springs within the caves have created many stalactites. One particular stalactite is approximately 10 metres (33 ft) high, and it is shaped like a Phoenix displaying its tail feathers. Moss and bamboo growing next to the formation look like feathers on a bird. Water still drips from the head of the stalactite bird, and hence the Chinese have dubbed it the Drinking Phoenix Spring (鳳凰泉). The formation is extremely difficult to see from the river, but there is a pathway that allows direct access to the caves.

The Ancient Pathway (古棧道)

These narrow footpaths were built starting in Western Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) and continued to be maintained and improved until the middle of the 20th century. The original purpose was to provide a foot path for human haulers to pull boats upstream. Thus they were always alongside cliffs next to the river. Since the earliest days, boats going downstream used oars just to get steerage way. Going upstream, human powered oars were no match to the rapid current. Thus gangs of humans, harnessed to a tow rope, hauled the boats upstream. These haulers needed a path along the steep cliffs to walk on. Thus the Ancient Pathways were built. Even today haulers can be seen as in 天山網. Over the years, these paths were expanded and improved. In addition to paths for haulers, paths were built for hauling goods up mountains. These higher paths would survive the flooding after the Three Gorges Dam is complete.

Seven Opening Cave (七道門)

Hanging Coffins (懸棺)

Hanging coffins are a method of ceremonially placing the corpses of the deceased upon cliff sides, an ancient funeral custom of some minority groups, especially the Bo people of southern China. Coffins of various significant shapes were often carved out of a whole piece of wood. Hanging coffins either rest upon beams projecting outward from the cliff's vertical faces such as mountains, are placed in caves in the face of cliffs, or sit on natural rock projections on mountain faces.

The Rhinoceros Gazing at the Moon (犀牛望月峰)

Daxi Village

Impact of the Three Gorges Dam

Although the Qutang Gorge is the furthest upstream of all the affected gorges, the impact of the Three Gorges Dam on the Qutang Gorge has been especially large. Many of the most famous and historically significant sites in the Qutang Gorge are located closer to the water level. In fact, even prior to the dam construction the water level would come close to many sites during the rainy season. The water has now effectively covered many of the most impressive and notable sites in the Gorge including the Ancient Pathway, Meng Liang's Staircase, the Chalk Wall, and the cave within the Bellows Gorge.

Early western travellers and missionaries at times also mistakenly referred to this gorge as the Bellows Gorge; however this name was meant by the Chinese to refer only to a specific part within the Qutang Gorge.

Yangtze River Culture & Folk Customs

As the largest river in China, Yangtze River is the cradle land of Chinese civilization. For thousands of years, Yangtze River Culture comes out with different carries, including Ba & Shu Culture, cultural relics, local folk customs and etc.

Ba & Shu Culture (Bashu Culture)

Tracing back to Spring and Autumn Period, there were people lived along Yangtze River, called Ba and Shu people, which refer to area of Chongqing and Sichuan respectively. With a near distance, Ba and Shu had a convenient communication and have shared agriculture technology and life tools, such as round blade axe, spear, rice pot, kettle, iron pot and so forth.

Meanwhile, the bronze crafts were developed along Yangtze River. Sanxingdui site founded in Guangyuan near Chengdu can tell the ancient Ba & Shu Culture for 5,000 years ago. Besides, some other crafts like painted pottery, bamboo weaving products, shipbuilding were also in great advantages.

Cultural Relics along Yangtze River

From the Bashu Culture to Jingchu Culture and Wuyue Culture, Yangtze River had experienced different ages and dynasties. Therefore there were kinds of cultural relics and historical sites left along the river sides.

Trestle Road along cliff :in ancient times, Yangtze River was such a danger that only riskers could row boat to pass through. Then people lived in Three Gorges created a way towards outsides, which was a pathway along cliff-trestle road. The ancient trestle road is about 50 to 60 km, with a height of a few dozen meters. Now when Three Gorges Dam is storing water, the trestle road will submerged under water.

Hanging coffins:In Three Gorges of Yangtze River, there are some wooden coffins suspending along the cliffs, which were called hanging coffins or suspended coffins. Those mysterious coffins tried to illustrate some kind of burial culture which is unsolved yet.

Besides, there are some other sites like Fengdu Ghost City, White Emperor City, Three Gorges, Shennong Stream and more scenic spots presenting you with different sides of Yangtze Culture.

The Old Hanging Coffin in Three Gorges of Yangtze

Trestle Road: the only way leading to outsides in ancient times

Folk Customs along Yangtze River

From generation to generation, people lived along Yangtze River have a great change about their way of living. While there are some folk customs still kept, like marriage custom and burial custom.

The marriage custom is more like a weeping wedding in the tribe of Three Gorges of Tujia Ethnic Minority. According to traditions, the bride cries in order to show her love to their families and relatives, because after get married, she will leave home and separated from her families.

For burial custom, they will use folk dances and lively songs to make wishes to the deceased for a happy afterlife. The men will dance around the coffin and women are not allowed to dance for the death of an elder.

Tourists can visit the tribe of Three Gorges to explore more local customs and traditions along Yangtze River.

Advantages & Disadvantages of the Three Gorges Dam

Advantages of Three Gorges Dam

Operated in 1993 and completed in 2009, Three Gorges Dam is designed to serve three main purposes: flood control, hydroelectric power production and navigation improvement, which are also the great advantages of this project.

Flood Control

Controlling flood is one of the most significant functions of the Three Gorges Dam, and flooding used to be a major problem for the seasonal Yangtze River. With millions of people living downstream of the dam and many large and important cities like Wuhan, Nanjing and Shanghai situated adjacent to Yangtze River, flooding control has been one of the most issues for China.

The flood storage capacity of Three Gorges Dam Reservoir is 22 Cubic Meters, and this capacity can reduce the frequency of major downstream flooding from once every ten years to once every 100 years.

Power Generation

As the world’s largest power station of 22,500 MW, Three Gorges Dam project has installed 32 main turbines with two smaller generators to power the plant itself. From 2003 to 2014, the annual power generating is increasing and there was 83.7 terawatthours (TWh) in 2013 and 98.8 TWh in 2014. This electric generating capacity has largely supported the whole nation’s electricity usage.

Cruise Ships Navigation

The installment of ship locks and equipped with a ship lift on Dam, the Yangtze Three Gorges cruise ships heading towards much safer.

Besides, the Three Gorges Dam reservoir goes as far as to the southwest metropolis Chongqing, therefore it improves 660 kilometers waterway, and largely enable 10000 – tonnage fleets to navigate between Shanghai and Chongqing. The annual one – way navigation capacity of the Yangtze at the dam will be upgraded from ten million tons to fifty million tons.

Disadvantages of Three Gorges Dam

Comparing with the advantage of the dam, people focus more on the disadvantages of Three Gorges Dam, which is existed indeed and can’t be omitted. Among those bad impacts, Water Pollution, Migration Problem and Environment Problem to surrounding ecology and sceneries are the most disadvantages.

Water Pollution

Along with the river flowing, there is a large number of land experiencing erosion, which leads to tons of sands and pebbles into the Yangtze River and stay at the upstream and makes great water pollution about Yangtze River.

Migration Problem

Chinese officials estimate that the reservoir will partially or completely inundate 2 cities, 11 counties, 140 towns, 326 townships, and 1351 villages. About 23800 hectares, more than 1.1 million people will have to be resettled.

Environmental Problem

In order to build the dam, the surrounding landscape has been changed largely, which has caused some problems related to climate deteriorated, plants and wildlife disappeared, historical relics submerged, etc.

The Three Gorges Dam project construction has brought different advantages and disadvantages and local authorities are trying their best to reduce the bad impacts. Tourists can’t have chance to appreciate those submerged cultural relics but at the same time some new scenic spots with authentic sceneries are waiting for you to explore.

Three Gorges Dam

The Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest hydropower project and most notorious dam. The massive project sets records for number of people displaced (more than 1.2 million), number of cities and towns flooded (13 cities, 140 towns, 1,350 villages), and length of reservoir (more than 600 kilometers). The project has been plagued by corruption, spiraling costs, environmental impacts, human rights violationsand resettlement difficulties.

The Three Gorges Dam is a model for disaster, yet Chinese companies are replicating this model both domestically and internationally. Within China, huge hydropower cascades have been proposed and are being constructed in some of China’s most pristine and biologically and culturally diverse river basins - the Lancang (Upper Mekong) River, Nu (Salween) River and upstream of Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River and tributaries.The environmental impacts of the project are profound, and are likely to get worse as time goes on. The submergence of hundreds of factories, mines and waste dumps, and the presence of massive industrial centers upstream are creating a festering bog of effluent, silt, industrial pollutants and rubbish in the reservoir. Erosion of the reservoir and downstream riverbanks is causing landslides, and threatening one of the world’s biggest fisheries in the East China Sea. The weight of the reservoir's water has many scientists concerned over reservoir-induced seismicity. Critics have also argued that the project may have exacerbated recent droughts by withholding critical water supply to downstream users and ecoystems, and through the creation of a microclimate by its giant reservoir. In 2011, China's highest government body for the first time officially acknowledged the "urgent problems" of the Three Gorges Dam.

Pollution in the Three Gorges Reservoir

International Rivers

Through the Three Gorges Project, China has acquired the know-how to build large hydropower schemes, and has begun exporting similar projects around the world. Now that the project's problems have been acknowledged, it is important to draw lessons from the experience so that the problems of the Yangtze dam are not repeated.

While Three Gorges is the world’s biggest hydro project, the problems at Three Gorges are not unique. Around the world, large dams are causing social and environmental devastation while better alternatives are being ignored.

International Rivers protects rivers and defends the rights of the communities which depend on them. We monitor the social and environmental problems of the Three Gorges Dam, and work to ensure that the right lessons are drawn for energy and water projects in China and around the world.

10 cool facts about the Yangtze River

Known as the Chang Jiang in China, Yangtze River is Asia's longest river and the third longest river in the world after River Nile in Africa and River Amazon in the Amazon Basin. Amazingly, the River Yangtze delta produces about 20% of the People's Republic of China GDP. Below are a few interesting facts about Yangtze River.

1. The Drainage Basin of the Yangtze River covers 20 % of the total landmass of the People's Republic of China.

2. The Yangtze River is the busiest river in the world with cruise ships, ferries and transport barges crisscrossing the river.

3. The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is the biggest Hydro-electric Dam in the world

4. The Yangtze River and its tributaries have over 50 bridges, all of which were built after 1955. Before this, people used to cross the river using ferries.

5. The Yangtze River has more than 700 hundred tributaries, each forming an important aspect of the Chinese economy.

6. Due to pollution of the River's waters, animal species native to the river such as Chinese Alligator, the Finless Porpoise and the Chinese Paddlefish are endangered.

7. The fact that activities on the Yangtze River basin can be traced as early as 27,000 years ago has put in doubt as to where exactly the Chinese people originated.

8. History records show that in 1342 and in 1954, the waters of Yangtze River dried in Jiangsu Province. It was so dry that you could see the river bed.

9. Floods from the river have killed more people than any other water disaster recorded. There is the flood of 1911 which killed around 100,000, 1931 (145,000 dead), 1935 (142,000 dead) and 1954 (30,000 dead).

10. Yangtze River has been the origin of more cities than any other river in the world. It traverses through the Chines states of Qinghai, Tibet, Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Shanghai.

The Yangtze is perhaps second only to Nile in greatness, but it easily outperforms it in terms of History. A study of the river will leave you thoroughly inspired.

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Yangtze River plays an important role in China's history and culture. It has a long history of more than 2 million years. Many culture heritage sites are located along the Yangtze River, like Fengdu Ghost City in Chongqing.

Yangtze History

Sichuan Province

The Yangtze River has an important place in Chinese history. Traces of human activity in the area have been dated as far back as 2 million years ago. In the Spring and Autumn Period of China (770-476 BC), the Ba and Shu tribes lived in the middle reaches of the river, now Sichuan Province, Chongqing Municipality, and western Hubei Province. The Chu settled in the lower reaches of the Yangtze, corresponding to today's Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and southern Anhui provinces. The Wu and Yue tribes were located in the Yangtze Delta area, now Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai.

The difficulty in crossing the river made it often the border of kingdoms and the place of fierce battles. Several dynasties and the Republic of China (1912-1949) had their capital in Nanjing, then the first bridging point and a strategic location on the Yangtze.

Yangtze Culture

The Leeser Three Gorges

There is a rich cultural heritage along the Three Gorges section, like the hanging coffins of the Lesser Three Gorges, the Cave of the Three Travelers and the Ghost City of Fengdu, which partly had to be resettled due to the rise in water level caused by the Three Gorges Dam.

Elsewhere on the Yangtze, the upper reaches are home to minority peoples like the Tibetans and Naxi of Yunnan, who live in remote mountainous areas.

The culture of the Sichuan/Chongqing Plateau and Hubei Plain on the Yangtze middle reaches, with its spicy food, Buddhist holy sites (the Giant Buddha, Mt. Emei, etc.) and relaxed pace of life, is different from that of the low-lying lower reaches.

Downriver from Wuhan the lakes, waterways and fertile alluvial plain are known as a land of fish and rice. Ancient towns, where the streets are canals thrived in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and Hangzhou and Suzhou were winter retreats for the emperors.

The Development of Yangtze's Transport

The Three Gorges Dam The surging Yangtze is now controlled by the Three Gorges Dam.

The Changjiang (chang means long and jiang means river), or Yangtze has always been an important means of transport for goods into and out of China’s interior.

In the past, river travel was not easy, as the river had some dangerous reaches, rocks and wildly fluctuating water levels. Boats often had to be rowed through the most dangerous parts. Between June and September upstream traffic almost ceased completely, as winds were not strong enough to allow the junks to sail against the surging waters.

In the days before engines, men called “trackers” used to pull the ships manually up the Yangtze River. They literally crawled through the mud hauling on a rope slung round their bodies. You can see sepia photographs of this at a lecture on board the Victoria Line Yangtze River Cruise.

The modern era of Yangtze River travel started in 1900, when the British Paddle-Steamer S.S. Pioneer managed the upstream trip to Chongqing without the use of oars. The voyage was still not without danger, as the example of a German passenger steamer, which was smashed to pieces on the rocks the same year, shows.

Today a trip on the Yangtze, either upstream or downstream is as pleasant as it can be. Most of the ships are equipped with modern navigation and sea sickness is seldom seen, as most of the ships have motion stabilizers in their bellies. The Three Gorges Dam and Gezhou Dam have calmed the waters of the Three Gorges and the Yangtze downstream.