This attraction introduction is compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · Scenic Spots section). Ticket prices, opening hours, transportation, and contact information mentioned in the text may be outdated. Please refer to the latest official announcements from the scenic area before traveling; some content consists of historical background/cultural introductions and is for reference only.
Leiyang City has a profound cultural heritage. According to the "Book of the Later Han: Biography of Cai Lun" and extensive historical research, Cai Lun was born in Leiyang in 63 AD. He successively held posts including Junior Yellow Gate Attendant, Regular Palace Attendant concurrently with the position of Director of the Imperial Workshops, and Grand Coachman of Changle, and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Longting. In 105 AD, he invented papermaking. In Cai Lun's hometown, there are now provincial-level protected cultural relics such as the Cai Hou Shrine, Cai Lun's Tomb, Caizi Pond, the paper-pounding mortar, the precious tripod, Du Fu's Tomb, and the stele of Gu Lang, Grand Administrator of Jiuzhen. The Huanxiu Tower, Lingyun Pagoda, and Diaolong Pagoda constitute an artistic excellence unrivaled in Huxiang. Leiyang has always been praised as a "famous region of Jingchu."
Cai Lun, a native of Leiyang, invented papermaking during the reign of Emperor He of the Eastern Han and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Longting. After his death, the people of his hometown built a shrine on the site of his former residence and installed his statue there for worship, and built a tomb behind and to the left of the shrine in his memory, and dug Caizi Pond at the paper-washing site in front of the shrine. The shrine was later submerged by floods and was rebuilt in the fourth year of the Zhiyuan reign of the Yuan Dynasty (1338). The shrine has a brick-and-wood structure and consists of three sections: front, middle, and rear. The shrine gate couplet reads: "The fragrant pond reflects the moon; the style of the old residence endures." The couplet on the pillars of the middle hall reads: "Concentrating the loyalty, wisdom, and courage to create and invent and spread to the world; Gathering ponds, lakes, bridges, and pavilions to promote the spirit and inspire the people." It is now open as the Cai Lun Memorial Hall, displaying Cai Lun's life and the process of his invention of papermaking, the spread of papermaking technology throughout the world, and its role in the progress of human civilization. Cai Lun's Tomb is behind the Cai Hou Shrine, about a hundred paces away. The tomb is a single-chamber double-arch structure. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, it was robbed twice, by Kuomintang troops and Japanese troops, and the burial goods were completely plundered. Now one can enter the tomb chamber through the tomb gate. It has been repaired several times since Liberation, and in 1959 Guo Moruo inscribed the gate plaque "Tomb of Cai Lun." Both the shrine and the tomb are provincial-level key cultural relics protection units and one of the hundred national patriotism education bases.
