On Qu Yuan's Exile to the Li River
Qu Yuan, given name Ping, courtesy name Yuan, was born on the 23rd day of the first lunar month in 353 BC (17th year of King Xuan of Chu) and died on the 5th day of the fifth lunar month in 278 BC (21st year of King Qingxiang). Qu Yuan came from a declining noble family of Chu. He once served as Zuo Tu and Sanlü Dafu. He advocated improving domestic politics internally and allying with Qi against Qin externally.
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About Qu Yuan's Exile to the Li River
Qu Yuan, given name Ping, courtesy name Yuan. He was born in 353 BC (the seventeenth year of King Xuan of Chu) on the twenty-third day of the first lunar month, and died in 278 BC (the twenty-first year of King Qingxiang) on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.
Qu Yuan was born into a declining aristocratic family of the State of Chu. He once held positions such as Zuo Tu and Sanlü Dafu in Chu. He advocated improving internal politics and forming an alliance with Qi to resist Qin externally. However, due to the incompetence of King Huai and the rise of petty officials, he was constantly slandered and attacked, and was later exiled to the north of Han. The succeeding King Qingxiang was even more incompetent, and the pro-Qin traitorous officials became more rampant. Qu Yuan, full of patriotic fervor, was exiled again to the south of the Yangtze River and ultimately drowned himself in the Miluo River.
According to the prevailing view of modern historians, Qu Yuan's exile to the south of the Yangtze mainly refers to the Yuan and Xiang region of Hunan, neglecting the possibility that he set foot in the Li River area. However, it is worth noting that in his works, Qu Yuan repeatedly praised the scenery of the Li River. For example:
'I cast my jade pendant into the river, and leave my girdle on the Li River bank.' (from 'Xiang Jun')
Why did Qu Yuan throw his jade pendant into the Yuan River or the Xiang River, but instead leave it by the Li River, with which he was unfamiliar?
"The Yuan has its angelica; the Li has its orchids. I long for the prince but dare not speak." ("Xiang Furen")
Why was Qu Yuan so familiar with the orchids along the banks of the Li River?
'I cast my sleeve into the river, and leave my pendant on the Li River bank.' (from 'Xiang Furen')
By rights, the place where Qu Yuan threw the clothes he wore and his jade pendant into the Li River to express his resolute will should have been a place he knew or loved. If he had never even seen the Li River, how could he have rashly made such a solemn choice?
"Wide open the Gate of Heaven; in multitudes I ride the dark clouds!" ("Nine Songs: Great Lord of Fate")
According to historians' research, this "Gate of Heaven" should refer to Tianmen Mountain upstream on the Li River (south of present-day Zhangjiajie City), not to an imagined "Gate of Heaven," and certainly not to Hubei's "Tianmen" (during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the Tianmen of this region had already begun to take shape; only in the sixth year of Yong'an of Wu of the Three Kingdoms did the true "Gate of Heaven" break open).
Therefore, Qu Yuan's exile to the south of the Yangtze does not exclude the possibility that he also roamed the Li River. (This is a matter for historians; this book has no intention of entering the debate.)
It is not a coincidence that today, at the foot of Tianmen Mountain and within the Wulingyuan Scenic Area, many ancient legends about Qu Yuan are still circulating. Moreover, the famous scenic spot "Quzi Chanting" on Tianzi Mountain is simply the embodiment of Qu Yuan.