Why Go
A Story Place More Than a View
1. The Red Cliff episode
The Red Cliff of the winter of 208 to 209 is a well-known episode of the Three Kingdoms period, retold in the Ming-dynasty novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms and in a long line of poems, paintings and operas. Many Chinese visitors arrive knowing the story well, which is why the scenic area is built around it rather than around the landscape.
Several places along the Yangtze carry the name Red Cliff, and scholars have long debated which one the episode belongs to. The city of Chibi took the name in 1998 and its scenic area is the one the city stands behind.
2. What to see
The visit is a walk through a stone and timber gateway complex and the park behind it, with cliff faces, carved inscriptions and displays on the period. The gate in the photograph carries a plaque with the site name in large characters.
Because Red Cliff is a theme in Chinese art, the painting reproduced below is a useful companion. It is an ink handscroll of the Red Cliff subject attributed to the Jin-dynasty painter Wu Yuanzhi, with cliffs drawn as tall stacked rock under cloud.
