Bellow Gorge

Origin of Bellow Gorge

Cruising downstream 2 kilometers from White Emperor City, there is a yellow brown colored precipice on the northern bank of Yangtze River. Some gaps can be seen on the cliff and from afar a large cave can be seen in which there are piles of quadrate wooden boxes. In the distance, they look like bellows, so the gorge is called Bellow Gorge.

It is difficult to identify the "bellow" if you travel by ship, but it is easy to notice the three Chinese characters "Bellow Gorge". The "bellow" is more than 10 meters high on the cliff. It is hard to reach. Thus, the "bellow" is amazing and incredible. It is said that in late Qing Dyansty, a man climbed up to the cliff and got a hidden thing from the rock and he brought it to Fengjie County to sell it, but then he was arrested by the county government. The government forced him to put the thing back to where it belongs to avoid desecrating the divinities. The so-called "bellow" is indeed the Suspending Coffin of the Warring States or Qin and Han Dynasties.

The Suspending Coffin of Bellow Gorge

Suspending coffin is an ancient local funeral tradition. It was very popular in Sichuan and Chongqing area. There are many suspending coffin sites in Qutang Gorge. Besides Bellow Gorge, the Armor Cave across the river has more relics, including Ba style sword, bronze shoe and so on. Now, near the "bellow" there are still two suspending coffins on the cave. How many coffins and cultural relics in the cave? How the ancestors put them up? It is still remains a mystery.