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Chalk Wall

If you happen to be a calligraphy enthusiast, the Chalk Wall of the Qutang Gorge is sure to astound you. This 1 kilometer of polished limestone spur of the Baiyan Mountain spreads out along the south bank of the river, and contains close to 1000 characters. Ranging from 1 square centimeter to 2 square meters the earliest of these inscriptions date form the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and are of various styles such as: seal, official, cursive and running style. The earliest stele is the epigraph by Zhao Gongshuo, a calligrapher of the South Song Dynasty (1127-1279). His epigraph is carved on a cliff 4 meters (13 feet) high and 7 meters (23 feet) long, with more than 980 characters tells about the merits and virtues of the emperors at that time.

Viewed from passing ships, the most striking characters are 'Kuimen' by Zhang Boxiang of Qing Dynasty; and 'Kuitang' by Liu Xinyuan. Kuomintang General Feng Yuxiang also declared his firm determination to defeat the Japanese invaders on the wall.

In anticipation of their inundation by the head pond of the Three Gorges Project the inscriptions on the Chalk Wall were either moved or copied to a location above the normal pool level. In this way these historical and unique calligraphy remain to be viewed by future generations.