Liangkou Scenic Area

Liangkou Scenic Area

Liangkou Scenic Area

The Sanwang Palace is situated at the confluence of two streams between Heli and Nanzhai villages in Liangkou Township, Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County. It lies 23 kilometers east of the county seat, Guyi Town. National Highway 321 winds past the front of the palace, while the Xun River flows southward from the east, and the Qijia Railway runs northward along the eastern bank of the Xun River. Among them, Pingliao Station faces the Sanwang Palace across the river, just a stone’s throw away. The palace is built against a mountain and beside water, facing south with its back to the north. The majestic Qing’e Ridge stands proudly in front of it. In front of the gate stands the Renhe Bridge, adorned with exquisitely carved beams and painted rafters, resplendent and magnificent, spanning the stream. The temple benefits from the bridge’s prime location, and the bridge thrives due to the temple’s auspicious presence.

The Sanwang Palace was first built during the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty as the Sanwang Temple. It was originally constructed on the stone gate near Laibao, at the confluence of the Xun and Rong rivers. In the sixth year of the Longqing era of the Ming Dynasty (1572), the ethnic people of Huaiyuan rose up in resistance, killing Magistrate Ma Xiwu. The Ming court sent troops to suppress the uprising, resulting in the massacre of many rebels. As a result, local residents fled their homes to escape the turmoil, and the Sanwang Temple was relocated to its current site in Heli Village. The Renhe Bridge, an auxiliary structure of the Sanwang Palace, spans the confluence of the streams of Heli and Nanzhai villages in front of the palace. It is a wind-and-rain bridge with a distinctive Dong architectural style, featuring a pyramidal hip-and-gable roof. The bridge has three pavilions and twelve corridors, with a total length of 48.9 meters, a width of 4.35 meters, and a height of 7.2 meters. It was first built in the 24th year of the Guangxu era of the Qing Dynasty (1898) and underwent renovation once in the 6th year of the Republic of China (1917). According to inscriptions in the Sanwang Palace, the Renhe Bridge was constructed to facilitate worshippers’ visits to the temple. It was repaired twice, in 1982 and 1986, and was designated as a county-level cultural relics protection unit in 2001. Today, the Sanwang Palace and Renhe Bridge have become popular scenic attractions in Sanjiang County.

The overall layout and main hall of the Sanwang Palace feature ancient Han-style palace architecture, but elements such as the stage and side rooms adopt the Dong-style post-and-lintel structure with stilted floors. It is a typical example of the harmonious fusion of Han and Dong architectural art. The Renhe Bridge has a stone arch foundation, while its superstructure employs the traditional Dong post-and-lintel spatial framework, incorporating two architectural styles: the tower-pavilion style drum tower with a hip-and-gable roof and the pyramidal roof.

In Chankou Village, Liangkou Township, just one mountain away from the Sanwang Palace, stands a thousand-year-old banyan tree. Graceful and majestic, it is 1,307 years old, and its sprawling branches and leaves form a giant umbrella that covers an area of 2.8 mu.