Tiandemen Scenic Area

Tiandemen Scenic Area

Tiandemen, also known as Ghost Gate Pass, is located on Tiandemen Mountain at the border between the eastern part of Yulin City and Beiliu County. The three large characters "Tiandemen" on the stone wall are very prominent. Tiandemen Mountain and Longgouling Mountain face each other, with towering peaks that narrow sharply at Tiandemen, forming a crucial mountain pass — an important transportation route through the ages. The newly built Yulin (Yulin)–Beiliu (Beiliu) asphalt road passes through here, serving as a vital mountain gorge connecting Wuzhou, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Beihai, and Hepu.

Tiandemen has a long history. In the 17th year of the Jianwu era during the Eastern Han Dynasty (41 AD), General Ma Yuan, titled Fubo Marshal, led over 20,000 troops to conquer Lin Yi and passed through this pass, where he erected a monument. Tang Dynasty poet Wen Tingyun wrote a poem praising Ma Yuan: "Han’s decree reached the south seas, barbarian troops avoided Yulin, the sky-pillar divides the border, proud tribute flows beyond the frontier, fallen due to ministers’ treachery, who understands my loyal heart, a coffin holds a brave soul, drifting in dusty haze." In the reign of Emperor Xuanzong (847 AD), Tang Dynasty Chancellor Li Deyu, demoted to Yazhou Sima, wrote a poem when passing Tiandemen: "Gone one way, ten thousand miles away, where is Yazhou? Born to cross the Ghost Gate Pass." Tang Dynasty poet Shen Quanqi (styled Yunqing), who was also demoted and passed through here, wrote the poem "Entering Ghost Gate Pass": "Once heard of the Zhang River route, now arrived at Ghost Gate Pass. Land with no elders remains, migrants few have returned. Since parting from the capital road, my hair has dulled, my face aged. Lodging at dusk in sandy shores, traveling at dawn along the path, horses endangered in thousand-ren valleys, boats navigating myriad bends. Asked where I’m bound, southwest lies among hundred tribes." The great Song Dynasty literary figure and poet Su Dongpo, both during his exile to Lingnan and upon being pardoned and returning to the capital, passed through this pass and composed the poem "In Response to Wang Yulin": "Late in life, fallen and hard to bear, spring mud by the sea turned by my own hands; Han envoys' jade tally left unused, the old marquis’ melon vines overgrown on broken walls. Life’s many hardships not fate’s will, these remaining years filled with imperial grace; mistakenly shamed by your refined words, how could I hear of old cranes renewed in halls."

In the Ming Dynasty, Xu Xiake wrote in "Travel Diaries of Guangxi": "Ten li west of Beiliu County lies Ghost Gate Pass, ten li east lies Goulou Mountain. These two rocky mountains branch off, standing tall and beautiful, facing each other from east to west. Ghost Gate’s cliffs and valleys tower, with double peaks standing side by side. Passing through them, the scenery rivals that of Goulou. When I looked north from Henglin, I found it striking, unaware it was Ghost Gate. Only upon reaching the county did I realize I had already crossed over from the southeast, regretting not having traveled beneath it."