Yunu Village

Yunu Village

Sunlight slides off the shoulders of the new farmhouses and spills into the small pond in front of the houses. The reflections of orchards, direction signs, stone carvings, and green trees quietly merge at the bottom of the pond, gradually freezing into a picture. Suddenly, two kingfishers flutter affectionately over the water, tearing the image apart at one point and sending ripples of light dancing across the entire pond…

The legend of Yunu Village in Lingjiang Town is related to a beautiful woman. It is said that Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi, and Empress Wu Zetian returned to Lizhou to visit their family. Princess Ding’an, young and as beautiful as a flower, was captivated by the meandering natural scenery along the Jialing River. While visiting a place called Hongwei, she caught a cold. Though the imperial physician who accompanied them tried every means to cure her, she did not recover, causing great distress to Emperor Li Zhi and Empress Wu. At that moment, Lǐ Chúnfēng, an official skilled in astronomy and yin-yang studies, “revealed the secrets of heaven” to Emperor Li Zhi: Princess Ding’an was destined to perish, but if she stayed in this place to cultivate herself spiritually in seclusion, she could prolong her life. Hearing this, the emperor and empress were moved to tears and ordered the construction of the "Yunu Temple." From then on, Princess Ding’an embarked on a long journey of spiritual practice, and her grace and beauty also seeped into the landscape of the region.

Many years later, the local people renamed “Hongwei” to “Yunu” in memory of this beautiful princess.

Nowadays, walking through the new Yūnǔ Village, you will surely want to visit the village’s Eco-Garden Economy Exhibition Hall. Every detail of the changing times, the joyful laughter of visitors from all over, and the countless occasions when the “Yunu Scripture” has been shared beyond the village are all preserved here. In every household, around every house, the hillsides are alive with industry. Early-ripening pears and kiwifruit have become the “money trees” that have helped villagers achieve prosperity, with newly planted areas expanding by over a hundred acres each year.

The spring scenery of Yunu Village makes you look back again and again at every step. Perhaps what you can’t bear to leave behind is the pure simplicity as innocent as the village’s namesake and the unadorned beauty stretching far beyond…

Source: Government Information Center