Zhu De’s Poetry Stele

Zhu De’s Poetry Stele

Zhu De’s Poetry Stele is a classic site on China’s Red Tourism routes.

Zhu De’s Poetry Stele is located on Xiangshui Mountain to the west of Xingwen County’s county town, covering a built-up area of 200 square meters.

In 1916, the anti-Yuan National Protection Army and the Beiyang Army fought intense battles in the areas of Lantian and Mianhuapo in Luzhou. Zhu De, who was then a detachment commander (brigade commander) of the First Army of the National Protection Army, personally led a battalion to Gusu in May to gather provisions and replenish troops. On the day after arriving in Gusu, he climbed Xiangshui Mountain north of the city and visited a temple. There, he improvised a poem: “Famine and flood are my concern, / My urgent heart has fretted through many a year; / Fortunate the iron pillar that bears our nation’s load, / No time yet to roam where bronze camels grow old; / For thousand years the rotting ropes fear their fall, / Yet I bear my burden and never pause at all; / Who will take charge in this troubled land? Behold, the pillar firm stands in mid-stream.” The poem was then inscribed on the wall of Furong Temple by his adjutant, Li Zhisheng. At the time, Zhu De was a renowned general in both the National Protection Army and in Sichuan, who fought to defend the republic with strict military discipline and no encroachment upon local communities. He was hailed as a righteous army and deeply respected. Later, as he embarked on the revolutionary path and became one of the founding fathers of the nation, the poem gained even greater popularity among locals. Eventually, Furong Temple was destroyed, and the poem was lost.

On the Double Ninth Festival in 1978, during a celebration for seniors in Zhongcheng Town (now Gusu Town), to commemorate Zhu De’s poem, a stele was erected on the top of Xiangshui Mountain. The inscription reads: “In 1916, the fight to protect the republic against Yuan. Zhu’s brigade led the charge, striking first. Stationed in Gusu, their strategy was well-coordinated. Ascending the mountain, he composed a poem, his heroic spirit ablaze. His comrade Zhisheng inscribed it on the temple wall. Elders passed it down, monks told the tale. Over time, words and letters faded. Local scholars investigated and restored its original form. A model for all ages, forever to endure.”