Hometown of Diao Chan

Hometown of Diao Chan

The Hometown of Diao Chan is a cultural tourism attraction.

Diao Chan, one of the Four Great Beauties of ancient China, is a fictional character. According to scholar Meng Fanren’s research: Diao Chan, surname Ren, childhood name Hongchang, was born in Muer Village, Jiuyuan County, Bingzhou Commandery. At the age of 15, she was selected to serve in the palace, where she was in charge of the ceremonial headdress known as "Diao Chan" (a decorative hat ornament worn by Han dynasty attendants), from which she got her name. The hometown of Diao Chan is Muzhi Village, located three kilometers southeast of Xinzhou City, on the route from Taiyuan or Xinzhou to Yuwang Cave. Originally abundant in edible tree fungus, the village was named Muer (Wooden Fungus) Village, but later renamed Muzhi (Wooden Ganoderma) Village after a thousand-year-old ganoderma was discovered under a village locust tree. Local legend says that three years before Diao Chan was born, the peach and apricot trees in the village stopped blossoming, and to this day they still struggle to grow—a sign of her breathtaking beauty that made flowers blush. The village once had an archway, front hall, rear hall, Wang Yun Street, Diao Chan Theater Stage, and Diao Chan’s Tomb. The current tourist site is called the Diao Chan Mausoleum, reconstructed in recent years by villagers on the original tomb site. Above the gate hangs a horizontal plaque reading “Diao Chan Mausoleum,” flanked by couplets in seal script: “A beauty so fair she veiled the moon and shamed the flowers—China’s pride; enduring humiliation and danger—truly admirable even to men.” Local lore says that after the Three Brothers of the Peach Garden rose to power, they sent Diao Chan back to her hometown, where she died of old age and was buried here. Another tale says Diao Chan committed suicide by throwing herself upon a sword, and Guan Yu, upon learning of it, escorted her remains back to her native land for burial. That’s why the rear hall houses a statue of Guan Yu, and there is a theater stage in front of the hall symbolizing Diao Chan’s performances—both as gestures of gratitude for Guan Yu sparing her life and escorting her home. Additionally, in Zhonghuo Village, southeast of Dingxiang County, is the hometown of Lü Bu, with folk legends such as “Huo Qingquan (Huojing Spring),” “Catching the Red Hare Horse Through Cleverness,” and “The Crooked-Necked Tree,” all related to Lü Bu. Hence the proverb: “No pretty women in Xinzhou, no handsome men in Dingxiang,” implying that ever since Diao Chan and Lü Bu, Xinzhou has never produced another beautiful woman, nor Dingxiang another handsome man.