Taipingtang Cliff Inscriptions

　　Located in Lian’ertang Village, Dutong Subdistrict Office, Lichuan City. These inscriptions are carved into the cliffs along an ancient road near the border of southwestern Hubei and Sichuan. The site is called “Lian’ertang” (literally “Two Adjacent Ponds”) because there have been two neighboring ponds here since ancient times. The inscribed panel measures 5 meters in height and 4.8 meters in width. The characters are engraved in intaglio regular script. In the center are the three characters “太平塘” (Taipingtang), each about 0.8 meters square, and in the upper right corner are the three characters “太平年” (Taiping Year), each about 0.2 meters square. “Taiping Year” refers to the reign title (1356–1357) of Xu Shouhui, leader of a peasant uprising at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Xu’s general, Ming Yuzhen, once occupied Sichuan and established the local government “Zhonglu Pacification Commission” in Lichuan. These inscriptions serve as physical evidence of the revolutionary activities of the late Yuan peasant uprising forces. (Second Batch)

　　Source: Hubei Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau