Mǎānshān
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On the south bank of the Changjiang, 50 km southwest of Nanjing. Today, in late November, 2006, it is famous for the Ma Steel Company, the "Flower of the South Yangtze River", according to their website. At present Ma Steel has 70,000 employees and 33000 retirees. The aroma enveloping Maanshan is not from the fragrance of flowers! In history Maanshan is famous for a battle during the Three Kingdoms period and for Li Bai, the Banished Immortal, China's beloved and besotted poet of the Tang, who is said to have jumped into the river here trying to catch the moon. The name Mǎanānshān (Horse Saddle Hill) is the result of a famous episode during the Three Kingdom's period. When the Kingdoms of Chu and Shu were at war in the third century, General Xiang Yu of Chu was defeated by 劉備 Liú Bèi and attempted to retreat to Wujiang on the north bank of Yangtze. Finding only a small boat, he had his favorite mount ferried across first. At this moment Liu Bei’s pursuing soldiers arrived and Xiang Yu, knowing he was trapped, cut his throat with his own sword. Seeing his master’s courageous suicide, the horse leapt into the river and drowned. The boatman buried its saddle on a nearby hill. |